THE CAFE OF DOUBLE LIVES...

Chapter 11

While the rest of the gang were searching inside the building, it never crossed their minds to search outside because if they did, they would have found what they were looking for.

Gilbert decided it was best to leave the building since it was too noisy to have a decent conversation. Now standing outside, he was still stumped. 'Gott, this wasn't what I was expecting.'

Standing infront of him, was a gorgeous creature in a yellow dress. One of the reasons why Gilbert made the deal about meeting Matthew's sister was because he had a suspicion that Matthew was Matilda. He had no other way to prove it other than making the challenge where Matthew didn't have to replace that cellphone if he meets Matilda at the event. Never-in-a-million-years did he think it would actually happen. 'Either Matthew has, like Antonio says, cojones grande to show up at a crowded show in a dress or Matilda really is his sister. Maybe I should have said both Matthew and Matilda should be there at the same time... Che, now I can't retract anything back since I'm a man of my word.'

Matthew on the other hand felt absolutely ridiculous.

When he had asked Elizabeta for an outfit, not only did she give him a dress, she also gave him open-toed-stilettos. 'Even though she called them 'get-laid-shoes', I still decided to wear them.' He realized at the event, Elizabeta wasn't joking when she gave those shoes that name: the amount of the attention he got at the event was overwhelming. It felt different than when he was at the cafe, 'Maybe the reason why I didn't find it daunting to be in a dress at the cafe was because I had the others with me.'

Earlier in the evening –when he approached Gilbert who was busy at the bar– Matthew had never seen him looking so bowled over. 'He really wasn't expecting 'Matilda' to come, eh.'

Back when Gilbert made the challenge at the salon, even without Lovino's insistence, Matthew had already made up his mind to come here- though he was a timid person, he never shied away from challenges. Maybe it was because of this attitude, that he was still good at hockey.

Deciding to tease Gilbert, Matthew inquired in a feminine tone, "Is something the matter? You normally aren't this quiet compared to when you're at the cafe."

Gilbert opened and closed his mouth before saying, "You look beautiful, so I was tongue-tied".

Matthew thought, 'Is that the best you can come with?' and proceeded to show a skeptical face.

The crimson-eyed man tried to look convincing by stating, "Well, it's true. Most of the other guys inside whispered to me asking who this Elizabeth Taylor look-alike was." Surprised, Matthew asked why they made such comments. Gilbert replied, "It's cause like Taylor in her youthful days, you're a hottie with jet-black hair and pretty violet eyes."

Hearing those compliments, Matthew blushed but when he heard him saying, "Though, I prefer blond hair with violet eyes,"

Matthew wanted to laugh out loud because Gilbert was giving him a rather particular look. 'That's so cute! Does he actually think with that statement, I'll remove my wig and say I've blond hair?'

The violet-eyed man tried his best to appear calm without snickering but it was hard to maintain it because they both were playing the 'I-know-that-you-know-that-I-know' game.

However Gilbert was on the losing side since he couldn't prove Matilda is Matthew and it seemed to drive him nuts to resort to saying statements like that.

Meanwhile back inside the building, the gang decided to give up their search and informed Natalia & Toris about it. Instead of joining the crowd like the couple did: Lovino, Arthur, Yao, Elizabeta and Roderich (who recently joined them in their search) hanged around at the far end.

Yao sighed sadly, "Well, atleast we gave it our all in trying to find them, aru."

Elizabeta, Roderich and Arthur asked in unison, "Yao, are you going to get all sentimental again?"

When Lovino inquired what they meant, Arthur answered, "When Toris left, Feliks wasn't the only one who was depressed. Though Yao acts motherly-at-times, when Toris announced he was leaving with Natalia, Yao looked like a father who was giving his daughter away."

The Chinese senior gave the stink eye for those comments. "Don't tell me you didn't feel sad when Toris decided to leave."

Arthur hummed while replying, "I did but when I saw how happy Toris was with Natalia, I just wished him the best. I mean, look at them: he's positively radiant while she doesn't look as psychotic as she normally does."

They all turned to watch the crowd and sure enough, Toris did look like he was in seventh-heaven dancing close to Natalia while she didn't look like she was going murder anyone anytime soon.

Elizabeta in Roderich's arms, gave her opinion, "I do understand where Yao is coming from. To me, it feels everyone who at the cafe is like my extended family- hence when someone leaves, a part of me leaves with them..."

