My imagination has been on FIRE since the last chapter! It's been only eight days since the last chapter, but for the first time in three years (at least), I've found the drive to keep writing. Now that is rare, eh? I think it was thanks to Cynthia's reveal in the last chapter that motivated me to keep going.
So, as a reward, here's the next chapter! DaX0315, darkwolf0909, StRAngE ToASt, and PhantasmaXw, enjoy this chapter, and Cynthia's langues de chat to go with it.
And happy 5th year to "Culinary Rivals"! That being said, I'm super close to finishing my university degree (only one more term left) - but I can't believe my ceremony has to wait til next year!
Chapter sixty-seven: Five in the Morning
It ended, inevitably, it seemed to Steven, back at the Stone Restaurant and Bistro.
Things were different, as expected. The following day, after the competition was over, Steven was privately flown back to Cyllage City. However, he could not fly back in private. As much as he would have liked to fly back on Skarmory's back, Skarmory was in his villa. Besides, he would have had a hard time anyway, what with the media trying to get a glimpse of even his foot.
The day after returning, business had exploded since then, with hordes of people (mostly media) lining up outside his restaurant doors and his bakery wanting to get a glimpse of him. That being said, Vue sur la Lune received almost half the attention the Stone Bistro was getting, but it was nonetheless still the talk of the city, and for much of Kalos.
Any local in Cyllage City could tell Steven would have found it impossible to get to work without getting anyone to notice him. The media also knew where he lived, which added insult to injury. But then again, Steven's home was already well known, so the moment Steven tried walking out of his home, he was already swarmed.
He had no choice but to get all his Pokémon to clear a path for him. Aggron, being the giant, led Armaldo, Cradily, Aerodactyl, and Claydol to clear a path for Steven. Steven alone was escorted by Metagross and Carbink.
He should have just called the police, except that this kind of matter didn't require the state. Besides, this sort of issue had happened before in the past and Cyllage City locals seemed okay with it.
As he continued walking toward his restaurant, which seemed like a long way from where he was, he was faced with questions from all directions. Thankfully, he had no obligation to respond to any of them, and it was a good thing too, because he wasn't in a good mental state to think of anything.
By the time he had gotten to the front doors of the restaurant, he expected the worst, and it was reality. What more than a crowd of media gathered around his restaurant trying to get a glimpse of what was going on inside. That looked familiar, didn't it? It was reminiscent of the night Diantha came here for dinner, and that the media were doing whatever they could to see her. However, this time the focus was on him alone. Thinking back to the night Diantha visited, Steven remembered that it was Cynthia who showed up instead, and was dressed so beautifully that she stunned him.
He paused. There he was, thinking about her again.
Buried somewhere deep inside his mind, Steven wasn't accepting the reality before him. He had to admit – he had fallen for someone who was a fake. It made no sense to him. He had beat her in the competition, right? And now he could potentially earn a second Richissime star in light of that fact. He thought about Vue sur la Lune, which didn't have a Richissime star. Now that he thought about it, with that kind of exposure of Vue sur la Lune's food at the cook-off, didn't that mean that restaurant could earn one star by now?
Cynthia should be happy.
But something was amiss.
He was dressed in his usual cooking attire, with a black cooking jacket and the proper shoes. Walking into the foyer, where the media were kept outside thanks to his Pokémon, Steven saw the receptionists Sophie and Laurent carrying on with business as usual.
"Bon matin, Steven," Laurent greeted.
"Bon matin, Monsieur Stone," Sophie added.
"Bonjour," Steven replied, as he continued about his business.
It was a strange feeling, given that Cynthia's last words to him, and her written note, stuck in his head like hot glue. What was it again? Goodbye forever? If his hunch was right, she might have actually meant it. Plus, her feelings, as she had put it into words, seemed genuine too…
"Steven! Be careful!"
James had warned Steven, which snapped Steven back to his senses.
It was the lunch hour, and it was somewhat busy in the Stone Restaurant and Bistro. In light of the cook-off, it seemed like it had contributed to a spike in business for the restaurant. Granted, it was a little dark since Cyllage City faced away from the sunrise, but that didn't stop customers from getting seats. Moreover, James d'Arc suspected that at least a third of customers just wanted to see Steven.
Steven was cooking a poached Chansey egg and stirring the simmering water, and it appeared that he had stirred the water too quickly that water was splashing onto his jacket. James, being right beside Steven, noticed that immediately.
"You okay, Steven? You don't look so well." James said softly.
"I'm alright." Steven was quiet.
"If you really need to, you should take a break. You could rest a little more after all you've been through in Lumiose City."
"Well, James, I'd like to, but you know what kind of media storm is out there." Steven then resumed cooking, but he had to keep an eye on the poached egg. The very last thing he needed was to overcook the yolk, which was what nobody wanted.
