Jackque, TheGhostShadow, and falconadventurer. Please enjoy a nice cup of tea!
For you, Jackque, here's a steaming hot Pecha berry tea! So you did notice the fourth wall broken. That's expected! You say Steven's living in denial. Well, he'll prove you wrong!
Even though I have had time on my hands, I've mostly spent it being lazy. Forgive me! I'm taking a summer university course, but it's just one. I just hope there'll be more time to write...
Chapter nine: First Pick of the Day
"The only way to get the best produce is to have first pick of the day. And there are only two way[s] to get first pick: grow it yourself, or bribe a grower… Voila! The best restaurant get first pick!"
– Colette, Ratatouille
In the following morning, the bakery that the Stone Restaurant and Bistro had been working on had been finished overnight. It became apparent that after this, with the high demand of bread in the area, business was sure to rocket.
In his office, Steven Stone was busy working away on papers and handling new applications and résumés for prospective bakery staff. The payment received after the events of the wedding reception had really helped, and Steven used it to purchase capital equipment for the bakery. That is, lots of custom-ordered ovens, in addition to cash tills. Now that he wasn't working, Steven opted to wear one of his neat suits, with a red tie.
He heard knocking on the door.
"Come in," Steven said, without looking up.
James d'Arc walked into the room.
"Steven. The first shipment of recipes and supplies are due to arrive in an hour," James reported. "And… Martine's been complaining you've been going too hard on her, and she's been appealing to the others for help. Even me."
Steven still did not look up nor did he reply immediately, but he focused on reading the applications. James, being patient, took the seat on the other side of Steven's desk. Finally, Steven put down the application, filed it away, and faced James.
"I'll see to her, then. In the meantime, I'd like you to do the honour of opening the Stone Bakery. As the name suggests, we really do bake bread on stones," Steven instructed.
"Oui chef," James said. He got up, and before closing the door said, "Martine's on her way to work, should you know."
Actually, Steven had no intention of seeing Martine at all. However, as the lobby was just outside his office anyway, he would go to see her while he was at it. Honestly, if it were him, he would have fired her if he could. But he had no grounds to fire her, other than her impeding his personal life, which was a private and ridiculous reason.
Steven made his way across the lobby in the Stone Bakery's direction, but on his way there he saw Martine just arriving at the front doors of the Stone Restaurant and Bistro. He would have ignored her, were it not for what she was carrying into the restaurant.
A Watmel berry.
A very large Watmel berry.
A very, very, large Watmel berry that Martine was carrying into the restaurant with two hands.
Not to mention she was eating pieces of the soft, delicious, berry on her way in. Some berry juice burst out when Martine broke off a piece of it. However, it was huge, and Steven would wonder how she could ever finish it.
"What – are you doing – with that?" Steven asked in a partly broken voice. "Where did you get that?"
She seemed pleased that her boss's attention was drawn to the massive berry. After she swallowed the piece she was chewing on, Martine answered, "I'm eating this berry, obviously. It's really, really, sweet! Want a piece?"
Steven blinked, but shrugged.
Martine tore off a piece, and following this was a small spray of Watmel juice that got onto the sleeve of Steven's suit. Ignoring the offended stare she was getting, which she was used to, Martine held the berry piece close to Steven's hand, which Steven subsequently took and ate.
"So, boss, what have you done to prove so far?" she asked.
"Er…" Steven muttered.
From this, Martine could tell that Steven had planned absolutely nothing. She tore off another piece of Watmel berry and popped it in her mouth. Steven was partly annoyed by this, and he became distracted from his train of thought.
"Aha, so you haven't thought of anything!" the red-haired waitress remarked. "Don't worry, boss. This happens when you can't bear to harm the people you love. Especially when you just can't bring yourself to admit you love her. Anyway, as per your question about where I got it, I got it from Vue sur la Lune."
She just loved the reaction her boss was giving her. He was annoyed, frustrated, and lost; but above all, hurt.
However, in the middle of the suspense, Martine did see something flicker in Steven's eyes. Oh, had he thought of something already? This ought to get interesting.
