Ally forces herself to remain calm and collected throughout dinner. When Eric finished eating, he excuses himself and leaves the room. If Ally did not know he was blind she would not have guessed it. Ally looks at Eric’s father. He stares at her with his cold disapproving eyes. Ally feels uncomfortable and excuses herself. As she pushes her chair out to get up a smile spreads slowly on the old mans face.“They usually die,” he says, rubbing a finger over his lips, “one disappeared, the rest died.”Ally looks at him with a shocked expression. His smile broadens.Is Meg the one that disappeared? Eunice died. Were there more women that did not make it out of this family safely? He sure as hell made it sound as if there were more deaths than disappearances. The whole thought leaves Ally anxious. She needs someone who she can talk to, but she thinks the only person who she would have been able to talk to, may have been Eunice.Ally quickly leaves the room and head to the room where she was
“Mrs Symons feels that she must leave this lovely home to attend to her day job.” Agatha announces to Eric. The way she says ‘day job’ is filled with disapproval in her voice.Ally stares at Agatha for a second. She turns her gaze to Eric.“No” Eric announces and turns to head back into his study. Ally quickly follows him into his study.“I have a job to do. I need to get back to the restaurant.” Ally tells Eric as he moves towards his desk.“You do not have a job anymore. It has been taken care of. You now belong to this family and therefor everything you do will be for the benefit of this family. You cannot leave the house. There are reporters everywhere.” Eric’s tone is void of emotion. He simply takes his seat behind his desk and looks out in front of him. If Ally didn’t know any better, she would be sure that he can see what is in front of him. She moves slightly to her left but his eyes do not follow.Ally looks over her shoulder to see how Agatha closes the doors to the study.
Ally wakes the next morning with less anxiety. She gets up and gets ready to do the rest of the dinner planning. She didn’t think she would enjoy it this much.When she gets to her office, she finds a package on her table. It is the invitations she sent yesterday to get printed. Ally is impressed with the printer’s turnaround time. She didn’t expect it to be with her so soon.She puts the invitations in envelopes as Eunice described at the bottom of the guest list. She seals each envelope with a wax bead after writing the name of the guest on the front of the envelope.Ally then attends to the menu and heads to the kitchen to discuss the menu with the staff. The head chef in the kitchen is one of the friendliest people Ally has ever met. It was wonderful talking to him.Dirk checked the menu Ally gave him and asked questions about how the meals should be prepared and plated. Ally is so grateful for her experience as head chef at the restaurant. She is not sure that she would have been
Ally stares at Eric for a moment. What could he possibly want from her.“What may I do for you?” Ally tries to keep the curiosity from her voice.“The whole house is bugged. So please refrain from trying to discuss anything of importance within those walls.” Eric pauses for a moment. Ally realises that he did not seer her nod. She makes a sound confirming that she heard him. “I suspect that the results form my medical tests are being kept from me. I would like you to get your hands on them and tell me what the diagnosis is. If I am to be blinded for life, I want to know it. If there is some kind of operation that can help, I want to know that also.”Ally quickly gathers that not even Eric trusts his father. She also realises that this may not be the best time to prod him on any other subject she may have theories on.“Where will I be able to find these test results?” Ally asks in a softer tone than she would usually use.“If it is not in my mother’s office, it should be in her room. I
Ally pretends to be interested in the herb garden a little longer after the girl left. She is genuinely impressed with the garden though. All her favourite herbs are being grown here. There is nothing that makes a dish stand out as much as fresh herbs. She rubs some of the leaves between her fingers and smells the fresh scent of the herbs on her skin. She longs to get back into a kitchen. She would love to cook a meal and bring people happiness. Ally decides to head back into the house. When she lifts her gaze to the kitchen door, she finds that Agatha is still standing there watching her intently. Ally smiles and raises a hand to wave at Agatha. As expected, Agatha does not even return as little as a smile. Agatha seems to have no facial expressions either. She always has the same expression on her face. Ally cannot even think what Agatha would look like if she smiled. She is sure it would look very awkward.Ally walks to the back entrance of the home and steps inside. It is too ea
Ally wakes with a heavy feeling of regret and guilt in her chest. She couldn’t tell Eric that she is not Meg.Ally gets out of bed and takes a long hot shower. She cannot get her mind to think straight. She keeps thinking of how she lied to Eric. He will never forgive her. She needs to get hold of Meg. She needs to find out why Meg put her in this situation.Eric told her that there are no cameras in the hallway. Eunice strictly forbid surveillance in areas where she felt she spent the most time. This gave Ally peace of mind that there are also no cameras in her office. That must be the reason why Agatha keeps showing up in doorways. She cannot see what is going on without actually being there.Ally gets dressed and quickly walks down the hallway. She looks over her shoulder to see if there is anyone around before going into Eunice’s room. She closes the door behind her quietly and stands still for a moment. Ally takes in the scene in front of her. The room is elegantly decorated. It
For the next hour Ally sits in the dining room testing dishes Dirk prepared. Every time he brings one out, he quickly explains how he prepared it and asked if she would like to make any changes. Ally was impressed with every dish. She did not dare to give Dirk as much as a knowing look, for Agatha was patiently standing in the corner of the room, watching them intently.Ally feels irritated with Agatha. Being watched like this is unnecessary.After Ally made her selection of the dishes for the dinner party, Dirk clears up the table and leaves the room.Ally excuses herself from Agatha and leaves also. She tried so many dishes, she is not sure if she will be hungry by dinner.As Ally moves through the doorway, she notices that Eric’s home office door is closed. She goes to it and hears him speaking inside. Ally stands in the hallway listening for a second. She cannot hear a second voice in the room. She assumes that Eric is on a phone call.She knocks on the door softly. The conversa
Ally quickly looks towards Eric, but of course he cannot see her plea for help.Ally returns her gaze to Bennet. She knows she is visibly upset. If ever she had a child, she would make sure that this man had nothing to do with it.“We are not in a hurry.” Eric comes to her rescue. Ally realises that she is still holding her breath and lets it out slowly. The expression on Bennet’s face is one of pure arrogance. Ally hates this man.She excuses herself and leaves the room. It has been another taxing day and she cannot really keep her emotions under control to deal with this man.It is almost ten when Eric joins her in the room. Ally is already in bed and barely awake.She feels when Eric gets into bed and moves closer to her. He pulls her into his arms and holds her close to him.“Did you want to tell me something now?” he asks her softly in her ear.Ally turns towards him and snuggles her face into the crook of his neck.“Yes, but I there is a lot to tell.” Ally whispers in his ear.“