*Just a warning, there are some slightly darker themes in this story that might be sensitive to some readers.*
Anyway, it seems the Harvest Moon fandom has really thinned out and not as many new stories are being published and read so hopefully I can add a little fresh content to the fandom so it doesn't get stale -u-
Saturday nights in the summer season were the absolute worst. With the island finally restored, the mayor has been sending out misleading brochures to every rest stop in the country for tourists to set their beady little eyes on and throw their money at. Castanet became a cesspool for these fools. And the Brass Bar seemed to attract the worst of them all.
Horny, drunken young men were ogling at the waitresses and the exotic dancer, Selena. Others were holding in their vomit, other were failing to do so, and I was quickly losing my patience. I had always thought this place was classier than Hooters, but these people treated it as one in the same. It didn't help it was almost ninety degrees in the building with all these sweating bodies so the busty bimbos Kathy and Molly wore their thinnest attire as they served these thirsty men.
The women weren't any better. Groups of single, young women would vacation here for the beaches and try to flirt themselves into getting a discount or a free drink from the local men. I've got more than a few unwelcomed passes and flashes before.
Saturday was also open-mic night between Selena's dances, and Kasey, Kevin's lazy farmhand, never failed to show up drunk to ruin a different classic each week. Tonight it was Billy Joel's Piano Man. Kasey even brought his own harmonica.
"It's nine o'clock on a Saturday, the regular crowd shuffles in!" Kevin sat at the bar, watching and shaking his head.
Kathy whisked by, shouting an order over the loud chatter of the bar, "Chase, I need two orders of Stuffed Peppers! Thank you!" She shot me a knowing grin, we knew exactly who those two Stuffed Peppers were going to. A blur of ginger hair scooted by and stopped briefly beside me.
"Looks like the future mayor is trying to cajole his assistant for a night in bed again. Wonder if he'll lose the V-card tonight." The auburn haired waitress, known as Molly, snickered as she skirted past me with a finished tray of food. She was a sinister and offensive young woman, and if it weren't for her unexplained charm and that pretty face, no regular would tolerate that foul mouth.
She was right though. Gill was at it again. He was really trying this time to win over his assistant, Angela. Everyone knew how much he hated Bell Peppers, and how much he loved that woman, except for that woman. Angela was one of the biggest air heads on this island, second to Luke. But she is by far, the sweetest person in Castanet, so everyone forgave her for her moments. Cute girl, too. Hell, if she wasn't so dull, I'd consider stealing her right out from under Gill's giant nose, offer her a blue feather, and marry the girl myself.
But I also had other plans. I did not plan nor want to stick around this island much longer, in fact, I had applied for a prestigious cooking school in the city last winter and proudly received my acceptance letter mid spring. I decided not to tell many people. Only Kathy and Hayden were aware of my plans, and although disappointed, they were both supportive. It's not like I had many friends here anyway, I was the neighborhood asshole and surely would not be missed.
"Now Chase at the bar is a friend of mine," I suppose Kasey was also my friend according to his low slurring into the mic. "He gets me my drinks for free." Hayden shot me a questionable look. "And he's quick with a joke, and kind of an asshole, but there's some place that he'd rather be."
Yup. I had stockpiled all the money I earned from the past few summers and felt I was well-prepared to return to city life, this time as a culinary student. I was to depart on the 4th of Fall without a word to half the people on this island. And I would probably never see this place again. And I was quite alright with that.
"Have you told Molly yet?" I nearly dropped the knife I was holding. The blonde waitress behind me giggled, "Sorry 'bout that, Chase, I didn't realize you were so lost in thought." I never felt obligated to inform Molly of my intentions. We were just coworkers, but Kathy insisted I speak up now or forever hold my peace. "But seriously, I think you should tell her. She'd be awfully upset if you left without a goodbye. And a warning for that manner."
"I'm not close to Molly." I replied, to which Kathy quickly responded "Oh please, Chase! You used to tell each other everything!"
Molly and I have a complicated friendship, if one could even call it that. She never hid her attraction for me, in fact, she kept it on full display. And I did not share that same attraction, at least not the way she did. I won't deny that she's a beautiful young woman, but she always managed to bring out the worst in my personality and nitpick at all my insecurities to bring them out into the open. And I hated it. I sometimes hated her.
I was an asshole. I was too stuck up. I needed to open up. Nobody would love a man like me if I continued acting this way. It was a constant stream of criticism that I found more insulting than constructive.
But we had our moments. They were few and far in between, but pleasant nonetheless. There were a few times I would catch her crying after work on a particularly stressful day, and she would express how tired she was again and again. She never delved any further into what she meant by those statements. She was just tired. So I'd sit with her on the church steps watching the waves break until she stopped. And I would lament to her about how I didn't feel as if I belonged in Castanet. How maybe I should leave because I was growing tired and sick of this place. But then complain about how I failed to do anything about it.
There were other days when we'd just take a midnight stroll after work and lose time in the conversation. Those were the times I felt I really got to know Molly, and I could let my guard down long enough for her to know me. Behind her confident act, she had insecurities too. It just took moonlit walks and a little bit of alcohol and self-loathing to dig her story out.
Apparently she dropped out of college after her relationship with her mother turned sour, and was forced to work hard to make ends meet. But she was a pretty girl, so she swore she'd marry a rich man. Then at the age of 20, she met someone. As she gracefully put it one night after a number of drinks, "I was once engaged. He was such a lovely guy. I met him at Home Depot." He took care of her. Then at 21, she unknowingly got pregnant. She didn't find out until a few months later when she went to the doctor after having terrible cramps and bleeding one night.
She lost it.
