This chapter was written in TEN days! That's a record, as of late! Ah, but that's the joy of finishing the past school term and making the most of my break. However, it saddens me that I had to move from my hometown :( Anyway, at least I have something to hang on, by writing! Unfortunately, I will resume in the summer term, so no quick updates, I think. Even with five days off a week.
darkwolf0909, DaX0315, and StRAngE ToASt, you're all entitled to ice cream! A fitting treat at this time of year (provided you're not from the south).
darkwolf0909: Incredible, that you kept up with this since the start! That reminds me of a few other readers, heh! I wish my friend Oblivion Star Seeker could update "Serendipity" more, too. Oh, and you'll see more of Astrid. I promise!
This chapter will be entertaining. Plus, it means "Culinary Rivals" has broken 200,000 words!
Chapter fifty-two: Arranged by Wallace
"I'm leaving you in charge of the restaurant."
James d'Arc was not at all surprised at Steven's statement.
"Unfortunately, Martine, Sophie, and Laurent insisted they tag along too. They practically begged to come with me," Steven said. "Still, for a high-profile thing like this, I'll give them the chance."
"No, no. I understand, Steven," James said. "Everyone in Kalos knows what's going on, anyway. So sure, I'll keep the restaurant in working order until you return. I'll make the proper arrangements so you, Martine, and the others get your paid leave."
"Merci, James," Steven said.
Steven eventually was in his office to pack a few things with him. He already had his equipment and ID packed, so all he needed was the proper documents as well as luggage (which he would have to do at home).
He looked around his office, as if he was feeling he was going to not come back for a long time. He saw the items on his desk, the papers piled and stacked on bookshelves, and even photographs from his culinary school days at Castelia City. Then again, he thought he must have spent too much of his time in the restaurant anyway. It would be nice to get away from Cyllage City and see what foods Lumiose City had to offer.
His cell phone rang.
"Steven!" a cheery voice greeted Steven.
"Bonjour, Astrid," Steven grinned. Just hearing Astrid's enthusiastic voice lightened his mood.
"I heard you are going to Lumiose City! But what about our teaching sessions? I won't get any more training from you for a while…"
"Sorry, but you know I've got my hands full. If it helps, you could always come to Lumiose City too," Steven replied. "I do enjoy our battles."
"That reminds me, Steven! As your student, can you teach me how to get my Absol to recover quickly from deflecting an attack and then deliver a series of counterattacks before my opponent could counter or evade?"
To be brutally honest, Steven was too exhausted to be thinking about these things. First, he had to prepare to leave for Lumiose City, and then prepare for the meeting with Chef Bordeaux. With so much going on his mind, he wondered how much life was left in him.
"You'll have to train your Absol to recover," Steven said. "I suggest harsher physical training to build up strength. And by strength, I mean Absol needs to train the energy system that supplies tons of energy in seconds. Only then can you recover quickly."
"Will do, Steven. Talk to you later!" Astrid said.
After hanging up the phone, Steven picked up his documents and left his office.
Amusingly, he found Sophie and Laurent talking together at the foyer. The two receptionists were not in uniform, and dressed casually instead. They also carried some bags with them as if they were off to vacation, with Sophie wearing her trilby hat and Laurent in a short-sleeve button-up.
"Going on a honeymoon already?" Steven lightly joked.
Sophie stared at Steven wide-eyed. Her expression was one of shock as if this was the last thing she expected to hear from her boss.
"That has to be the first time you've commented on our relationship," Laurent said. "Do you really support us being together? That's kind."
"I'm not sure, Laurent. He doesn't have experience in dating, oui? But he does think we look good together," Sophie said, still wearing a blush. "That means he must have some idea. Come to think of it, you're looking better today, Monsieur Stone. What's on your mind?"
Steven froze momentarily, but recovered with a different answer. "I'm just glad I can demonstrate my skills in Lumiose City. Opportunities like this don't come often."
Sophie giggled, which caused Steven to stare.
"You have to thank Martine for making this happen," Sophie said. "She told Laurent and me that she brought up the idea, and then Cynthia jumped on it. Next thing we know, you all are really doing it, having a cook-off."
Before Steven could say anything, Laurent interrupted. "Glad she's joining us, and you know, her prediction might come true after all. Your relationship with Cynthia will grow when this is over!"
Why. Why did Laurent have to sound like Wallace?! (Or, dare Steven think of it, Lisia!) When this was over, he would have to consider banning Wallace from his restaurant.
