Eric leaves the hospital to go to Bennet. Even though he got some good hours of sleep in, he still feels drained and tired. He does not really know how he needs to confront his father. Bennet rarely keeps a secret. He is upfront about how he could easily get rid of anyone. Most people just do as Bennet asks because his reputation precedes him. Everyone that does business with Bennet, knows that you do not mess with him. You do not make promises you cannot keep and should something happen to keep you from keeping your promise, it is best to disappear on your own before he gets to you. If you disappear on your own, you have a chance to survive. If he helps you, you will probably end up dead.During the drive to Bennet, Eric pulls his phone out and dials Max’s number.“Mr Symons. How can I help you?” Max answers the call. Eric is quiet for a second.“Is Megan still in your care?” Eric asks bluntly.“Yes, Sir.” Max answers promptly.“Does she have any contact with anyone?” Eric does not p
“The explosion in the oven?” Eric asks. He hates that his father is behind everything after all. He honestly hoped that his father would respect his marriage even if he didn’t have any respect for his own.“No, by then I already knew that Rick was useless. The only use Rick has to me now, is getting rid of unwanted evidence.” Bennet is smug. Eric wants to crawl over the table and choke him to death.“You used Alex.” Eric can hear the tiredness in his own voice. He feels defeated. Bennet is fairly untouchable. Eric cannot think of one single thing, other than status and money, that Bennet truly cares about.“Well, Alex is a mastermind in manipulation. He can get anyone to do anything that he wants them to do. Even if they do not really want to do it. He manipulates a situation in such a way that the person he targets falls right into a situation where they have no other choice but to comply.” Bennet chuckles softly. He is obviously very proud of Alex. Prouder than he has ever been of E
Eric gets into his car. He can still see the utter shock on Bennet’s face as his words sunk in.Eric didn’t know if the baby Ally was carrying was a boy or a girl but he thought that Bennet would be more bereaved if he thought that he was losing a link to carry on the bloodline. Girls do not carry the family name into the next generation, but boys do.Eric couldn’t care less if the baby was a boy or a girl. It was Ally’s and that was all Eric wanted. Bennet watches from the open front door as Eric drives out of the main gates. He knows that Eric would never set foot in this house again.Even though Bennet thinks of himself as an intelligent man, he stares at the open gates where Eric has now disappeared from view. He feels angry. Someone needs to take responsibility for his unborn grandson being in this situation.He pulls his phone from his pocket.“That woman is pregnant with my grandson. You better make damn sure she doesn’t die.” Bennet barks into the receiver as soon as Alex answ
“Expecting someone else?” Eric asks Max. Keeping an eye on his hand holding his pistol at his side. Max sees where Eric’s eyes are focussed and puts his pistol away.“Wasn’t expecting anyone at all, to be honest.” Max answers with the same disinterested tone Eric used when talking to him. Eric raises an eyebrow. Max has some nerve, but then again, he works for Ally, not him. Eric nods and Max steps back to open the door completely for Eric to come into the apartment.“What brings you here?” Max asks Eric as he walks past him to stand next to his wife. She will always be his main priority, even if he knows she is willing and able enough to look after herself.“I want to speak to Megan. I have done my rounds everywhere else. Interesting facts pop up everywhere and all fingers point to Megan.” Eric tells Max, shifting his gaze between Max and his wife.“May I ask?” Max asks Eric. Eric knows that Max is not being arrogant. He cares deeply about Ally and Eric can respect that. He is not be
Eric slips the note Megan wrote into his pocket and nods at Max. He nods in Ruth’s direction also and then turns to leave. He exits the apartment and heads straight to his car. Max is right. If he is here when the authorities arrive, he will need to stay behind and answer hours of questions. He needs to find Alex in an effort to save Ally and the baby.He got absolutely nowhere coming here. He doesn’t care much for Megan. He never really liked her and he most certainly hated the way she did business. Eric only disliked her before he fell in love with Ally. After that, he hated Megan. He cannot handle anything that upsets or hurts Ally.Eric gets into his car and pulls away, driving back to the city.Hours later when he arrives in the city, he drives directly to his restaurant. He enters the underground parking and pulls into the spot where only he is allowed to park. Eric gets out of his car and walks to the elevator.There are two elevators in the underground parking area. The one el
Eric gets out of the car and wait for Craig to do the same. Craig locks the doors and starts walking towards an elevator. The underground parking area is very dark and Eric has to keep a close eye on Craig to see where he is going. Craig walks straight to what looks like a solid wall from what Eric can make out. The closer they get to the wall; Eric can barely make out a steel frame. Craig pushes a button that lights up very dimly.Eric can hear the elevator doors open but he cannot see much. This must be why this parking area goes fairly undetected. It is too dark to really do anything down here. Eric walks into the elevator behind Craig and stands to one side until he can feel the steel railing behind him. The doors close and an overhead light up very dimly.As the elevator ascends, the light in the elevator roof increases its brightness very slowly. Eric appreciates this effort for his eyes to gradually adjust to light again. When the elevator reaches the top floor, the light is li
“What did you find?” Gareth asks. Ignoring the statement from the young man.“There were a lot of calls to and from this number.” The young man tells Gareth, pointing to a number on the screen. “I have allocated this number to Alex.” He says pointing to yet another screen where the number tracks to a location only Alex would be able to access.Gareth stands behind the young man with his arms crossed over his chest. He is slightly taller than Eric and his whole persona here in this facility makes Eric feel small in comparison to him. In here, it doesn’t feel as if Gareth is working for Eric. In here, it feels as if Gareth is doing Eric a great favour. Eric feels grateful towards him all the same. He never knew how Gareth could get his hands on information so quickly, now he knows.“This number I located to Bennet.” The young man tells Gareth, again pointing to a number on one screen and then indicating towards the information showing on the other screen. “The location of this phone has
Eric pulls his buzzing phone out of his pocket. It is a call from the mansion.“Yes?” he answers coldly.“Sir, it is Agatha. Your father has fallen ill. He has been admitted to hospital.” Agatha states in her cold professional manner. Eric knows instinctively that Bennet would now be in the same hospital as where Ally is admitted.“Thank you.” Eric says before ending the call. He is not really interested in why Bennet has fallen ill. He cannot really remember his father ever being admitted to hospital. It is not something that has ever happened before. His father was always too stubborn to go to hospital for whatever the reason may be. He usually had a doctor on call that would attend to him at home.“I have to go check on Ally. Please keep me updated.” Eric says and turns towards the elevator. Craig is next to him in seconds to escort him out of the building.“We tracked Alex number. He is currently on the move. We will let you know as soon as we got hold of him.” Gareth tells Eric a
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