Eunice is lost in thought while expertly preparing the ingredients for the meal she is planning to make. She is most at home in her restaurant’s kitchen. She has an exquisite kitchen at home but it doesn’t really compare to the state-of-the-art kitchen she has created for herself over many years at the place where she spends the most time.The ache deep in her heart threatens to overwhelm her as she methodically goes about her preparations. Just as her thoughts almost completely consume her reality, she notices movement coming from the back door to the restaurant. The kitchen leads out into a little ally that they share with another restaurant next to hers. The door is always open, but no one ever comes in through it.She watches the little girl sneaking into her kitchen from the corner of her eye, pretending not to see her as she goes about her business. The little girl walks quietly towards her. She takes slow, careful steps until she is close enough to Eunice to see what she is pr
TWENTY YEARS LATERAlly steps through the back door of the restaurant kitchen where she just had the worst date ever. Luckily she knows the Chefs in the kitchen and they let her escape through it. She thanks her friend that closes the door behind her, before taking the few steps down to the sidewalk.It is already dark outside. Ally wished she never came on this date. Never again. Blind dates are not the way to go. From now on she will insist on meeting the person in a group setting before spending one-on-one time with anyone. Thinking about the man she left at the table in the restaurant only makes her want to gag.Ally takes out her phone and dials her roommate’s number. Megan answers on the second ring. She is the most reliable person she knows. She always answers and she is always willing to help.“Hey Hun.” Meg’s sweet voice rings over the phone.“Hey! Are you busy?” Ally asks Meg. Meg has a very busy social life. Something Ally tries to avoid at all costs.“Hanging out with frie
As she closes her mouth, excitement fills her. The sauce on the bottom of the fork he used to decorate the plate, is the first element she tastes. As she pulls the fork from her mouth and bites down on the cube, the different element’s flavours explode in her mouth.Ally closes her eyes as she takes in every texture and flavour of the bite in her mouth. She is in awe. She savours every moment of it before swallowing. When she opens her eyes she finds herself looking straight into the master of this creation’s eyes. This man is an amazing chef.He looks at her expectantly. Ally raises her eyebrows and slowly shakes her head. She is speechless.She places the fork back on the plate and shakes her head slowly again while looking at the plate.She finally brings her gaze back up to his.“That was…. unbelievable.” She finally tells him.“Thank you.” He says, smiling at her. “I must tell you, watching you eat it… was… very satisfactory to me.” He gives a small chuckle. “But don’t worry, I w
Ally walks into the kitchen of the restaurant where she is head Chef. She looks at her surroundings and cannot help but think about the kitchen she was in last night. Meg comes into the kitchen just behind her, putting on her apron as she walks. This kitchen is nice. That kitchen is extravagant. She would love to work in that kitchen, but then Eric would probably be her boss and she would not be able to concentrate on her work at all.“That was one damn fine man you were with last night.” Meg tells Ally as they reach their normal work stations. Ally’s work station is almost set apart like Eric’s is. It is just does not have special lighting and it isn’t as big is his. Meg falls into her routine and busies herself with preparations for the night service.“That is almost an understatement. I cannot remember ever meeting a man that can wreak havoc on all my senses in seconds.” Ally tells Meg.The whole day, while Ally works, she cannot keep her mind off Eric. Everything about him attract
The evening service is busier than usual that night. Ally runs most of the night. She is dead on her feat at the end of it. When everyone tosses their aprons in the wash bin and leave the kitchen, Ally follows without even rechecking everything. She will come in earlier today to recheck. It is already two in the morning. She needs sleep.She goes home and makes haste to get into bed. She falls asleep instantly.Ally wakes a few hours later. Even though she got much needed sleep, she still feels tired. It has been a busier than usual week. There are a lot of conferences in the city and most of them are near the restaurant where she works. She sits up in her bed and drags her phone closer. There must be a million messages that needs answering.Ally scans through the messages, deleting anything that seems mundane and quickly giving attention to anything to do with business.She is somewhat disappointed that she did not receive anything from Eric. She gets up to get ready for work. She wa
