I have a crisis. I want to work on Poketopia, but the story is too hard to write at this point. On the other hand, I could get this one uploaded instead.

Enjoy the meal!

Chapter four: Vue sur la Lune

Martine Grenadine was dressed in her working uniform, a black blouse, black dress pants, and white tie, as she walked together with Steven Stone toward the familiar lobby of the restaurant. Marble and glass welcomed them when they went past the doors to the receptionists to hand in their voucher.

"It always seems busy here, doesn't it?" Martine said.

To Steven this was rhetoric. Vue sur la Lune was undoubtedly busy, and there were at least a hundred customers who showed up at the café too, with at least two hundred more walking up the stairs to take their seats.

Instead of replying, Steven decided to follow the waiter to their designated reserved table. As they travelled up the elevator, it came to Martine that they were going to sit at the fifth floor, which was basically the roof.

This meant, therefore, they were given a bonus to sit on the floor with the glass dome on top!

As Steven, dressed in his usual suit, sat across his 19-year old auburn-haired waitress he couldn't help but look out of the glass dome and watch the twinkling city lights below. Martine, though, had different ideas as soon as she was seated.

"It's a nice view, isn't it, boss?" she asked her boss.

Steven knew that, as of now, he had to treat every comment made by Martine with suspicion. Even now, an innocent question such as this wasn't to be trusted. Steven knew that this question would somehow have some tie to his hated rivalry with Cynthia. Maybe he should lie and say the view wasn't nice. Yet, that wasn't true. It was a nice view! How could this have anything to do with Cynthia?

Or maybe he was overthinking it! No! That was what Martine would want him to think. If he lied, then Martine would probably suspect him of being paranoid and that she would be proved right. Impossible. It was just a question. Just a question!

"Boss? Are you alright?" Martine piped, and Steven realised how close her face was to his. Martine seemed to be examining Steven like a scientist would with a specimen.

"Er… yeah, it is a nice view," Steven answered. There. He said it.

"Did you ever wonder why Cynthia would give you a quality seat like this?"

Oh my gosh… Steven thought. He should have known the topic would have become something like this! Oh… why did Martine have to torture him like this?!

"I know," Steven said. "This is a plot by Cynthia to distract me from my business… That way, I won't work at the efficient rate and that'll mean losing customers to this restaurant."

"Or maybe it's because she loves you, just as you love her!" Martine piped. "Boss, you need to get your mind off business once in a while. It'll clear your head! Like I said, if you hate her, you'll love her in the end!"

Steven was about to say something but a waitress showed up to take their orders for food and drinks. He reserved the right to remain silent.

"What would you like, miss?"

"Sparkling water with a slice of lemon, please, and a pepper and cheese pâté," Martine ordered.

"And you, sir?"

"Er… a kale salad," Steven ordered. "With half a glass of red wine and a thin slice of orange peel."

Martine lifted her eyebrows at her boss' unusual choice of drink for the night. Was Steven going this far to enjoy what Vue sur la Lune had to offer? Or was it because he liked it? Or was it because he was playing for time?

Steven went on gazing at the nightscape for a while, while Martine enjoyed a glass of plain water. It felt like no time had passed when the waitress delivered their drinks to them (Martine sipped her sparkling water slowly while watching Steven's expression. For Steven, he resumed the swirling of his glass like before).

"You look lovesick, boss," Martine teased.

"I do not," Steven quickly said. Somehow, he felt like the air in his lungs was cut short while he tried to keep cool, and as a result he felt his breathing cut short a little, but he succeeded in controlling his reactions, although Martine noticed. Steven looked away.

Instead of speaking, Martine smiled and shook her head.

Meanwhile, James d'Arc was in the process of issuing paycheques to the employees of the Stone Restaurant and Bistro. At Steven's office, James was doing paperwork and would, as usual, hand out the paycheque to whichever employee stopped by to pick it up.

Yet, these days, many of the waiters, waitresses, receptionists, janitors, maintenance workers, and other workers who showed up at the office to pick up their paycheque always asked James the same one of two questions.

"Where's Mr. Stone?"

Or…

"Is he finally off to get a girlfriend? Martine spoke a lot about it, so…"

Somehow, James found it very wrong to speak on Steven's behalf. What could he say? Nothing much. Instead, James would quietly throw in his own quick opinion before handing out the paycheque. Even James alone was unsure who Steven was looking for as a girlfriend. Of all people, Martine wouldn't have been surprising, but James was certain it was someone else.

