Have Your Cake & Eat It Too [Marguerite & ArtemisHighmore]
<h1 id="title">Elliquiy Role Playing Forums</h1>
		<h2 id="linktree">Play-By-Post: Bondage, D/s, S&amp;M =&gt; Bondage: Exotic Solos =&gt; Topic started by: Marguerite on 11-08-2010, 07:53:21</h2>
		<dl id="posts">
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Have Your Cake &amp; Eat It Too [Marguerite &amp; ArtemisHighmore]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Marguerite</strong> on <strong>11-08-2010, 07:53:21</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Lyssa Wentworth, twenty-nine, frowned at each of the rejection letters in front of her. She place each of the crisp, typed out and even monogrammed letters on the large island table in the middle of the kitchen. Her hand reached behind her to remove the clasp holding her bun up. Right now, she could have torn every last bit of her hair from the root if it would calm her down. However, the letters taunted her and kept her from becoming bald. The letters were not so much rejection as they were informing her she was not going to get any food critics to come to her restaurant, taste her food and give it a rating without the top shark critic. Without the top shark critic to give his seal of approval, the other critics were not going to bother with her new restaurant. Without critics to talk about her food or the work she put into the restaurant, her business would tank. <br><br>Gritting her teeth, Lyssa snatched up all of the letters telling she needed to contact the top critic whose name sounded as fake as the highlights in her hair. "Fine, you want me to talk to this top shot guy? Fine! Fucking fine! I am going to get that guy in here and have him enjoy my god damn food!," she said aloud and walked over towards the stove. With a flick of her wrist, she turned the flame on the burner to high and with a chuckle, started to feed the flames the pieces of rejection paper. Just because she had to talk to the top critic, it was not going to deter Lyssa from her goal. These idiots followed the top critic like damn sheep and she did not have to bet her house and her business to know that if she got the top critic on her side, the rest of these men would have no choice but to follow as well. <br><br>"Lyssa! Jou iz going to burn thiz plaze down. Mon dieu (My God)!," screamed her manager, Phillipe, her second in command of her restaurant, La Belle Madame. She had met Phillipe over six years ago and the two became fast of friends since the first day in Pastry Class 101. Phillipe knew his way around the kitchen but the man was vicious when it came to managing money and how to take care of the monetary side of the restaurant. When she had wanted to start her own restaurant, serve her own food, be her own boss, the first person to bring onto the ship was Phillipe. Of course, Phillipe had the tendency to worry and fret over everything along with having the meanest streak this side of the bayou. Even more when he started to complain about the sweltering humidity of New Orleans, Louisiana.<br><br>Her eyes were the only thing to answer him as she rolled her eyes. She continued to feed each of the papers to the flame before dropping them into the aluminum garbage can. Already, she noticed Phillipe grabbing the baking powder and heading her way. She moved out of his throwing reach as he turned the bag upside down and into the can. For Lyssa, being able to get rid of the letters aided in clearing her head and started up her next course of action. "Phillipe obtenez the head critic and make me an appointment...never mind I am going over right now and going to make that critic eat one of my tiramisi with a bottle of red hibiscus wine," she shouted over her shoulder as she grabbed a plate from the fridge having already prepared a few dishes in case there was an early bird couple who wanted to come into the establishment. So far, the business was doing well in the past three days but she needed more in order to get herself out of the red by the end of the month.<br><br>Phillipe did not even argue with Lyssa as he watched her leave with the wine and had to shout out the directions to the critic's place of business. Mon dieu, he was going to end up dying his hair black to cover up all of the grays Lyssa managed to give him the past few weeks. "Love you Phillipe," she shouted over her shoulder and headed out of her restaurant and onto Bourbon street. She would be at the critic's place of work in fifteen minutes and she would get him to love her damn food and give her back her much needed cash flow. The son of a bitch was not going to take what she worked so hard for and deserved justly. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Have Your Cake &amp; Eat It Too [Marguerite &amp; ArtemisHighmore]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>ArtemisHighmore</strong> on <strong>12-08-2010, 00:51:57</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Blake Ladd, 32, had done very well for himself. Sure it had been a long, hard road to get where he was, but a good palate and a talent for words sure made the ladder a lot easier to climb. He had always had a love for fine foods and suspected that it was a desire to break away from his rather humble beginnings. The desire and need to be respected by an ever growing number of people and be the fine say on things had been his life’s ambition or at least it had been his second ambition.<br><br>Blake had always held a soft spot for those humble ways of his family. There was always that desire to have a wife and a family of his own, raising a handful of kids and really just enjoying the sweeter moments of life. But that had all come crashing down in a clash between himself and Paris. He knew he had lost and so he had closed that desire off, throwing all of his hunger into fulfilling the next best thing. And here he was, the head critic in Louisiana and quickly gaining respect in some of the large cities. He had even signed off on a couple fine restaurants in New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Miami. But he always came back home to New Orleans, loving the clot he had earned there.