Eric walks up and down in front of the hospital entrance. He pulls his hands through his hair. What is he going to do if something horrible happened to Ally. Why else would the nurse bring her things to him in a clear plastic bag. It feels so cold and final. He stares at the stars above with his hands in his pockets. This has to be the worst night of his life. Even being blinded didn’t feel this terrible.“Mr Symons.” One of the hospital staff calls out to him from the hospital door.Eric turns his attention to the man without moving his feet. He looks at him, waiting for him to say more. The man looks worried and uncomfortable. Eric knows that he can seem unapproachable when he is stressed or angry.“Yes?” Eric can barely get the word out.“The doctor is ready to speak to you.” The man tells Eric. It looks like he is waiting for a backlash. Eric has no energy to give the man what he is expecting. It feels as if the life is drained out of him. He keeps his hands in his pockets and tur
Eric is visibly upset when the doctor comes back into the room. He stands up to greet him.“We have received the toxicology reports. We are treating her accordingly. With poisoning, there is always a chance of kidney failure. We are monitoring her and the baby closely.” The doctor has decided that it is best to give Eric the most information as soon as possible. Everyone in the hospital feels a little intimidated by Eric. They know the family connection he has to Bennet and Bennet has made quite a name for himself in this city. Bennet is known to be a ruthless man who would not mind taking out anyone to get what he wanted. Eric used to think that his father was a mighty man, but now he does not idolize him at all. Today, his biggest fear is that he would become like his father. Eric wishes that he had known sooner to be able to protect his mother.“Thank you. May I see my wife?” Eric asks the doctor, forcing his voice to remain calm. His temper is flaring but he suppresses it as best
Eric drives up to the house and gets out of his car. He walks purposefully toward the front door and knocks loudly on it. It takes Megan a minute to open the door. Eric pushes past her before she could slam the door in his face. Megan looks terrified and stutters, trying to tell Eric that he shouldn’t be there. Eric has never been one to listen to other people’s rules. He makes his own rules.He walks into Megan’s house and stands in the middle of her living room. He looks around at the furnishings and gathers that the person who bought the house also paid for the furnishings. Furthermore, is there no way that Megan can afford to maintain this size of mansion. The person paying for everything must be looking after her as well. Too bad, that person did not think of assigning any security to Megan. She must not mean too much to them after all.“You can tell me of your own accord or I can pull the information from you. I promise you; the second option will be painful.” Eric bites out. Th
“Alex!” Megan yells out. “It was Alex.” Megan starts to cry. She has no idea if Max will really keep her safe, but she knows for a fact that if Alex knows that she has told Eric who her benefactor is, she will be dead in the next week. “Rick’s brother?” Eric is suddenly calm and surprised. He is grateful that his father is not the one who arranged for Ally to be poisoned but he is utterly shocked that Alex is the one responsible for all the drama they had to endure during the last two years. “Yes. That is him.” Megan says between sobs. “But I do not think that he wanted to poison Ally. I honestly think he wanted to poison Rick.” Eric can understand this. Rick and Alex never had a lot of time for each other. Alex was ten years younger than Rick and he felt that Rick took up too much time from their parents. Rick was always getting into trouble and his parents always had to find a way to get him out of a mess. At one stage they just stopped trying and Rick became Bennet’s responsibili
After Gareth’s team searched and cleaned out the house of all things electronic, Eric walks into the office to see what else could give him clues as to why Alex would have a vendetta against Ally. The office is a complete mess. There are papers strewn everywhere and some of the sheets of paper is torn in half or more pieces.Eric pics up a piece of paper that seems to show a partial address. He holds the piece of paper in his hand and reads the hand written note on it. An anxious feeling rises in his chest. The address on the paper seems to be the same address as the warehouse where Bennet sent Eric to on a business trip. Eric particularly remembers how he struggled to find the warehouse, because it is half hidden in a dessert. Eric had to take a helicopter to the premises and even when he got there, it was difficult to gain access to the warehouse. The security was above standard and also a key signature of how Bennet did business.Eric cannot think of one single venture that Bennet
Eric pulls up to Rick’s house. He sees Rick standing outside, waiting for him. Eric cannot help but wonder who it is that keeps informing others that he is on his way to them. Eric gets out of the car slowly. He closes the door softly and walks around the car to where Rick is standing.Rick is looking at Eric every single moment, from when he entered the main gate, to where he comes to stand in front of Rick, at the base of the outside steps leading to his front door. Rick is standing with his hands in his pockets. He has a look of defeat and regret on his face. Eric feels hatred for this man rising in his chest. He is not quite sure how Rick is connected to everything that feels like it’s ruining his life right now, but he knows that he is connected and that is enough to make Eric hate him more than he did before.“I see that you have been expecting me. Would you like to just get into it? I cannot say that I am in the mood to really have a long chat with you.” Eric tells Rick with a
Rick stands up and pours himself another drink. If he is not going to survive this day, he may as well numb his feelings. He takes a sealed bottle out of the bottom cabinet. It is a good year and the bottle is insanely expensive. Rick kept it aside for one day when Eric and him could be good friends again. Today, he knows it will never happen. He walks to Eric and hands him the bottle. “It’s sealed. You can trust it.” Rick says as he takes the glass out of Eric’s hand and tosses the alcohol inside it into a pot plant. Rick smiles and shakes his head slightly. He used to really love making plants grow and taking care of his garden. It was somehow therapy to know that he could help something live after he was involved in taking someone’s life. Knowing what he knows now, it doesn’t matter if his plants die with him today. He hands Eric a clean glass and goes to take his seat again. “Bennet made sure that I survive the interrogation and that I had a squeaky-clean record after the dust s
“I was asked to get rid of a problem. When I showed up, I was told that the problem was a person. I couldn’t do it. I begged Bennet for other instructions. He told me it was this person or myself.” Rick has the decency to look ashamed. Eric shakes his head. He cannot bare looking at Rick anymore. He was as bad as Bennet was. Doing all of Bennet’s dirty work. “Where is Alex?” Eric asks bluntly. “That, I cannot tell you. Not because I feel like protecting him. I just simply do not know where he is.” Rick tells Eric, he is developing the same indifference as Eric has. “See, the thing is, when I called Alex to help me, he didn’t tell me what he wanted in return. It turned out that Alex have always been envious of our friendship and after the accident, he grew envious of how your father treated me like a son.” Rick sighs. “If only he knew, Bennet didn’t treat me like a son, he treated me like a servant. He spoke to me as he did to the help. He paid me well and he kept me busy. He made s
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