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
Ally opens her door to find a very drunk Rick standing there, waiting for her. His one hand is holding onto the door frame while the other hand is still holding a half empty bottle. From the look of it, he doesn’t really need the rest of what is in that bottle. The smell of alcohol hits Ally even before she could greet the drunk man at her door.“You will be the perfect end to my day.” Rick tells Ally before pushing into her room. Ally quickly tightens her robe around her body.“I didn’t invite you in. Please go to your own room.” Ally tells Rick as politely as she can while still being very clear on the fact that he entered her room uninvited.Ally opens the door again so Rick can leave. He does not. Rick makes himself comfortable on Ally’s bed. He half lays down and takes another deep swallow of the alcohol in the bottle. Ally cannot think that a man in his state could possibly think that he would be successful in seducing a woman. What kind of women has this man been keeping compan
Ally spends the night with Eric. The next morning, she sneaks out for a change of clothes in her own room. When she enters her room, she stands in the door, shocked at the scene in front of her. Her whole room has been ransacked. Ally quickly dashes to get other clothes on.She goes through her things that has been strewn over the room. She cannot really see what the person was looking for, until she gets to her desk where all her files and notes were stored. She looks up to find Eric standing in her open door.“What happened here?” he asks as he steps into the room.“I have no idea, but my recipes and notes are gone.” Ally says as she goes through the papers still left on her table.“Are you kidding me?” Eric asks as he comes to stand next to her. “How did they get through the locked door?”“I am not sure that I locked it.” Ally says, her tone unsure.Two other contestants walk past the room and take a quick look inside before walking away while giggling.“We have to go.” Eric tells
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