I. Am. BACK! Yes! Finally! A new chapter awaits after being away for a month! Although to be fair, I did complete my summer term, and I'm back to being a full-time student. So, therefore, expect more monthly updates for now, but if I have downtime, I won't complain writing more.
Thanks for the orders! For The Legendary Falcon Fall, Anime Review's, stoke66, and That honoured Same Guest, please treat yourselves to a slice of Unova cheesecake. Maybe I'll set aside a slice for UCCMaster, and a macaron!
Now... THIS... is a very long chapter to compensate for the school term that is to come...
Chapter fifteen: A Place of Mind
Martine Grenadine was certain her boss was a victim of a romantic cliché.
To quote her boss, Martine thought, if there really was an author somewhere working away at his computer and deciding how Steven's love life would look, it was falling into a cliché. The classic love-hate relation was too much.
The following morning, it became even more obvious to her when Steven called a meeting with his staff to discuss what happened the previous night. His appearance was shabby, given Metagross had to take care of him while the head chef slept in his own office overnight. By the time morning arrived, Steven called a meeting with his staff. His trademark suit was all crinkly and in desperate need for ironing.
By the time he called the meeting, there were only two reactions he got from the staff: either they were concerned or appalled at Steven's gruff appearance or they were amused at the appearance of their 'professional' administrator.
So far, in addressing his staff, Steven insisted that the wine cellar was broken into by a Garchomp most likely belonging to Cynthia. Martine wasn't surprised to see that no one believed him.
"You're just fueling more fire into your relationship by saying exactly this," Martine insisted.
Steven's face became red. "I'm not fueling any fire!"
But at least he didn't deny it. Moreover, James made a point. "You were most likely hallucinating. How could a Garchomp break into the wine cellar? And furthermore, stealing our wine and knocking you out? Not possible. The best explanation is that you were drunk and you likely smashed a bottle or two yourself."
Steven's face was still red. "I'm telling the truth! Come on!"
He may have been the administrator, but in the past weeks since Cynthia had taken up shop across the street, things at the Stone Bistro were getting difficult to manage. In other words, the restaurant was undergoing some sort of rebellion… and it was – Steven blamed – all because of her!
James d'Arc, along with everyone else, went to the heart of the matter.
"There's also the fact that, in light of what Wallace has told us, we all question your ethics, Steven," he said. "Just how could you bribe Cynthia's supplier?"
They were at the bar again, with Steven sitting at one of the tables with a pitcher of water in one hand and a glass of water in the other. He had never felt this thirsty in his life. Alongside, Martine served him a decent breakfast: a specialty soup of the Stone Bistro, a fresh Chansey egg, and toast with butter.
"As co-administrator," James declared, "this behaviour has to stop. It's for the good of the establishment, and your reputation. Tell us, Steven, what has gotten into you?"
Steven only chewed on his toast. He was in no mood to talk, so he kept eating. However, being the people who knew about the ongoing tension between him and Cynthia, the staff didn't need to second guess. James alone had made some precautionary measures against Steven, just in case.
"For today, Steven, I think you'd be better off taking a rest at home. Take the day off," James ordered. As he would expect, Steven wasn't pleased to hear that. "Look, we all know you're capable of handling the restaurant, for sure, but in your current state – like it or not – you're not really the most pleasant man to be around for the day. When you're feeling better, we'll see you in the morning as usual."
In the world of business, Steven was trained to know how to manage conflicts and negotiation, and there were a few options he could choose to settle this conflict. Knowing he was at fault, he had no choice but to yield.
"I understand…" he muttered.
"Then finish your breakfast," James concluded, standing up. "Head home, have a shower, and get your suit ironed. We don't want a boss who looks in bad form when he goes to work."
James and several cooks went away first, followed by some servers. Martine alone remained to watch her boss eat his breakfast, and she was eager to pester him with more questions when he was done. Sophie stayed to enjoy a morning juice, but Laurent had already left for the lobby to be sure if more customers had arrived.
"Tiens, barman, je voudrais un sirop de grenadine, s'il vous plaît," Martine asked.
The barman nodded and went to fetch the red bottle. Growing up as a kid, Martine was fascinated to find a drink that shared the same name as hers. Once she tried it for the first time, it became her favourite drink. Its iconic red colour and taste, produced from the freshest berries in Kalos, was complementary to her then-auburn hair, and now the colour matched her red hair.