It took Ally a while to get over her bewilderment after Eric left. She couldn’t wrap her mind around his demeanour or the way he looked. His hair was a mess and his tie hung loose. His eyes were red with emotion. Ally still feels unsettled thinking about it.She came to work earlier and she spent most of the morning making sure everything is ready for the day. Today will not be as busy as other days. There is a sport gathering nearby. The streets will be too busy and most people who come into the restaurant will only come for something to drink. The dress code of the restaurant will not let anyone enter either. If supporters come to the door with their supporter wear, they will be shown away. It is the same thing every year.Ally remembers the woman who showed her the finer art of cooking, fondly. A smile tugs around her lips when she thinks of her. She snuck into her kitchen for years, while growing up. By the time Ally finished school she was already very good in the kitchen. Eunice
Ally’s heart starts thumping in her chest. Meg cannot take that dish to a world-renowned chef’s house! Ally was sworn to secrecy.Ally turns to Ralph with a worried look on her face.“When was Meg here?” Ally asks urgently.“She left minutes before you arrived.” Ralph answers in a confused tone.Ally turns her back on Ralph. She takes her phone out of her pocket and dials Meg’s number. The phone rings twice before Meg answers.“Hey! Thank you so much for this beautiful dish. You outdid yourself, once again.” Meg rambles without pause.“Meg, …” Ally tries to tell her that she took the wrong dish, but Meg interrupts her.“I have just arrived here. Thank you, again. I will let you know how it went.” Meg tells Ally before hanging up.Ally stares out in front of her, not really seeing anything. This is really bad. What if the Chef asks for the recipe? Ally feels sick to her stomach. She dials Meg’s number again but the call is ended after a few rings.Ralph clears his throat behind Ally. A
Ally is shocked when she wakes up the next morning to find that Meg is gone. She didn’t take all of her things either. She just left with the most important things. She left things like old clothes and her work wear. Ally takes out her phone to message Meg.MEGPLEASE LET ME KNOW WHERE YOU ARE. I WOULD LIKE TO COME VISIT YOU SOMETIME.ALLYAlly stares at her phone for a moment. Usually, Meg would reply within seconds. Ally’s heart sinks when she realises that Meg is not going to reply at all. She puts her phone away and gets ready for work. She will need to replace Meg soon.The day is busy. It helps to keep Ally’s mind off everything that happened in the last few weeks. She keeps her focus on the restaurant and makes sure she is exhausted when she leaves for home. At home she takes a quick shower and falls asleep almost immediately.She does this every night and it seems to work well for the first week.Late one night when she opened her door, she found an envelope on the floor. She
Megan waits in her room most of the day. She looks up when she hears a soft knock on the door. Agatha stands in the doorway, waiting for her to acknowledge her. Megan stands up and takes a few steps towards Agatha.“Morning.” Megan tells her.“Good morning, Mrs Symons. The doctor is here to see you. Would you like to meet him in the downstairs room or should he come up here?” Agatha asks her. There is no emotion on Agatha’s face. She does not let it be known what she is thinking or feeling.“I will see him in the downstairs room. Thank you.” Megan tells her.Agatha nods and turns to go to the downstairs bedroom. Megan follows her in silence. Megan cannot ignore the pounding of her heart as she approaches the bedroom. She does not know how she will be able to get the doctor to keep her secrets. Agatha stops next to the open door and indicates with a gesture of her open hand for Megan to go in. Megan nods at Agatha and enters the room before Agatha pulls the door closed behind her.The
Eric wakes up the following morning. The first thought that crosses his mind, is that Ally has not been for a check up since she came back. He wonders how the baby is doing. When he found out she was pregnant, he was so excited to become a father. He could never share this excitement with her because she was not in a good place and when she was discharged from hospital, she was taken. Even when she came back, he couldn’t share his excitement with her. She was just not the same person anymore.Eric gets out of bed with effort. He will have to arrange someone to go see her at the house. He cannot trust her to go to an appointment. Eric takes a hot shower to force himself to wake up fully. He steps out refreshed and ready for the day. He gets dressed and ready for work. He smiles as he steps out of his hidden bedroom into his office. No commute today. He missed staying here. He lived here for a long time after he had a fallout with his father. He only moved back to the house after Ally w
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
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
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
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 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 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 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