I wonder if it could be Cynthia too… he thought, while half-heartedly handing a paycheque to a janitor who showed up at the office.

"Could Martine possibly be his girlfriend?" James failed to notice until now that it was the pretty female receptionist who asked this. "That night they went for dinner… hmm? Is it possible?"

"Er…" James mumbled, while thinking about an answer and handing the respective paycheque at the same time. "I wouldn't count on it. Steven doesn't have an eye for hyped girls like Martine. Have you seen how Martine has been treating him these days?"

The receptionist's face fell at the loss of a prospect for her employer.

"That doesn't mean that he's given up," James added. "But whoever it is, or will be, it's definitely not Martine."

The young auburn-haired woman who James was exactly talking about was enjoying herself yet again. She happily enjoyed her pâté dinner while her boss (Steven) continued to frequently swirl his glass of red wine. The slice of orange peel danced in circles as Steven did this, and Steven would occasionally take small sips of the drink.

"Still hate her?" Martine said. She decided it was time to start a conversation.

"Yeah," Steven answered shortly. "Why am I even here?"

There had been no more conversation after that. Yet Martine was more than happy to watch any slight expression her boss showed on his face. If Cynthia was the one… she had to confirm it. Sure, Martine might have seen it before, but that was no excuse to not be sure, right?

Dusk was evident over the skies of Cyllage City, as everyone could clearly see the skies turn from a pinkish-orange into a deep ocean-blue. Naturally, the coastal wind and the evening coolness would have made indoors a treat. Inside Vue sur la Lune's rooftop glass dome, this was exactly that. Heat gushed from candles and heaters filled the atmosphere of the restaurant.

"Enjoying your dinner, boss?" Martine asked, and hoped a better conversation would follow. Even as she said this, she put a nibble of pepper and cheese pâté in her mouth again. Just the tiniest nibble of pâté… and it was delicious. Not that she had anything against Steven!

"The salad's okay," Steven said. "I would have personally preferred adding a little balsamic vinegar to it and maybe some Razz Berries to it too."

Martine was about to speak back when her phone rang out. She quickly answered the call before Steven even had a chance to ask who called. Judging from the conversation and the voice tone Martine was using, Steven supposed that it was from his restaurant.

Indeed it was, and Martine hung up.

"James says someone wants to arrange a wedding banquet at the Stone," Martine explained. "When we're done here, we have to head back to prepare. But hey, look at the bright side, boss! At least your restaurant isn't really heading straight for the dump."

She ate more of her pâté and munched on a piece of bread with it. Steven stuck to tasting his wine, but it looked a lot like he was going to pack up.

"You seriously aren't leaving now?" Martine asked. "We haven't even got to the main event!"

Steven shook his head. He didn't reply at first, but he sipped a bit of wine instead, before saying, "What main event? If you're talking about Cynthia, then… no, you're mistaken, Martine."

Martine rolled her eyes, but her conversation with her boss was broken by the sound of mutters and murmurs from the other patrons. She, and Steven, glanced over to see the familiar gathering of restaurant staff and Cynthia.

"Everyone, please welcome the owner of the establishment, high-end chocolatier, and expert pastry maker, Cynthia!" a waitress announced. Yep, Cynthia was there, dressed in the black clothes she was known for. The waitress continued, "She would like to share a toast with you customers, and then you'll get to experience what makes Vue sur la Lune so special!"

Martine fixed her attention right on Steven's face. If her intuition was dead on, Steven would be staring off at Cynthia any given moment. Instead, she was met with a bored Steven Stone who held his glass in front of him, always swishing whatever was left in the glass with that slice of orange peel.

Come on… Martine thought.

Still, she could see his eyes becoming wider, like he was trapped in his thoughts. This led Martine to believe that Steven was going crazy… she liked that. Or maybe, Steven was just about to crack. It looked like he tried to not look at Cynthia.

To Martine's shock, Steven downed the entire glass of wine, drinking it down without stopping.

"Come on, boss, don't you think you might have pushed it?" Martine asked, concerned. She could see Steven's face becoming red, and surely not because he was blushing, but because he had consumed a glass of wine straight.

"I'm…" Steven yawned. "I'm fine."