Steven briefly looked up to see the barman carry the glass over to Martine before looking back at his food. It was clearly uncomfortable to eat with the many eyes looking at him. Slowly, he went for eating the Chansey egg.
Martine, on the other hand, picked up her glass of sirop de grenadine and sipped just a bit of it.
By the time the barman had cleaned up Steven's dishes, Steven was already in his office packing some of his books and accounting records away into his briefcase. If he wasn't going to be cooking for the day, nor would he be able to work in his office, he might as well being doing office work at home. Perhaps he was wrong, that he should be taking some rest.
Cyllage City was a seaside location, but it was also known for its rocky surroundings. Ever since Cynthia had taken up shop across the street, Steven hardly had time to revisit the vast surroundings to explore for stones. At his current Cyllage home where he stayed, he kept an Explorer Kit as a memento of his travels in Sinnoh. He hardly had time to use it when he entered the restaurant business, so he supposed now was the time.
The files and papers were in place, so all Steven had to do was, apart from packing up his briefcase, put away some of his pens and spare papers into his drawer. But when he did open the drawer, he cringed.
A copy of the popular Kalos magazine was in there, and still there. It still carried the image of him and Cynthia at Vue sur la Lune and the same 'Apples and Oranges' title. The image still scarred him, perhaps for life, so Steven began to wonder why the magazine was there. Why should he bother with keeping this magazine? Steven began to question what the point here was. Not that he had anything personal, right? The magazine was there because he wanted to keep it. This was the same magazine he had shown Martine, and how he blamed her for causing this.
He placed the magazine in front of him to read the title once more. Now that the impression of him and Cynthia became public, Steven became less sure if his performance was sustainable. Public pressure wasn't what he was expecting, and he certainly wasn't going to conform to their expectations, nor Martine's nor Wallace's nor Lisia's, that he'll end up in a romantic relationship with Cynthia. That would be a self-fulfilling prophecy, and Steven wasn't going to conform to that. He still wondered why he hadn't thrown out this magazine in the bin like he did with Cynthia's vouchers – with which Martine dug up and dragged him to dinner across the street.
That reminded him, he should seriously start considering adding deductions to Martine's paycheque.
I wonder how she's feeling right now, Steven thought. If he was in Cynthia's shoes, how would he have acted?
And… speak of the devil, and he shall appear. Well, in this case, a she. The door opened with Martine walking right in.
"Hi, boss."
Suddenly self-conscious that he still had the magazine in his hands, Steven swiftly slipped the magazine into the drawer. However, as much as Martine couldn't see the magazine, she could still hear the sounds of Steven trying to force some sort of object.
"What are you – hey, boss, what you up to?" she asked, smartly.
"Nothing," Steven's response was automatic.
Martine smiled her usual smile. As she walked in, she placed a cup of coffee on the desk but also took note of Steven's expressions. The way she saw him now he was in his office, he looked terrible. His hair was messy, for one, the tired eyes, the unwashed face, the crinkled suit. The lot.
"Thought you could use a shot of caffeine today," she suggested, before going on to say, "By the way, while you were knocked out last night, Laurent reported that we had a huge number of guests who cancelled their reservations for some reason. As one of our servers witnessed, they went to Vue sur la Lune to try out a new dessert."
Steven hung his head, but Martine could still sense the disappointment in his voice. "Right… and this is supposed to help me?"
"The coffee is supposed to help. You're still very sleepy, so nothing like a shot of this'll hurt," Martine answered. "Yeah, I suppose this is a little payback for what you did to Cynthia, eh? You attack her firm, and that firm is building upon your failure. Go home, boss, and get some rest."
Steven raised his head to look at her, sharply.
"Are you here to merely gloat at me?" he said. He picked up the coffee to sip it, and tasting the familiar bitterness of fresh coffee with the right amount of milk and sugar the way he liked it. Martine, along with basically every server, knew him well enough to know how he liked his coffee.
Martine shrugged. "No, it's just that while you were knocked out, Sophie got a phone call this morning that a regionally-renowned actress is having dinner here tonight. She's pure class and popular, I'll give you that, and we're hoping that our restaurant boss will be in top form when he comes tonight to greet her."
