Chameliona || A Miraculous Fanfiction

Chapter 15

Fidenziano's P.O.V.

Fidenziano Trimarchi had a splitting headache.

The cook barely remembered being put on a stretcher and packed into an ambulance. Apparently, the police had found him lying face down at the edge of the park surrounding the Eiffeltower, knocked out. Hawkmoth had akumatized him. Now he was sitting on a rickety stool back in the kitchen of the "Desire for Italy", surrounded by waiters and co-chefs, all of them fussing over him.

There was no recollection at all of anything that had happened after he had thrown his hat at that poor waiter who'd ventured into the kitchen to console him after the failed escargots dish. The waiter in question was now standing in a corner awkwardly, eyeing the chef wearily.

Fidenziano called him over. "I want to apologize for my behaviour earlier. I was blinded by the rage of my failure, you had nothing to do with it." The waiter nodded, scratching his chest stiffly.

"I know. The Michelin star has been your dream for such a long time, I can only imagine how that must have hurt. I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of tasting the abandoned escargots dish."

"What on earth did you do that for?" Fidenziano laughed.

"There was nothing wrong with it, except for the fact that it tasted strongly of dishwashing powder."

"DISHWASHING POWDER? How on earth did that happen?"

"I checked the newly filled containers on the spice rack, and I discovered dishwashing powder in the jar labelled "salt". And in turn, I found salt next to the dishwasher."

"Oh dear, what a mess. I was so caught up in cooking, I forgot to taste the dish. I've practised it so often, it's like second nature to me, and I just trusted I had the right ingredients because I used the usual containers. A stupid mistake. A proper cook should never send any dish out without having tasted it first."

"See? Monsieur Aubert's criticism was undeserved and not accurate at all. It was a tiny mistake. Something that could happen to anyone. But the question is, how did the dishwashing powder end up on the spice rack?"

Fidenziano suddenly roared with good-natured laughter. "I think it must have been Sandra, the boss's daughter. She was absent-minded during most of her shift. I think a certain blond customer distracted her a little. I saw her in here as I was still prepping for the critic, refilling our stock. Oh, what a boy he must have been, for her to have mistaken dishwashing powder for salt!"

The waiter joined in the laughter. "Well, mystery solved then."

Fidenziano had a soft spot for Sandra, there was no way he could be mad. Especially when she had finally taken an interest in a boy. Another waiter came rushing in, heading straight for the giggling Fidenziano.

"Someone's asking for you," the man said breathlessly. Confused, Fidenziano took one last sip of water from a glass he had been passed by a worried co-chef and stepped out into the restaurant. He couldn't have been more surprised, for standing in front of the bar, was Ladybug and Monsieur Aubert.

Ladybug waved him over excitedly. "Hello, I'm Ladybug. I believe you two are already acquainted?"

Both the men nodded, staring at each other. "Well, Monsieur Trimarchi, you were akumatized and given the fact that you tried to cook this man here," she pointed to the critic, "I gathered there was a quarrel to be settled."

"I did WHAT?" He was staring at Paris' superhero open-mouthed. "Ah well, you tied him up with a string of Wieners and tried to lower him into some kind of boiling soup..." Ladybug caught herself, as she noticed the cook was about to vomit, his ears turning green.