I could think of multiple excuses as to why I took so long to write this chapter, even though it is the summer. The first, I'm doing school (lame excuse, since I only need to attend once a week). The second, I focused too much on two other stories (Eclipse and Class-One). The third, I'm just too lazy! Help!

I sincerely apologise for the long delay, and hard to believe its been a YEAR since I've published this story. SIGH... but schoolwork has its price, and I have to prepare for the next term in a month from now. I also have this surprising lack of motivation when I write this story too. That doesn't help.

To The Legendary Falcon Fall, Dr Bound, and especially dawnleaf1234, enjoy a pie! dawnleaf1234, you get priority with a slice of Martine's Watmel and Custap berry pie, and as for the other three, I'll see to you having Custap berry pies as well.

Enjoy the food, and the chapter! I will partly focus on the two receptionists in this chapter too.

Chapter eleven: Worth Two Chocolates

It had been two days since that fateful day when she walked into his bakery. Whether the timing was expected or not, Steven knew it was bound to happen.

There of course had been the expected rise in revenue and profits, but that only happened in the first day. By the second day, Steven had seen a decline in pretty much everything, but alas, the current pace was sustainable. For now.

It happened in the first day when Steven was on his way to work, when he was opening the Stone Restaurant and Bistro. On the way, he could notice the platinum blond hair of Cynthia out in the distance, just across the street. From what Steven could see the look wasn't pleasant.

By the end of the first day, Steven figured that Cynthia must have found out about his bribe. Wait, didn't he bribe the supplier so that they would keep quiet? Unless… someone else had told Cynthia what had happened. Would it have been Martine? Perhaps. He would have to seriously start considering firing her…

That reminded him, he had not seen neither Wallace nor Lisia for a long time. Well, that was certainly something he could live with. But what he couldn't live with was the nasty glares he was receiving from the culinary rival.

In the middle of the second day, on the way to work, he and Cynthia had passed by each other at the plaza between the two restaurants. They exchanged irritated looks, and then silently marched away to their establishments.

Much to the amusement of the people who were observing the scene.

By the start of the third day, Steven and Cynthia passed by each other again, but their glances at each other were such that it was hard to tell who looked more annoyed. After they separated, Steven walked past the doors of his establishment. Martine Grenadine, who had snuck behind her boss, grabbed his collar and quietly pulled him aside.

"Argh!" he cried.

Steven was surprised, at first, but then that surprise quickly turned into a mix of annoyance and fear. Particularly when it was not only Martine he was looking at, but James d'Arc and the two attractive receptionists were also there.

"We need to talk, Mr. Stone," the handsome male receptionist, Laurent, said.

"That's right!" Laurent's pretty co-receptionist, Sophie, added.

Steven could feel the pressure of three of his employees trying to strike a personal conversation with him. It did not help that James, his sous and co-administrator, joined in the conversation as well. Four faces that he knew well since he started working here…

"What exactly did you do to her the day we opened the bakery?" James demanded.

Steven rolled his eyes, as if he had no idea what they were talking about. "What makes you say that? And what's it to all of you?"

Laurent sighed.

Sophie said, "Laurent and I saw her simply storm out of the bakery that night for some reason. Mr. d'Arc saw it too and figured something might have happened. And then we see the two of you – you and that Cynthia lady – glare at each other just now."

Steven did not say a word, but he was clearly not in the mood to talk. Unfortunately for him, he was cornered by four of his most reliable workers of his establishment. To walk away would be impossible, for they weren't allowing such an option!

Wallace had decided to sleep in that day, so Winona took Lisia out for breakfast at Vue sur la Lune. However, by the time Winona approached her table, she could feel a chilling aura coming from somewhere. No matter how Winona could put it, something had happened here. Currently, Winona craved a slice of cake.

Although… that pie she tasted yesterday, thanks to Wallace, was delicious. Perhaps Cynthia might be able to get her a slice. Oh, wait. Didn't Wallace get the pie from Steven's bakery?

"Bienvenue à Vue sur la Lune," the waiter greeted Winona. "Is it just the two of you?"

"Yeah," Winona said.