Not that she ever actually wanted it. But it was enough to make her reevaluate her life choices. And it was at that point, she said, Castanet sounded very appealing. Although she claimed, and continues to claim, to be much happier, she still gazes at me with sad cinnamon eyes. And as of recently, we had not had a heart to heart, and I all those moments started to seem meaningless. I no longer felt the need to reveal my true intentions because in my eyes, Molly and I were not friends.
"For Goddess' sake, Chase! You're only going to be here for what? Another two weeks?! If you don't tell her, then I will." Kathy threatened. "And don't tell me that you're not obligated to. Even if you aren't, it'd be better for her if you did anyway. Give her some time to process it. She'd much rather hear it from you than find out on her own."
"I'm sure she'd much rather not hear it at all. And you know how she gets." She always cuts deep when she was angry. The blonde knew I was right.
"Goddess, you're hopeless." She said nothing more and the night went on just as expected.
Monday nights were not nearly as bad. Mostly regulars with a few mellow tourists sprinkled around the bar. Molly was chattering with Kevin and a drunk Kasey about the farm life. Angela and Gill sat nearby, listening to Kevin's many monotonous stories about how troublesome his chickens are.
Kathy's eyes flickered between the two of us before she gave me a threatening glare. I wasn't going to do it either way and I made that clear to the blonde as I retreated back to the kitchen. That's when I saw her motion to Molly and she pointed my way. The auburn haired woman made her way into the kitchen where she just stood across from me and raised a brow.
"What?" I asked her.
"What? Kathy told me you had something to tell me." She seemed almost hopeful.
"Well, Kathy sure likes to talk, doesn't she? 'Cause I don't have anything to tell you." I retorted. Molly simply sighed and made her way back to Kathy. And that's when I saw it. That look...Kathy spilled the beans. Molly glanced back at me in confusion.
"Wait...you're leaving?" Goddess, her stare was killing me.
"I got accepted to a prestigious culinary school in the city. I'm going to continue my training there and hopefully get a more well-renowned job."
"When did you plan on leaving?" Even Kathy felt the weight of actions hit her like a brick to the head. The instant regret wiped that determined expression off her face.
"...the fourth of autumn..." She inhaled a sharp breath of air and glanced around the room at her spectators. "Two weeks." I added. I watched her lips tighten and her eyes flicker off, focusing on nothing in particular. Then the woman started clapping, a slow, tedious kind of clap, and she was gaining an audience.
"Congratulations, Chase. I'm very happy for you." Molly pursed her lips and rose her arms higher, clapping over her head like a child. "I'm sure your mother would be proud, if she was still alive and everything." Ouch.
"That was uncalled for, Molly."
"Now, isn't that funny?!" She took a step closer and almost laughed. "If Kathy hadn't already filled me in, I would've said the same thing when you were getting on that boat to the city come autumn, two weeks from now, in fact, now wouldn't I?"
"Can we please talk about this another time?"
"When!? Like when you're leaving?!" I slammed my fist on the counter, but she did not falter like I hoped she would.
"What makes you think I was obligated to tell you anything, Molly?" I said through gritted teeth. She leaned over the counter and responded, "You know damn well, you asshole."
"I never wanted you, Molly. You knew I never wanted you but you kept throwing yourself at me like some desperate whore! So let me make this an official rejection," Her eyes widened, "I never want to be with some desperate, sad, used, tired, promiscuous woman. Especially the one that carelessly killed her unborn child!" I dropped the bomb; Molly's darkest secret. The crowd gasped. And Molly...I never saw her so... Kathy rushed over to end it, but not before that auburn-haired beauty left her hand print on my cheek. I found my chest hurting more than anything.
"Alright, that's enough!" Hayden interjected as he tried to pull me back to the kitchen. But Molly ignored him and continued.
"I never knew, Chase! In fact, you made it seem like you did, with the way you-you-!" She choked.
"Molly, please, calm down!" Kathy urged. Without another word, Molly gave me one last painful glance and headed for the door, pushing through bodies, only stopping short to tell Gill to 'shut his goddamn mouth'. The rest of the crowd simply sat back and watched. Whispers of possible rumors fluttered around the bar, and questioning eyes flickered between me and the door that had just slammed shut. Kathy went to follow her, but her father stopped her, advising his daughter to let that woman have some time to think.
I never made her cry before.
"Oh, Goddess, Chase..." Kathy was visibly frowning. "I don't know why I...I'm so sorry...it wasn't my business...I shouldn't have..."
"I don't even care." If anything, I was delaying this sort of event.
There was a hand on my shoulder. Hayden frowned under his beard as he said, "Listen, Chase, I think it might be time to retire for the night." I nodded and untied my apron, throwing it over my shoulder. "Night, Chase, I'll see you tomorrow. If you need to talk..." He let the statement hang.
As I passed through the crowd, I could hear them mutter things like, "is Chase leaving Castanet?", "was Molly pregnant?", "miscarriage?"..."abortion?" Angela sadly shook her head as Gill whispered to his desired lover "what a toxic relationship." Kasey just stared and Kevin politely tried to change the subject to something about farming.
That night, I paid a visit to someone I hadn't seen since I was young. I knew how much Molly meant to them. So I got down on my knees in front of the tree and clasped my hands together, asking for something to cure my self-loathing.
I did not mean to hurt her. My goal was never to make her cry. I don't know what my goal was or is still. I just know I'm not happy, and I want to be. But now, I feel worse than ever. Just, please, help me out, guide me, give me some advice, anything. 'Cause I don't know if leaving feels right anymore.
I stayed there throughout the night, waiting for a sign, anything. But nothing happened, and I drifted off to sleep in front of the Goddess Tree.