Forever.
Didn't Martine have the same warrant? But then again, Martine was a different case. She was still younger and probably didn't have the same measure.
As Steven prepared to leave his restaurant, Sophie and Laurent tagged along with him to the exit.
"How are you getting to Lumiose City, then?" Steven asked.
"We'll probably be taking coach," Laurent said, "and with Martine too. Wallace took care of that for us, but for accommodation, Sophie and I will have to look at that soon."
"We could have taken a taxi, but that is expensive," Sophie added. "Thankfully, Wallace cut us a deal, and he's joining us at the same time."
Steven, however, didn't tell them that he would take a taxi on his part. It was probably the most discreet way to enter Lumiose City and without anyone noticing – the media, Wallace, and of course, Cynthia. There was no way he would be disturbed.
The taxi that would take Steven to Lumiose City arrived at his villa at exactly 6 PM. The trip would not be long, but it would be dusk by the time he had gotten his accommodation settled (and if he had any downtime, he could explore Lumiose City for a bit). Steven kept his door unlocked – not that there was anything too valuable in there – and left his villa to his Pokémon.
"Metagross will come with me," Steven said. "Now, I don't want to you messing about the house, okay? I expect it to be clean."
Skarmory nodded, and motioned towards the television. "Skar," he said as if to say the Pokémon would be keeping their eyes on the channel anyway.
After saying his good-byes, Steven took his luggage and equipment and loaded them onto the taxi. Minutes later, he was seated at the back and watched the scenery outside. With the exception of journeying on the neighbouring mountains and beaches, this was the first time in months that he left Cyllage City.
But for the first time ever since he lost his Pokémon League title, Steven felt completely relieved. Unlike the times he went to the neighbouring routes to dig for rocks, which gave him brief respite, this was like a vacation. He could grab a lot of rest and not worry about working for the next while or so.
If only Cynthia wasn't involved.
The landscape he saw felt foreign to him, but he was fine with that. There was a whiff of nostalgia Steven felt for travelling that made him enjoy the trip even more, and he wondered how much of this vacation would last. The pathway beside him, the trees around, the river, and even the famed Battle Château were among the sights he saw.
He smiled briefly. So both Laurent and Sophie enjoyed spending their downtime there, eh? They did make a cute couple – No, wait. Why was he thinking about these things? Now was not the time!
Workplace romance. What else could it be?
Steven had to remind himself that it was that relationship that affected the performance of his receptionists, endorsed by Martine. Who knows what disaster would happen if their relationship broke. He had to admit, though, that they made a good couple.
Then again, ever since Wallace's intervention at the beach, it appeared the receptionists had bonded ever closer. There he was, thinking about Wallace again! It was only a matter of time before Wallace tried to force a relationship between him and Cynthia again.
The taxi stopped at a hotel that was not Hotel Richissime. For a hotel in Lumiose City, it was hardly low quality, but it was small. Steven realised this was a boutique hotel, one of hundreds that decorated the city, and figured this must be close to the venue or something. The moderately lit lights looked inviting, as if they welcomed him to rest up here. It was fortunate that the media were to stay away, for now.
Although the sight of a boutique hotel was welcome, Steven's pessimism caused his stomach to sink when he saw Wallace already in there. Of course, Cilan and his brothers were there, as was Diantha and Winona. Not to mention Martine!
"Steven! You're finally here," Wallace said happily (and maybe too happily? That was suspicious). "You must be tired after all that planning we did today! If you must know, the receptionists have your room key. You only have to give your name."
I have a bad feeling about this, Steven thought. He kept silent and hauled his baggage with him to the desk. Wallace, in short, looked suspiciously eager to have done that. Something was up, and Steven knew it as he left his name with the receptionist. He did get his room key afterward.
Upon moving, Martine approached him.
"How are you feeling, boss?" Martine asked. "Wallace has been talking nonstop about how you got the best room–"
"Why am I not surprised?" Steven said emotionlessly.
"Plus, it comes with a very nice kitchen too. Wallace said he had it specially ordered in, so he must really be preparing you!" Martine continued. "He's pretty much like your big brother, in other words!"
Steven would have liked to tell Martine that her impression was false, but he had other things to do. Instead, he went to drop his luggage at his room, and found the room had a single bed and an enormous kitchen complete with ovens, fryers, stoves, and fridges, which Steven guessed was for his benefit. Maybe things wouldn't turn out so badly after all.
