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
Eric is immediately livid with Ally. He specifically told her to stay away from this man and she also already saw how he could be. Eric contemplates ignoring his instructions from the organisers and just following the two of them to see where they would go. He checks his watch. There is not enough time and he will be damned if he falls out on purpose and let Rick stand a chance at winning.Eric took a quick nap when he got to his room and just woke before he saw Ally leaving with Rick. He knows that when he just wakes, he is not in the best of moods. Ally should know better. Eric is very sure, though, that Ally is not interested in Rick at all.Eric goes to his meeting with the organisers. He walks past the restaurant and almost start laughing out loud when he sees Ally and Rick sitting at a table. He is one hundred percent sure that Ally chose the table. They are seated at the largest two-seater table in the restaurant. Ally put as much distance between the two of them as she possibl
When Ally opens her door to walk into her room after dinner, she immediately notices that there is someone in the room. Ally switches on all the lights she can find and sees Rick sitting in a wingback chair in the corner of the room. Ally immediately pulls her door open again to see where Eric is, but he is already in his own room. Ally is more than willing to run to Eric’s room but before she can fully decide on doing so, Rick is already beside her, pressing her bedroom door closed.“This is unacceptable.” Ally tells Rick in a little too loud voice. She hopes that Eric somehow hears her. “You cannot just come into my room as you please. You need to leave, now!”Rick looks at Ally and smiles. The smile is not warm or friendly. It feels more like a threat.“You could not speak two intelligent words to me during dinner, which you did not eat. You could, however, have a very intelligent conversation with Eric over a dinner that you actually ate. I find that unacceptable and rude.” Rick h
The following few days of the competition goes as expected. Ally, Rick and Eric always end up in the top three. They become group leaders and the other chefs are divided between them. They prepare five course meals and are judged accordingly. Rick falls out with his team and, of course, blames everyone but himself. He hates ending up in elimination rounds where Ally and Eric watches how he has to battle it out against chefs that are way younger than he is.When it is time for everyone that is still in the competition to compete against each other again, Rick seems even more distant than usual. Ally cannot be bothered less with his attitude. She realised very early on that she doesn’t like him much.During their challenge she can see that Rick keeps a close eye on her. At first, she thinks it is to see what techniques she uses. She remembers all too well that her notes were stolen for a day. She finishes up with the delicate fish she has in her cast iron pan and moves to put the pan in
Ally sees Megan just as she walks out the balcony door. She shoots Eric a quick panicked look and he quickly shakes his head to indicate to her that she does not need to be worried. Ally forces a smile and faces the front of the kitchen again. Ally is not sure if Rick saw that they notice him talking to Megan.The judges and the organisers quickly handle the formalities. This time, though, the judges will judge the dishes in front of the last two remaining chefs. Ally and Eric take their dishes to the front and place them in front of the judge sitting in the middle.There are three clean plates on the table and the judge sitting in the middle, divide each dish in three and places a portion of each in each plate. The judges try the two dishes and compare them against each other. Ally stands next to Eric, behind his workstation. There is a worried look on her face, but Eric cannot be sure if it is because she saw Megan or if she is worried about the outcome of the competition.The judge
Eric stares at Ally. Things have been going really well. He cannot think that she is still repulsed by him. Ally quickly sits up in bed and turns to Eric. She flips the bed lamp on and looks at Eric with all seriousness.“Why do you want to get married again?” Ally asks Eric. She realises that her rejection of his question may have come across as a little harsh. She softens her voice to try and sooth the sting of it.“I just thought that you deserved a wedding where you got to choose your own dress and make your own arrangements. I wanted to give you whatever you dreamt of as a little girl.” Eric tells Ally as he rests his hand on her knee.“Those things do not matter to me. I am married to the man I love.” The moment Ally said the words she realised that she never told Eric that she loved him before. They just kind of knew they were important to each other. Eric smiles broadly before kissing Ally softly.“Those are the sweetest words I have ever heard.” He tells her between kisses. “
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