I've been undergoing a ton of stress in the past month that prevented me from writing for a while, and I almost lost the will to keep writing this story. The thing is, because "Culinary Rivals" is getting THIS long, I'm wondering if I should discontinue this story and start on a sequel? This kind of crisis, along with my school term, is making writing this story a little difficult.
AND, I've been wasting some time marathoning Persona 4: The Animation, so there's more time gone.
DaX0315, QUEENSPELLER67, and StRAngE ToASt, please help yourselves to the two curries! Smoked Eggant berries with a spicy-sweet Pomeg-Liechi-Pecha curry, and fish steaks with creamy Iapapa and Nanab curry. I promise they aren't spicy!
StRAngE ToASt: with regards to Wallace and Winona, I did try to align their relationship partly with the manga. If you remember in the "Fondue Fight" chapter, Winona indirectly mentioned she had broken up with Wallace before. What matters is if it will fall apart again, and that's the beauty of it!
Chapter forty-two: Prelude of Cakes and Breads
Viola's publication on the fondues had already been out since yesterday.
And since then, every copy of Lumiose Press had been sold out across Cyllage City for the morning and people were demanding more. It was so bad that more copies had to be ordered from the press at Lumiose City so they could be shipped to Cyllage City on demand yesterday.
In Cynthia's case, if she thought that her trip to the beach was worthwhile, it was. However, as she went back into the culinary world, she couldn't help but feel not refreshed. Sure, it was nice playing around with Steven's staff yesterday, but still…
Cynthia looked up from her office desk at the newspaper sprawled on her desk. Clearly, Viola had chosen not to side with either Steven's fondue or her own fondue, and mostly because in spite of how different the fondues were, they worked well together. Although today meant a new publication, Viola's story – written by Alexa – was still being printed.
In short, Viola couldn't decide which fondue tasted better and instead concluded that they were perfect for each other, just like Cynthia and Steven. When Cynthia read that, she felt like chucking the paper out, but as she read more, she grew even more annoyed.
It did not help that Viola had disclosed the two chefs having a picnic together and even framing it like they were in a relationship or something. Sure, a private picnic was as romantic as it was, but Cynthia found it inexcusable that Viola had made that public. Who could have told her?! Only Martine and Lisia would have known since they guessed the truth.
So Cynthia concluded either of them, especially Martine, would have told Viola.
But if anything, at the moment, Cynthia had to make up for that fondue embarrassment. She had to create something to get attention away from the fondues.
If there's one thing that might make me stand out, it's the coffee shop, Cynthia thought. What could I do to make it better…?
The critics, such as Madame LeBlanc, had to give her coffee tons of credit. However, even for Cynthia, it was common knowledge however that her coffee was best served with a Slateport cake from the Stone Bakery. So that's how it was, huh? Cynthia could not hope to compete against a dedicated bakery with the resources she had, even though she had a chocolatier and now ice cream-making supporting the café.
It was the day after Cynthia had gone to the beach, and already she was in a competitive state. Currently, she was inside La Lune de Chocolat working with whatever ingredients she had to create something that would pair with her coffee well.
She looked at her counter and considered the sort of flavours that would work. To get her mind ready, she asked Henri to brew a fresh cup of coffee for her. That earned a raised eyebrow from the 23-year old café employee (also a barista).
"You haven't had a coffee here for a while," Henri remarked. "So to what do I owe the pleasure?"
Cynthia sighed. "Well, I was thinking of creating something to complement the coffee. Sure, we've had this café long enough to know what goes with what. But I was thinking of something with more bite to it. Know what I mean?"
Henri nodded and got to work.
As for Cynthia, she took a long look outside at the Stone Bistro across the street. She sighed. Just how was she going to get this done? If the café was going to be more competitive, she had to do this. It didn't matter what she thought of him. It was too much to bear. Would he be impressed?
No, she thought. He threatened me that day he came here. If I don't do this, I'll be gone!
Her fists clenched harder the more she looking across. Something in Cynthia's heart made her feel hurt as she prepared her recipe. Still, it had to be done.
She hadn't forgotten that day when Steven opened up the bakery and when that happened, her coffee became popular. Well, actually Wallace pointed that out. Now, Cynthia could actually find a way to exploit this. It was time to strike back.
Around midday, Steven Stone noticed there had been a huge gathering outside Cynthia's café. It was only a few more days until the weekend (when he could rest once more), and yet one problem arose after another. Would it ever stop?
Even after garnering attention to his oil fondue to counter Cynthia's, it always seemed she would find new ways to garner it back.