But really, Steven's thoughts were very different. MUAHAHAHA! I have you now, Martine! No way can you trap me thinking I love Cynthia at all, because I don't! At least this should distract you. You can't talk now, eh?

"Here, boss," Martine passed her sparkling water to him. "Drink some of this. It'll clear your head a bit. You shouldn't drink wine that quickly, you know!"

She picked up her fork again to taste a little more pâté, and watched Steven reluctantly drink the sparkling water. Martine had to admit, Cynthia had good taste in food, but would it ever compare to Steven's? She would never know.

Speaking of which, the woman who had been in Martine's thoughts so briefly had showed up behind Steven.

"Hello," Cynthia greeted. In light of saying this right behind Steven, the latter choked on his water. Steven, as a result, put down the glass, coughed into his elbow, and caught his breath, before fearfully and shakily turned to look back to see… yes. Her. Cynthia.

Martine could only laugh. Between wanting to yell at Martine and not embarrassing himself before Cynthia, Steven stared at Cynthia instead. His cheeks were red, and Martine couldn't tell if it was either Steven was blushing or he had too much wine.

"I didn't think you would want to come tonight," Cynthia said in a cool voice.

"You're right," Steven replied. "It's not like I had a choice –"

"What he means is that he likes your restaurant," Martine cut in. "Of course Steven didn't have a choice to come here. He likes your restaurant too much, so he had no choice but come here to enjoy your food! For all we know, he may like you as well."

Steven, never mind Cynthia standing behind him, shot Martine a death glare.

Cynthia giggled, and it escalated to a tiny smirk. "Aw, I'm flattered. Well, he'll expect more vouchers soon. I'm glad you two could come tonight. So… hey, Steven, you haven't talked much. What do you have to say?"

Steven couldn't come up with any words at first, but finally said, "How's business?"

Now it was Martine's turn to glare at her boss. Are you serious, boss?! The first thing you could bring up to start a conversation, and you talk about business. Way to go, boss. That's sure to capture her heart, she thought.

"It's going pretty well, actually," Cynthia said. "I've heard from others that they'll be attending my restaurant a lot more regularly nowadays. Business isn't bad. I've had lots of profits coming in already. Even at the end of the second week since opening, the profits I've had were three times more than I expected."

"Hmm…" Steven muttered.

Cynthia then noticed how red Steven's cheeks were. She gasped, "Steven, how much have you had to drink?"

"He's only had one glass of red wine," Martine answered. "He probably wanted to toast with you, but as you can see, Steven is a very busy man. He wants to sleep early, but I'm sure he would have loved to have talked with you."

"That's a shame," Cynthia said, but held an amused smile. "He's missing out on the show. Come to think of it, I've never caught your name."

"Martine," Martine introduced herself, whilst shaking Cynthia's hand. Oh, if only Steven could see this now… Wait, he was sitting in before them, but he was sleeping! Would that count? Maybe he had too much wine. Marine sometimes thought Steven was a man of good taste (literally!), and yet could submit to unconsciousness by alcohol. It was only wine. He didn't drink a lot of it, but one glass in one shot was enough!

Steven certainly looked like he was sleeping!

"I guess I won't get in your way, then," Cynthia added. "Just wait 'til you see the show! I'll even put cheesecakes on the line just for Steven here. If he wakes up, then let him know that a freshly chilled cheesecake is waiting for him."

Martine nodded happily. "That would be nice."

Cynthia, the former Sinnoh champion, smiled at the positive reaction from this girl. Perhaps her taste in desserts was good, indeed. She then left for the kitchen afterward, as she had to prepare for some tasty desserts.

On the other hand, Martine looked at her boss questionably. How could her boss miss out on an opportunity to talk to Cynthia like this? It wasn't like he was trying to avoid a conversation with his (Martine supposed) love, or was he?

"Is she gone?" she heard a mumbled voice.

Martine glared – hard.

"How could you," Martine's voice became menacing such that Steven had to force his eyes open to look at her. "You missed out a chance to talk to Cynthia. Of all the times you could talk, you just had to drink all your wine and refuse a toast with her? That's low, boss."

"Let's assume that I'm sending a message that I don't want to be welcome here," Steven said, as he justified himself. "That means less vouchers and I can finally focus on operating the business, with no hope of any distraction –"

"Aha! So you admit you can't focus with her on you mind!" Martine jumped in

"What? No! That's not what I meant at all!"