"Martine… I'm docking a tenth of your paycheque into the restaurant's profits," Steven said. "Of course, I'll be generous and leave your pay from last night's income alone."
Martine continued munching on the Watmel berry as she left her boss alone. However, she just had to shed a tear at the penalty Steven was giving her. By the time she had gotten upstairs, she still had the unfinished Watmel berry in her hands. It was far too big to finish.
However, the presence of the berry had attracted the attention of the staff around her. The distinct aroma the berry was giving off had indeed made most of the serving staff ask Martine for a piece of the berry, and Martine gladly obliged. Within minutes, almost everyone was savouring a piece of the Watmel berry.
However, everyone was partly concerned for Martine, as she had some tears flowing from her eyes. Nevertheless, they left that alone and went to work. If anything, they suspected it was the Watmel berry.
Elsewhere, Steven went on his way to oversee the opening of the Stone Bakery. As expected, there was a considerable number of people who were seated inside the establishment, and a smaller number lining up at the till and ordering baked goods.
The smell of freshly baked bread wafted in the air… deliciously. Traditional loaves of Kalos-style bread were first on the line, followed by many, many, other crisp breads that were inspired by recipes abroad. Why, if breads weren't enough, James took the honour of baking the first round of pastries and tarts for the customers. That aside, the bestseller of the day was soft bread made with honey, which Steven had brought directly from Hoenn – it was called a Slateport cake. To the many Kalosians who had never tried a Slateport cake, it soon became extremely popular.
Business, it seemed, was picking up. If all was well, this bakery business would make up for Steven's revenue losses in the long-run. He might be able to defeat Cynthia with this!
What Steven hadn't counted on was that customers were buying bread from his bakery and taking it outside to eat. It would have been fine to eat inside, but there was another reason people chose to do so.
The customers who bought bread from the Stone Bakery would take it to a certain plaza at the end of the road not too far from the Stone Restaurant and Bistro. To Steven, unbeknownst of this, this would be perfectly normal, if not for the fact that those same customers ended up crossing the street to the other side to buy coffee from Vue sur la Lune's café.
Subsequently, people enjoyed the best of both worlds in this square plaza at the end of the road. Dozens of people did this routine, not to mention. It was only a matter of time before the plaza became as popular as the Slateport cake, no less.
The news soon reached Steven's ears about this routine in the next hour, when James became suspicious of how many people were bringing the bread out of the bakery and heading in the same direction. Sure enough, James found the customers enjoying baked goods from the Stone and coffee from Vue sur la Lune.
Steven's reaction was not encouraging.
"So we ended up helping Cynthia's business, in the end," Steven muttered.
"Hey, at least you are helping a certain someone, eh?" James said. This comment forced Steven to give James a look, but James shrugged. James washed his hands and then went on continuing making and kneading dough to bake, and would later come out of the stone oven as bread.
There were more newly hired employees to help out with the bakery, true, but James had taken the action of diverting some staff and resources from the floor above to help the new employees get used to the environment. The restaurant staff had experience dealing with customers, and the newly hired had experience working with bakeries. Together, they would prove to be more efficient, and effectively productive.
And with efficient productivity allowed Steven to maximise profits for his restaurant, which was his long-run plan all along. That would show Martine – and Wallace – he was being serious!
There were still a lot of customers who were curious of the new establishment at the Stone Bistro, and when more poured into the space to the smell of delicious bread, Steven acknowledged that at least half the customers were holding coffee cups from Vue sur la Lune. Well, he supposed he was partly successful at maximising profits, but he suspected still that his bakery may be a catalyst to ramping up Cynthia's profits too.
"Keep up the good work," he complemented his staff.
"Oui, chef!" they replied.
Back in his office, Steven spent half an hour considering that if the bakery was to survive, there would have to be more goods for sale. If there was something that could satisfy a local here, it would be pie. Or as the locals would call it, la tarte.
With a cup of coffee, he paced back and forth contemplating such a decision. The bakery was new, so why not add a few more options?
