Nah! Chapter two! In which Cho eats. A lot.
Disclaimer: I don’t own HP characters, yadda yadda yadda.
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“EEEEEEK!!!! CHO!!!!”
“DAMMIT LI! DON’T DO THAT!” came a roar from the kitchen. Orla and Wayne winced and rushed back inside, but Su ignored the head chef as she hugged the “Everything” customer with giddiness. Castor stood to the side, looking unsure with a pitcher of ice water.
“S-stop! Stop! Who are you?! What in the world- do you just-just up and attack everyone you meet?!” Cho cried, her voice muffled by Su’s shoulder.
“It’s me! Li! Su Li! Remember? Hogwarts!” Su cried cheerfully, finally releasing the other girl, who stared at her.
“…no.”
“Aw, Chang!”
“Er, maybe?” Cho asked, with a haphazard shrug. Su Li pouted for a moment, then suddenly grasped her short hair with two fists, making them stick out the side of her head and puffed out her cheeks. Cho stared a beat, then jolted in recognition.
“Li!”
“Chang!”
“Oh my God! Oh my God! What happened to you?! You look…fabulous!” Cho goggled as Su Li winked at her, giggling.
“Oh, you know…I grew…lost a few pounds…you know,” Su confided. Cho laughed weakly and sat back down, and Su noticing her state, backed off to the kitchen.
“Alright, Cho, you just stay right there, and we’ll have your order out in a moment,” she told her friend, before looking at Castor and giving him a push to her table. The poor man stumbled to a stop in front of Cho, and sort of stared for a moment.
“Uhm. Er. Hullo, Chang,” he said awkwardly. “Water?”
~
Orla looked round at Su as she entered the kitchen.
“That really Cho?” she asked, wide eyed. Apparently, she’d elevated to shredding the potatoes by this time. Su nodded and giggled.
“It really is her,” Su said, and then added slyly. “She’s still amazingly pretty these days, isn’t she, Draco?”
The head chef paid his employer no mind and only stoically handed her a plate of Italian prosciutto.
“She looks like she hasn’t aged a day from her Hogwarts graduation. Still that lovely hair…”
Draco took a plate of chilled eggplants from the fridge, arranged five on a plate and handed it to Su without a word.
“And that pale-white complexion! Looks like she hasn’t been out in the sun at all while still maintaining that healthy glow. I seem to remember you commenting on it once?”
In silence, a bowl of consommé was handed to Su, who took it thoughtfully.
“My my, her boyfriend must be one lucky man,” she said in a loud, wondering voice, and Draco slapped a pan of salmon mousse onto her arm. “Ow! Malfoy!”
For a moment, Draco didn’t say anything. Then he smiled coolly.
“Table two’s appetizers, ma’am.”
Su Li scowled at him and tried to balance the plates along her arms as she exited the kitchen.
~
Cho waited until all thirty-odd courses had appeared. By this time, all of Café Tombe de Cheval was ogling the pretty, slender woman that was Cho. Her order had been more than her own table could carry so Su had Wayne haul out the giant cart and load the dishes onto that.
As Castor set the crème brulee down, Cho finally looked up and smiled; acknowledging him, then silently lifted her fork and began on the appetizers.
There was silence as everyone stared at her, watching her eat her meal noiselessly. For a few minutes, the only sounds heard was Cho’s chewing. Swallowing. Then chewing again. Almost magically, the plate of prosciutto disappeared, then the salmon, then the rest of the appetizers. After that, Cho continued on to the first courses as if she’d just started eating, and the other diners by that time were silently slipping away back to work.
Quietly, almost unnoticed, Cho’s eyes began to fill with tears. As she started in on the goat cheese and apple salad, one tear slipped down her face, and then two more. By the time she began sawing at the braised lambshank, she was near sobbing.
Finally, at the poulet sauté aux echalotes, Cho laid her fork down on her table and began wailing in earnest.
Castor, who’d been watching from the corner of the room ever since she started eating, jumped to his feet with a start and fairly ran over to table two. Su Li burst from the kitchen, nearly tripping over herself.
“Cho are you alright? Are you hurt? Did you choke on a bone? I told him to debone that damn chicken, but does he listen to me? Nooo…” Su cried.
“Shush, Su,” Castor said before turning to the howling lady.
“Miss, is there anything wrong? Can we help you?” he asked in that concerned but distant tone that all waiters had. Su rolled her eyes and shoved him out of the way.
“Silly boy, this is Cho here! Oh you poor dear, don’t worry. I’ll go tell Malfoy off immediately!” and she would have marched off immediately to the kitchen had not Cho suddenly sobbed.
“This…is-so! GOOoOOoOOD!!! AWAAAAAAAAAAAAHaaaaaahaaaaaa!!!” and even as she broke down crying even harder, she lifted her fork again and kept on eating, tears and even snot dribbling down her face. Su and Castor gawped and stared at her, then at each other. Neither of them knew what to do. The remaining diners were hurriedly finishing their lunches and leaving.
“Cho-Cho sweety, I’m glad you like it. Er, Cho? Honey, are you alright?” Su asked awkwardly as Cho bawled even louder and ate even more fervently.
“Oh, dear,” Castor stated flatly, exchanging looks with Su.
Just as they were wondering whether to panic or not, the kitchen door flew open with a bang, and Draco Malfoy strode into the restaurant, not bothering to lower his voice as he stalked to table two.
“Dammit all, lady! Will you please stop that confounded noise?!” he shouted, and the last few diners weren’t even bothering to finish their meals anymore. Draco snapped off his tall hat and threw it down on the table hard, glaring at Cho. She stared balefully up at him.
“Are you the chef?” she asked.
“Yes, I am.”
“Your food is lovely.”
“Thank you. Please keep your infernal weeping to yourself.”
“I don’t think I like you very much.”
“Frankly, I don’t give a damn, lady, and neither does the food.”
“Liar,” Su Li coughed discreetly. Draco ignored her. Cho frowned tearfully up at him and stuffed a forkful of pear tart into her mouth before unsteadily climbing to her feet.
“Right then, well, I’m going to go now, I can see…when…I’m…not…” Cho’s airy voice drifted off as she straightened up, wobbled, and immediately toppled over into Draco’s arms.
“Oh my gawd! Cho!” Su shrieked, after everyone had sort of stood around. She lunged at her friend, patting her face frantically. “Is she ok?! Oh, God! Draco! Did you poison her?! Ach, my café!”
“Su!”
“-Maybe it was a bone! Castor! Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation! Hurry!”
“Su!”
“-call the police. Call the hospital; heck, get my lawyer on the-”
“SU!”
“What is it??!!”
“She just over ate.”
“…”
“She’ll be fine.”
“…”
“…unless she has to have her stomach pumped. That is an awful lot of food.”
“…Get. The. HOSPITAL!!”
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neehee. I’ve always wondered what would happen if you ordered everything at a restaurant.
Yergh, I’m not writing my best here, but bear with me. I’m still feeling out this plot…=^^=