I'm very pleased that I can upload this new chapter in less than a month! However, I must admit that in light of my coming birthday (next week), I just had to do something! Unfortunately, thanks to the pressure of university work, I'm sort of entering a small state of depression. Gosh, I can't let that interfere with my work right now...

So, here's a serving of delicious cheeses (LaBrie, Bleu de Sud-Est, and De Cyllage)for Anime Review's, Ryuu-kun, LEGAL-EAGLE53 (who gets no Bleu de Sud-Est), and That Anonymous guest! Enjoy!

Chapter twenty-one: Of Paparazzi and Allergies

At some point downstairs, whatever confusion everyone felt at first now was replaced with clearer minds. James d'Arc still kept the people at bay, and could only hope that the situation would not escalate. Laurent stood alongside. From how things were, the paparazzi were eager to break into the third floor, but at least they seemed calm enough to not do that.

Sophie eventually reappeared behind Laurent, with a glass of water for him. Most notably was that the water had a slice of Watmel berry in it. He accepted the drink gratefully, as he knew that Sophie liked her water that way. To Laurent, it didn't matter that much, but he would go for a slice of lemon right now if he had to choose.

"So… Let me guess, you had a good look at Mr. Stone, eh?" he said.

"Well, you don't get to see a man like him dressed like that every day," Sophie said in her defence. "Besides, you would have done the same for Cynthia, right?"

Laurent held his breath.

"I suppose so," he finally said.

As much as they were happy talking like this, the atmosphere in the lobby was tense. Although the paparazzi were put in line for now, they were still jumpy. Sometimes, Laurent wondered if the commotion was enough to cause the chandelier on the ceiling, three stories high, to come down in a fiery crash.

"Are you kidding me, Laurent?" Sophie said, annoyed. "Where – How would you have fire?"

"You never know," Laurent replied. "Anything could happen."

As Sophie playfully pushed Laurent's head with her fingers, their interaction provoked the interest of some of the paparazzi. For no reason whatsoever, some of them had their cameras fixed on the receptionists, where they snuck several shots. James was no less annoyed with the flashing cameras.

It became much worse when the number of camera flashes increased, and it became very, very, distracting.

Martine Grenadine couldn't help herself but visit the third floor once more to see her boss. But on the way there, she noticed another table that seemed… unserved. When she walked closer, it was to her delight that it was Lisia, Wallace, and Winona who were seated there.

She could tell something was off upon looking at the table. Wallace had collapsed on his chair as if he had a heart attack. Winona had her elbows on the table and was evidently sighing in the direction of Steven. Lisia was gently patting her uncle's hand until noticing Martine had come up to the table.

"There anything I can help you with?" Martine offered.

"Salut, Martine!" Lisia greeted. "Oh, it's nothing much. My uncle's just in a state of shock and Winona has temporarily lost her mind. Look at her! She's been staring at Steven for like… twelve hours!"

Martine used Lisia's description as an excuse to sneak a glance at her boss, who looked silent as he stared down at a slice of cheese on his plate. However, what really caught her attention was –

"Are you seeing this, Lisia?" she said suddenly. Lisia quickly looked in the same direction. It only took a mere second for Lisia to register what was going on. As if Steven dining with Cynthia wasn't enough, the two of them were sharing a cheese plate.

Lisia giggled. "They're sharing a plate? Oh. My. Gosh. Diantha's not there, and it doesn't look like that cheese is for her. It looks really…"

"Romantic?" Martine finished the sentence.

"Yeah."

From where they were observing, it looked as if Steven was serving Cynthia a slice of cheese – specifically LaBrie. He took the untouched piece from his plate and, to Martine and Lisia's delight, placed it onto her plate. Cynthia, while looking as if flattered, gratefully nibbled on the slice, whereas Steven looked…

He looked satisfied.

"I knew it," Martine could say this with a wide grin. "I knew it all along. Grrrr! I wish I was in Cynthia's place."

It looked like Steven had completely forgotten that Martine, Lisia, and Winona were watching the scene unfold (Wallace was still in shock). On the other hand, Steven looked happy that Cynthia was enjoying herself.

"Oh… and look at them now," Lisia muttered.

Martine's mind was in sync with Lisia's, as she saw Diantha return to the table. Immediately, Steven's face became neutral and he straightened himself. Quite amusingly, Cynthia did not notice Steven's expression in the first place, and it was even more amusing when her expression became equally neutral as Steven's when Diantha returned to the table.

"And we wonder why he won't ask her out," Lisia added. "Uncle, how old is Steven?"

Without looking at her, Wallace answered, "Old enough."

A non-answer.

The conversation at Diantha's table was moderate. The Kalos Champion herself was enjoying a spectacular dinner for certain, but she enjoyed the company of two former Champions who had status not unlike her own. Moreover, she was interested in how the two would interact – albeit she did find Steven extremely handsome – she was only halfway through eating her Watmel berry salad. Her Gardevoir too.

"Um… yeah, I'll see to serving you your entrée, Diantha," he said.