Nevertheless, at James' plea, Steven left the poached egg to James and was left to supervise the kitchen instead.
The poached egg was nearly destroyed, but James was able to save it. In the end, the egg was delicately placed on the plate and served with a croissant from the bakery. Steven examined the egg and was satisfied that James brought it back to level. He waved down a server to notify service and wasn't surprised that Martine Grenadine was there to retrieve it.
She didn't say anything at first, but instead looked at his eyes before picking up the plate. "You don't look so well, boss," After she had said that, she took the order out.
Taking a deep breath, Steven sighed. What was going on? Was he feeling tired, perhaps? Whatever it was, he admitted that something was off about himself. Not wanting to think about this any further, he poured himself a coffee in an effort to wake himself up. Furthermore, he expected business to rocket tonight thanks to all that media coverage. As well, he expected his Accolade en croute would be among the frontrunners on tonight's service, so it was best to demonstrate to his kitchen as to how to make it. James especially.
"Okay, tout le monde," he announced to the kitchen while it was still relatively quiet. "In case if you haven't seen that cook-off on TV, I will be showing you how to make that Accolade en croute from the final round. It will be a little similar to the Stone Accolade, I assure you."
With that said, he got most of the ingredients he needed and started preparation work. For any chef, preparing food was probably just as tough as cooking the food itself. Thankfully, ingredients needed for the Stone Accolade were already there, so all that was needed was to prepare the pastry. Then Steven could start assembling the Accolade en croute. Furthermore, he had to demonstrate to his staff how to put the dish together.
In the next hour, business exploded. Many customers flooded into the Stone Restaurant and Bistro such that Steven could hardly spare breaks. But this was expected, though. In light of all that media coverage, why should anyone be surprised? This was perfect for business. Perhaps, after all of this, he might be able to forget about Cynthia for just an hour or two. It wasn't even dinnertime yet!
That left Steven to wonder how long this could last. Days? Weeks? No matter. He had won.
"You sure you can do it, chef?" one of the cooks said. "You don't look good."
"Do I really look that bad?" Steven replied. "Not that bad, I hope."
A pile of orders of the Accolade en croute were already lined up in the kitchen and Steven wasted no time ordering his cooks what to do and supervising their efforts. Sure, the Accolade en croute wasn't the customers had ordered, but it was certainly the dish of high demand. At times, Steven himself had to step in to help keep up the pace.
Whatever he was feeling now, he was sure he could forget about it after work.
As it happened, right before dinner hours, Wallace, Winona, and Lisia had dropped by the restaurant. At this point, the media still hadn't departed the front entrance of the foyer and so made it impossible for the trio to get in unnoticed.
So they went through the Stone Bakery instead. As they walked through the very familiar premises (as if they were regular customers or owned the place, because Winona figured Wallace was obsessed with Steven and there was nothing she could do about. As if she had a hope of stopping him in the first place), Winona wondered what exactly Wallace was doing here. There was no purpose, at all. For all that talk from Wallace that the cook-off would bring Steven and Cynthia close together, the reality was that it had either no effect or the opposite effect. Either way, neither outcome was a good one from Wallace's point of view.
Or Lisia's.
"It looks like my prediction about Steven's love story was spot on." Lisia couldn't help grinning. "I called it "Signs of Love Overshadowed by Dreams" … And that looks more real than ever."
"Then, Lisia! You'll need to start thinking of better titles!" Wallace replied. "Maybe you should start making prophecies and create the future–"
SMACK
Winona punched his cheek.
"You know, with all the showbiz Lisia has to go through, I think that would be enough for her." Winona said grudgingly. "Come now, let's go find Steven."
They snuck to the lobby, but encountered a large number of people gathered in line to get a seat for lunch. If Wallace had hoped to get lunch here today, those hopes were all but gone. Not to mention getting to see Steven also looked unlikely, given how busy it was. Not even Sophie or Laurent could spare a glance at them, given the busyness.
So they settled on eating at the bar instead. No alcohol, for sure, but at least they had seats.
The barman recognised Wallace.
"My friend, how are you doing?" the barman said.
"I'm alright, my friend." Wallace said. "I was wondering if my man Steven has any time for us?"
"I doubt it." The barman replied. "I would give it another week before things settle down, because all that coverage from last week even made it onto the news. Now all of Kalos, and not just Cyllage City, wants a taste of what we have. The place across the street counts too."
He handed them menus. "So, what can I get you?"
"Attendez, s'il-vous plaît." Wallace said.
The barman left the three of them to their menus and attended to the bar. While mulling over their food choices, Wallace noticed someone else walk into the bar. He recognised her right away: platinum blonde hair and dressed in practically all purple; it was Astrid.
Oho. Dropping by to visit my friend, eh? Wallace thought.