They followed the waiter to the elevator where it would lead them to their seats. They got off onto the second floor and were fortunate to have a window seat. As they were seated, Lisia glanced at the view below, which was nothing more than the Stone Bistro. In her bones, Lisia could also sense the chill that filled Vue sur la Lune, despite the sunshine glimmering into the restaurant.

It took no more than eight minutes before the two of them were having breakfast, as the restaurant wasn't that busy in the morning. Freshly baked bread and fruit for Lisia. Cake for Winona. Lisia also helped herself to a glass of crushed ice with fresh lemon juice while Winona had a coffee. In accordance to Vue sur la Lune's standards, the food did look appetizing to the eye, but the food did taste different somehow. It tasted… better.

I wonder where she is? Winona thought.

"Hey, Winona. Is something on your mind?" Lisia said, interrupting Winona's thoughts.

"Not much," she replied, although she did glance at the kitchen in the distance. Judging from Winona's looks, it was apparent that she was concerned for Cynthia. Lisia didn't blame her, as Cynthia was a former renowned Champion and Winona was still a Gym Leader, so why not show some concern for a fellow League member? "It's just that… something doesn't feel right."

But as fortune would have it, Cynthia briefly appeared onto the floor, but only to discuss what looked like a strategy plan with her servers. There she was, pointing at certain servers and then pointing them in specific directions. Winona had never seen Cynthia looking so businesslike. On Lisia's part, Cynthia definitely looked and acted like the businessman Steven was. There were similarities. Perhaps that was why they were fit for each other.

Winona quickly got out of her seat to approach Cynthia before the latter would disappear. As Winona got closer, she could see how serious Cynthia looked. The collectiveness she thought she knew about her seemed to fall apart in wake of Cynthia's cold attitude. Cynthia apparently did not notice Winona's near presence as she was too busy talking and directing. At least until Winona tapped her on the shoulder.

"Winona!" Cynthia stared in shock. Her businesslike attitude immediately disappeared and was replaced by one of surprise.

"You okay there, Cynthia?" Winona asked. "You seem to be a little under the weather, even though it's a nice day today."

Cynthia flushed as if she didn't know what to say. From that reaction alone, Winona could instantly tell something was wrong with her. However, before Winona could say any more, one of Cynthia's servers came in their direction and passed Cynthia an order of dessert. Without saying more than a "Hold that thought," Cynthia took off for the kitchens. Feeling like a little lost, Winona went back to sit with Lisia.

Lisia seemed amused.

"It looks like she has some issues," Winona said.

"Ha, it's the look of defeated love," Lisia sang, causing Winona to raise her eyebrows. "Don't worry, Winona. I've seen my uncle with that expression many times before he finally cracked about you. He sure did embarrass himself in front of Juan that day."

This caused Winona to flush just like Cynthia did but she kept her head down, and when she could speak, Lisia was halfway eating her fruit. "How could you even possibly know that?"

Lisia reserved the right to remain silent, much to Winona's annoyance. They went on eating their breakfast in awkward silence, but they did watch how Cynthia operated her restaurant to pass the time. As they watched Cynthia's expressions, they both agreed on that Cynthia was not happy. Never had they seen Cynthia ordering her servers around with such fury and passion, and Lisia questioned if she was really enjoying the job.

"I think she'll have to leave Cyllage City at some point," Winona stated, drawing her conclusion from the apparent observations. "Not that she would want to be working in a bad mood, right?"

"She won't move," Lisia asserted, and ate the last of her fruit before saying, "Steven will do whatever he can to not make her move away. He loves her too much."

Winona choked on her coffee right as Lisia said this and she had to sputter. Not that Lisia had said anything wrong, but how could she even make such a claim? Ah yes, the 'Apples and Oranges' article from the popular Kalos magazine, perhaps, was a catalyst to her claim, but that provided no ground for love. It was irrelevant to the issue, which revolved around Cynthia's behaviour.

"That doesn't make sense, Lisia!" she protested. "We're talking about Cynthia maybe leaving Cyllage City for good if she keeps this up in the long-run!"

Lisia still looked relaxed and casual. "She'll be fine. Steven will make sure of it."

A waiter arrived to pick up the empty dishes, but not before taking a good look at Lisia and recognising who she was. His cheeks turned pink; Winona had no doubt why, and she refused to say anything. Nevertheless, the waiter kept his form.