The two women at the table had their eyes fixed on the handsome host for a while. At least until Diantha realised Cynthia was staring at Steven alongside her, when the latter was well away from the table.

"Hold on a minute, Cynthia," she said, which snapped Cynthia out of her trance. "If you're looking at him, then you must be attracted to him. Yeah?"

Unable to keep her cool, Cynthia let the slightest blush show on her face.

"Well, why didn't you say so earlier?!" Diantha exclaimed. "You must have caught his eyes too! Just look at how well he's dressed! And you! Say, didn't I interrupt something between you and him when I got here? What were you two lovebirds talking about?"

"Nothing!" Cynthia protested hotly. "And furthermore, we are not lovebirds! On the other hand, we were just talking about food. That's all!"

Diantha rolled her eyes.

"He thinks you're gorgeous, and you stare at him like he's the only man for you," she said. "What are you waiting for?"

Refusing to answer, Cynthia reached for her bag to pull out something like a miniature paper bag, and placed it aside. After that, she helped herself to some more cheese. A piece of the Bleu de Sud-Est was extremely good, but its flavour was also very, very, potent. She had to eat small portions of it, just like Garchomp did earlier.

In her honest opinion, though, the LaBrie tasted much better.

While that was going on, Steven was well on his way to the private elevator leading to the kitchens. With an empty plate in hand, he could breathe a sigh of relief knowing he was away from Diantha and her. In the short distance ahead, he seemed pleased and partly amused that Wallace had collapsed on his chair for reasons unknown, with Lisia and Winona staring at him (he sort of enjoyed that attention now).

And Martine.

Before he could even think of reacting to seeing his 19-year old waitress there, he was rudely interrupted by the sound of a click, followed by a suspicious shimmer of light from under one of the nearby tables.

Confused, whereas Martine was confused all the same and watching, Steven set down the empty plate on top of the nearest table and approached the suspicious one. He could anticipate already what was going on, but nevertheless…

He looked down to see his white leather shoes near the edge of the tablecloth. Upon hearing just the slightest amount of chatter, Steven didn't know if he should be feeling surprised or not. Kneeling down, he held his breath as he peeked underneath the table.

His reaction was mixed. Two girls, a photographer and a journalist from the looks of it, were hiding right below. However, to his non-surprise, the two girls were flattered by his looks. His impossibly handsome looks.

"Ooh…" Alexa sighed at him.

"May I ask what you two are doing here?" Steven politely asked. "You are not invited here."

Viola held up her camera instantly and a bright flash of light blinded Steven, causing him to flinch. Subsequently, Steven had to pull them out from under the table, seeing as they weren't willing to move or reply.

Women, Steven thought. Not to mention these two are still girls, from the looks of it.

"I can't believe I did it. Write this down, sis."

It wasn't before long Steven had to drag the two girls out. However, their hands seemed to melt upon touching him. For his part, Steven signalled for Martine to come over; and for the first time in a while, he was quite happy his 19-year old waitress was in his presence. With a glaring eye, he ensured they stood still.

"Could you do me a favour and escort these two away? I'm going to return to dinner," he ordered. "Oh, and their equipment has to stay in my office."

"Aw… but Mr. Stone!" Viola whined. "This camera's a gift from ma soeur! Madamoiselle Diantha! Aidez-moi, s'il vous plait!"

"Mais malheuresment, je ne te peux pas aider," Diantha replied amusingly. "But you can keep your camera though."

Helpless, Viola and Alexa followed Martine in the direction of the stairs, where it led to the lobby. After they had disappeared from sight, Cynthia turned to Diantha. "You know those two?"

"Yup," Diantha said. "The blond is a Gym Leader here in Kalos, and that was her sister with her. You know, I can never get enough publicity from those two. It's very much a recipe for disaster! And, come to that, what have you got in that bag?"

Suddenly looking at the paper bag, which was wide open, Cynthia closed it. "It's nothing," she replied. "Just some private stuff which I'm not willing to tell you about!"

"Like… photos of Steven?" Diantha said, hoping to make Cynthia crack. In return, this caused Cynthia to blush a little more. "Oh… So it's true, eh?"

The latter closed the paper bag and was about put it back into her regular bag (a handbag, perhaps. Diantha couldn't see it, but she was certain it was a handbag). It was somewhat amusing to watch Viola and Alexa being helplessly pushed away by the redhead waitress, but she was fine with that. Such was the life of the paparazzi. At the last minute, Cynthia pulled out a perfume spray bottle and handed it to Diantha.

"I just bought a new perfume at the boutique," Cynthia explained, spraying some of it on her hand to smell it. "If you are interested, you can try it out if you like."

"Don't mind if I do," Diantha replied, spraying a bit on her hand just so she could smell it first. "Ah, the classic smell of the Kalos coast. Can you smell it too?"