So what he did was sit behind his desk, took a pen and paper, and starting drafting a recipe. Desserts were never his specialty, ever, as the critics in Lumiose City had constantly told him. But if it came to baked goods regarding bread and pie, who were they to judge, when it was potentially one of his specialties? There needed to be classic ingredients for pie, of course, but when it came to the sweet stuff – there needed to be a delicious base. Something sweet…
Come to that, something did smell sweet in the room.
That smells… like… fruit? Steven thought. The scent made his mouth water just a bit.
Steven moved his head to look around for it, and then realised that the sweet smell was coming from the Watmel berry stain that Martine had left on his sleeve in the morning. Ah yes. Right there. That was the solution.
If I'm going to have to compete, I'll have to get the best fruit for the pie, he thought. The best fruit, albeit produce, would have to come straight from the supplier. Sure, Steven had a top-class supplier for his restaurant already, and the supplier gave the best ingredients for the uniquely sweet Slateport cake, but when it came to sweet things – perhaps, he hated to admit it, Cynthia's was better.
Then Steven had an idea. A business-inspired idea.
No one had any idea who the businessman was when he walked out of the newly opened Stone Bakery, but he was just a stranger like anyone in Cyllage City. He wore a charcoal gray suit with some purple patterns, with a bright red tie. He had steel-blue hair and was wearing sunglasses.
At least, no one had any idea at first, but they barely noticed him, because all he did was walk across the street to the opposing restaurant. On his way there, he glimpsed the square plaza at the end of the road his sous had told him about, where people and patrons of both Vue sur la Lune and the Stone Bakery were enjoying coffee and Slateport cakes on its stone benches.
He edged closer to Vue sur la Lune, and instead of taking the main entrance, he went around to the side. There, he found a small group of men unloading fresh supplies of fruit from a moving truck for Vue sur la Lune. Cases and cases of berries, greens, and fruits piled on top of each other ready to be loaded into the restaurant.
Upon approached the workers, the businessman readied his wallet.
"What do you want, monsieur?" one of the workers asked the businessman.
"I would like to know about your supplier for these foods," he replied. "Are these foods fresh?"
"Oui, monsieur," the worker answered. "Best in the area, and operated by one of the freshest and sweetest produce suppliers in Kalos."
The businessman's eyes flickered behind his sunglasses. He examined the fruits and berries positioned before him, and in his mind he overturned a dozen possibilities for picking out the fruits and berries he wanted, considering and eliminating each choice for every half-second that passed. He needed the right produce for what he had in mind. His business would depend on it, too.
"I need you to deliver these…" he pointed to a few cases of Leppa, Bluk, Custap berries, "over to the restaurant across. Be discreet. If you have fresh apples, I could use those too."
The worker turned a blind eye and received a money note from the businessman. After, he ordered some of his workers to transport a several cases of produce to the restaurant across. The businessman, done with his worker, silently walked across the street to the Stone Bakery – and discreetly followed the workers transporting cases of fresh produce with many Sawk to help them. Clearly, the Sawk were employed just like the workers.
However, this did not go unnoticed, for there was a certain turquoise-haired duo who observed the scene as they were passing by.
"Steven! Where did all this come from?!" James exclaimed. Never, in his career as a sous chef, had he seen so many supplies come into the restaurant at once. Even at the time the Stone Restaurant and Bistro first opened, the supplies had come in slowly and in an orderly fashion by their supplier. To see so many Sawk simply walk into the new bakery with fresh supplies was unexpected, and probably unconventional.
Steven, ignoring James at the moment, directed the workers where to unload supplies. After the cases had been placed and refrigerated appropriately, he dismissed them, and motioned the employees to work. Steven faced James afterward.
"I got this from an undisclosed supplier," he said. "I assure you, it's not from the black market, but rather from a very good supplier, I hope. Still, I'll have uses for this, I'm sure."
James blinked, but he silently went over to one of the cases to check out what exactly had come in. Produce, from the looks of it, and judging by the colours and smells of it, they were wonderfully fresh fruit and berries. Perhaps the bakery could have uses for it? They did seem to be very pleasant to the eye. He supposed Steven must have had his reasons for buying them in the first place. Otherwise, why would he buy a whole lot of them?