Upon hearing that, Steven's expressions eased. He finished packing his things, as well as finishing the coffee, before leaving his office. He was tired, perhaps too tired, that he didn't lock the door. After all, there was the prospect of a celebrity staying for dinner. When he had more time, after he had rested up, he would have to see who exactly was staying for dinner.
"Just make sure we have the appropriate tables set up for our guest tonight," he instructed. "Get the usual procedure done as usual, oui?"
"Oui, je comprends. Nous le ferons bientôt," Martine answered. In her bones, she had really wanted to find out what her boss was hiding. She heard the sound, but never got to see what it was. From this perspective, Steven was keeping another secret from the staff. Given Steven's state, persuasion wasn't going to work this time, but for the time being she had to focus on getting things ready for tonight.
By the time Steven had locked the door to his office, Martine was on her way back to the dining areas.
"Come on, just ask her out already," Martine said. "If you need to talk about it, I'm always up for a chat."
Rather than heading home straight away, Steven stopped by to pick up a pastry from his bakery; specifically, a Slateport cake. As head chef, it was natural for his employees to give it to him for free. Afterwards, he walked out of the bakery to welcome the salty ocean air that filled Cyllage City every day.
"Metagross, what do you think?" he asked his Pokémon. It wasn't as if Metagross didn't have an idea what was going on in Steven's mind. As a Pokémon who had the capacity of minds, Metagross was highly intelligent, so it didn't take too long for it to decipher what its master had in mind. Needless to say Metagross had figured out Steven's motives three days ago.
"Meta," it rumbled indifferently.
"Yeah, I know," Steven said, whilst walking past the infamous plaza he had heard so much about. As usual, people were buying bread and pastries from the Stone Bakery, and coffee and tea from Vue sur la Lune's café. What Steven had in mind was if he was going to see what the plaza's atmosphere was like, he better buy a coffee from Vue sur la Lune at his discretion, of course.
Subsequently, Steven put on a pair of sunglasses before walking into the popular café. Metagross, due to its massive size, waited outside for the former.
In his honest opinion, Steven secretly admitted that the café was comfortable. The polished metallic tables with wooden legs, the wooden chairs with cushions, the red walls complete with a black ceiling but with a slight bluish tint, and the miniature candle boxes on each table gave the atmosphere a light but distinctive air.
Still in sunglasses, Steven casually ordered a coffee at the till, politely instructing how he liked his coffee made. The barista at the till seemed to notice the wrapped Slateport cake in Steven's hand, but he didn't say anything at first until the coffee was ready. A steaming hot mug of coffee was prepared as instructed, and was soon in Steven's hands.
"It's a nice day to enjoy coffee and a Slateport cake, I'll give you that," the barista commented, which got Steven's attention. "I bet that cake would be best served with a macaron. Care for one?"
"Um…" Steven muttered, unable to immediately reply. The macarons on display looked very pleasing, with their colours varying from blue to red, green to yellow… Perhaps he wouldn't mind one? But wouldn't that mean that he was getting a little soft? "Sure," Steven said. "I'll take one."
"That's what I like to hear," the barista smiled.
Did all customers act like this? Steven wondered what he was actually here for. Either he was enjoying himself as a customer or he was attempting to gain some competitive advantage. But since he was forced out of his restaurant by his employees for the day, he might as well make the most of it. Yes. He was going to have to enjoy himself as a customer. Maybe afterwards, he could go for a walk on one of the nearby routes.
Eventually, a delicious macaron on a plate and a coffee were given to Steven after he had paid. Thanking the barista, Steven walked out of the café to one of the outside metal tables and pulled up a chair. He was not keen to walk into that square plaza across the street, not when he was wearing sunglasses, and certainly not in his scruffy appearance.
He sat down to, for the first time in what felt like too long, relax. For a moment, Steven had this sense of relief that he could be away from his restaurant for a little. The difference was that he was relaxing at a place owned by his (probable) chief competitor. As a customer, the mixture of a Slateport cake and one of her coffees was delicious. The ocean air could be heard through the streets and the sun was out, which made the Cyllage atmosphere very welcoming. Come to that, did Cynthia's coffee somehow taste nicer than his? It seemed so much smoother than the coffee he drank earlier.
As he was halfway eating through his Slateport cake, he peeked at the plaza to see locals happily mingling with each other as they ate pastries and buns from his bakery, but enjoying other things like macarons and tarts and coffee from her café. If anything, Steven thought, the square plaza beside his restaurant served as a sort of neutral ground between his place and hers.
