SelfiesWithSprinkles, LEGAL-EAGLE53, DaX0315, and the honoured Guest: please enjoy one of Cynthia's hot brownie sundaes - served with ice cream that's just about to melt into the piping hot brownie...
Anyway, in light of 'Culinary Rivals' hitting another record-breaking 750 views from 216 customers this month, I have to keep up with the demand! Even though I'm really really really really busy! Not to mention with Sun and Moon coming out... I still need to get a copy - and if I will have time to play it.
SelfiesWithSprinkles: I'm certainly glad you're enjoying this!
LEGAL-EAGLE53: You know what? Receptionistshipping seems to be a perfect name for our two receptionists! Unfortunately, I don't like to crowd my summary with an extra name - but if I do mention it in the future, I'll give you credit. Receptionistshipping for the win!
DaX0315: Uh... I guess I'll have to see what I can make with my future ideas - but I have to consider completing my current ones too, between that and work and school... ugh.
Without further, please enjoy this course! It's relatively shorter, but a light meal is good for a change. I can't believe how long it's taken me to write this...
Chapter thirty-one: Exchange of Culinary Rivals
For what it was worth to Cynthia, it had slowly become a hot afternoon by the time she had returned to Cyllage City. Sure, cleaning up after the business with the Château Fan Club had taken a while, but now Cynthia was ready to carry on work at Vue sur la Lune. For what reason? She was going to open up something new.
Something she liked in particular, which surprised her staff when she got back.
"You're going to open an ice cream shop?" Henri asked.
"What can I say, Henri?" Cynthia said with the slightest smile. "Don't tell me you don't like crème glacée! If you do say that, I'll have you fired. Besides, it's not a shop, per se, but it's an expansion."
"Oui, chef," Henri replied. "Well, that would explain why you've been expanding the chocolatier – La Lune de Chocolat. Not that I'm saying the café isn't doing well."
Indeed, in the time Cynthia was away, there was a rapid construction project being undertaken at the chocolatier. Before, the space was entirely used for the chocolatier, but as more and more profits came in to Vue sur la Lune, Cynthia decided to incorporate ice cream-making with La Lune de Chocolat. It was an ideal choice, for good reason.
First reason: her preference for ice cream.
Second reason: the fact that Cyllage City – a resort city by the seaside – had no existing ice cream shop or parlour in the first place! It was a wonder why Steven – Cynthia shuddered at the thought of his handsome face – didn't think of this. No matter. The fact remained that there was a huge demand for ice cream in a city like this. All Cynthia had to do was to make a move and capitalise on this lucrative opportunity.
Maybe he might stop by and have a taste –
Oh, shut it, she thought to herself. He practically stole my supplies! Who… Oh, but then there was that time we met for lunch earlier…
"Chef?" Henri said, breaking her train of thought. "You're spacing out."
"Je m'excuse," Cynthia apologised. "Just… allow me to get back to business. I have to get the section ready. I can already picture the crowds just waiting outside to have a taste – et il fait chaud, aujourd'hui!"
Henri rolled his eyes.
"Oh hello, Steven!" Wallace greeted. "Oh, nothing to see here. We're all just enjoying some brownies together."
By the time Steven had gotten closer, he had completely registered that there were brownies everywhere. Martine was having one (with a look of pure delight in her eyes), Wallace and Winona were sharing one, and not to mention – surprisingly to Steven – Laurent and Sophie were sharing one! The only one who didn't have one was Lisia. No surprise, Steven supposed.
Since when did his receptionists get into a relationship? Steven figured it probably happened over today when they went to wherever they went. Of course, this probably wasn't the first time the receptionists took time off together, but what set Steven off was that they appeared closer.
"Okay, Wallace," he demanded. "What have you done?"
"I did what had to be done," Wallace said innocently. "Just look at how far they've come!"
Looking at the receptionists, Steven felt a little more unnerved. Sophie and Laurent – two very close friends – and now looked… they were in a genuine relationship.
"Oh, and you do know you could take their example and do it with, you know…" Wallace nudged Steven's arm.
But Steven repeated his question once more. "Okay, tout le monde, where did you get those brownies? Where?!"
That kind of attitude and the look on Steven's face finally caught Martine's attention. Steven looked distressed, so she asked, "Are you okay, boss…?"