So he took his leave from the kitchen, leaving James in charge, and went to find Martine of all people. He found the 19-year old redhead attending to a table at the terrace, and the latter was even more surprised to see him looking for her. After placing glasses of water to the customers, Martine went to meet Steven.
"Hi, boss. Something you need?" she asked.
"Yup," Steven replied. "I'm just wondering, do you know what's going on across the street? It seems quite busy there today."
While Martine found it strange for Steven to speak this calmly, for once, she shrugged. "Well," she said, "Lisia told me that Winona and Wallace went there this morning. They bumped into Cilan, Cress, and Chili there and they were sampling this awesome dessert Cynthia made. It supposedly goes really well with her coffee too."
She let those words sink into Steven and then walked over to other tables and attending to the customers. For Steven's case, he went straight to the bakery to find that customers had declined. Sure, there were plenty of people still buying his breads and pastries, but the commotion across the street was too great to ignore.
Plus, he promised Cynthia he could come for her and hunt her down in any case.
But things really went downhill when a couple walked into the bakery asking, "Excusez-nous, but is this where we can get a Crème de Lune Opéra?"
And just when I thought my bakery and Slateport cakes were safe… Steven thought. "Umm… I have never heard of that. Maybe you'll find it there."
"You've never heard of it? Unbelievable! It's supposed to be one of the greatest cakes making a name itself, and in only one day! Madame LeBlanc wrote about it in a review this morning! All the same, merci."
At once, though, Steven's face darkened. How could customers simply pass by his restaurant like that?! As the customers left, Steven glared at the coffee shop and the crowd gathered around it. Just what was going on in there? He needed more intelligence. Whatever this Crème de Lune Opéra was, it was a putting a huge dent in the Stone Bakery's business, with a lot of bruises. Now entirely suspicious, Steven walked out of the bakery.
The walk across the street was short, as was expected, but Steven became very curious as to what Cynthia was cooking up. Everyone around him, at the square plaza in particular, was carrying a slice of square chocolate cake whilst taking coffee with it. The cake was made of five layers. Five layers! He kept staring at it, wondering what it might be.
As it happened, Cynthia was working in the café and was pleased at how much attention her new cake was getting. Madame LeBlanc had been to her café for an early breakfast of coffee and the new cake Cynthia made. Within the hour, the cake had gotten the critic's attention along with the Striaton Gym Leaders, and the cake was on the cover of that morning's Lumiose Press.
The result was a huge demand for the cake, as expected. Furthermore, Cynthia wondered how long she could keep this up. Well, so as long as people ordered her famous coffee to go with it, the cake's future was quite secure.
Looking outside, she saw a familiar face glancing at the crowd. It was none other than him, of course, so Cynthia smirked and snuck to the back.
"Henri, I'm going to head out for a moment. Hold the fort for the next while," she ordered.
"Oui, chef," Henri said.
As he kept preparing more coffees and cakes, he watched Cynthia slip out of the café to La Lune de Chocolat. As the chocolatier was creating the cakes, the café was serving coffee which made the two highly complementary. The best part for Cynthia was that they were both under her control. By then, she had left the chocolatier and snuck up to Steven.
"Bonjour," she said, grinning. "If it isn't my hated enemy, huh?"
Steven cringed, as if seeing Cynthia right beside him was the last thing he wanted. Cynthia loved the reaction, though. If Steven was going to get to her, she might as well get to the bottom of it.
"How… how is it possible? I mean, since when did you think of something like this?" he asked.
Cynthia grinned. "It's all about innovation, you know. My coffee has to survive somehow, and the customers really seem to enjoy it. Coffee plus a special opera cake really gives everything more bite. Anyway, it took me hours and hours of planning, which isn't a lot!"
Steven's eyes widened. She managed this in only hours? He had to admit, Cynthia was incredible, and for him that was a problem!
"Okay, you know very well my Slateport cakes were surviving…" Steven said. "I seriously don't think they could match that well. It's just an opera cake, right? Who cares? At the margin, people will get tired of it and we'll be splitting customers! Such is a plot to steal away my customers, huh?!"
Cynthia scoffed at him.
"Not convinced? Well, prepare to have your mind blown…" she trailed off, as she presented Steven a slice of Crème de Lune Opéra on a plate.
Five layers of hazelnut sponge cake stacked on top of each other were held together by layers and layers of milk chocolate ganache and coffee buttercream. On top, the surface was glazed with creamy white chocolate and garnished with sliced almonds. The most impressive thing was that for five layers, it was solid and refused to fall apart.