After eating his Slateport cake, Steven reached for the light-blue macaron on his plate. The crisp pastry gave him a minor flashback of his first visit to Vue sur la Lune not-so-long ago. While eating, he peered into the café to see customers line up before the barista…
And Cynthia.
Realising this, Steven kept his head down and pretended to enjoy his coffee. However, he still kept his eyes on her, and hoping she wouldn't notice him. If his crinkled suit was a giveaway, then he would have to live with that. To be honest, he was finding it difficult to relax by just being here.
Metagross, though, knew exactly what Steven was thinking.
"Meta," it echoed, suggesting a tone saying, "You're not going to stay here long, probably."
The remaining quarter of Slateport cake was fed to Metagross, in which the Pokémon took gratefully. As a customer, Steven tried his best to relax, but the environment here was too… quiet. As much as he'd like to return to work, that wasn't going to happen.
He thought about eating the macaron and leaving some for Metagross, but shortly after, he changed his mind and kept it for himself. If Cynthia didn't notice him but was too busy working, then maybe he could get out before anyone, be it Wallace, Martine, or James, could notice.
"Hey, how's it going?" a voice greeted.
Cilan, Cress, and Chili. Oh, how Steven spoke too soon.
Before Steven could register what was going in his mind, Cress and Chili were sitting at Steven's table, whereas Cilan remained standing.
"Alright, I'll be grabbing coffees for all of us," he said. "Well, I suppose you'll be wanting tea, am I right, Cress?"
Cress gave Cilan the thumbs-up.
By the time Steven realised what was going on, it was too late for him to stop Cilan from walking into the café. If he walked in there now, Cynthia would surely notice him.
"Hey, Steven, you alright?" Chili asked. "I can see you probably we're expecting us, but wow! Imagine seeing you here of all places! I thought it might have been a first, seeing what happened to her that night, right?"
Steven glared at Chili, but because Steven was wearing sunglasses, Chili didn't notice the intimidation. Cress merely nodded.
"Let me guess, Steven. You're trying to forge a relationship or something?" Cress said. "After all, it's sort of like she's the one for you."
Now it was Cress' turn to be on the receiving end of Steven's glare, albeit overshadowed by the sunglasses Steven wore.
"Can't I enjoy some quiet time?" Steven muttered.
Out of the corner of his sunglasses, Steven noticed behind the glass windows Cilan talking to Cynthia. However, when he realised that Cilan was point right at him, Steven turned his head away and quickly recalled Metagross into his Poké Ball. His quiet time was certainly at an end now.
And just when I thought I was going to enjoy myself, he thought.
He finished off the rest of his coffee before getting up. Cress and Chili appeared to want to say something, but already Steven was a block away from the café. It appeared he was in a hurry to go somewhere.
"And, he's off and away," Chili remarked.
By then, Cilan was standing behind them.
"Cynthia insisted that she bring our drinks to us, though I tried to turn down the offer," Cilan explained. Indeed, Cynthia was standing behind the Striaton Gym brothers with a tray in hand. Steaming mugs of coffee and tea awaited them.
"Alright, did any of you order a coffee and a tea – Hey, what's with the looks?" Cynthia's tone became curious. Chili was wearing a grin that looked as if it was about to explode into laughter, whereas Cress appeared to be holding his breath.
As soon as the drinks were put down, Cress replied, "Nothing much, Cynthia, nothing much. But since you're here, I suggest you take a seat with us."
Cilan pulled up the fourth chair, where Steven had just previously sat on, to cue Cynthia to take a seat. Not wanting to be impolite, Cynthia took up the offer, and Cilan took his seat after.
"I suppose you're wondering what was going on?" Chili said, with his suspicious grin not losing its effect.
"But I really don't see anything out of the ordinary, though," Cynthia muttered. "Did something just happen here?"
The coffees were passed to Cilan and Chili, and Cress had his tea. The brothers simultaneously picked up their mugs, sipped them at the same time, and put them down at the same time. When the mugs were down, though, the three brothers were each giving each other hard stares. Chili seemed intent on talking about Steven, whereas Cress wanted to keep silent on the issue, and Cilan wanted to talk about something else.
"Steven was here," Chili was first to speak, and thus earning a well-deserved glare from his brothers. "It seems he was here to take a coffee break, yeah?"
