Our Last Night
Claire could have spent her whole life with him. She could have had got married, and had kids. If she had changed one decision, one stupid, petty decision, she would be in his arms, and not her. But he was gone, and she knew it. And god was it killing her.
Chapter 1:
Moonlight Was Falling
Cliff glanced around the diner. He looked at the closely cramped tables with little chairs surrounding them; and the muddy, square tiles that covered the floor. The place looked generally run down, with almost no customers, except a peach-coloured boy slumped over the counter with a pathetic, fed-up grimace. Cliff shrugged out of his soaked coat, and headed off to the nearest table to the door. As soon as he stepped inside, a bell rung- leaving him momentarily surprised as he glanced up. He chuckled to himself when he noticed it was one of those bells that were used to indicate there was a customer.
"Can I help you sir?" Someone spoke as he sat down. The chair was made of rusty metal that was painfully scratchy, so much so that he could tell he was going to be extremely uncomfortable as he ate his meal.
He glanced up. A petite blonde beamed at him, with bright ocean blue eyes. She wore a checkered shirt with a mini brown skirt, and dolly black shoes. Her eyes really stood out with a thick line of eyeliner underneath her eyes, and her lips were an unnatural shade of red. "Yes please."
The waitress stared at him expectantly; still with that large smile she had on her red lips. He felt kind of nervous underneath her gaze, it made him want to drive back home and grab a brown bag for his head. "Uh… Don't you have a menu?" He asked timidly, tugging at his collar.
Her expression went blank. "Oh, of course! Sorry, we normally just get regulars!" She apologized, touching his shoulder gently. She then pursed her lips, "Excuse me, sir. I'll be right back with a menu." The waitress excused herself; and hurried off towards the kitchen. She immediately halted when she reached the counter and spotted the boy lazed over it. "Oi Chase, get up, you idiot! We have a customer! Where are the menus again?"
Chase lifted his head from the counter and gave her a sadistic sneer. "Don't you remember? We don't have any menus." He sighed, burrowing his head into the palms of his hands.
"Oh yeah… That doesn't matter. I know the menu off by heart!" She happily declared, once again returning to his table with a lopsided grin. "Hello again, sir! Today we are offering Salad, Buckwheat Noodles, Stew, Banana Juice, Curry Bread, Cheese Fondue, Sashimi, Pizza and Gratin! What would you like?"
He scrunched his head, trying to remember any of the foods at all. "I'll have… uh, did you say Pizza was one?"
"I sure did! Just so you don't sue us or something- are you allergic to Cheese, flour or ketchup?" She asked like a routine, her large eyes flickering over Cliff's body.
"Nope. If I was I wouldn't ask for pizza."
The waitress instantly frowned. "It never hurts to check, some people don't understand what they're ordering." She grumbled to herself, but made her way to the counter in any case, sliding effortlessly through the thin gaps between tables, as if they were positioned for her to get through. "Hey Chase! Get off your lazy ass! The customer wants some pizza." She ordered at Chase.
"Fine, fine." Chase muttered, sliding off his chair as he let out a loud yawn. The waitress narrowed her eyes and ushered him into the kitchen. "I'm going already!" He snapped, storming into the backroom.
She approached Cliff's table soon after Chase had gone, and she smiled sheepishly. "Mind if I join you? This place gets really lonely, 'cos as you can imagine, Chase isn't exactly great company." She explained, rolling her eyes with a big grin.
Cliff nodded, and smiled back to her. The waitress slid into the seat opposite him. "So… what's your name?"
"Cliff."
She grinned. "Awesome name! Mine's so boring. I'm just a Claire."
"My mother's called Claire…"
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it offensively or anything-"
"It's okay," Cliff quietly chuckled, giving her a small smile. "She doesn't like the name much either."
"Ha, sounds like me and your mum could be great friends!" She exclaimed with a huge grin that covered her foundation-covered face, "So, where you from?"
"A few streets down, I own a small flat." He answered softly, glancing out of the window. "I don't have a job yet, so I'm living off the government's money."
"That's cool. I live here actually, right up there." She pointed upwards, towards the ceiling. "It's smaller than an average flat, but me and Chase deal with it." She mumbled quietly, scratching her head.
"Oh, you two are a couple?"
"Oh ho ho, with Claire? In her dreams, more like." Chase laughed with great amusement, dropping the plate onto the table.
Claire glowered at him with detest. "Like I would ever let you in my dreams! Dreams are for happy thoughts, not for damn depressing ones!" She yelled, jabbing Chase in the thigh.
"Hmph, fine, whatever. I'm outta here." Chase declared, sliding out of his white apron and lobbing it onto the back of a chair. "Have fun 'together.'"
Claire huffed. "We will! Won'twe, Cliff?"
"Uhm… sure?" Cliff muttered unsurely.
Chase shook his head disappointedly. "I'll be back in an hour, don't screw things up whilst I'm gone. And don't you dare touch the cooker."
"I got it," Claire yelled, "Just get out already!"
Chase strolled out of the doors with a smug grin, whilst Claire turned her attention back towards Cliff. "So… Tell me your life story."
Cliff raised his brow. "Well… It's quite long… I'm sure you're quite busy." He mumbled incoherently.
Claire looked around mockingly, and Cliff followed her gaze at all the empty tables and chairs. "There won't be any customers for a while, I've got all the time in the world." She grinned, leaning in interestedly.
"Alright…" Cliff sighed. "I was born in a small village. My dad had already ran off to wherever. When I reached eighteen, I decided I wanted to see the world, and do what I've always wanted. But, you know, I've been 'exploring' the world, and haven't even found a job."
"That wasn't very long," Claire teased, with a large smile. "So, why haven't you gone home then?"
Cliff sighed again. "Because… I want to return with more than I left with. I wouldn't be able to bear seeing mother's heart-broken face. I promised her I'd find a nice life."
"And that's what's holding you back?" Claire muttered in disbelief. "Seriously? Your mum would probably prefer you coming home now, and losing your pride, then never coming home."
"I will go home eventually," Cliff said sternly, "Just, now's not the time."
Claire grinned. "Aha! I knew you had a hard side!"
Cliff's face flushed. "Oh, uhm… uh… right, yeah…"
"Aww! You're so cute when you're blushing!" Claire giggled.
The comment made Cliff go bright red. "Uh… please can you, uhm, like… stop saying stuff like that…?"
"But you look so cute~! But alright, if you want… No complimenting. I got it!"
"Thank you…"
"No problem! So, uh, you're finished now, right?" She asked, looking down at his empty plate.
Cliff followed her gaze. "I suppose I am. How much do I owe you?"
"Just six pounds please," Claire told him, "Please visit again soon, I really enjoyed chatting with you."
"Six pounds? That's cheap… I'll definitely be back." He reassured her, placing the money in her hands. "Good bye."
"You too, Cliff!" She called after him, after he grabbed his coat and slid into it.
He walked all the way home with a smug smile on his face, as the moonlight was falling.
Note: I know in Harvest Moon they use the '1000G' currency thing. But I've decided that the city would use normal currency (I'm English, so I'm going to use Pounds). The currency will go back to G's when Claire/Cliff arrive in Mineral Town. And Chase is the chef here because it claims Chase did some 'training' before he arrived in Waffle Town or whatever. So yeah… I know this is mostly dialog- but my descriptive headgear just wasn't screwed in properly today. Leaving a review would be nice…? Oh and I got this idea from 'Our Last Night' by Taylor Swift, I'm not sure if it's actually published. The story will be faintly connected to the song… Like the chapter name is the first line!