Here's the rapidly published chapter as promised! For The Legendary Falcon Fall, here's a chocolate fondue without wine. InfernusXS, it's been a while! Have two fondues, you greedy! One with wine and one without. As for Anime Review's, here's a fondue with wine...
I'll admit, I never thought about adding Diantha in this story!
Chapter fourteen: Enactive Romance
Sophie, on the whole, got her wish.
Initially, there were a decent amount of customers who had lined up for reservations, but at some point a small group of people – likely friends of the customers – had said something that changed the latter. Afterwards, a huge chunk of the waiting line was gone and away. The motion spread like a pandemic and very soon, within half an hour, the lobby was virtually emptied. No customer remained, save for those waiting at the lounge.
"I think we have time now," Sophie muttered. "I'll head to the bar ahead of you, okay, Laurent?"
"Sounds like a plan," Laurent replied without looking at her. He had to deal with both the incoming customers who made their reservations by phone call and the customers waiting in the lounge. It didn't take long before he signaled them to follow one of the waitresses standing near the stairs.
The customers eventually followed the waitress to the ground level tables, and as it happened Sophie made her way to the bar. Laurent would be able to handle the remaining reservations on his own, and when Sophie had time she would call Laurent to check up on Steven too.
She was about to leave the lobby when Laurent pointed out, "He will not be happy when he hears we've lost about three reservations tonight."
"I think he's as miserable enough already," Sophie grinned. "We'll break down the news to him later."
She entered the bar where Wallace, that colourful friend of Steven's, was chatting with the barman and several other servers. Sophie found this odd, as she expected Steven to be present and talking, and not Wallace. Was Steven still locked up in the wine cellar? Also, a handful of servers were present at the bar, including Martine Grenadine. If nothing else, James d'Arc was seated right beside Wallace.
"Ah, Sophie, there you are," the barman greeted, but his expression fell a little. "Say, isn't Laurent going to join us as well?"
"He'll be coming," Sophie replied. "Let's wait until he comes, yeah?"
"He'll be missing out, then!" Wallace called. He then had a very good look at Sophie. Head to toe. As a receptionist, she would have modestly qualified as one who was very attractive (but for Wallace, Winona certainly outshone her). "Say, you're Sophie, right? Have you ever thought about pursuing a relationship?"
The reactions that showed on Sophie's face, along with everyone else present, were – to Wallace's satisfaction – priceless.
So sudden… Martine thought.
"I don't now would be the time –" Sophie started. Her face began to blush.
"There's always time," Wallace interrupted. "So, who's the lucky man?"
It was so much easier, so simple, to get his words around someone like Sophie. Steven was a very hard one to talk about pursuing a relationship, so Wallace took the pleasure of tormenting Steven's workers. So far, he was getting very good results with this attractive receptionist. Perhaps he could try this with Martine – No, he better not. In these circumstances, Martine was an ally.
"Are we here to talk about Steven or what?!" Sophie shot back. She couldn't help it. She had to turn her face away to avoid further embarrassment. Afterward, she went to the barman to get a glass of crushed ice and Rawst. Something bitter would get her mind off of things.
Wallace ended his pleasant torment and turned to face James, who merely glared at him. No matter. Wallace was used to getting death glares from Steven on a regular basis, anyway. Moreover, the handsome male receptionist, Laurent, made his appearance into the bar in time.
"Ah, this must be him," Wallace said loud enough for everyone to hear, such that Sophie heaved a sigh of grief. "Okay, gather around, my children."
Some sat down, and others preferred standing.
"For all I know, Steven is still locked up in the wine cellar not willing to talk," Wallace began. "He's keeping something from you, and you want to know what it is…"
"Get to the point, Wallace. We've waited too long," James muttered.
Soon enough, everyone's eyes were fixed on Wallace. Now that he was in the spotlight, he decided to hold nothing back now. They had to know. The barman already knew, so it only made sense for everyone else. But what good would that do to their morale and Steven's business? Oh well, that would be their problem.
"Let's start with the day you were selling pies at the bakery," Wallace began, then paused to gather his thoughts, and added, "ever wondered why your pies tasted so good? Steven will never tell you he got his ingredients from Cynthia. He bribed her supplier, you know. He paid them to deliver all the ingredients to your bakery, none for Cynthia, and here we are! I know that Steven deeply cares for her, maybe too much, that he's acting as if he didn't."
Whatever words that came out, Wallace was pleased with the effect. He had stunned the staff of the Stone Restaurant and Bistro in one swoop. He cleared his throat.