"It's fine if you really don't want to say it to me," Martine grinned. She was clearly enjoying this ongoing torment. "You can say it to her instead. After all, she is the only one who has the likes of you."

Before Steven could unleash his irritated fury, he was interrupted by a restaurant waitress who placed two plates each with a slice of tasty-looking white cheesecake at their table, each piece drizzled with sauce made from the Custap Berry (Steven could smell this, even though the berry itself was extremely rare).

"This cheesecake served to you, courtesy of the chef," the waitress announced.

"There's no need for dessert," Steven refused. "I've had enough of dinner."

"Don't play jokes with me, sir," the waitress shook her head. "I know exactly what I served to you tonight and I know you haven't had a sufficient meal! All you've done tonight was swirling your glass of wine for no reason and that's that."

She left Steven in that state and took his empty glass away, which earned fits of laughter from Martine.

"Ooh… you just got slammed!" Martine tried to say, whilst having her throat caught between hiccups and laughter. "And we wonder why Cynthia is acting so nice to you by giving you a cheesecake of her choice. Is she flirting with you?"

Steven digressed. Instead he reached for the cheesecake with his hand. But Martine beat him to it and put both plates in front of her.

"I thought you didn't want dessert?" Martine asked, right as she picked up her dessert fork and ate the first bite of her cheesecake. A snap idea popped in her head right after. "Ooh! Does that mean that you accept Cynthia's way of flirting with you?"

"Martine, you don't have any grounds that she is flirting with me!" Steven raised his voice, such that some customers looked at Steven curiously. "She's a business rival. Hasn't that been clear? We're talking about the market, here."

Muttering from the customers drew Steven's attention.

"Isn't that Steven Stone?"

"That handsome man is from the Stone Restaurant, isn't he?"

"He looks familiar… Oh wait, that's the owner of the restaurant across."

"Why would someone come to the opposing restaurant, anyway?"

"He seems to be enjoying his time here."

"A man has to take time off from work, anyhow."

"He comes to the new restaurant within weeks of opening… he must really like it."

"Where's my camera?"

"It's probably because he likes the food, or the business owner."

FLASH

A camera flash enveloped the room for a split-second.

NOOOOOOOO! Steven thought. It was now apparent that there was no way the world couldn't know he had been to Vue sur la Lune now! Why, cruel world?! If publicity got out, which Steven had no doubt would, that might send his business to a plummet.

Steven got up.

"I have to go," he said abruptly to Martine. "You can finish my dessert for me."

Aw, Martine thought. I'm supposed to say that!

He had to get out as quickly as possible. The less people were aware of his presence in the competing restaurant, the better. He quickly walked away to the elevator's direction, right as people stared at him as he passed.

Alas…

Steven Stone did not realise it, but his arm was seized on the way.

"You're going to miss out on the show," the cool female voice of Cynthia's whispered into his ear. "You could always help me out, if you like."

FLASH

Another camera flash.

Steven darted his eyes to see the platinum-blond hair of his business rival beside him, and he realised that it was her hand that was grasping onto his arm, like he was a force going forward and she was the greater force keeping him back.

FLASH

He had no idea he had passed his business rival in the first place! Now, that same rival was in his way! She had no idea what was going on or what conversations were being held right under her nose, but what she did know was that Steven wanted out.

"If you don't want to see the show in public, then I'll show you in private. How's that?" Cynthia offered, and Steven could finally see her face.

"I've got work to do," Steven lied. "I just remembered."

FLASH

Great… more publicity, Steven thought. How was he supposed to get out of this predicament? Well, he had two options: the first was to follow Cynthia out, and the second was to make a break for the door. Either way, it was not good. He would be getting cameras on him for the next while. Would it be better if he broke for the door now? Impossible. Cynthia had a firm grip on his arm, and being the gentleman he was he could not break. Never mind the firm grip.

FLASH

Martine Grenadine, unbeknownst to very much everyone inside the glass dome of Vue sur la Lune, laughed so hard that she had to burrow her head in her arms on the table. How could it get any better than this? Steven looked embarrassed and stunned at the same time.

FLASH

"Can we… go now?" Steven quietly asked his rival.

"We? So you do want to come," Cynthia tugged Steven away from the floor while the cameras kept flashing away (yes, there was more than one camera!). Those who had the cameras stood up to follow, but were blocked off by Cynthia's waiters. Steven remained silent for a while.