It was enough to make Steven's mouth water, and he hated to admit it. For that reason, he had to swallow hard.
"Try it, I insist. Oh, and this cup is on me," Cynthia said, and from behind her back offered Steven a cup of fresh coffee. Steven reluctantly took the plate and cup, glanced at his sides, and sipped the coffee first.
A whiff of nostalgia came over him. The last time he had tasted a coffee this smooth was... the last time he actually had a coffee from here, which was about five days ago. After reminiscing, he took the fork Cynthia offered him and cut the cake. The ganache poured out freely onto the plate and covered whatever sponge cake with it. It looked too appetising.
Steven took a bit of the cake and followed it up with a sip of more coffee to blend the flavours. It wasn't before long that his eyes widened, so he looked away from Cynthia so she wouldn't see.
"Hmm? What do you think, Steven?" she said.
It was the taste of hard work. Layers and layers of it.
Across vast farmland, Steven walked on a dirt path where thousands of plants lay in many, many, rows. They were full-grown and to the point of harvesting, but they were very dry. Looking around him, he still saw the many farmers tending to each tree carefully.
Up ahead, he noticed a familiar platinum blonde picking beans from each tree delicately and placing them in a basket. Cynthia was wearing a straw hat and dressed in simple clothing. Upon approaching her, Cynthia smiled and gave him the basket. Steven only watched, while smelling the coffee and cocoa beans, as Cynthia continued picking more beans and tossing them into the basket in Steven's hands.
"Care to help me?" she said.
Steven nodded only, and started picking beans of his own. As he did, he became aware of how many beans Cynthia had picked already. The basket had a divider that separated the coffee from cocoa beans, so he had to be careful not to throw the beans into the wrong side.
"Don't you worry they'll fall apart? They're so dry," he said.
"It doesn't help when we haven't had rain for a long time," she replied solemnly.
As it happened, the rain came, and Cynthia and Steven ran for cover and watched the field of bean plants behind them sprout and grow at least twice the size than they were before. Cynthia's smile beamed like sunshine.
"Well, looks like the day is far from done," Cynthia said.
"Why did you make this…?" he whispered. "It's impressive. The ganache and coffee ooze together in your mouth to coat the cake. They blend as if it was an unstoppable flood overwhelming the senses."
It was too much for him.
"Ugh… and why do you do this? This is just another assault on my Slateport cakes," he added.
Cynthia stared at him.
"Oh, I get it, but no problems there," she said coolly. "After all, you're only here to check out what's going on. But don't worry, because can't you understand I'm catering to a different kind of customer. My Crème de Lune Opéra serve my customers, and your Slateport cake serves others!"
"So explain why I've lost half my customers!"
"Those customers have a taste for my cake, okay?!"
"Oh, so you were trying to steal my customers!"
"That's your problem!"
"My problem?! You brought it to me!"
"So? Make a solution!"
"OH I see! So this was a plot! Forcing me to move onto your plan!"
"I hardly see –!"
"Well! It's not happening!"
Their faces were almost touching, and much to the amusement of people around them. Out in public, plenty of others giggled as they watched the two chefs badger each other. It was like a pointless argument of which one had to win.
"Oh? So what's going on?" a familiar voice said.
That forced Steven and Cynthia to look in that direction. It was none other than Diantha, plus Grant, Viola, and Korrina! Now Cynthia had a sinking feeling in her stomach. She and Steven had only last seen Viola since the fondue fight the other day…
"Oh, Diantha! Perfect timing!" Steven shouted, and to Cynthia's disbelief, his shout caught the attention of the customers gathered in her café. "I was wondering if you could help us rate who has the better bread!"
Cynthia stayed silent as Diantha stared at Steven first, while taking in such a sudden request. "Eh… Well, I guess Viola does owe us some desserts, but she wouldn't have to pay if you treated us to some, right? Come on, Cynthia."
Cynthia's jaw dropped. This was not supposed to happen!
"No – I didn't –" Cynthia started.
"Perfect, then let's get things going!" Steven interrupted. "This will make a good counterattack, and we definitely need some coffee to go with this."
Cynthia shook her head. It seemed like Steven was going to need a good reminder of what kind of dessert she was capable of making. Still, her efforts to get his attention clearly were much more difficult than she thought.
He was serious that he was coming for her. Oh, the horror of it all.
Oh, Steven... Why do you do this? Review, and have a slice of Crème de Lune Opéra!