Eloise
“So what? You’re just going to walk away from my life like we hadn’t spent the last two years as married couples?” “Yes.” His voice plain like this was just some mere question. “Is this what you want? A Divorce?” I asked. “Yes.” “And what about last night?” I flung my hands in the air, my eyes staring at my Adonis of a husband as he knotted his tie. “Eloise.” He paused, his eyes taking me in. “That was just a mere night Elle, you couldn’t have counted it as anything serious, could you?” The causality in his voice was torn to my flesh, I hated it. I looked at him, so many words to say but it felt like my tongue was caught. He nodded negatively, “you did? It was just a night Elle, you didn’t have to savor it.” “I did Savor it, it was my first time and our first time as married couples in two years of being married. How could you think I would take it as a joke?” I asked but was answered with his silence. What did I expect from an emotionally unavailable, self absorbed man like Edward Bassett? He stopped what he was doing and looked me straight in the eyes, as he slowly made his way towards me. He reached where I was standing and stared at him. “You knew a day like this would come, Elle.” He smiled at me and I wondered why. He was divorcing me and he was smiling like there was something fun going on. He gently grabbed my face and I looked him in the eye, he was serious. “Then why did you do it?” I pressed my lips together trying to hold back the tears. “Do what?” He asked and I realized he was still holding me so I pushed him away from me. “All of the time we spent together lately, the date nights, the movies, how you made me feel, we had sex, Edward. Did that not mean anything to you?” He nodded negatively, a smile on his face. “No, Eloise. I was just trying to fulfill my duty as your husband before divorcing you. You knew this day would come. We signed a contract.” “So all of that was to fulfill your duty?” I wiped my eyes and watched as he nodded without any remorse. I was a fool to think that he loved me. I was so stupid to think that things could finally work out and we would be a happy couple. “These are the papers, sign them and I promise to keep to my ends of the bargain and give you your payment.” “I do not want any stupid payment, I want you,” I yelled. “I’ll head downstairs, our guests are waiting for us. It’s the last day of us being a married couple. We should enjoy it. I’ll be waiting for you downstairs.” He patted me on my shoulder, still smiling as he walked out. I couldn’t believe what had just happened. I picked the papers up from the bed and read them line after line, word after word. He really wanted things done with me. He was serious about it. I hadn’t expected this, this wasn’t what I thought would happen today of all days which happened to be our second anniversary. Yes, the only reason why Edward Bassett, who was my boss two years ago, had asked me to marry him was because he needed to save his father’s legacy, it was just a contract and although our marriage kicked off roughly, things were slowly looking better. Not until months ago, Edward hadn’t had my time or cared that he had a wife, he’d been too carried away by work and I barely saw him but then he changed, always wanting to be sure that I was okay, being around me and trying his best to make time for me. For the first time yesterday, we had sex to celebrate our two years of being married, I could remember every stroke of his hard cock against my wet pussy. The way he made me feel, that couldn’t have been fake, that couldn't have meant anything to him? His little whispers of nothing. The way he clung to my skin. How could he? I looked at the papers again, my name boldly written on them. Eloise Vanessa Bassett. Was this real? No, it couldn’t. The sound of soft music from our anniversary party played gently, making me feel weird about everything. Something was wrong somewhere, he had been the one to coax me into having an anniversary party, he had been the one to make all of the plans, he told me he had something special to tell me, he couldn’t be the divorce, he sounded too happy for it to be a divorce. I needed to see him, if he needed space, then I would give him space, but he needed to tell me what was wrong. I picked myself up from the chair and stormed out of the room. I reached the main room where the party was being held. Businessmen roaming around, meeting up with other people of their caliber while my eyes ransacked the entire room for my husband. I had searched for a few minutes and hadn’t seen him. As a maid passed by me, I stopped her and asked for the whereabouts of my husband. “Have you seen my husband?” I asked, my hopes high that talking to him could solve things. “I saw him go to the guest room. Mrs Bassett.” “Okay, thank you.” I gave a fake smile and immediately headed for the stairs but as I walked by I was stopped by an older lady who looked so stunning and also looked like she had a million things to say. “Darling, congratulations on your anniversary. I wish you guys many happy years as a beautiful couple.” I smiled. That would only work if I could talk to my husband right now. “Thank you, I smiled.” “And it looks like there’s a little one coming soon.” She looked at my tummy and I smiled. Fuck I wanted to be out of here immediately. The woman, who I remember her name to be Mrs Huston, is a family friend and I didn’t want to be rude to her but I had to see my husband before he made a mistake that could ruin both of us. “Thank you so much. If you could please excuse me I have something urgent to attend to, I promise, I will be back soon.” She smiled at me and patted my hand warmly. “Sure there.” I nodded and gave one last fake smile before climbing up the stairs and heading to the guest room. I reached the guest room and without wasting a second, I pushed the door open, barging into the room. “Edwa….” I gasped at the sight in front of me, my jaw dropping, my legs suddenly forgetting how to stand and every bone in my body letting go of me. The sounds I heard were horrible and I felt faint.Sandra’s povThe kitchen’s heat hit me like a physical wall, a familiar blanket of sizzling fats, searing meat, and shouting. It usually felt like home, but it didn’t feel that way anymore. Now it felt like a crime scene, and I was in the middle of it. Gosh, I felt so stupid for allowing myself to be used by that bitch Charlotte. I looked across the large kitchen and saw her—Eloise. She looked… powerful and in control—everything I was about to undermine.