Astrid went to speak to the barman for a minute, which Wallace presumed she was asking for Steven. As Wallace expected, the barman shook his head, but what Wallace didn't count on was that the barman instead directed Astrid to sit at a table. Was Astrid intending to stay for lunch? The next thing Wallace saw, the barman had reached for the phone at the counter and spoke briefly.
A minute later, Wallace had put an order for a Stone Accolade en croute, of which he intended to share with Winona. Winona went for an onion soup with de Cyllage cheese (which seemed rich for her taste, to be brutally honest. Winona hoped she could share it with Wallace), whereas Lisia ordered a spicy-dry berry salad. After taking the order, the barman went to Astrid to get her order as well, and after that, he put the orders in.
Wallace certainly wasn't the only one interested in Astrid's presence.
"Hmm…." Winona muttered. "Steven couldn't possibly be serious about her, eh? I mean, even before the cook-off, they looked close. I'll be surprised if he does show up. You would think the barman was just making up excuses!"
To their astonishment, Steven did show up at the bar eventually with all the orders. Lisia raised an eyebrow – with all that media coverage outside, she wondered how they didn't try homing in on Steven here. Maybe the bar was the least expected place, or maybe it was intended to be quiet that no one would notice it, or maybe because there was an expectation that Steven would show up at the lobby. That didn't matter now, because Steven was here with the food.
He went to their table first.
"Steven!" Wallace greeted. "How is life treating you, eh?"
"You look like you'll fall asleep…" Winona muttered.
"Life has been okay, but do I look that tired? Everyone has been saying the same thing." Steven said as he placed the respective orders on the table. They were freshly made.
"Merci beaucoup," Lisia thanked. "But seriously, Steven. You sure you're okay?"
"Let's just say that I need time to recover from winning." Steven sighed. "Honestly, Wallace, this is all your fault, but at least business has been very good. Bon appétit."
Wallace started cutting up his order of Accolade en croute and shared it with Winona. Winona, who had an appetite, smiled and had a bite and shared her soup with Wallace. Lisia hadn't touched her food yet.
"And…? Have you seen Cynthia?" she asked.
"No."
Steven didn't know why, but the thought of Cynthia instantly made his chest hurt. Not wanting to talk anymore, he went back to the bar to pick up another order: a slice of quiche. But when he brought it to Astrid's table, he was surprised that Astrid had gotten up and gave him a hug so tight that he nearly dropped the plate. Good thing he was experienced with situations like these.
"Many congrats, Steven! You did it!" Astrid said cheerfully.
"Ack. Astrid–! You're choking…" Steven said through gasps.
Astrid smiled brightly and let go of Steven, and her smile never left as she looked right into his eyes. Steven, honestly, was impressed at how bubbly she could get. It was rather adorable.
"I definitely had to drop by to see how your restaurant is doing, and I'm surprised no one bothered to come to the bar here!" Astrid giggled. "Don't worry, I won't be ordering any alcohol. You know that too well." She sat down and began to eat.
"You didn't have to drop by so early, you know…" Steven muttered.
"Oh come on. You're my mentor. It's my duty as your student to support you!" Astrid replied in between bites, albeit small ones. "We have work to do, you know. I want to do some training with Mega Evolution. See if you can help me with that, if you have a Mega Stone yourself."
Steven scratched his ear.
"And I'm not forgetting last time. You said that using a Mega Stone shows no skill, so I'd like to test your claim." Astrid added.
"Whoa, since when were we talking about me?" Steven was mildly surprised. "I mean…" He stopped short when he realised Astrid had come up close, as if she wanted a good look at his eyes.
"Did you get any sleep last night? You look terrible…" she said softly. "Okay, maybe you should get some rest, and then we can talk battles."
"You're as eager as always." Steven chuckled. "Enjoy your lunch."
He stood up, nodded to the barman, and then he left the bar. Of course, by no means did Wallace, Winona, and Lisia not notice Steven's interaction with Astrid. While Wallace raised an eyebrow and Winona looked down, Lisia did not keep quiet.
"Did you see how close their faces were? Their noses practically touched!" Lisia said as if she was in denial. "There is no way that there's something between him and her."
"And plus, I have no idea what's on his mind. You know, his feelings for Cynthia look like naught." Winona scoffed, thinking back to her brief conversation with Cynthia over fresh coffee in Lumiose. "And I wonder what she meant that he was causing her pain."
Wallace looked at Winona.
"What?! You didn't tell me this!" he said as if his heart broke (Winona seriously considered punching him again for the overreaction but didn't). "Then why is he walking across the street now?"
Steven did not walk into Vue sur la Lune, but had instead walked into Le Café Sinnoh. He expected to find the barista Henri there, and that was true. What Steven hadn't counted on was that he found Diantha also there, enjoying a coffee and a tall slice of cake. She didn't notice him at first, but afterward had given him a friendly wave, as if inviting him to sit with her.
