The (Re)view From the Park

Prompt - "Clueless writer who fancies a famous cook"

Since this has a fair amount of identity porn I'm just going to clarify the names.

Lyell - The writer of a famous food blog under a pen name.

Flambabe - Lyell's nom de guerre, a famous blogger whose true identity is unknown to the public.

Bianchi - A famous chef and the owner of the equally famous restaurant, Bianchi's who is notoriously secretive about his identity.

Marco - The head chef of Bianchi's who is, in fact, Bianchi himself. Marco Bianchi.

They meet a week before Flambabe is scheduled to rate Bianchi's, both online as a famous food critic introducing himself to the owner of the restaurant he will be rating next and in a chance meeting at the nearby city park. Both of these encounters leave each of them reeling and breathlessly in love, yet greatly conflicted.

A week later, when Lyell eats at the restaurant, Marco leaves the kitchen to bring him his food personally, posing as a waiter. Marco jokes around and flirts with him while serving his food. They both enjoy the night more than they would've alone but feel guilty and unsure for their sudden and bursting love for two separate people. Is it really fair to their other love, that they enjoyed their time together so greatly?

The next day, the review comes out and mentions the great service of one of the waiters. Marco thinks that Lyell was undercover for Flambabe, who was scheduled to come to his restaurant and questions whether any of this was real. Marco is furious with Lyell for lying to him and taking advantage of his feelings for him and feels unbearably guilty for liking someone that isn't Flambabe despite his growing sense of betrayal. Lyell is confused at being the focus of Marco's ire because he doesn't know what he did to make him upset. Marco refuses to tell him since he's so sure Lyell knows what he's done. Marco doesn't go out as a waiter for the next week; he knows Lyell returns each day to try and talk and refuses to let him play with his emotions any more.

Lyell goes back every day for seven days, from noon to night and doesn't see Marco even once. And so he decides that it's time Flambabe messaged Bianchi to find out if Marco is okay. His worry for the one man he loves makes him forget that he's showing this very worry to the other man who holds his heart.

Marco tells him nothing, talking through Flambabe will get Lyell nowhere. Being the blogger's figurehead is the very reason that Marco's heart was made to break. He can't blame Flambabe, he knows he would never tell anyone to manipulate another for their gain but he's bitter. Bitter that he didn't come himself and he accuses him of being in love with the waiter about whom he asks. He knows it's not fair since he is that very waiter and they are indeed very in love, but Marco can't bring himself to care at that moment. He just wants someone to feel some of the hurt that's within his own heart. He regrets it as soon as he says it though, he shouldn't have hurt the man he loves, even if they haven't said it yet.

Lyell keeps coming to the restaurant but Marco never appears. Everyone just says that Marco is still off shift, he's glad that his friends are there for him, no questions asked.

But at the beginning of the next week, Lyell decides that he needs to see Marco so badly he'll go so far as to reveal his identity on his blog so that Marco knows that he didn't betray his trust. After all, it was him all along. But he knows that it would break Bianchi's heart to cut it off this way so he messages him and tells him that he's fallen in love with someone else and he's sorry. So very sorry. But he wants to say thank you because his restaurant is the reason that Lyell has met the love of his life and he wants Bianchi to know how much he appreciates it.