‘Just get another major crime from Charlotte,’ I told myself, the words from my own internal point of view feeling foreign like it wasn’t me. ‘Then you give Edward everything. Then you’re the hero. Not the villain.’I moved through the organized chaos on autopilot, grabbing a tasting spoon, checking a sauce. My hands were shaking. Charlotte’s voice was a looped recording in my head. ’A little salt in the meals. It’s not exactly rocket science.’The meal was right there. In a metal pot, pale and perfect. Eloise’s signature dish. One d
Edward’s povI shook my head. “What about the other cameras?” I jerked out a last hope. “The one at the other end of that hall? The camera at the staff entrance? There’s no way they could’ve gotten all of them.”Dave shook his head as he nodded. “That’s what else is messed up. The camera at the end of that hall has been on repeat freeze for over a week, but we’re too short-staffed to do anything. Same with the one in here so I can see who wiped it out.”“Why didn’t you tell me about the cameras?” Now I was losing my mind.“I complained to the board but they said no one was stealing from a hotel.”Now I was about to lose it.“Convenient,” Eloise whispered. I turned to her. “Don’t beat yourself about this. The person who did this will be caught. Okay? We’ll find them.”Dave nodded in his seat like I was talking to him, looking like he wished he could disappear. “I’ll, uh… I’ll keep trying here a bit longer. Maybe see if there’s any additional worklogs, see if they might’ve overlooked a
Edward’s povShe sighed and looked away from me. “It’s just business, Edward. People get jealous. They want what you have. It’s not exactly an original concept.”Her calm was maddening. Couldn’t she see this wasn’t some stupid case of jealousy? “That’s not the point, Eloise. It was all ready to go. It’s so convenient how the board called a meeting right after your show and accused you of this madness. We should just go to security.” I took another few steps before stopping in front of her and grabbing her arm, hard enough for her to have no choice but to follow me. “Please,” I said quietly. “Please, Eloise, let’s just go back and see what happened after that part of you being in the kitchen ended. Outside the kitchen, there must be some footage. It will show us who entered there and caused that chaos.”Finally, she looked up at me, an expression in her eyes like anguish. It took a while before she nodded.“Okay,” she said flatly.I smiled and led the way as we walked out of the room
Edward’s povEvery head turned to me. Twelve of them. The old boards, the vultures, sitting around the polished mahogany coffin of a table. Carlson was half out of his chair, his long index finger thrust across the polished wood as if he were yelling at someone. And at the far end, sitting alone on her side as though she occupied a defendant’s bench was Eloise. Her face was white against her black hair; her shoulders squared, her hands clutched together and clasped so tight they whitened at the knuckles.Nobody moved for a second. It was guilt and shock captured perfectly in time.Carlson was the first to get his shit together, fixing his tie. “Edward. You’re here early. Well, it’s just an… an internal thing.”“What the hell is this?” I cut him off, my voice low but it seemed to vibrate through the whole room. I didn’t move from the doorway. “What is this nonsense? A meeting about a major incident in my company and I wasn’t invited?”Old man Gable cleared his throat, a dry, rattling
Sandra’s pov“This… this whatever you think this is, or was… You need to stop it. It’s not good for the kitchen. It’s not good for the team.”Even all the insults that Charlotte had thrown my way were nothing when compared to what she was doing to me right now. I felt hurt.“So you should probably go,” she said, her voice firm again, back to being Chef. “We can talk about whatever this is tomorrow. And one more thing, keep things professional next time. Please don’t stalk me to my house. It’s creepy.”I nodded, because what else could I do? Argue with her? Plead? Show her how true it was? Just more unprofessionalism. Just another sign of how sick I was.“Okay,” I said, tasting that word. “Okay. I’ll… see you then.”I turned to the exit and fumbled for the door handle, my eyes were blurry. I didn’t look back. I couldn’t. I pulled the door open and walked out into a sterile hall lit in the cool night air. The door clicked softly behind me. I slowly walked out of the building and went
Sandra’s povI drove that night to Eloise’s apartment as I needed to talk to her.I needed to tell her what that bitch Charlotte was planning. At least she would listen to me. The problem was that Eloise had always wanted to keep her place of residence secret but I had found the address and now I was going to her place.I had a huge headache thinking of the conversation I would have with her but I kept my cool.I parked in the street and got out as I admired how calm this place was. It must have cost a fortune to live in a place like this but she was a high-grade chef. She could afford it.My walk from the car to the apartment and then through the halls was horrifying as all I could think about was the way I would have to face her yelling at me. Yet I tried to calm myself that maybe she would forgive me after seeing all that Charlotte had done to her.I pushed the doorbell, heard the dull chime echo inside. For a second, nothing. Then the sound from a TV died and there were footsteps