"Bonjour," she greeted. "Want to join me?"
"You don't mind?" he replied and pulled up a chair. They were sitting well inside the café, which helped because the last thing Steven needed here was the media cramming up at the window to get a glimpse of him. He was surprised too that he managed to sneak in here.
Henri went to the table too. "What can I get you?"
"Razz berry tea, s'il-vous plaît." Steven said. "And… I'll have what she's having."
Henri nodded and went to fetch Steven's order. Razz berries were naturally spicy and dry, but Cynthia had made it such that it tasted as flavourful as cinnamon, and went nicely with something sweet. In this case, a two-layer lemon dessert bar, which was what Diantha was having.
"You look tired. Are you feeling well?" Diantha asked, her eyes showing some concern.
How many times had he been asked that? "I…"
"Have you been sleeping well?" Diantha added. "I can see dark spots around your eyes."
Steven stayed silent, unsure of what to say. In his bones, he didn't know exactly why he looked tired, and at the same time couldn't think of the best explanation. Whatever it was, it probably had to do with Cynthia, who had been on his mind lately.
"I need more rest. That's all. Business has been very busy, you know," he muttered.
"So why are you here, then?" Diantha asked.
Before the conversation could go further, Henri had a cup of steaming hot Razz berry tea placed before Steven alongside the lemon dessert bar. Two layers of yellow cake separated by a layer of praline and topped with a thin layer of white icing composed the bar. Just the vibrant yellow colour made the bar seem appetising.
"Henri," Steven said. "Is Cynthia around?"
Henri looked back at Steven curiously.
"She hasn't showed up today, citing health reasons," he replied. "Okay, she showed up yesterday, but I can say as much that we're all worried for her. Who knows what's been going through her head since that cook-off? She's been acting as if she won't come back."
"Is that so…?" Diantha muttered.
"But I guess she's not coping with that loss to you," Henri added, looking at Steven briefly. "Personally, I don't know why she would take that cook-off so seriously if she did. Maybe it was because of the media coverage? Humiliation? But on the plus side, it has been busy at both here at the café and at the restaurant above. Whoops, I have to attend to the counter. Sorry."
And Henri left Steven and Diantha just like that, and that raised more question marks in Steven's head. Not sure what to say, Steven raised his Razz berry tea to his lips. The flavour was sweet and spicy, like cinnamon, and made him sweat. But it was surprisingly refreshing too, and it was even more refreshing when he ate it with the lemon dessert bar.
Diantha did likewise, although she hadn't ordered Razz berry tea.
"If I knew any better, I would guess that Cynthia took this cook-off personally. What about you? You doing okay?" she asked Steven. "Love trouble?"
"I..." Steven's faltered. "You're beginning to sound like Wallace, but no. I don't have any love trouble, I think. Things are going fine."
The pause in his voice raised question marks on Diantha's part, but she decided not to pursue it.
"I wasn't surprised that Cynthia lost that last round to you," Diantha added. "Now, I can't explain how or why, but I bet it has something to do with you. In short, she looked awful while she cooked."
"Is that so…?" Steven muttered.
A few tables away, Wallace and Winona observed Steven's interactions. Despite all that hype Wallace had made up and made Steven go through for the past while, he began to grow worried for him.
That night, after work, Steven returned to his villa. Hoping to get a good night's rest, he turned in early for the night.
Adieu, Cynthia had said to him. He couldn't get the finality in her voice out of his head as she sounded like she wouldn't see him again. He wasn't buying the fact that she was Cindy too. That was her fault, right? So why did he feel so… anxious?
What Diantha said earlier also put a weight on his head. Why? Why did he have to be the one to blame? He couldn't blame himself, could he? Was it because of his perception of Cynthia?
Lying on his bed and still unable to sleep, he thought back to his interactions with Cindy and was still shocked, but impressed, that he didn't see through her disguise. With only needing to tie her hair back into a ponytail and wear a pair of sunglasses, he was surprised that he didn't see through it.
Maybe he enjoyed his interactions with her too much to notice? How could that be? Plus, she did look good in a ponytail, especially given how long it was.
There he was, thinking about her again.
Steven hoped, with time (maybe a few weeks), things might settle down. Even so, these thoughts continued aching his mind, and by then it was five in the morning. It was still dark outside, and despite that, Steven felt like a ghost of Cindy was still lingering in his room. She was nowhere to be found, of course, but he still couldn't get her out of his head. Those interactions he had with her continued replaying in his mind, as part of his memories. Kiloude takoyaki, for example.
By the time he got out of bed, Steven looked worse than he did yesterday.
I can't believe how thick I'm making Steven's feelings, but... consider it payback to Cynthia. Speaking of Cynthia, there's a two-layer lemon dessert bar waiting for you.