Emily Molson was a force of nature. Despite her petite frame- the mean girls and school used to call her short'Em- she could hold her own in a fight and was as tenacious as a pit-bull when the situation warranted. And even if it did not-at least according to her mother. But the woman should not have even said a thing. All of Emily's stubbornness came from Jane Molson afterall.
It was with that tenacity that Emily had applied for the police academy. She had made it through the first round of selections, blood sweat and tears, clearing the hurdles with nothing but grit and determination. She had made it too. Getting into the police academy, only to have her hard work turned to nothing when her secret had been discovered and she had been kicked out.
Emily's secret was not something as exciting as being a foreign spy. No, Emily's problem was one people had from time to time, only hers was more consistent.
Nightmares.
She had been battling with them for weeks, and the academy had let her go when her screams had kept waking the other recruits.
"You cannot come into this profession already having nightmares like that, it will chew you up and spit you out," She had been told. From there she had gone about getting her degree in accounting. From then on, she had bounced from job to job. Her lack of proper sleep interfering until she had somehow stumbled into her current job. One that she had held for the past two years. A miracle that she was still trying to wrap her head around.
Emily was no longer Emily, the perpetual job hunter. She was Emily Molson, personal assistant to one Derek Haven, CEO of Haven Group. For the first time, her not having a good relationship with sleep was a blessing. The long work hours. The early starts in the day.
Who minded working late when you knew only nightmares awaited? Definitely not her. And she most definitely did not care that being his PA meant getting to work before he did. She was up anyways, at least now she could put it down to not wanting to be late instead of being unable to go back to sleep after a bad dream.
And despite his reputation as a brutal boss. One that was well earned. The PA Emily had replaced had been a young man, he had been sobbing loudly and cursing at everyone when Emily had come in. Derek was actually not bad to work for.
He had never made untoward advances towards her- a true rarity in the working world. And he did not mind when sometimes, Emily's hair was a tiny bit too frizzy, courtesy of her tossing and turning all night. Nor did he ever mention that some days the dark circles under her brown eyes made them look like she had gone toe to toe with a professional boxer.
In fact, sometimes when she looked at him. Emily saw a hint of shadow beneath his eyes too. And in those moments she would swear he looked just as tired as she felt. But that was just wishful thinking.
A foolish hope that she was not the only person in the world struggling to sleep.