"So how was breakfast this morning?" he asked them both. "Is there anything else I can get you?"

Lisia did have something to say. "I'd like to know what's up with Cynthia today. She seems really cross and grumpy, you know?"

"Ah, so you noticed," the waiter flashed a small smile. "No, she's been like that ever since she returned from the Stone Bakery across the street yesterday. We don't know what she's up to, but she hasn't been in the best mood either."

Making sure Cynthia wasn't looking, he lowered his voice, "She showed up to work with bloodshot eyes, so everyone knows it better not to be in her bad books today. Hopefully, she'll get over it in time, because whatever behaviour she's in might affect my job."

He shook his head and placed a menu on the table. "By the way, would you be interested in purchasing some sweets from the new chocolate shop Cynthia opened? We're offering half-price discounts to breakfast customers this morning."

The 'menu' he placed was not entirely a menu in its own right. More like an oversized promotions card, in that it was advertising a lot of mouth-watering treats from the chocolate shop below. To their credit, the prices were reasonable, and it seemed just as unreasonable to be slashing their prices to half for the day. That made sense, in some other perspective, since the shop was newly opened. As for the chocolate itself, they were advertised as freshly made from below, using only local ingredients to create chocolates of various combinations. Chocolate with spice, chocolate with liquor centres, chocolate with soft centres, chocolate-covered berries, and even chocolate which caused minor explosions in the mouth!

"What do you think, Lisia?" Winona asked. "It's a little early for chocolate, don't you think?"

"Aw… but I think my uncle would love some," Lisia whined, whereas Winona knew Lisia was making some pretext to get a box, anyway. "Besides, why don't you buy it for him? That way, he'll know just how much affection you have for him, since that day you punched him in the face –"

"I slapped him," Winona interrupted, irritated as she was.

"No matter, you can make up for it!" Lisia posed, once again irritating Winona. "He got you a pie, so the least you can do is buy him some chocolate. Plus, I do happen to know what kind he likes."

She did have a point though. Within minutes after paying the bill, Winona and Lisia were on the ground floor at the newly opened chocolate shop, which just so happened to be adjacent to the café. With its glass windows identical to the café, it could have been easily mistaken as part of the café were it not for the café's outside tables, or the visible chocolate-making within, or the refrigerated display of chocolates modelled in the shapes of Pokémon.

To be more exact, the modelled chocolate Pokémon were handcrafted and molded by Cynthia herself. Winona and Lisia were amazed at the models they could find in the shop. There were of course chocolates modelled realistically to look like Garchomp or Magnemite, and others modelled to look like Sinnoh legends, but there were also chocolates modelled to look like real-life places, as if these chocolates were not made to be eaten, but to be displayed.

That is, one such model was chocolate molded to look like Lumiose City's Prism Tower. Lisia spent at least two minutes gazing at the chocolate marvel, scaled to the last exterior detail.

"Salut, would you be interested in sampling some fudge?" an employee held out a tray of soft gummy-like pieces of fudge to them. They did not look nor felt like the typical chocolate Lisia was accustomed to, because it was white and it felt squishy in her hand. Casually, Lisia popped the piece in her mouth, whereas Winona did the same.

After chewing on it a few times, Lisia couldn't help but smile. "Nothing like a piece of chocolate to perk me up. Hey, Winona, what do you think? It's so… sweet! It's sweet and… just a little bit sour, but just enough. Not too much!"

Winona begged to differ.

"I think mine tastes bitter, kind of like dark chocolate," Winona said quietly. "Wait… is this Rawst berry I taste?"

It was, despite the little bitterness, surprisingly good. Blending chocolate with the essence of the Rawst berry provided a simple flavour, but hardly one that Winona could criticise. The taste filled up her mind, and the taste was all that was left. For the moment, Winona was lost thinking about the flavour until Lisia place a hand on Winona's shoulder and shook her.

"Yo, you okay, Winona?" she asked not out of concern, but of pity. "You must like it very much."

"Er… yeah, pretty much," Winona replied. Not forgetting why she was here in the first place, she said, "What do you think we should get? I mean, for Wallace?"

