Glass and Feathers
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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters appearing or mentioned in this story. They are the property and creations of the people who came up with them and put them into a game about farming.
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Oh, lord; here we go.
Muffy's in love again.
I've been seeing the signs for a few days now, even before I found the remains of one of our cocktail goblets shoved to the back of the shelf under the bar.
Sliced my hand pretty good on the shards, too. Guess that's why I make her wear gloves when she's cleaning.
Did she think I wouldn't find it under there, or I wouldn't eventually notice a missing glass, or what?
Heh…maybe she just wanted to wait until there was no more rosy romantic haze for her tyrannical boss to ruin shouting at her.
See, Muffy's a great helper when she's not acting like a lovesick kid. She's quick, nimble, and mixes a damn cocktail better than I can on a good day. She's also friendly, attentive, considerate, and personable. The customers love her. Half of Forget-Me-Not is crazy about her.
That's what people come to the Blue Bar: get a drink, and get a smile from Muffy.
I couldn't ask for a better assistant.
During those brief and fleeting times after she's met someone but before she really gets to know him and find out how her bad luck with men'll kick in this time, it's a different story.
Wanders around with her head in the clouds, singing dopey love songs in that goddamned sweet, clear, perfect voice of hers, bumps into things, drops everything that's not bolted down, trips over everything that is, forgets where she is half the time and throws some Lysol into the cocktails, just for something new…
Lucky for us, that little guy Rock liked it, decided it really sharpened up the taste, and now it's a fad. If that kid wasn't half-crazy, we might've had a lawsuit on our hands.
Can't imagine trying to put together a coherent defense with a love-struck Muffy. Best chance we'd have is the judge falling madly in love with her when she flashed him that beautiful, infectious smile.
It could happen; old men who should know better have fallen for that smile before.
Although in my defense, that's just where it started. Now it's her smile, and her big bright blue eyes that let you know every single thing she's feeling until you could swear you're feeling it with her, and her laugh that makes you think you can smell spring in the middle of winter, and her cheek against mine when she falls asleep crying on my shoulder after some creep makes her feel like nothing.
I know it's cradle-robbing. Seventeen years apart. Not to mention, she acts about ten years less her age half the time. But I can guarantee that no one on earth will ever love that girl as much as I do.
Doesn't matter, anyway.
Griffin…you've always been just like a father to me.
How many times has she said it? Not many girls going around falling for their father figures anymore.
It's probably just as well, although it gets harder to remember every time I have to climb up to the loft and sleep in her room because she fell asleep crying on my shoulder and it's hard to climb a ladder with a little tear-stained blonde angel in your arms.
It's her terrible luck with men that makes me damn sure I'll never have to worry about losing her completely to someone else, but I'm never sure if it's a good thing or not.
Because of course I hate seeing her wilt a little more every time she crawls into bed next to me and leaves wet tear spots on my shoulder and tells me that she's not going to be seeing Steve or Mike or Kevin or Dean again, every time more and more sure that this'll be the one she never gets over, the one that breaks her completely.
And yet, if she ever found the one that didn't send her home crying to the nice guy she works for, ever left me altogether, hell, I'm not sure I'd get over it.
I hope she figures it out someday, learns that she doesn't need a man to make her worth something, because something tells me that she won't have any luck with them until that; but part of me hopes it doesn't happen until I'm dead and buried.
Until then, good old Griffin'll be here to put her back together and rock her to sleep and make her laugh again when she wakes up with red swollen eyes.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. It just started a few days ago, so it should take her a couple more weeks at least to realize this one's like the rest and won't make her happy either.
Tonight, I'll listen to her gushing about her new boyfriend, how they met, how sweet he is, how he looks when he smiles. Then I'll play the guitar to make her stop talking about him before I hit her and hunt him down, and she'll sing. I'll have a couple weeks of pretending that it's me making her smile and laugh and daydream and pick out dish patterns before it ends as fast as it began, and then we'll do it all again.
The door creaks open, and I get ready for the routine.
But something's different this time.
She doesn't come bouncing in, grab us something simple to drink, because no one mixes a drink like you, Griffin, and hop up to sit on the bar while she tells me all about her date.
This time, she slips in quietly, and just stands there at the end of the bar, watching me. She's got this small, peaceful smile, and this unbelievable kind of glow, like she's finally found everything she's ever wanted.
God, she's beautiful.
For a split second, I watch her, and I'm sure she's going to tell me she's figured out what I've known since she was sixteen and scrawny and couldn't balance a book on her head, let alone a tray full of drinks.
And hell, if she doesn't say it, I might.
I can feel myself moving across the bar towards her and her hair is soft and cool under my hand.
She's laughing now, softly, and I guess I can understand why, because when she threw herself at me like that, I must've jumped a foot in the air before moving to hold her.
Kiss her!
Do it, you damn fool!
I'm looking down at her, and her eyes are filled with tears, but she's still smiling, and I'm a second away from doing it, seeing if she tastes half as sweet as she does in my dreams, when looks away and hides her face in my shoulder.
"Griffin…the most amazing thing just happened. I-I didn't even know he liked me, but he just proposed. I can't believe it. Jack and I...we're getting married."
Funny. I could swear I just heard something break.
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End Notes: Did Griffin sound like Griffin? This is my main worry because I don't spend a whole lot of game-time at the Blue Bar in A/nother Wonderful Life.
Anyway, thank-you for reading/skimming/scrolling quickly to the bottom! Feedback is appreciated.