<br><br>Sitting in his fine office, he was reclined back in his chair. One hand running over the scruff of his chin, his brown eyes regarded the various pictures and plaques that adorned his walls. A small fan sat upon his desk, stirring the air slightly. He had just finished skimming through the list of new restaurants that were seeking to have critics come in. Some of them had caught his interest but he paid special notice to the on at the top, <em>Le Belle Madame.</em> It seemed like a promising place but the name of the owner has stopped him from leaping from his seat. It had been a long time since he had seen that name and it brought back a lot of memories that he had tried to hide.<br><br>The phone on his desk beeped, bringing him from his thoughts. Blinking for a moment to remember what had caught his attention, he sat up straight and grabbed his phone. His secretary informed him that he had a visitor, the owner of Le Belle Madame. Blake nodded slightly himself, telling the secretary to send her in before he hung up. It wasn’t normal for an owner to come see him. Smirking slightly, he folded his hands before him on the desk, watching the door. This was going to be quite interesting. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Have Your Cake &amp; Eat It Too [Marguerite &amp; ArtemisHighmore]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Marguerite</strong> on <strong>12-08-2010, 02:29:30</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Lyssa Wentworth eyed down the secretary as she tapped her foot on the floor. She had been waiting to meet with the food critic for over twenty-five minutes. Her wine was going to get warm and her tiramisu would not handle the heat wave. Even with the A/C in this room on blast, the humidity of New Orleans was creeping in like the gators in the bayou just waiting for someone to get too close to the waters. Though she rather feed the burly secretary to the gators than watch her face any longer. Since she barged into the place, she had one security guard try to stop her only to notice she had food in her hands and knew she had to be someone who need the critics approval. She did not need anyone's approval for she earned the right to run a business and had enjoyed her experience in Paris. All she wanted was this damn critic to lay off of the rest of the critics and let them think for themselves. That was not hard to ask, was it?<br><br>Yet, the secretary stopped her as she tried to get further down the hallway towards the office of the head shark. So, now, she was pacing up and down the place while she waited for the King himself to give the orders to let her come into his humble abode. Humble abode her ass for everything looked loud and too expensive. Obviously, he had to be taking money under the table for no critic could afford these expensive items. Still, he might even have knock offs judging by the furniture in the waiting room. Her concentration on what she thought to be a reprint of a famous painting on the wall kept her distracted from the conversation the secretary had with the critic over the phone. At least she ignored the woman when she mentioned that the woman might be on some sort of narcotic by the way she acted and demanded to see her employer.<br><br>"He is ready to see you now. Next time, make an appointment for he does not like people to drop in as if he has nothing to do," the secretary, answered with a sniff and a cock of her eyebrow. Lyssa did not need a translation book to know the woman did not see her in the best of lights. Right now, she could not care if the Pope enjoyed her company. What mattered was the man who was trying to keep other critics from coming to her restaurant because Mr. High and Mighty had not visited first. This was a free world and everyone had a right to enjoy her food without fear from Big Daddy Critic. For Lyssa, this man was just a stepping stone and her food would impress him to get him off of the necks of everyone else and help make Le Belle Madame a five star restaurant.<br><br>"Monsieur, you must try this wine with this tiramis...holy fuck," she muttered after she opened the door, lifted her head to start her spiel and noticed who was behind the desk. This was a fucking kick in the pants to see the man she left for Paris behind the table. Oh, this had to be some karmic joke. She almost dropped the bottle of wine but remembered that this bottle was worth four hundred dollars and planned to get this man to love it enough to cover the bill. Clearing her throat, she feigned a smile even when beneath the veneer, she grew angry at seeing the man who broke and hurt her in this very room. "You must try this wine and tiramisu."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Have Your Cake &amp; Eat It Too [Marguerite &amp; ArtemisHighmore]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>ArtemisHighmore</strong> on <strong>13-08-2010, 22:57:06</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Blake could tell from the tone of his secretary that things were not going well in the lobby. That made this reunion all the better. A little payback for what she had done to him. All he had wanted was to live happily with her, get married and have some kids. But his aspirations had been too small for her. They couldn’t compare to Paris. And now here they were again, rolls a bit reversed.<br><br>He couldn’t help but smile at her reaction. Of course she hadn’t expected him to be here. Hell she probably didn’t even him to still be in town. How amusing it was to find her now here, trying to bribe her way with wine and tiramisu. Still he figured he should play along for a little bit, have a little fun with her. What could be the downside of messing with her just a little bit more? Politely he waves to the seat across from him. “Please have a seat.”