The answer was to look around the shop for what Wallace would have liked. However, as both Lisia and Winona were too aware, they spent much of the time looking at chocolates they themselves liked. In the end, Winona settled on buying a set of java chocolates and dark chocolates topped with coffee beans for Wallace, and got a set of specialty berry chocolates for herself. Lisia set about buying a chocolate cake, and adding a little extra treat for her uncle.

"I just hope we're not eating too much," Lisia said, being self-aware of how many sweets she was buying. "It'll look bad for my image."

"Well, it's not like we're going to eat them all at once, eh?" Winona nudged Lisia's side. "Besides, these berry chocolates are dark chocolate-covered. I can share some with you if you'd like."

Laurent and Sophie had just returned to the Stone Restaurant and Bistro after a morning stroll. After they had their turn interrogating Steven, it was Martine's turn, and James'. Laurent and Sophie knew each other well enough as co-workers and friends, but they were also members of the same fan club and occasionally had a Pokémon battle together. It never occurred to them they would be working together at one of Kalos' newest and most successful restaurants, but they were fine with that.

As of now, they had come back each with a box of chocolates from across the street. In the past hour or two, they had boggled Steven with tens of questions asking what he did two days ago, but he wasn't budging. After fifteen minutes of no cooperation, they let Martine and James take over while the two of them went to check out the chocolate shop, which carried the namesake of Vue sur la Lune: La Lune de Chocolat.

During, the return trip, while they were pleasantly enjoying their chocolate as well, they both passed by the square plaza centered at the end of the road beside the Stone Bistro. People, office workers from the looks of it, began heading over there with coffees from Cynthia's café to sit and wait for their friends, who came out of Steven's bakery with fresh bread and butter. Now, people began buying chocolate from La Lune de Chocolat to enjoy with their friends there.

"If my hunch is right," Laurent said, "I think people just want to make that place the unofficial dining area of both restaurants."

"Steven sure wasn't happy when he saw it…" Sophie added. "Let's go see how Martine's doing."

But before they did enter the front doors of the restaurant, Laurent and Sophie snuck a chocolate from their newly purchased boxes to eat. No matter how they put it, the chocolate was too good and unique in its own right!

"Mm… spicy and sweet at the same time," Laurent said to himself.

Sophie stayed silent, but she still wore a smile as she and her co-worker went back into the restaurant. They both thought of the prospect of Steven finally cracking up and telling the truth, let alone an explanation. If he saw them with the chocolates… maybe that would give him an edge.

Never mind the fact that Laurent and Sophie had a box of chocolates each. As far as they were concerned, Steven's response was worth both of those chocolates. Heck. They would try to bribe him with the chocolate if they had to.

"Chocolate? Did you say chocolate?" Wallace's eyes became bloodshot upon seeing his niece holding the box with his girlfriend. The two of them had returned to the hotel room, where Wallace had just gotten out of bed.

"You got it, uncle," Lisia held up the box, with its clear cover showing the set of chocolates within; half with dark chocolate and coffee beans, and the other half with white chocolate with mint garnish. The essence of mint fused with chocolate –

"Chocolate?! Chocolate?! CHOCOLATE!" Wallace screamed.

It appeared Wallace was in a state of outrage, madness, and chaos. This was the side of Wallace Winona had never expected to see. The usual, smooth-talking, Gym Leader she knew was obviously beside himself, where he was going crazy over chocolate. Was it just because it was chocolate? Or was it because there was something in the chocolate that affected him?

Never minding that, Winona snapped her fingers in front of him and said, "Snap out of it, Wallace!"

But Wallace was in a trance, and babbling the same words over, and over. "Chocolate."

Feeling ignored, but still understandable, Winona curled up her hand into a fist and punched Wallace in the cheek.

"Ha-hah! No slapping for you, this time, uncle!" Lisia laughed. "I told you that love hurts!"

But Wallace was unconscious on the floor, his eyes blank and deprived of life. Suddenly aware of this, Winona looked at her hand, and drew a blank humourless smile.

"I guess I might have punched him too hard," she muttered.

Lisia placed her boxes of chocolates on the floor beside her uncle's head to see if he was okay. If Lisia had been really looking hard, she would have noticed his fingers twitch, as well as his nose. Winona alone helped herself to one of the berry chocolates to treat herself, and she still couldn't believe it was still the morning.

Have two pieces of chocolate from La Lune de Chocolat for leaving a review!