"You're bluffing," Cynthia's face suddenly became cold. "He wouldn't bother coming here. Not anymore."
"Yeah, stop this nonsense, Chili," Cilan added. To this, Cress secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but Chili wasn't having any of this. The latter thought about making a comeback quote to persuade Cynthia, but it now appeared that Cynthia wasn't interested in the topic anymore, so he desisted, but not before giving both of his brothers a Steven-style glare. Cilan grinned. "In the meantime," he said, "how's life in Cyllage City, Cynthia?"
Chili merely stood up, with his face still showing annoyed expressions, and walked away. Cress only shrugged, and Cilan kept up his conversation with Cynthia.
James had given the order for the staff to clean up the entire Stone Restaurant and Bistro establishment. While Steven wasn't present at the restaurant, nor were floors above busy, James saw to getting some productivity from the staff. The barman was to clean the wine cellar, some servers to support the regular janitors sweeping the bar, while other servers cleaned the tables at the bar. Steven's museum was to be cleaned and dusted, and the bakery was to be cleaned as well.
Never mind the dining floors in the above floors, alongside the kitchens.
The lobby and foyer lounges had to be dusted and cleaned too. However, Laurent and Sophie remained at the desk to hold the fort in case if any more customers showed up.
That left Steven's somewhat new office, which Martine gladly took the opportunity to clean. James was reluctant at first, but finally granted permission for her to dust the office, seeing that there were little locations vacant.
Eventually, Martine was standing outside Steven's office, with a broom and a mop. James had provided her with keys to get inside, so that was exactly what she used. For once, she could actually wander around in here without her boss' presence. To snoop around seemed a tempting idea, but she was better off cleaning for now.
With a wet cloth, she wiped off the partly dusty shelves and files in the office; needless to say the table as well. Once that was finished, after washing off the cloth, Martine proceeded to sweeping the floor. However, she didn't count on her boss being the messy type, and her predictions were affirmed when she picked up little more than bits of paper. The only thing that needed throwing out was Steven's little trash bin which he used to contain discarded notes.
One would think this place didn't need washing either, she thought. The floor was surprisingly clean. Would Steven have cleaned the floor himself? Not possible. But it was a wonder how the floor appeared sparkly clean. The only thing Martine could collect on the floor was nothing more than dust. Normally, one of the janitors would stop by to clean Steven's office once a week, but since there was little to do for now, it was best to keep the first-class restaurant in form, particularly when they had an honourable guest tonight.
Knowing the cooks, they would be cleaning the kitchens and making sure their workspace was clear. When they finished with that, they would normally proceed to preparing ingredients in anticipation of dinner guests who ordered meals for the night. With the thought of a celebrity attending the restaurant for dinner, James made sure everyone was working hard.
At almost every space Martine dusted in Steven's office, there were financial statements regarding the position of the restaurant. This information of course was kept confidential from almost everyone except Steven and James, the administrators, but Martine took the liberty of neatly filing them away or stacking them on the desk. A messy desk wasn't pleasant to look at, after all.
And speaking of the desk… any more vouchers her boss kept would have been inestimable proof of affection for his culinary rival, and her boss would regard it as junk. Well, if it was junk, Martine thought, then who was he to decide to keep it? Maybe she should do him a favour and 'throw it out' for him.
Oui, and that'll mean I can 'help' him throw out the trash, Martine thought sinisterly. With that in mind, along with a mischievous smile, she opened Steven's desk drawer and began searching for more 'junk'. More financial statements, books, pencils, a calculator…
And that.
Ha ha, what have we here? Martine thought, reaching into the desk drawer and pulling out a slightly tattered, but in decent condition nonetheless, copy of the popular Kalos magazine from so long ago. The 'Apples and Oranges' article her boss supposedly hated, and it was just sitting there.
Curious as she was already, she opened the magazine to skim the pages. The article in question appeared very wrinkly and slightly teared, as if it had been touched upon too many times. Martine, then, deduced her boss must have been reading this too often. In her heart she was laughing as hard as she could, seeing that she discovered another of her boss' secrets. This one, in particular, was too amusing to behold.
Either Steven kept this magazine secret because he was too stubborn to admit he liked Cynthia, or that he simply couldn't take his eyes off her so this was the alternative, Martine thought. Whatever plans Steven had in mind seemed like a mystery to her, and this was a clue, perhaps. What Wallace, Lisia, or James wouldn't give for this information…?