Lovino listening to all the comments, then asked, "So, Feliks being sad wasn't the only reason you guys were searching for Matthew? You all didn't want another 'family member' to leave?" He got a nod from them in response.

After awhile Yao turned to Lovino. "We would react the same way if we knew you were leaving too. I know this is a little late to say, but welcome to our family, aru."

As the others were giving him the same wishes, Roberto's words echoed in Lovino's mind, 'You never have to feel like you're alone because there are others around who you can consider family as well.'

Getting those wishes, Lovino, for the first time in days, actually didn't feel alone but he couldn't bask in that feeling for long since he felt Arthur squeezing his palm.

When Lovino was about to ask what was wrong, he saw him staring with a serious expression at the crowd. Turning to see at what Arthur was looking at, he saw Francis and Antonio apparently searching for someone. It was obvious to him who they were looking for, so, he was thankful when the Brit immediately stood infront of him- it seemed like Arthur was shielding Lovino from them.

Francis canvasing the crowd, spotted Arthur with Lovino and frowned. 'He says he isn't protective about that redhead but there he is, proving otherwise. If Tonio sees this, he'll erupt.' He had pretty much earlier stopped a confrontation from happening between his best-friend & his former lover and he wanted to make sure it stayed that way. So, pointing to a completely different location, he said, "Mon ami, I just spotted your cherie. Let's go," and took the oblivious Antonio in that direction.

Seeing them go away, Lovino whispered "Do you think he saw us?" Arthur shrugged his shoulders but before he could respond, Yao shrieked.

"Aiyaa, Ivan has just met up with Toris and Natalia. I bet you ten-to-nothing she's telling her Bratishka that I'm here." Lovino turned to look at where the couple were- he saw Ivan was in conversation with his sister, who later started scanning the crowd. Yao stated, "I don't know about you guys, but this is my cue to leave, aru"

"We should go too before those dolts reach here." Arthur looked at Lovino who agreed to leave. Roderich & Elizabeta felt they had nothing to do either, so they joined the other three.

After Roderich, Elizabeta & Arthur had put on their coats and got their stuff, they all proceeded to leave the building but before they could walk away from the site, Elizabeta became pale, "Istenem, that's Matthew standing there near the lamp-post."

Apparently her whisper was loud enough to be heard because the boys exclaimed, "WHAT!" and looked in the direction that Elizabeta pointed: they were stunned to see Matthew wearing the yellow-summer-dress which she mentioned before. It looked like he was still in conversation with Gilbert.

The Italian said in a frustrated tone, "So, they were standing outside the entire time while we were f*cking searching inside!"

Roderich arranged the glasses on his face, "Lovino, please refrain from stating the obvious.. It's just that much more depressing when it's said out loud."

Yao slightly covering his mouth with his palm. "Ah, the thought of them being out here never occurred to me, aru."

While Lovino's face was turning red with more frustration, Arthur watched Matthew & Gilbert and then stated, "Well, I guess this means Matthew is leaving for real."

Roderich also observing the scene, questioned, "Is it just me or does Gilbert look like he's at a crossroads of his life?" They all decided to intensively watch the silver-haired man and realized Roderich's observation was right: Gilbert did look like he was facing some sort of crisis.

Elizabeta asked, "What do you suppose they are discussing about?"

Arthur replied after giving a prolonged intense look, "Whatever it is, I think we're going to find out soon."

Lovino and the others saw Matthew had noticed the gang standing a few metres away from them. It looked like he excused himself from Gilbert indicating he would be back before approaching the others.

Maybe it was because of the stilettos but as Matthew walked towards them, he did it in a tantalizing yet stylish manner.

When he was almost in listening distance, they all started clapping and acting like judges at a Beauty Talent show with Arthur declaring, "I give you a 9 for that cat-walk," joined by Lovino saying, "I give a 9 and a half: you're suited to do a Milan Fashion show," followed by Elizabeta stating, "I give you a 10 for being able to walk like that with my stilettos on," and completed by Roderich who praised, "I've to admit, that was one of most elegant walks I've seen so far."

Matthew curtsied in jest. "Well, one learns these sort of things while working at the cafe."

Yao looked doleful after hearing that. "But you'll be leaving it, correct?"

Matthew asked, "What makes you think I'll doing that, eh?" Yao revealed everything that Lovino had said. The violet-eyed man inquired, "Is that the reason why you and Lovino are in your cafe-avatar? You guys left the store immediately because you thought I was going to quit?"