Cynthia didn't even realise that in the heat of the moment, Garchomp had snuck several cheeses away from her. Nevertheless, afterwards, Cynthia continued to nibble on the slice of LaBrie that Steven had cut out for her, whereas Diantha had almost finished her salad. Gardevoir had finished, so Steven took the liberty of taking that plate as an act of convenience. It was a surprise, really, because Diantha could have sworn Steven had left to serve the entrée.

"When I come back, I'll make sure your entrée is served fresh," he said. "Besides, I'd love to keep it as a surprise, but Cynthia (he glanced at her for a moment) can tell you all about it if she wishes. But hey, I can't leave an empty plate here."

For a moment, the two former Champions smiled in front of the current Kalos Champion. Diantha could really sense something going between them. Perhaps it was too good to be true. Somehow, Diantha could sense Cynthia was tempted to flirt at Steven with all her beauty, and that was enough for Diantha to sneak a laugh.

"Right. Well, I better get to putting away that plate. Promise," Steven said, as he was reminded of the plate he had intended to take away until he ran into the two girls: Viola and Alexa.

Speaking of which, Viola and Alexa, escorted by Martine, had approached the doors leading to the stairs at this point.

It was then, even from this distance, Steven could hear a rumbling sound coming from the door. Like the sound of an earthquake.

Not to mention the sound of coughing – Wait, that was Diantha's voice!

Immediately, Steven turned around to rush over to the table. He saw Cynthia looking as if she didn't know what to do, but that wasn't important. It looked bad enough that Diantha was looking horrible.

"Diantha! Are you okay?!" Steven pleaded.

"I – I'm fine," Diantha rasped, as she clutched her throat. Sweat was forming on her head. She continued to cough.

"I think she should see a doctor." Cynthia's cool voice was all she could do to keep the atmosphere calm, but it didn't seem to have much effect.

"I – MARTINE!" Steven yelled.

Across the floor, Martine – and Viola and Alexa – turned her head to see her boss once again.

This time Steven looked desperate. Now that Martine had a clear look at Diantha, she hurried over to the table. However, Steven held up a hand to stop her.

"I need you to fetch Diantha some water. Vite!" Steven ordered.

Wherever the nearest station was, Martine dashed to it to pour a glass of water. From what she saw, Diantha had finished her water and so her glass was empty. Quickly as Martine could, Martine got a glass of water in her hand.

But Steven, who watched Diantha suffer, caught wind that Diantha's coughs were not stopping.

Eventually, Diantha coughed until she collapsed. Her arms and her head hit the table with a thud.

She lay still.

"No! Diantha! Wake up!" Steven cried.

He was rudely interrupted by the flashing of a familiar camera. Steven looked up to see Viola excitedly take pictures of the scene, with Alexa taking as many notes as possible. Torn between wanting to stop them to protect his image – and his reputation, or help Diantha. Well, if Diantha's life was at stake here, then the option was obvious.

"Okay, I agree with you, Cynthia. We better get her to a doctor," Steven said.

Cynthia slowly nodded her head, but looked the other way.

Cautiously, Steven checked to see if Diantha was breathing (thankfully, she was). With that settled, he started to clean up the table.

Something, a light, caught the corner of his while he was cleaning. When Steven looked up, he could make out a… drone. A hovering drone with a camera seeing everything that was going on inside the building. No, wait, there were many drones! How could he not have noticed this earlier?

"What is this…?" Steven muttered. "No!"

It was then it happened.

The rumbling earthquake-like sound erupted from behind the doors across, where Viola and Alexa were standing. Before Steven could register what was going on, the sound of doors bursting open meant something serious was going on.

As in, the paparazzi. They were here, no doubt, to see Diantha. Ten – no – twenty people entered the room!

If it wasn't for the quick thinking of Martine Grenadine, both Viola and Alexa would have been stampeded over by the crowd of journalists and photographers. But even so, that wasn't enough, because Viola and Alexa ended up joining the crowd who were rushing to Diantha. The twenty people didn't even bother noticing Wallace and Winona, who were sitting under their noses.

"I'm offended," Wallace and Lisia said together.

"What, because they're not noticing you?" Winona said sarcastically, now that the intrusion of the paparazzi had snapped her back to reality. "I'd be more worried about Steven!"

"And not me?" Wallace clutched his chest. "Winona. You break my heart."

"Says the one who kissed me not too long ago," Winona shot back. "You break my heart."

That exchange could have continued, but they were distracted by the twenty people who had gathered around Steven, Cynthia, and an unconscious Diantha. There was plenty of silence at first, with the people seemingly stunned by Steven's charm and Cynthia's beauty. That much was apparent. Even Diantha's Gardevoir looked at the people watching, and could only imagine how awkward Steven must be feeling. Garchomp… still had more cheese.

It didn't take long for the crowd to register Diantha's position, whose head and arms were flat on the table.

While Cynthia thought this looked awkward, she sneaked a smile. Steven was beside himself.

"This isn't what it looks like!" he cried.

I seriously wonder who will give the 100th order...

There's still plenty of cheese to go around. Otherwise, review for a cup of coffee or tea (from either the Stone Bistro or... Cynthia's cafe?).