There are a lot of cooking tools here, so maybe I ought to buy some ingredients… No, I better not. That would waste what I could experience here in this city, he thought.
After he stowed his luggage into the closet, Steven took another good look at the room. Apart from the kitchen and bed, there was also a lounge chair, a couple of side tables, a television, a desk, and an undisturbed view of Lumiose City. Still, the kitchen stole the spotlight of this room.
Now that he thought of it, he did have some downtime after all. The night was young, and there was a sliver of Lumiose City he wanted to explore.
By the time Steven returned to the lobby, Martine approached him again.
"Sophie and Laurent are out on a date," she said. "That leaves you and me, oui? I'm sure you wanted to try out some of the food here!"
"So does that mean you're asking me out on a date?" Steven said.
"Not quite!" Martine replied. "But I do want to hear if your opinion on Sophie and Laurent has changed, so let's talk it over dinner!"
Even if Steven wanted to be alone for a while, Martine would tag along with him anyway. Nevertheless, it wasn't as if he would be going far away from the hotel. There was a modest-looking café just several paces from the hotel, so Steven and Martine decided to have a meal there.
However, this was Lumiose City, so things worked differently here. Unlike Cynthia's coffee shop, Le Café Sinnoh, cafés in Lumiose City functioned as basically restaurants. Thankfully, it was a quiet night and Steven and Martine got some seats. While Martine ordered a salad, Steven had onion soup. Both dishes looked quite appetising when they arrived, in part due to Martine's salad having a combination of LaBrie cheese, Tamato and Aspear berries.
"This feels like the day we went to Vue sur la Lune when it first opened," Martine reminisced, though she hoped that would ignite some memories of Cynthia for Steven. "Look where that got you! And now all that's missing is for Cynthia to appear."
Steven slowly started on the savoury soup he ordered. The cheese simply melted into the soup along with the croutons, and it could have made anyone's mouth water.
"I thought you wanted to talk about Laurent?" Steven mused. "I know Wallace has been encouraging Sophie to do a lot of stuff with him. It's like Wallace fabricated that relationship."
"But it's good for Sophie! I'm sure she had feelings for Laurent for a while. Why else would they go to the same club?" Martine said. "The way I see it, you still encourage them, even if you haven't been in a relationship yourself!"
Steven swallowed a mouthful of soup.
"So let's be honest here," Martine continued. "Do you think Sophie and Laurent are a good fit?"
"I don't encourage workplace romance, but I suppose they are," Steven said. "No, Martine. This isn't like one of your fanfiction fantasies. It's not like they're part of some story and you, as the audience, are just pressing them to be together."
"Aw, but Steven, Wallace has been acting like exactly that!" Martine stuffed a mouthful of salad into her mouth. The spicy taste of Tamato berries danced with the creamy LaBrie. "Still, you can't deny that they're a great couple. To think all this happened under your watch!"
Steven had no idea whether to take that as a compliment.
"It's probably true that they are fit for each other after all," Steven added. "Even if Wallace didn't 'help' them, it was bound to happen. I don't have time for a relationship, on my end."
"I told you once, you could learn a thing from their relationship. All it takes is time," Martine said. "Is that Sophie I see other there?"
Steven and Martine redirected their attention to across the street. As Steven worked on his soup, he saw Laurent and Sophie walking together and holding hands. They were talking and laughing at each other, which made Steven smile just for the briefest instant.
Steven's pessimistic expectations hit hard.
The matter in question was that he expected Wallace to cause something terrible to happen, and it happened in admirable fashion. It happened when Steven returned to his room. He thought that if walked inside, after unlocking the door, he could practise making a dessert before bed.
The situation had changed, because she was standing inside and unloading her luggage.
"What. Are. You. Doing. Here?!" Steven's voice was broken.
Cynthia glared at him, and kept glaring more as if out of surprise and not out of anger.
"What are you doing here?!" she shrieked. "This is my room!"
"What? No!" he shouted. "This is my room!"
Cynthia dropped the clothes in her hands and grasped Steven by the collar. "Get out! Get out! You have no right to be in here!" She shook him violently. Steven's reaction was passive at first, but he got a grip on her wrists.
"This is my room. Make no mistake," Steven added with clenched teeth. "You must have gotten in here by accident."
"Then how would I have gotten in with the key?!" Cynthia demanded.
Was this really an accident? Or was this a setup, given that Cynthia had a key to this room without prior knowledge? That was impossible, since this was meant to be a room for one, right? Unless someone else was involved. Afterwards, a sense of realisation formed in Steven's eyes.