"Oh, they got them from Cynthia," Lisia said. "Steven, I bet that since you had lunch with her, you ought to get a dessert from her too! Though I really couldn't help myself to one…" She struck a pose, "I'm recapping the second chapter of your love story! "Hearts Collide! My Culinary Rival!" Don't you think that has a nice ring to it?"
Those words felt like shards of glass piercing Steven's heart.
Cynthia.
Of course it was Cynthia.
Steven simply couldn't care less about Cynthia now. First she steals his business, his supplies, and now trying to win his staff over?! How could his staff betray him like this?! It made sense: Cynthia was really trying to destroy him! Even what happened to Diantha was unforgivable enough already! To think he trusted his staff, and this was how they repaid him?!
It made sense. All those thoughts he had in the past hour back on Route 10 made sense. Those thoughts he had after meeting Viola. It made sense.
Frustrated, and mind full of restrained rage, Steven marched to his office immediately in silence. Whilst Sophie and Laurent were in a world of their own, the others watched Steven come out shortly after with a picnic blanket and a perfume spray in his hands. It was the very same ones Steven had brought in and claimed they were Cynthia's.
"Boss?" Martine asked. "What's going on? Is something the matter? Are you returning those to Cynthia?"
However, Steven gave no reply and marched out of the restaurant. Now suddenly losing her appetite, Martine put down her brownie sundae and followed her boss outside. Even Sophie and Laurent took into account how Steven was behaving – but as they were limited by their job they had to stay put. For what it was worth, they were perfectly happy, eating together in front of the earned club trophy.
Wallace, while wanting to check up on his friend, chose to remain by Winona's side as they shared their sundae together.
"He'll be fine," Wallace assured, eating a bit more brownie.
"Boss! Boss!" Martine shouted, as Steven kept on walking across the street. "Wait for me!"
She had to fix her collar and vest on the way, but that didn't stop the redhead from catching up to her boss. Martine looked closely at her boss. Steven's face looked rigid, and were those tears forming in his eyes? Perhaps Martine was imagining things.
Along the way, in the middle of the road, Martine seized his arm, which forced the two of them to stop moving.
"Let me go, Martine," Steven demanded.
"No! Not until you tell me what's going on!" Martine cried. "Honestly, what's gotten into you?"
"Long story short, I'll be proving to you that I don't love Cynthia in any way," Steven replied shortly.
"What do you mean? Explain!" Martine said. Wow, if she thought Steven had any desire for a relationship with Cynthia right now, she was mistaken. Even Steven's face read it.
"Stolen wine, stealing business, and even trying to win the trust of my staff," Steven said. "Isn't that enough said already?"
Steven shook Martine off as he headed straight into Vue sur la Lune. While Martine suspected Steven might be off to see Cynthia, the motive clearly appeared different. He also seemed to have no objections to having Martine tag along, but neither was he welcoming it. To be safe, Martine kept her distance and watched him carefully.
Before long, they were in the marble and glass foyer of Vue sur la Lune. From the looks of it, the restaurant didn't appear busy, and that clearly played into Steven's advantage. What did he do? He practically confronted the waiter who told him to stay where he was (which Steven ignored, obviously).
"Où est Cynthia?!" Steven demanded.
While the waiter scratched his head at this request, he found it odder that the head chef from across the street would arbitrarily walk into the restaurant at this hour. "Elle est dans le café, mais…", he started.
Steven didn't have time for this.
It wasn't before long before Steven walked into the café, past the tables and chairs outside, where the smell of absolutely fresh coffee filled his senses. Inside, customers were enjoying coffees, macarons, and plenty of cakes of all different colours and shapes.
That went to say that his presence caught almost everyone's attention. Every customer looked up from their drinks, cakes, and newspapers as they saw Steven, with a blank and a perfume stick in his hands, approach the counter.
Where she was. She seemed busy with something of a maintenance project.
"Bon après-midi," he greeted coldly.
"Bon après-midi," Cynthia said back, a little unsure of his cold behaviour. "So, uh… que puis-je faire pour-tu?"
"Nothing," Steven replied. Instead of speaking more, he held the picnic blanket up and threw it on the counter. "I believe this is yours."
Cynthia's face turned slightly pink upon seeing her personal blanket returned to her – it brought back some memories. Oh, did she really make a fool of herself in front of him when she just left him like that, yesterday?
