The Baker, Part 2: Sous Chef

Chapter 21

Everything was coming together perfectly! It was like a dream! Construction on the restaurant was almost done, all they needed was the electricity and the inspection. The inspector will come and test everything out from the chairs, to the light switches, to the stoves.

Of course, they will easily pass.

The restaurant was filled with gorgeous wooden tables and booths, going into three different rooms. The bakery was another room, but it was a bar top. People can order restaurant food and take it to go, or order baked goods and eat it at the bar top.

Cassie also had them put in display shelves all throughout the bakery, so people can take home a bag of ground coffee or homemade chocolate dipped almonds and strawberries. She even wants to set out jars of the sauce she puts on the pasta.

For the past few days, she's been looking into hiring people. It's been interview after interview because everyone wants to work at Benedict Cumberbatch's wife's restaurant. Some were qualified, some were over qualified and others were not qualified at all.

She did, however, bring over the staff from the Cutie Cakes and brought them over here. She gave them the choice to work in the bakery or the restaurant. Most of them chose the bakery.

By the end of the week, she had a full staff and a restaurant that was ready to be inspected. By the beginning of next month, after everyone trains at their position, the place will be open and ready to go.

When she came home after a long day of making sure things were all prepped for the inspection, she got into comfy clothes and went into the kitchen, where Ben was cooking dinner and Liam was sitting in his high chair next to him.

"Hello, boys," she happily greeted. Ben looked over at her and said, "Hey, sweetheart." He gave her a kiss on the cheek, then skeptically watched how she picked Liam up and showered him in kisses. "What's wrong?" She asked when she saw Ben's look.

He shook his head and went back to cooking. Truth was, he couldn't stand that she was still on those pills. He also couldn't stand that she needed them to be able to manage her own son. Yes, she's been more hands on lately with getting up in the middle of the night when he cries and changing diapers...but Ben wishes it wasn't because of the pills.

"How's the restaurant?" He asked, attempting to get his mind off the consequences of her stopping taking the pills. She leaned against the counter with Liam in her arms and said, "It's great! Everything looks so good! Once the inspection is done, you should stop by."

He hummed, then dished out dinner on to their plates. They sat at the table and he watched as Cassie expertly fed Liam, while feeding herself. She's gotten awfully good at that, especially since breastfeeding doesn't hurt her so much anymore.

Once dinner was done, she cleaned up the dishes, while Ben changed Liam's diaper. "Uh oh, who's got your nose?" Ben asked as he plucked at Liam's nose and held up a fist. Liam laughed and gurgled, as he reached up to his daddy.

"What, do I have it? Hm...let's see if it fits on you." Ben plucked at Liam's nose again, then playfully gasped and said, "Yay! Liam's got his nose back!" Liam continued to laugh. Ben nuzzled his face into Liam's, then kissed his cheek.

After having tiny hands squeeze his nose and mouth, Ben picked up his son from the changing table and said, "Alright, goofy, I think it's time for bed." He set him down in his crib, then ran his hand over his soft head.

"I love you, beautiful boy," he said. He kissed his head, then walked out of the room and into his and Cassie's bedroom. Going into the bathroom, he opened the medicine cabinet and took out some stuff for his headache.

As he put the bottle back, his hand hovered over Cassie's anti-depressants. He peaked his head out of the bathroom, then shut the door and locked it. Very quickly, he poured the pills into his hand and counted them.

There were sixteen the last time he counted, which was last week. This week...there's fifteen. That didn't make any sense. She's supposed to be low, calling in for a new prescription. Has she only been taking one a week? He asked himself.

He started checking the pills last week because that's when she started acting strange. He told himself he was just kidding himself, but counted her pills anyways. He told himself he'd count them the next week, just to find out that he was right.

She's stopped taking them. I knew it. I should have seen it sooner. In a fit of rage, Ben threw the empty bottle at the wall, then opened the door and marched downstairs. Cassie was just getting to drying the dishes, when he threw fifteen pills on the counter next to her.

She jumped and nearly dropped the pot she was drying. "You stopped taking them!" He shouted. "Are you trying to make yourself worse?!" He saw the look of guilt and shame in her eyes and he knew it was true.

He closed his eyes and let out a huge sigh. "Goddammit, Cassie," he grumbled, as he ran his hand over his face. "Are you a fucking idiot?" He angrily asked. "Do you know what happens when you stop taking those?"

She started to back away from him, but he continued, "You get even worse! You have to ease yourself off, not just stop whenever you want!" He paced around the kitchen, while never taking his eyes off of her.

She had tears in her eyes and started to stutter, "I-I thought I wa-was get-getting better. I'm sorry." He shook his head and huffed out a laugh. "I knew something was happening, I knew you were changing," he said.

He pointed to the pills on the counter and sternly said, "You start taking these again. If you don't...I'll put you somewhere where they will make you take them." After that he stormed away and back into the bedroom.

**

One week after the next, Ben checked her pills. He counted down from fifteen, all the way back to twenty-eight when she got a re-fill. Only problem was, she wasn't getting better. She seemed a lot more down lately and was back to neglecting Liam.

Her depression got so bad that Ben had to cancel meetings for his next project because he couldn't leave her alone. Jess refused to help and his parents were on a holiday. Adam was dealing with Kate, who was just getting into her second trimester, so that wasn't possible either.

So, he kept cancelling and cancelling, until he felt she could be at home alone. Little did he know that that would prove to be the greatest mistake and the biggest regret of his entire life. She had been completely fine and acting normal for the past week.

He figured the pills had kicked in again.

When he drove into the driveway, he could hear Liam's cries and Hunter's frantic barks over the sound of his motorcycle. As quickly as he could, he dropped his helmet and ran inside the house. "Cassie?" He called.

He followed the sounds of Liam and Hunter upstairs. He first went into Liam's room and went to pick him up...but saw a note in his wife's writing right next to their son. He picked it up and read it.

I know you must think I'm a disappointment. I'm sorry you had to meet me in that coffee shop. You and Liam will be better off without me. I will always love you. -Cassie

Ben's heart stopped. She left him. She actually left him. "C...Cass...Cassie!" He bolted out of Liam's room and into their's. He looked around and opened the drawers, but saw her clothes. He went to the closet. They were there, too.

It wasn't until Hunter's barks started registering in his head that he looked towards the bathroom. Hunter was scratching at the closed bathroom door, whining, barking, growing. Ben walked over to the door and put his hand on the handle.

Very carefully, he twisted it and pushed the door open.