When he saw no-one was giving an answer, Matthew questioned, "Would you all feel sad if that happens?" In response to that question, the others gave their replies saying they will stand by with whatever decision he made but Matthew could see the heavy-heartedness on their faces.

Wearing a small smile, Matthew revealed, "I'm not leaving the cafe. Even after replacing Gilbert's cellphone, I won't leave anytime soon since the pay is good."

They all were surprised by that revelation. Lovino was the first to speak, "Then why did you come to the event as Matilda if you weren't going to leave in the first place?"

"When Gilbert made the deal, I had a feeling he knew I might be Matilda- otherwise why would he make such an offer while being so smug at the same time. Therefore I decided to show up here to throw Gilbert off which worked." Matthew's statement was true cause when they all turned to look at Gilbert, they saw him in deep thought with a puzzled expression on his face- he seemed genuinely distressed.

Arthur said, "I've never seen him looking like that... So, posing as Matilda was the only reason why you came here, right?"

Matthew chuckled slightly. "Well, you know with Gil, it's like he has this God-complex and feels he's always right. I'm sure if he knew I was Matilda, he would go on about how awesome he was that he figured it out correctly: for that reason, I wanted to rise up to his challenge and mess him up a little in the process." Listening to Matthew, they all realized he had a bit of a passive-aggressive trait.

Looking at them, Matthew now had a sad look. "I'm sure you all must have gone through a lot looking for me. I must have inconvenienced you guys just because I decided to follow one of my whims, and I apologize for that."

Seeing Matthew's unhappy expression, Elizabeta put her hand on his face, "Matt, if this situation was rewound to the very beginning, we wouldn't change a thing- we would still come looking for you. That's how much you mean to us. Right, guys?"

The entire group affirmed her declaration. The violet-eyed man smiled in return, saying his thanks.

After talking for awhile, Matthew informed he needed to clear some stuff with Gilbert. The others wished him luck (in messing Gilbert's head more since they felt he deserved it for his cocky attitude) and said they would wait for him.

Matthew went to where Gilbert was and decided to become bolder by asking, "Gilbert, why did you tell Matthew that he didn't need to replace the cellphone if I showed up at the event?"

Gilbert put his hands into his leather-jacket pockets and responded while becoming a little shifty-eyed, "O-oh, I just felt he didn't need to replace it anymore. So, I later decided if Matthew fulfilled some sort of condition that I had put forward, then everything would be sorted out." Titling his head to the other, he continued in a charming manner, "Besides, I really don't need the cellphone anymore since technology is overrated, right?"

Listening to Gilbert, Matthew was unable to believe what he was hearing, 'Technology is overrated? Says the person who wants to have his awesome wedding in outer-space!' and smiled, 'He's lying through his teeth but because he does it with such boyish-charm, it's easy to forgive him.'

The violet-eyed man then said, "I've a message from Matthew– he'll replace your cellphone because he doesn't want to feel indebt to anyone."

Gilbert stared at the other for a few minutes and later nodded but before Matthew could leave, he inquired, "By the way, did you enjoy my awesome performance tonight?"

Matthew responded, "I did but I've a question to ask- what's the name of the song you sang?" When Gilbert replied '5 Marz', he was confused because he knew a bit of German, and from the lyrics that was sung, it felt the song was about a unstable relationship with a lover. "5 Marz as in 5th of March? Does it have any meaning?"

Scratching his head, the crimson-eyed man said, "Actually, I've no idea why that song was called as such."

Matthew, feeling puzzled, asked, "Then why did you choose that song?"

"5th of March signifies something for Matthew and me." Gilbert answered with complete ambiguity

'It does? Did a phenomenon happen on that day which I don't know about.' When Matthew asked what it was, Gilbert smirked saying it was a secret to which he almost groaned. 'Maple, is this another game that we're going to play? Fine, bring it.' They both said their goodbyes before Matthew went and joined the rest of the gang.

After coming aback from the cafe (Lovino had to change clothes cause he wouldn't dare to go as 'Lovina' to the dorms), Lovino feeling completely exhausted, finally reached his dorm-room.

Waiting for his return in the room was Feliciano. Lovino realized there was no such term as 'awkward silence' concerning his brother because Feliciano immediately gave him a hug and started talking about all what happened in the event and meeting a stunning beauty named Romana which made Lovino grimaced slightly at the very idea that his own brother thought of him like that.