It's been a while since I've read this, she thought.
Nah, maybe she'd be better off keeping this a secret for now. Martine placed the magazine back where it belonged, though with smiles, and resumed her duties cleaning her boss' office. If James caught her slacking off right now, he would probably dock her pay. If Steven saw Martine raiding his office right now, he would probably fire her.
As she finished putting the other files in place, and closing the drawer holding the magazine, the office door flew open, shocking Martine a little. James d'Arc walked right in.
Martine could have said something, but she kept quiet when she realised that James wasn't even focused on her.
"Something the matter, James?" she calmly asked.
James partly ignored her, and he went on picking up the files Martine had just organised and opening them, looking at shipping invoices. "We seem to have a supply shortage, Martine. You didn't happen to see the invoice for our delivery of wines, by any chance?"
Martine scratched her head. James sighed.
"While cleaning the wine cellar, the barman went to inspect the inventory to see if all the wines were in check," he explained. "He found that at least four bottles weren't accounted for, so I'll need the invoice to see if we have any issues. Not that it's urgent."
Martine wasn't impressed to see James overturning all the files, as if he was ransacking, in search of the particular file. It was fortunate that he was searching through only one shelf and not much else. The 19-year old redhead didn't dare say a word that she had peeked into Steven's drawers to find a copy of the popular Kalos magazine, but she was quite certain James would be keen on knowing Steven's interest with the magazine.
Perhaps… Lisia and Wallace, let alone Winona, would be the first people she would tell of this breakthrough. Still, if only she could talk about the overall issue one-on-one with her boss… Now that would be wishful thinking.
"Home again, home again," Steven muttered tiredly. Then again, what was home? It wasn't as if he had forgotten about Hoenn, right?
In the northern region of Cyllage City was a private villa where Steven lived, in which it highly resembled the villa he used to own in Sinnoh. Incidentally, the villa was built by the same developer and had been happy to do a deal with Steven when he contacted them. Now, the furniture Steven had in Sinnoh was automatically moved into this new villa, although he had to buy a new table. The TV, PC, kitchen, houseplants, statues, everything else, and even the chandelier were in the exact same positions as they had been at Sinnoh. Why, he even brought his entire collection of rocks in Sinnoh to this villa and the displays were placed exactly where they were supposed to be. Only the view outside was different. For Steven, it felt good to walk into someplace familiar. Metagross too.
As usual, he was greeted by his other Pokémon – namely Carbink and Aerodactyl – in addition to his old regulars Skarmory, Claydol, Aggron, Cradily, and Armaldo. With their master indefinitely retired from battling, there was little they could do besides lounging around. At times, though, Steven would take them all out for travelling whenever he was out gathering rocks and stones, but that was all.
The meals he cooked ever since his venture in Lumiose City wasn't half-bad either. Every night, Steven would drop by to cook delicious meals for them, and the least they could do was make Steven coffee the way he liked it.
At other times, Steven would occasionally get them to help out with servicing the restaurant, but that would happen only once in a while. Compared to their Champion days, they've never felt so laid back, and now the most they could do was helping the bistro. Besides, if Steven released them, what else was there to do?
"Thanks Armaldo…" Steven said tiredly, sipping a bit of coffee his Pokémon presented to him and then collapsing on the cream-white sofa, instead of the four-poster bed. If the alcohol fumes had an impact on him last night, they sure lingered around in his body still.
Even so, his refuge was interrupted by a mere phone call. The ringing filled the villa with a monotonous sound.
Ugh… and just when I wanted some sleep, Steven thought.
His Pokémon highly anticipated Steven would have picked up the phone straight away, but Steven went straight for the four-poster bed and collapsed on it, exhausted. The ring tone eventually faded away, thankfully, but a mere minute later the ringtone woke him up. What Steven wouldn't give for at least an hour of sleep! After all, didn't James have him off to do exactly that?
It also did not help when Cradily brought the phone directly to Steven's bedside table, though he could hear the phone seemingly come closer. Grudgingly, without opening his eyes, Steven reached over to pick up the phone and held it against his ear.
"Hello…" he groaned.
"Steven," James' voice said from the other side. "We seem to have an issue with one of our invoices, so I was wondering if you can help me out when you're rested up. Let's say… six hours?"