"And so, as you've told me, you saw the two lovebirds glare at each other this morning," Wallace added, and putting huge emphasis on the 'lovebirds' part. "Well, you could say Cynthia's angry at my friend Steven for bribing, and Steven is angry at her for reasons unknown."
"Right, then. I'd best be going…" he stood up, handed a stack of cash to the barman to pay for his meal, and was on his way out. This didn't cause so much difference in the atmosphere though, because everyone was still standing in shock – except for the barman and Martine.
Martine, in particular, cleared her throat after Wallace had left the bar. She faced James and the barman, saying, "I guess we can let the boss out of the cellar. He must be dying of thirst right now."
"Right."
That was the only reply Lisia got when she asked Cynthia exactly that. That if she had experienced a loss of supplies. Cynthia's reply was cold and not entirely pleasant either. Whatever Cynthia had going through her mind, Winona thought, it was almost certainly betrayal and she was surprised herself.
"Are you telling me, Lisia, that a colleague of Cynthia's actually attacked her financially? By this, I mean Steven?" Winona's voice seemed timid, since she didn't want to anger Cynthia any further. But Lisia knew enough that Cynthia was angry to begin with, as she had recognised the berries in the pie she tasted two days ago.
"Sort of. Cynthia knows what I mean," Lisia softly said. "Don't take it the wrong way, Cynthia. I'm sure it was nothing personal."
Cynthia sighed deeply.
That's a notion of guilt, Winona thought intuitively.
"On the other hand, this fondue is delicious," Winona commented. "That wine you added certainly brought out the flavour for sure! It's a wonder why you didn't think about this earlier!"
The response was a dejected face from the head chef Cynthia, such that Winona ended up looking sympathetic. She could have smiled more, but this was all she could manage as she said, "I probably should have… But I needed the right resources, you know. Don't worry about the bribe though, Winona. I've got it settled."
Winona was hoping Cynthia wouldn't dive back into the topic of Steven's bribery, but if Cynthia assured there was no need for concern, then it should be a minor worry then. Nothing more. However, it still bothered her that Cynthia was not behaving as optimistic as before. At least Cynthia bothered making new foods and such, but still. Speaking of which, Winona's fondue burner had burned out, and the chocolate was only about to cool down. To make the most of it, she dipped a berry into it before popping it in her mouth. There wasn't much to say now.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Winona asked the head chef once more. "Is there anything we can help you with?"
"I'm perfectly fine," Cynthia answered with some degree of finality, "but thanks anyway, Winona."
"You sound guilty," Winona added, causing Cynthia to perk.
"I –" Cynthia stuttered. She was at a loss for words, which was enough for Winona to interpret what Cynthia was getting at. If anything, it might have had to do with the dejection she saw just now.
But before either Winona or Lisia could say something, the waiter Henri Matin briefly appeared by Cynthia's side to speak some words into her ear, and the next thing Winona saw was Cynthia getting up.
"It appears I've just got a huge flow of customers coming in," she said. "Can't talk now, but how would you like a cheesecake on me? It's a new recipe of mine: the Unova cheesecake."
Lisia grinned at Winona, and the latter – seeing how similar this young woman compared to Wallace – merely nodded to Cynthia. When Cynthia walked away, though, Lisia's grin became even wider.
"Come on…" Lisia lowered her voice. "Winona, you don't want to miss out!"
Winona found this logic irrational. "Wishful thinking doesn't make it true, Lisia. I have every reason not to have cheesecake. Besides, I have fondue, and we still have chocolate at our hotel, right? I think I could do with a Slateport cake, though."
"Fine…" Lisia groaned. "Let's save your cheesecake for my uncle!"
"Okay, it's time to let him out now, Metagross," James told the Pokémon. "I think it's time you take a rest too."
At long last, after so many enduring hours, the wine cellar door was opened. Metagross, who had been standing guard to keep his master locked up, finally moved aside for the barman to unlock the door. Martine and the others followed closely.
The door opened slowly, and instantly the smell of alcohol and fine wines wafted out of the room…
"Steven? It's time to come out now!" James called.
"Boss? Boss!" Martine called also, but she was first to walk into the cellar to look for Steven. Upon walking into the cellar, though, she had never felt this dizzy and turned to the barman. "Does it always smell this strong here?"
The barman did not answer but followed Martine inside to take a good look at the situation. Normally, with bright enough lights and strong casing, there was no way the wine fumes could have circulated around the cellar. Not unless someone was crazy enough to smash the wine bottles, which was absurd.
And yet, there was Steven Stone, lying on the floor as if he were dead.
"Steven? Steven!" James shouted and along with Martine was the first to see to him. "Speak to me! Open your eyes! OPEN YOUR EYES!"
