Erick walks across the street, back to his own restaurant. He does not go through the kitchen as he always does. He takes the elevator directly to his office. He is still furious at Ally for handing him a new set of divorce documents. He tore them up and placed them back in the envelope which he left on the table. As he walks into his office, he sees the waiter entering Ally’s office across the street. The lights in his office are still off, which gives him the benefit of being unseen. He stands and stares as Ally receives the envelope from the waiter and carefully looks inside. She shakes her head and angrily walks to the dustbin where she tosses it away with a little more force than necessary. Eric cannot help but laugh at how angry Ally seems. Did she really think he would just sign the documents? Surely, she must know better than that. Eric remembers choking on the bite-sized Ally’s Wrath the woman sent him. He is very glad she did not see him choking on her bitter hatred. She wo
“Get out!” Eric instructs the woman. How dare she set foot in his office? Or anywhere near him for that matter?Megan gets out of Eric’s seat and walks seductively towards him. He has no emotion in his expression as he watches Megan approach him. She comes to stand in front of him and gently rubs her hand over his chest.“Just go ahead and get divorced. I will take her place and be the wife you deserve.” Megan tells Eric. Eric can feel the anger rise in his chest. He takes a step back and walks around Megan to his desk.“Get out.” He tells her again.“We can do it Eric. We can have a small private ceremony and I can give you a son within the next year.” Megan tries again. Eric does not look at her. He busies himself with the paperwork on his desk.“Nobody even has to know. The press did not report on the wedding and there are no pictures of the two of you anywhere in the media. We can absolutely pull it off. After all, your mother chose me.” Megan is suddenly scared that she pushed it
Ally is furious. Eric is behaving like a child. Writing ‘NO’ on the divorce documents in a red marker like a toddler. Ally tears the document up and throws it in the trash. The trash has seen more divorce documents in this last two weeks than any other trash can ever.Ally stares at Eric from her office window. He looks so relaxed and unphased. Ally wants to scream at him. She wants to slap him across the face and tell him that he had no right to treat anyone the way he treated her, ever. The more Ally stares at him, the angrier she gets. How can he just sit at his desk working as if nothing is going on.Eric meets her gaze for a second and returns to his work, laughing. What the hell is he laughing about? Ally turns on her heel and storms out of her office. She takes the elevator to the bottom floor and walks through the restaurant with purpose. The kitchen manager tried to speak to her but she just powered past him. Two waiters also tried to talk to her in the main dining area but
Ally’s words are like a knife to Eric’s heart. He stares at her in shock. The tears running down her cheeks are like salt in the wound. Eric lifts a hand to wipe the tears from Ally’s cheek. She pushes his hand away. He takes a step closer to her and she immediately takes a step backwards.“Ally. I didn’t know.” Eric tries to tell her that he searched for her but his voice breaks and he cannot get any more words out. Ally knows instinctively what he wanted to tell her and shakes her head as she finally gives into the tears she has been holding back for so long.“You do not get to choose which part of my life you want to be a part of. You cannot come and go as you please. Just sign the damn papers so I can have my freedom back.” Ally tells him through sobs.Eric looks at her for a long moment. His heart is breaking. He cannot look at her anymore. She now reminds him of ever mistake he made in his life, ever.“I do not want to divorce you.” Eric tells Ally in a last attempt to keep his
Ally pulls her clothes into place. She refuses to look at Eric. She cannot remember ever feeling this conflicted. She loves being in his arms but she hates that she wants to hate him.Eric looks at Ally as he gets dressed. He desperately wants to keep her in his arms. He knows if he had enough time with her, she would let her guard down and be close to him again. He takes a step closer to her.“Ally, please stay with me.” Eric asks her softly. His soft soothing voice calls to her heart. Ally keeps her eyes off him. She has come so far. She needs to keep going.“I have work to do. I cannot hang around here all night.” Ally regrets her tone as soon as the words are out of her mouth. She is not really used to mistreating people and she hates hurting others, but for some reason she needs Eric to feel her pain. She turns around and meets his gaze.“Sign the papers. I will pick them up tomorrow.” Ally turns and walks out of the office. Eric cannot help but stare after her. He really thought
The next week Ally forces herself to focus on recipe designs. She practices making old favourites and adding specific elements that she found to work well with combinations. Eric, watching her from his office, realises what she is doing and decides to start competing with her long before the competition starts. He sends Gareth to find him the best binoculars he can possibly get his hands on.Eric is amazed with the detail the device delivers. He can watch what Ally is doing as if he is standing next to her.Ally prepares a dish she always favoured and liked to prepare. She takes a whole day to make it perfect. Eric, seeing what she is doing, decides to make the exact same dish. He has the upper hand, being able to see exactly what she does. He decides to put his own spin on things and add a little of his own favourite personal touches.When he sees Ally standing back and eyeing her creation with satisfaction, he sends the dish he prepared to her with Gareth.Ally is startled when she
Two days before the competition starts, Ally and Eric book into a luxury hotel where all the contestants will be staying for the duration of the competition. They laughed as they booked into their separate rooms. Apparently, the organisers have not figured out that they are married yet.Ally could not bring herself to move back in with Eric. She avoids Bennet at all costs. She loves spending as much time as possible with Eric. They practiced making interesting dishes every day for the last two weeks and they have enjoyed their creations together every night.Sometimes, Eric would suggest that she changes the techniques that she uses to ensure that a certain element of her dish is toned down a bit or to make it stand out more. Ally would give Eric thorough reviews on his creations. Neither of them felt criticized by the others’ opinions or suggestions. Ally enjoyed being able to completely relax around Eric.Eric puts his luggage down in his room and takes his phone out of his pocket.
Ally receives a cocktail from a waiter. She knows immediately that it has to be Eric who sent it to her. She looks to the bar to find a very disgruntled Eric standing next to a man who she only knows from articles and things she read online. Rick Gust is one of the most prominent chefs in the culinary world. Her eyes meet his and the look he gives her instantly makes her uncomfortable.He is not an attractive man. He also has a reputation of being a serial player and the women who have had the nerve to talk to the press about him, had nothing good to say. He is not a good person and Ally cannot really fathom why so many women have given this man the time of day, or night, for that matter.Ally tries to focus on Eric and nod her thanks for the drink, but she finds her gaze shifting to Rick again. He is staring at her and he looks hungry. The kind of hungry she is not willing to feed. It bothers her that Eric looks so angry. Ally is sure that other people would not notice the little sig