"Oh, uh… Garchomp," she said, tossing out her Poké Ball to release the Mach dragon. "Would you care if you bring this back home, please?"
Garchomp questioned this sort of command, but she took the rolled blanket anyway. As her Pokémon walked outside, Cynthia turned to Steven once more. "Okay, Steven, I suppose I should say merci –"
"Don't bother," Steven interrupted, as he forced – lo and behold – the coconut perfume spray on the counter as well. He looked into her eyes with such ferocity that Cynthia actually took a step back. It was like his eyes were piercing into her soul!
"Care to explain?" he demanded. "I don't think you'll need to, since there's no other way of putting it for what you did that night." He leaned in closer so that only she could hear. "If you're going to keep stealing my wines, or ruin my business, or give me a bad reputation, you're asking for it."
Seeing the perfume spray sent shivers down Cynthia's spine, and it felt like her heart had sunk at the sight. On top of it all, Steven's words cut into her – deeply. In that same heart, Cynthia didn't know how to react at first – the emotions were overwhelming and wrenching at the same time. On one hand, she felt a notion of guilt and shame that Steven had managed to uncover the truth – and this wasn't including previous actions from before.
On the other hand, she had not forgotten about Steven's supposed cutting off her supplies, let alone stealing them. Just how could he commit to stealing? It seemed good for her that she ought to steal something back.
Steven went on. "And I really thought you were someone else that night – that night when you and I had dinner together before Diantha showed up. I guess I was wrong. You really aren't that someone I thought."
Those words. They hurt. They made her want to cry. They made her feel defensive, even. Her face started to become red, and she was evidently sniffling.
I'm not that someone he thought…? Cynthia thought. The words continued to process in her head – but it was a slow process.
Steven didn't seem sympathetic in the slightest. "Oh, are you crying now? Is there anything else that needs to be said?" he said.
She leaned forward to his face such that her nose was almost touching his. She pulled back her hair so both of her eyes were staring into his, even if they were starting to fill with tears. "You're one to talk," she whispered. "I – I can't believe you. Who am I to you? Am I not good enough for you? Am I not that 'someone' you thought? What would it take?"
"Is that a challenge?" Steven fired back quietly. "Now I'm certain you'll never be that 'someone'. But let's not stand on ceremony here. You are who you are, and I don't change that, and you're going to regret it."
Those words. They were shattering. Who was he to decide who she was? 'You are who you are'? Before Cynthia could immediately respond, he backed away and turned around. He looked undeterred as he was about to leave, even though there were plenty of eyes fixed on the exchange that had just happened under their noses.
Taking the retreat negatively, very negatively, Cynthia shouted, "Don't even think about taking back the wines, because you deserved that!"
As an afterthought, Steven turned around to look at Cynthia once more. He pointed at her accusingly and raised his voice from a whisper to a threatening growl. "Keep the wines if you want, but this will be the last time, because I'm coming for YOU."
The customers looked bewildered at first, and it only escalated when Cynthia arched her leg back to remove her shoe. After that, she aggressively approached Steven with her shoe held up high.
"Get out, get out!" she shouted. Although Steven was not intimidated at all, he also figured he would be better off if he wasn't on the receiving end of the sole of her shoe. Shaking his head in shame, he turned around and left the café.
He met Martine Grenadine outside. On the 19-year old's face, Steven saw her jaw had dropped wide open, like she couldn't believe what she had saw or heard.
The following morning, Steven and Cynthia were off to work as usual, but the moment their eyes met, their eyes were met with hate beyond reason. Their stares were like two opposing forces locked in battle.
They passed by the square plaza at the end of the road, not far from the Stone Bakery, and then continued in their parallel directions and eventually to separate ways.
That exchange looked particularly amusing to those customers sitting in the square plaza, who were starting off their mornings with fresh bread and pastries from the bakery and fresh coffee from Vue sur la Lune's café. They watched the two chefs walk right by, and the chefs never took their eyes off each other.
It wasn't like the time after when Cynthia stormed out of the Stone Bakery six days ago, where their eyes were met with pure irritation. After that exchange yesterday, their eyes met with something more.
Muahahaha... you can imagine how much drama I've injected in here. It makes me laugh. Leave a review, and sit down with a cup of coffee and one of Cynthia's cakes. There are many colours to choose from here!