"Come on, boss! Wake up!" Martine added in. "Don't even think about getting close to the light! If you SEE IT, don't go NEAR IT!"
"JUST HOLD ON!" James elevated to yelling. "OPEN YOUR EYES, STEVEN!"
Laurent seemed closed to laughing, and so was Sophie. For one moment, they were all deeply against Steven and locked him up like a prisoner (and in some respect, he was), and now his two closest associates were treating him like he was dead – departed from the world.
"Oh, Laurent!" Sophie could not hold back her laughter, and soon enough it burst out. "This is priceless!"
While James kept on yelling at Steven to open his eyes, Martine kept trying to shake him awake. She had both hands on his shoulders and she shook him rigorously. However, Steven was still knocked out, but from what? Eventually, the barman – who had tons of experience dealing with partially drunken customers – went to check up on Steven. The first thing he did was move Martine and James away so he could look at the boss.
"He's… drunk, I guess," the barman concluded. "Probably because of the wine fumes, although seriously I don't know how we could have spilled any wine since they're so well kept."
Martine and the servers, though, had experience working with the wine cellar. The wines were kept in glass casing stretching from floor to ceiling. They were secure and specially designed to withstand impact, and not even the force of a hundred Giga Impacts could cause the wines to spill, crack, or smash! Yet it was very clear that there was spilled wine on the floor… and some broken glass.
James and Martine, assured of Steven's survival, quietly stood up and backed away only to realise what a scene they made. If not Laurent and Sophie who were laughing very, very, hard, everyone else seemed on the verge of bursting into laughter.
"It's not funny!" James puffed. "Metagross, go and take Steven home, okay? We can handle operating the restaurant from here."
"No!" the barman interrupted before Metagross could move. "As far as I'm concerned, Steven hasn't eaten or drunk anything since this morning! He should have a good meal and water before he leaves! Metagross, go take him to his office."
Metagross gave a low, rumbling, echo, and sought to carry its master away from the cellar and to the office. There was no need to rest at the lounge since no customer would want to see the dignified chef appearing unconscious on his own premises. It would be, in Steven's words, a severe blow to the business. Using Psychic to levitate him off the ground, Metagross floated away and out of the Stone Restaurant and Bistro.
But as sous chef, James' business wasn't finished.
"It seems that either Steven might have had a bit too much to drink, he got knocked out, or that he simply passed out from the fumes," he remarked. "Anyway, I want any servers who aren't busy to clean up the mess here…"
"Et vous deux…" James pointed directly at Sophie and Laurent, who were still laughing hysterically. "Go back to work."
"He said 'open your eyes', as if he were that scared!" Laurent laughed.
"I know right?! And Martine was like 'stay away from the light', like Steven was dying!" Sophie added, her face overwhelmed by amusement. "If only Steven knew –"
"ARRÊTEZ!" James roared, but to his massive frustration Laurent and Sophie weren't intimidated. After the yell, the two receptionists casually walked back to the lobby still chatting away as if they were old friends. More or less.
When they had made off from the bar, James saw to getting back to the kitchens. If the restaurant was getting any busier, which he doubted, he would be needed back there. But it was well into the night and many customers had already finished dinner.
Speaking of customers…
"Hey, Laurent," James said as he passed by the lobby, his voice normal but slightly raspy. "Did we have any more customers come?"
"Oui, chef," Laurent answered. "We've got one more group coming, and that'll be it. I'd like to point out that we lost three reservations tonight, though. The customers were lining up in the lobby when they suddenly took off. Now don't ask me how, but it just happened."
"That's all I'm asking for," James complimented. Taking the advice of the barman, he instructed to the fellow cooks, "See that we have a decent meal prepared for the chef – let's say, onion soup and bread should do the trick, and –" he looked to the barman, "– see that he gets a helping of water when he wakes up. Now we all know that Steven's smart enough to not drink while he's locked up, but he'll be dehydrated for sure."
Martine stayed behind to comprehend the details.
Wait… so he tried to prove to me he doesn't love her by simply doing this, she thought. Well, that's definitely his loss! I guess love has its price!
Oh, of all the things she could chat to Lisia about this…
"Martine, now's not the time to slack off," James reminded her, and bringing the axe on her thoughts. "We have one more group coming in tonight, as I'm sure Laurent and Sophie have told you."
She didn't answer, but nodded before returning to her job.
Winona still refused to touch her cheesecake because she had no appetite for any, but Lisia on the other hand ate hers in delight. Like the girl she was, she avoided eating too much in order to keep up with her form, but Cynthia's desserts were simply too top-rate to miss out, particularly when they were having it for free.
"I'm fine, really," Winona insisted, whilst pushing the small plate of Unova cheesecake away. Lisia wasn't having any of this and her eyes flamed.