<br><br>Sitting up a little straighter, he smiled softly. “So you are the owner of Le Belle Madame. I hear you have been having trouble getting critics to come to your restaurant. That is a shame as it seems you make such fine food, well by appearances anyways.” He had done well to lose his southern accent, trying to build a bit more respect in some of the more renown places. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Have Your Cake &amp; Eat It Too [Marguerite &amp; ArtemisHighmore]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Marguerite</strong> on <strong>15-08-2010, 01:52:39</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				The man in front of her should not be in New Orleans. He should be somewhere far away from her in another state or even in another country. For him to be in her city and the shark critique was Karma's way of trying to fuck her over a barrel of dynamite. She even glanced towards the ceiling to see if there was some sort of God getting their rocks off at her disappointment and anger. Lyssa was disappointed in the man who was across the table from her. The anger came in from what happened in the past and how it still affected her in the present. He was the reason why she had to keep her personal life separate from her working life. Even more that she had to annul a marriage, one that she took on after his betrayal and kept it under wraps when she opened up the restaurant. <br><br>Now, she had to face the son of a bitch after so many years. The years even looked as if it was good to him instead of giving him crows feet or gray hair. Damn it, could this get any worse? Oh yes, she had to get him to review her restaurant and make sure he did not try to torpedo her restaurant to the ground. For her, she wanted to find out what he wanted to get from this meeting. If he wanted to scream at her or keep driving the knife deeper, she would let him do it if it got her the review. Now, if he wanted to hurt her or try anything worse, he would end up with a bottle upside the head. "Fine," she whispered, sat herself down in the chair and placed the bottle of wine and tiramisu on the table in front of her. At least she would have her hands free in case he tried to attack her to fling one of his papers at her. The last time she saw him, there was a nice fight between the two and she practically ran off with the clothes on her back to head off to Paris. <br><br>Another deep and calm breath kept her from throwing out accusations. For all she knew, he could very well be over what happened between the two of them in the past. It could all be in her head and an appointment could be made to have him come to the restaurant. "I wanted to come here because I have heard a few of the critics do not want to go and offend you if you do not come to my restaurant and sample the array of gourmet food I have to offer first," she started off, crossing her arms over her chest. "I came here to see if there is a time and day you are available to come by to Le Belle Madame this week. Pierre and I have plans to introduce a few new dishes which fuses the Bayou and Parisian dishes together." Keep it simple and hope he was over the past and ready to give her restaurant a chance without bringing his feelings into account. The past was the past, was it not? 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Have Your Cake &amp; Eat It Too [Marguerite &amp; ArtemisHighmore]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>ArtemisHighmore</strong> on <strong>30-09-2010, 08:18:49</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Blake smiled softly, studying her as she took her seat. He could tell that she was on edge and he could only imagine what must be going on in her head. Certainly she did not seem pleased at all with the reunion and the reveal of who the top critic really was. He kept his professional composure, sitting up straight with his hands clasped before him on the desk. It was good to see her; he had to admit at least that to himself. The years had been well to her at least and she seemed to not be openly violent anymore although that could very well be due to the roles that they were in now. His gaze passed over the wine and tiramisu, still quite curious as to why she had brought them along if all she was wanting was to set up a date and time for him to come to her restaurant.<br><br>When she had finished her statement, he leaned back in his chair. His hands were drawn to his lap and his smile grew a bit more. His tone was casual, even holding a dash of sarcasm if one bothered to study it enough. “You do know that such requests could have been handled over the phone. Seems silly to have you walking around in such heat to make a simple request as to when I should come and see your restaurant.” His gaze returned once more to the items she had brought with her. “Unless you were meaning to bribe me…”<br><br>&nbsp;His eyes flicked back to her, watching her face for any kind of reaction to his words. In his mind he was trying to decide his next move and what he should do now that they were face to face. Lashing out wouldn’t be any fun and so he smiled softly, and nodding, as if mostly to himself. “You look good Lyssa. I am a bit surprised to see you as I had figured that you would have stayed in Paris. After all it was calling your name for so long that it seemed like it desired you more than anyone else ever could. I trust you time there was well worth it?”<br>
			</dd>
		</dl>
		<div id="footer" class="smalltext">
			
			<span class="smalltext" style="display: inline; visibility: visible; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?action=credits" title="Simple Machines Forum" target="_blank" class="new_win">SMF 2.0.19</a> |
 <a href="https://www.simplemachines.org/about/smf/license.php" title="License" target="_blank" class="new_win">SMF © 2021</a>, <a href="https://www.simplemachines.org" title="Simple Machines" target="_blank" class="new_win">Simple Machines</a>
			</span>
		</div>