Steven let go of Cynthia immediately and stormed out of the room, and leaving her there. Instead, he made a dash for the lobby. He didn't know it, but Cynthia had followed him there.
"WALLACE!" Steven yelled.
He had a firm grasp on the collar of his 'best' friend when he found him, but Steven was more or less annoyed that Wallace was unfazed. On the contrary, Wallace looked rather pleased with himself. It didn't matter how angry Steven looked.
Or Cynthia.
"Explain yourself!" Cynthia yelled. Now, she had a menacing grasp on the other side of Wallace's collar. "Why?! WHY?!"
"It's just a little arrangement. That's all," Wallace grinned in spite of himself. "I'm doing you two a favour. Wasn't it your dream that you two would share a room together?"
"Plus, everyone knows you want to be together!" Lisia added.
That did nothing to help, at all. Instead, Cynthia shook Wallace violently again. "Give us separate rooms. Now!"
The commotion had already drawn the attention of Lisia already, but others came to see out of curiosity. The receptionists were already watching, but Martine and Winona were also there too, along with Diantha, Korrina, Grant, and Viola (who had promised not to take any 'exclusive' photos).
"Listen to me!" Steven shouted. "This will end badly if we don't get separate rooms!"
Wallace shrugged.
This made Cynthia clutch Wallace's collar even tighter.
"But why did you put us together?!"
"It's in your best interests. I promise!" Wallace smiled. "I did it with good intentions!"
"It's anything but!"
"It's not my problem anymore. Everything has been arranged. I only did the labour," Wallace sang, as if to infuriate them. "My hands are clean in this one! And no, the entire hotel is booked. If you want, you can walk to another hotel, but you won't be protected from the media."
It looked like Cynthia was about to throw a Winona-style punch into Wallace's face, but her hand was sadly stopped by Lisia's.
"Now, now. Let's all get along," Lisia sang. "This is an opportunity! You should be grateful that he got you two a room at all!"
"I'm afraid there's no alternative," Wallace added. "This might seem like blackmail, but it really isn't. It's the best we could manage!"
Steven doubted it.
"And, you've got your meeting with Chef Bordeaux tomorrow and you've had a long day. If I were you, I would stop worrying about the small things!" Wallace said. "Get some rest, you two! I thought that as former Champions, you two would have better etiquette than assaulting the current Champion! Make an example!"
Both Cynthia and Steven pushed Wallace away at the same time in silence. While Cynthia turned to head back to her room, Steven responded by walking out the door. In effect, this gave Martine a chance to talk about it with Lisia and the others.
"So that's it, huh?" she said. "That was perfect!"
"It almost wants to make me tell Steven the next chapter of his love story! But that'll have to wait," Lisia watched Steven get swamped by the media, but somehow was able to slip away.
"But they are sharing a room together!" Martine giggled. "I'm told there's only one bed, too!"
That remark caused Diantha and the others to stare at Martine, but only briefly, because the silence was broken by a fit of giggles from Viola. "It had to happen, eh?"
"This should turn out interesting," Diantha said. "It makes me wonder what will happen tonight and then tomorrow."
Half an hour later, Steven returned to his hotel room to find Cynthia. He had gone out shopping, and Cynthia was curious as to why he had bought a lot of red tape.
"This," Steven held up the tape. "This will be the solution to our problems."
"What are you going to do? Tie up my luggage so I can't use it?" Cynthia taunted.
"No. Worse!"
He peeled off a long strip and divided the floor around the bed. From the bed, he angled the tape so that it touched the wall beside it. He did the same with the other side. "Now, there will be sections of the bed that you and I cannot cross. Got it?"
"Then why stop there?!" Cynthia shouted.
She seized the tape from Steven and surrounded the table in a square, and then she divided the table in half using the tape again.
"There. From now on until this is over, you get that half of the table and I get this half!" she said.
Soon enough, Steven and Cynthia were at odds fighting over who got what in the bathroom, but that was unnecessary. Instead, their attention fell on the kitchen, which arguably was the most valuable property in the room.
A long fight raged between the two chefs over who had or touched what in the kitchen.
But the bed was still a problem. It was not practical to simply place a long strip of tape to divide it, and now the two of them were supposed to share the bed? This was a nightmare for both of them.
Martine's LaBrie, Tamato, and Aspear salad is on the line! Hahahahaha, I can imagine the looks on your faces when you read the latter half of this chapter...
