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
Eric is furious. He cannot stand the way Ally does not care about anything. This selfish nature of hers is driving him up the walls. Eric looks at his desk, he already finished his work early this morning. There is nothing left for him to do in here. He refuses to go home and he cannot sit in this office all day with nothing to do. He cannot stand going back to Ally’s restaurant.Eric goes into his hidden bedroom and gets his chef jacket from his closet. He puts it on and takes the bandana from the pocket. Wrapping the bandana around his head to cover his hair, Eric heads out of his office towards his own restaurant kitchen. When he enters the kitchen there is a moment of quick silence. Eric walks straight to a young chef that is busy chopping vegetables. Her work is neat and her station is tidy. He holds his hand out to her.“May I?” Eric asks. The young chef looks at his hand and then at the knife in her own hand. She carefully hands him the knife she is holding. Eric nods and the y
Benson sits at his desk in his home office. He watches the screen of his laptop. The security cameras he installed to keep an eye on Ally is displayed on the screen. He watches her lay in bed. She does not move around much. After he brought her home, he placed her in the same room Megan was in.She was distraught after Eric and Megan left the hotel, crying for days. She refused to eat and she spent most nights walking around in the room. Today, when her meals were taken to her, she ate some of it but not really enough to call it a healthy meal. If things go on like this, he will have to bring a doctor in to see her.Benson sees the screen of his mobile phone flashing on his desk. He takes the phone in his hand and reads the number on the screen.“Yes?” he answers. He waits a second before the person on the other side starts talking.“It’s Megan. We have a problem.” She tells him.“What is the problem?” Benson asks. He is a little tired of having problems. Nothing worked out the way it
After dealing with the staff member, Benson goes to Ally’s room. He unlocks the door and opens it slowly. He never knows exactly where she is. She may be behind the door. He enters to find her laying in bed. She has her back turned towards the door and is staring towards the window.Benson walks up to the bed and waits for her to acknowledge his presence. She does not.“Good afternoon, Ally” Benson tells her. She does not move or respond. He stares at her for a few more seconds. It irritates him that she treats him like this. If she only knew what he had to do to keep her alive after the stunt she pulled with Ronald. He was able to deal with Ronald, having him fired at the facility. He is not afraid that Ronald will ever come into her life again. He also got word that Doctor White was in on the plan and have dealt with her too. She will never be able to practice again in this country.“I would like to show you something.” Benson tells Ally. Ally lays in her bed. Not moving at all and