Later they discussed about serious matters concerning Ludwig before Lovino gave his apologies and blessings. Though he warned, "If Potato Bastard crosses the line, I won't hesitate in stabbing his heart."

Feliciano smiled, "Ve, I love you too."

When he said that, Lovino wondered whether his brother was actually listening to him but he was too tired to inquire about it, so he didn't pursue it any further.

Now on Monday, Feliks looking fresh after holidaying in France, asked his employees who were presently in the kitchen, "Were there any problems while I wasn't here?"

The others looked at each other before replying everything ran smoothly like a tight ship. Of course, they didn't feel the need to mention last Friday night, the Oriental first-mate along with the Sicilian navigator decided to leave everything to the Mediterranean cooks when they thought the Canadian strategist was going to abandon ship.

"That's, like, good to know... Oh-la-la, I've pictures from my time in France," Feliks sing-song while fishing out a envelope from his Chanel-bag. After he gave the envelope, he realized there was some stuff that needed to be done in the office, so he left the Kitchen.

Lovino, Arthur, Matthew, Yao and Roderich took turns looking at the pictures. They had to admit Paris looked lovely and envied Feliks for going there.

Then the Italian noticed something, "Who's the chick next to Orlando? Instead of Feliks, she's there in almost all the pictures." The others had no clue who this tiny attractive blond girl was– with aviator sunglasses adorning her face, she had her hair in a low ponytail and wore cute skirts. "And what's with the hat on her head?"

Arthur replied "It's called a beret which is usually styled that way. I think it's quite fetching." Lovino asked how he knew about that. The Brit answered, "When your boyfr.. ex-boyfriend is from France, you learn a few things."

Elizabeta arriving to the kitchen, was curious to know why the others were hovering over the table. They replied Feliks had taken pictures from his trip in France. Hearing that, she also wanted to see some of them. Lovino noticed the moment she looked at the pictures, she had a small Cheshire-grin forming on her face.

She looked through the photos while walking towards the door. As soon as she saw the blond approaching, Elizabeta teased, "Feliks Husikam, you certainly let your hair down in Paris, didn't you?"

Feliks reaching the kitchen door, thought 'I don't like the way she said that,' and asked, "What do you mean?"

With her grin not dying down, she proceeded to give him the pictures in her grasp. When the Polish senior saw them, he froze momentary before quickly flipping the pictures. He later looked towards the others at the table and screamed, "WAHHHHH, I gave the wrong envelope!" He rushed and grabbed the rest of the photos which were on the table and from his employees before leaving the kitchen.

It took a few minutes for the others to process what just happened and soon dawned on them- Arthur was awestruck while Matthew whispered, "Eh, that blond girl next to Orlando, was that...?" Yao inquired in awe as well, "You think so too, aru?" Roderich gave his insight, "Well, it makes sense- one of the reasons why you all are in skirts, might stem from the boss' desire to be in one." But Lovino was the most shocked out of the five when he asked, "Aspetta, are you implying that chick is Feliks!?"

The other four weren't really sure. They realized there was only one person who would be able to confirm that theory. But before they could ask her, they heard Feliks loudly say, "I AM TOTALLY NOT paying you all to just sit on your behinds doing nothing. Get back to work!"

The 'waitresses' quickly ran out of the kitchen leaving Elizabeta and Roderich behind.

Elizabeta giggled- she had previously held on to one picture before showing Feliks the rest. Looking at it, she thought, 'Hmm, the only people Feliks swore his crossdressing habit were to Toris and I, yet here he is with Orlando, proudly showing his secret off. Is it just trust established between these two or are there deeper feelings involved?... I guess, we'll find out soon enough.'

She then decided to keep that picture of Orlando & Feliks giving the most warmest smiles, and left the kitchen after kissing her boyfriend's cheek.

x

A/N: Yao here is classified as the firstmate because Feliks [the captain] left the cafe [ship] in his care; Lovino as the navigator since he was the one who informed Yao where Matthew was; Hercules & Adnan were the Mediterranean cooks; and finally Matthew as the strategist (it's canon that he's clever) ... So as to give more focus to Matthew & Gilbert (since they were missing for a looooong time): to explain why the Arthur-Antonio confrontation didn't happen, Francis is shown to have a protective side (hence, he prevented it).