Eric gets dressed. He looks at Ally laying on the sofa. She used to be so cautious about where she seduced him. And after, she would want to cover her body and lay with him for a while. This time, she stretched out and was laying on full display for him to see.She did not try to cuddle or talk to him. She basically just took what she wanted and cut him off. Eric walks to her hidden bedroom and comes back out with a soft throw. He covers her with it and leaves her office to let her sleep.He heads back to his office and takes a seat behind his desk. He turns to look out the window to where he can still see her laying on the sofa, sleeping. Eric feels guilt ridden. He feels guilty for not feeling the connection he used to have with her. He feels guilty for being angry with her. He feels guilty for leaving her there to wake up alone.Eric rubs his hand over his face and tries to focus on his work. After a while, he looks towards where he left her on the sofa. The sofa is empty. She must
Eric wakes the next morning before Megan does. He gets up and heads to the bathroom, expecting it to be in an utter mess. It is mostly clean except for the wet towel that is draped over the wash basket. Eric looks at the scene in front of him. Maybe he just found the way that he needs to work with Ally. He will have to tell her what he wants, since she has no idea how to behave herself anymore. Thinking these words makes Eric feel guilty. He does not want a woman to behave around him. He wants her to be comfortable in her own skin and do the things that she wants to do, but this Ally is not the Ally he fell in love with. He just wants that Ally back.He gets ready and goes to his office inside the mansion. He takes his seat behind his desk and opens his laptop to go through his emails. Most of the emails are work related. He scans through them to see if there is anything that needs urgent attention. Anything else, he will attend to at work.One email stands out from the rest.Its an e
Eric is furious. He struggles to get his emotions back intact. He grabs some of the things in his office that he wants to take with him and leaves for work. He does not wait for Ally to go with him. He saw yesterday that she does not really do anything at work anyways.He heads straight to his office when he arrives at the restaurant. There must be a thunderstorm showing on his face, because everyone who makes eye contact with him takes a step back to give him some space.Eric gets to his office and attends to the matters on his desk first. He then busies himself with anything his secretary brings to him. When he finds that he has nothing left to do, he checks his watch. It is only eight in the morning. This is going to be one hell of a long day if he does not keep busy.Eric takes his private elevator downstairs and heads across the street. The waiters in the restaurant area does not look much happier. He heads to the kitchen to talk to the head chef. He finds him and asks him why th
Gary stutters when he hears Eric speak. Eric gives him a moment to compose himself. He is used to having this effect on people. He has lots of investments with the bank and so does Ally. Eric knows if he had to take his business to another bank, Gary would be blamed for it.“Mr Symons. I had no idea you were working alongside Mrs May. What can I do to help?” Gary says. Eric can hear that the man is nervous. There are times that he wishes people would not react like this when they speak to him but right now, he takes pleasure in the bank manager’s discomfort.“To start off, you can give Mrs May the authority to authorise any salary payments.” Eric says. April looks at him with wide eyes. She cannot believe that Eric will be able to solve this problem over the phone. “And then make sure that she will be able to authorise any future salary payments electronically.”Eric listens as Gary explains why he could not do it before. He understands that someone with high enough authority had to r
Eric watches as all the staff members who have not received their salaries quickly take out their phones. Most of them receive their messages as they unlock their phones. The looks of relief on their faces gives Eric a sense of guilt. He did not know that these staff members were under so much pressure.Eric straightens his shoulders and claps his hands once to draw everyone’s attention.“Good morning chefs.” Eric says. He takes the stance he usually would in his own kitchen. His feet slightly apart and his hands behind his back. He looks at each of them, making eye contact.“Good morning, Chef!” they all greet in unison.“I apologise for any inconvenience regarding the late payment of your salaries. If you were affected negatively in any way, by paying penalties or anything of that sort, please report it to Mrs May. I will gladly compensate you for any of your losses.” Eric watches as some of the staff members start to smile with relief. There is always something that causes chaos wh
Eric takes the number and dials it from his personal phone.“Good day, Mrs Johnson. This is Chef Symons. Your husband works in our restaurant.” Eric introduces himself. There is an immediate sense of panic from the woman on the other side.“Oh, no! Did something happen to him?” she asks quickly. Eric can hear the dread in her voice.“Not at all. Please do not worry. Your husband is fine.” Eric assures her as quickly as possible. He hears the sigh of relief over the phone. To Eric, this is a positive sign that this woman still loves this man. Eric is somewhat surprised that he is so invested in saving this relationship. Ally would do exactly this. Well, Ally that he married, would have done this.“Mrs Johnson, it has come to our attention that you and your husband has had a couple of difficult years. And to add to that, we have had an admin issue in our offices in the last few days that caused salaries to pay out late. I apologise for that inconvenience.” Eric tells her. He hears how s
Eric walks into the dining area. He finds one of the waiters who are standing next to a wall with her hands behind her back. She stares out in front of her. Eric takes a stance beside her and stares in the direction she is staring in. There is nothing there.“Oh! Mr Symons!” the young girl exclaims when she realises that he is standing beside her.“Why are you so absentminded?” he asks the young girl.“I was just thinking how much everything has changed since I started working here.” The girl answers. She immediately regrets telling this to him when she realises that she is speaking to her boss’ husband. Why did she not think of this sooner?“How long have you been working here?” Eric asks in a soft tone. He has long since realised that when speaking to women, you cannot use your demanding voice. Except when you are in the kitchen. Those women expect you to speak in a strong demanding voice.“I have been here since the restaurant opened.” The girl tells him.“What is it that changed?”
Eric and Jane sort out most of the issues that Jane had within an hour. Jane looks a lot happier when Eric is done talking to her. He applies himself to sorting out the mess on Ally’s table. There are unpaid bills on her table. He looks through them and can now understand why some suppliers refused to deliver to the restaurant. Eric sorts out everything that needs attention. When he leaves the office, there is nothing left to do. Eric shakes his head as he enters the elevator. Ally could have sorted out most of these problems yesterday, if she had not laid on her sofa playing games.Eric stops by the kitchen to check on the mood. The kitchen staff is seemingly working harder than before. All the work surfaces are clean and the head chef is doing his rounds and making sure everyone is ready for tonight’s service. Eric is happy with the immediate change in personnel morale. It was a problem for him when he walked in here and saw all the doom and gloom in the world under one roof.Eric w