"If you don't eat your cheesecake, I'll have my uncle force you to eat it!" she threatened. "It's creamy and has a taste of Unova in it! You – don't – want – to miss out!"
Winona ended up laughing. There was no way Wallace would be able to force her to eat the cheesecake, not since Wallace had decided not to join them for breakfast. Moreover, Winona merely assumed that Wallace was still sleeping in.
Until now. Wallace walked to the table to greet his girlfriend first, and then his niece.
"Where have you been?" Winona asked. She was partly annoyed that Wallace had decided to show up now, especially when he had practically avoided her for most of the day.
"Helping out a friend in need," Wallace answered, thinking back to what he did at the Stone Bistro. The thoughts immediately dissipated when he noticed the Unova cheesecake before him. "My dear, Winona, why haven't you eaten your dessert?"
He realised that might have been the wrong thing to say when he saw Winona's eyes flare up. Judging by the expression, Winona looked like she was about to bring the axe onto Wallace again – in the form of a punch in the face. On instinct, Wallace took the seat beside Winona to try to restrain her. Indeed, Winona did bring up a fist, but Wallace acted quickly enough to stop her with one hand. With his free hand, he picked up a fork to take a bite of the Unova cheesecake.
"Mmm…" Wallace grinned. "Now this is something! You should have a bit too, my dear!"
Winona still refused. "I'm fine! I don't need cheesecake! Mmph?!"
But her words were cut off when Wallace pressed his lips on hers, shocking Winona. Because of this shock, the embrace was held for at least ten whole seconds – and enough to make Lisia's jaw drop. Yes, ten seconds. That was a long time for a kiss! Not that it felt awkward, but she became a little self-conscious that this was her uncle. No, that that made it awkward alright.
Around the table, Lisia noticed the people who noticed the number of people – at least four tables – merely glance at the scene for the same time. Lisia looked at her uncle – he was still kissing Winona! His eyes – and Winona's! – closed! It became more awkward when he put down the fork so wrap an arm around Winona –
"Uncle! Please! This is –" Lisia blushed, while putting her hands on her head. "Not now, please! Gosh! Please!"
They did not part at all, so Lisia buried her head into the table. She could not figure what was the best course of action for her right now. It would have been polite enough to plead for Wallace to stop, but no – this was not the case.
For Lisia, she felt like screaming inside. If she could, she would have screamed loud enough for the entire restaurant to hear. However, there had to be a way to separate them. Wallace and Winona facing each other like it was their first serious date. For this reason, Lisia kept her head down.
"Ah, am I interrupting something?" Lisia heard Cynthia say above her.
Winona's eyes opened spontaneously upon hearing Cynthia. She parted from Wallace's embrace only to stare at the table – more specifically at the Unova cheesecake.
"No, no, not at all," Wallace assured, saying that as if nothing happened. For Winona, it didn't help knowing that the people around them watched the scene unfold like this. Vue sur la Lune's head chef stopping by to check on some unsuspecting couple. That was unusual.
Cynthia grinned. "I thought I'd check on what you thought of my Unova cheesecake."
"Is that envy I see in your eyes?" Wallace asked, deciding to disregard Cynthia's point. "You must want a boyfriend by now, you know…"
Cynthia's grin faded out, and replaced by a scowl. Like the many glares he got, Wallace was perfectly used to this. Clearly, Cynthia could not manage to say a word because Wallace had simply had the hammer down.
Whatever thoughts they had, though, were disrupted by Winona. Winona let out a huge sigh with her elbows on the table, while staring off into space. Judging from her expression, she was infatuated, completely lost in thought. It seemed to annoy Cynthia, but Winona didn't care nor did she have a care in the world right now – her mind was lost in infatuation.
Eventually, Cynthia walked away back to the kitchens. She didn't know why she felt strange when she arrived, but she did feel slightly better. It was as if a small weight had been lifted from her shoulders, even though for her this didn't make sense. However, she did feel a tinge of emptiness within her, as though she was jealous. Wait, didn't Wallace just say that?
On the other hand, Winona slowly reached for her plate of Unova cheesecake. She had an appetite for dessert now.
"I have to say, this is really, really, good!" she commented.
Wallace smiled. But Lisia, who should have been happy to see her uncle's girlfriend test the cheesecake, found the feeling was very different from earlier. In stark contrast, she looked down at the table and remained silent.
I could not have gone through that last part of the chapter without smiling the whole way through...
Did anyone notice the other Fire Emblem reference I put in here? It happens with Steven!
Please, enjoy a Unova cheesecake as you wait for the next chapter! Place an order via review.