Outside the glass dome, Steven was not expecting to be standing outside with Cynthia. Just himself… and her. Madness! What was he doing here? Having a glass of wine with his business rival was the last thing on his mind right now, especially when he had a business to manage. Besides, there was a wedding banquet that needed arranging when he got back to the Stone. Wasn't he wasting time now?

Indeed, he had a glass of wine in his hands now. He refused to touch it, though.

"You alright there, Steven?" Cynthia's voice broke the silence.

"Uh… fine," Steven said. "But I thought it'd be best if I left early now. I mean I have several plans I need to do when I get back to my office. I need to get to them right now."

"I'm sure they could wait," Cynthia smiled coolly, while bringing her wine to her lips. "I hear that you left your cheesecake untouched. Shall I get someone to bring it to you?"

Before Steven could even answer, Cynthia raised her hand toward a nearby waitress and snapped her fingers. Taking this as a cue, the waitress walked back into the glass dome. Now that they were alone, Steven took this as an opportunity to talk, although he wished the opportunity could have taken place at a better place.

"Cynthia," he said, without looking directly at her. "Why do you keep giving me vouchers?"

To his surprise, Cynthia's response was fluent. "I thought it would be a good idea for you, the competition, to see what my restaurant is like. But enough about my restaurant, as I'm sure you've seen enough of it already. The question becomes… why don't you invite me?"

Steven remained silent for a while, but Cynthia smiled all the same. Was it because if he invited her over, she would use the opportunity to take advantage of his ideas? His profit-maximising output was cut, and Steven wasn't going to take any chances.

The waitress brought Steven's slice of cheesecake to the balcony and quietly set it before him. As a gesture of politeness, Steven took bites of the cheesecake as he immersed himself in the mind of business. Yet, his mind was distracted by the delicious cheesecake, as Martine had so frequently told him.

"That's okay. You don't have to answer," she said whilst breaking Steven's thoughts. "You could always head back in to see the show now. I'm sure no one would notice."

Steven remained silent as he went back inside, and left half of the cheesecake uneaten.

To his relief, the customers who had initially stared at him in the first place, let alone the cameras flashing, had stopped and they went back to their meals and drinks. The former Hoenn champion, Steven, swiftly went back to his table.

Martine had her glass of sparkling water refilled.

"Well…?" she eyed her boss curiously. "Did you two have a heart-to-heart yet?"

"I had trouble finding it," Steven replied without looking at Martine's eyes. "And no, Martine, that doesn't mean that I have any feelings for her. Got it?"

Martine shrugged.

Steven's uncomfortable conversation was thankfully brought to an abrupt halt by the indistinct murmur from the customers. He turned his head to see that Cytnhia, along with her team of waiters and waitresses, had appeared before

"Tonight is special," Cynthia said. "I will almost always make an exclusive appearance here once a week, at least, under the glass dome on Vue sur la Lune's top level, and no other floor, unlike most days."

"As you all know, if you're Kalosian, Vue sur la Lune is what we would literally interpret as 'view of the moon', or moonview," Cynthia explained. "Indeed, that is exactly what this restaurant specialises in. At Vue sur la Lune here, we offer comprehensive dining service, but in addition we offer you an exclusive view of the moon above your heads as you eat!"

The lights in the dome dimmed. Sparks shot up from the edges of the glass dome's metal frame to the top of the dome, which literally forced everyone to look up to see that as the sparks faded, the Kalos moonlight shined upon the dome.

Were the glass walls amplified somehow?

The way the moonlight refracted off the glass walls was such that the light was focused and concentrated on certain areas of the glass dome. Such that they looked like stars in the sky, but up close, and not bright enough that it would burn peoples' eyes. The moon itself still shined brilliantly directly above the restaurant.

"This. Is. Awesome," Martine said with a dropped jaw. "Wow…"

Steven reserved the right to remain silent. He was oblivious to the fact that a waitress had brought back his slice of half-eaten cheesecake underneath his nose. Even so, despite that, he absentmindedly took bites of the cheesecake and watched the moonlight sparkle. He hated to admit it, but the visual sight complimented the Custap Berry drizzle in his mouth.

The macarons I offered in exchange for a review are now stale. (cries*). No matter, Cynthia will just have to throw them out then. Still, I'm giving away not one, but two slices of cheesecake with Custap Berry drizzle for anyone who reviews!