"I'll be in my office," Steven told him.
To pass the time, James continued to help the bakery staff roll up more dough and bake bread. There were still a considerable number of customers flowing in, so he had a part to maintain the bakery's upkeep, as sous.
By the time James had started baking the fifth tray of bread, Steven had returned to the bakery. This time, had had a paper in hand, and went into the massive refrigerator to re-inspect the ingredients brought in, and subsequently bringing some out to the counter outside.
"We'll making pie and adding it to our menu!" he announced. "Here's to its success! We'll start with Leppa berry pies, and Bluk berry pies!"
Across the street, things were not going so well. Cynthia had been expecting a huge shipment of fruit and supplies for her dessert menu, but her supplier had come to her with bad news. Much to her grief.
"I'm sorry, miss, but we're running a short supply today," the head worker told her. "We've completely exhausted our supplies of Leppa, Custap, and Bluk berries and I can only spare… whatever else you ordered here. Perhaps there will be more supply next week."
Cynthia wasn't having any of this at first, but she took the remainder of stock she ordered into her restaurant's inventories. How was it possible that a huge chunk of her order could have just been in short supply? Only just the previous week, her supplier had proven reliable, so how could it have been possible for short supply to appear at a season like this?
Back in the restaurant, Cynthia was forced to temporarily raise the prices of her desserts. The cheesecake with Custap berry drizzle, for example, had its price raised to cover the costs Cynthia faced. The Unovan cheesecake recipe, which was made of fine ingredients and was a recent addition to her menu, also had its price raised by almost triple. Things were looking bleak.
As expected in the next hour, few people even wanted Cynthia's desserts. They were so expensive!
It didn't help that a certain someone had stopped by to see her restaurant. That someone was Wallace. His niece Lisia joined alongside him, and… Winona. Well! That was some relief to
"My dear, Cynthia!" he greeted. "How's business?"
Winona slapped him.
"OW!" Wallace cried. "What was that for?!"
"Just look at her, Wallace!" Winona shouted, and then used the hand that slapped Wallace to point at Cynthia's face. "She doesn't look too well!"
However, this didn't stop Lisia from laughing, and laughing out loud. This forced the former champ, the current champ, and the Gym Leader to look at her.
"Don't be so surprised, uncle!" Lisia said between laughs. "Sometimes, love hurts!"
Wallace continued rubbing the spot where Winona had slapped him, although it was seriously red. Lisia deduced that it was either from the pain… or that he was blushing. Wow, was it ever so easy to humble her uncle. It was, perhaps, something she had inherited in her family line.
"Anyway," Winona continued, "you seriously don't look that good, Cynthia. What's going on?"
Cynthia explained how an inconvenience occurred with her supplier, that her usual stock of berries and fruit had mysteriously – according to the supplier – been short. As a result, prices were forced upward on her part, and there were less customers showing up to her restaurant.
On the other hand, Cynthia was happy to tell Winona that her café had experienced an intense fluctuation of business. Coffee was selling out faster than her usual dessert items, for some reason.
"Haven't you heard, Cynthia?" Lisia interrupted. "Steven opened a bakery this morning. The way I see it, people have been buying bread and coffee all day. Bread comes from Steven's bakery, and coffee comes from your café. You'd be amazed at how popular this is. It's like Steven's trying to help you!"
Cynthia brushed a lock of platinum blond hair behind her ear, with her ears a little pink. "I really don't think so, Lisia. That's not how the world works. Okay, well, I wouldn't mind him helping me out a bit… That would be very nice of him."
Wallace looked very cross by this response.
"You sound just like him," he said. "Lisia, let's leave Cynthia to her misery."
Winona, however, stayed behind to keep chatting with the head dessert maker. Wallace and Lisia set off to head across the street, to the thriving Stone Bakery.
It has been too long since I've uploaded. Anyway, leave a review, and in return you'll get a Slateport cake and a slice of pie, in your choice of Leppa or Bluk berry. Then, you can have a piece of Martine's Watmel berry.