"Sure…" Steven yawned, and hung up the line, casting the phone on the table.
A mere second later, the phone rang again, annoying him. He wanted to ignore the ringing and go to sleep, but as the phone was right beside him, why not answer it? Expecting James, he held it to his ear again.
"Oh, oh! Mr. Stone!" a different voice could be heard, which was enough to force Steven awake. This was not James, but was in fact… Sophie. "We didn't mention this earlier, but last night when you were knocked out we lost a whole lot of reservations at some point. First this group left, and then almost everyone followed… to go to Vue sur la Lune! Now, we thought we'd tell you later, but you were too busy sleeping –"
"Explain," Steven grumbled. Vue sur la Lune again? As if he hadn't had enough of that ill-fated restaurant already, seeing he went there for a coffee break not too long ago. Nevertheless, the news of a loss of customers caught his attention. If demand for his restaurant was going down, then that was terrible news to the current restaurant expenses…
No. He needed some innovation – maybe a new dish – to attract customers. Otherwise, he might have to start slashing menu prices, and that in turn would add on the restaurant financial liabilities, which was the last thing any business wanted. Speaking of financials, he had to check on James and the financial statements soon...
"It happened last night when almost all the reservations we had at some point left the lobby and went to Vue sur la Lune for dinner!" Sophie reported. "I don't know about you, but maybe something's going on over there, or maybe she might have a new food item on her menu."
Yeah. An innovation might be the solution.
"Apart from that," Sophie added, "don't forget that a celebrity has reserved a table tonight! Honestly, the bistro would look good for her if you came along. If you can, please drop by and help James and the others cook!"
It took a moment, a long one, before Steven could reply, "I'll see you tonight, Sophie."
He rested only for another ten minutes. When he got out of bed, it came to Steven that he still was in a shabby state. The suit he was accustomed to wearing, the trademark charcoal gray with the purple zigzag pattern and a red tie, could not have been in worse shape. Removing the jacket and tie and casting them away to wash, he went straight for his closet. Whatever appearance he had last night, he hoped it would be forgotten now.
As well, he needed to look sharp!
He selected one of his neat charcoal gray dinner jackets, a freshly ironed steel-blue dress shirt, and set it aside on the table. The charcoal gray dress pants, the belt… it all looked good.
There was also the issue of picking a tie. What should he go for? For tonight, perhaps red might go well…
However, Metagross knew exactly what he was thinking, and used Psychic to hold Steven's hand in place.
"What? What do you mean, 'not red'?" Steven demanded, glaring at Metagross.
The latter then used Psychic again to pull out a slim, alpine white tie, and held it up in front of Steven's face. Finally releasing the Psychic hold on Steven's hand and the slim white tie, Steven swiftly snatched it from the air in front, and held it up before his eyes.
"Alpine white, huh?"
Metagross nodded. After giving some thought, Steven admitted that alpine white would probably suit the steel-blue and charcoal gray best. He trusted Metagross, with all that knowledge and logic inside its mastermind, had a better judgement. Since when did he allow Metagross to choose what he should wear?! The alpine white tie was thrown on top of the dinner jacket.
And finally, shoes.
"If I'm wearing a white tie…" he muttered to himself, with a hint of embarrassment, "it'd be pointless to wear black shoes, let alone gray. No… I'd probably go for…"
In the end, he settled on a pair of smoke-white leather shoes. Steven brought the completed suit near the bed, but he also brought a polo shirt and shorts to wear for the time being. He started to change out of his tattered suit and into the business casual, so Steven's Pokémon reserved the right to leave him to his privacy.
When Steven was done, he would head over to his kitchen where he prepared to concoct a brand-new recipe that he hoped would attract customers back to his restaurant. Honestly, he could only imagine what reaction he would get from everyone. Wallace would probably come up with something like, "It's about time you've changed into something different." Yeah, he would probably say that.
Oh, if only Cynthia could see the suit he had picked out. Would she be impressed? Wait, why was he thinking of her now?
Looks like Martine has discovered another secret...
WOW. I've never written a chapter this long compared to the other chapters. Could you imagine the dress Steven has selected? It looks sharp, if you ask me. Hey, maybe I should try wearing that sort of suit sometime in the future.
As a reward for reviewing this considerably long chapter, allow Martine Grenadine to serve you a glass of sirop de grenadine, a Slateport cake, and a freshly baked macaron.