Updated Author's Note: I figured I'd add this, since I've appreciated such notes as a reader, and some things have changed from what I initially envisioned. First, this story is going to contain some of the following elements: heterosexual relationships, homosexual relationships, polyamory, and asexuality. I won't be writing lemon scenes, but the nature of the topics means I'll be bumping the rating to M so I won't be restricted in exploring them. I imagine there are going to be many open and frank discussions between the characters.
Second, Abigail is going to become involved in some way with Chris and Leah, though I'm letting it develop naturally in my mind rather than deciding on how it's going to go. I'm talking to people who have experience with these topics, and doing my best to learn about them, so when the time comes in the story I'll be able to hopefully do them justice.
The light blinked green. Time to work, I thought humorlessly. Like I needed a light to remind me. Nothing about this room suggested anything other than work. Nothing about this room even allowed for anything other than work. Grey cubicles, grey desks, grey walls, grey floors, grey ceiling tiles. The light blinked off and time seemed to stand still. I looked at the light, waiting for it to come back on. It always came back on. Every second. I had timed it.
After what felt like minutes, the light blinked green again. Still time to work. Things had been worse than ever since Matthew had taken over as manager. Every time someone new came in, they had to change something. Anything. Had to be seen doing something to justify their presence, even if that meant breaking things that worked just fine. Matthew was the worst of them. He had installed the lights. Said they would improve productivity. It was like music, he said, without the distracting noise. One hundred and twenty beats per minute was the most driving tempo, he said. They just couldn't have music bleeding through to the phones. And so every second the light turned on once and turned off once. One hundred and twenty visual stimuli per minute. Because that's not distracting at all.
A tone sounded in my headset, indicating an incoming call, and a screen filled with customer information popped up on my computer. I sighed, steeled myself, and clicked the button to answer the call. "Thank you for calling Joja Corporation! My name is Chris and I'll be your personal care representative today. How may I help you?" I sounded happy on the phone. At least, I tried to sound happy. Joja didn't like it when we didn't sound happy, so I faked it. It was hard to actually care about helping customers after years of answering the same call over and over, fixing the same problem over and over, and rarely ever getting so much as a thank-you.
When the call ended, I looked up at the light again. It stayed green for what felt like several minutes before I heard someone call out over the cubicles. "Alright, we've diverted all the phones to voicemail," came the hated voice of Matthew. "Time for a team meeting!" He actually sounded happy, and I never could tell if he was faking it, or just insane.
With all the enthusiasm of professional paint-drying watchers, I took off my headset and locked my computer screen before mindlessly filing into the conference room. I didn't stand out because of my attitude, we were all interchangeable little drones, after all. All of us except for Trisha. She always had that fake smile, always spoke in that sickly sweet tone, and always sucked up to the manager of the month. "This is so exciting, Matthew. I always love these meetings, you teach us so much!" She beamed at him as she entered the room, and he beamed back. Of course she was his favorite. He'd probably recommend her to be his replacement when he moved up the Joja Corporation ladder.
Once we were all settled, Matthew rubbed his hands together and looked each of us in the eyes before starting. It was supposed to be a rapport thing, but it just got on my nerves. Finally, he pulled a small remote out of his pocket and started a slideshow presentation. Of course it would be a slideshow presentation.
"Today we're rolling out an exciting new program," he began, "designed to better integrate our customers and personal care representatives. From now on, you're not going to just be personal care representatives, you're going to be personal care representatives. Each customer will have an assigned representative, and you're going to become familiar with your customers, and vice versa. Not only will this allow you to connect with each and every customer on a more personal level, it will also bring them more fully into the Joja family."
He smiled at each and every one of us again, clearly thinking this was the greatest idea ever. Never mind that customers didn't care about knowing their representatives on a personal level. Never mind that this would force customers to hold at times for even longer, waiting for their personal representative to be free. No, this was change, and change got people promoted. Matthew already had a foot out the door.
I looked around at my co-workers, and they all looked about how I felt. All except for Trisha. She was practically bouncing in her seat and clapping her hands at Matthew's presentation. He thanked her, then held up his hands to quiet the applause. It didn't matter that she was the only one applauding, he acted as if it were the entire room eating out of the palm of his hand.
"And that's not all," he continued, clicking a button on his remote to advance the slideshow. "From now on, you are all salespeople. Every customer interaction is an opportunity to upsell. Every call. Every email. Every voice message. From now on, you are all the face of every aspect of the company. Customer satisfaction, sales, technical support, you name it!"
I let out an audible groan, drawing a glare from Matthew. And Trisha. I didn't care though, this was worse than the blinking work light. I had purposefully applied for this division so I didn't have to sell. I hated selling, I hated being sold to. I just generally hated sales in all its forms, and this was the worst kind of sales. I could read behind the lines, we weren't being given an opportunity to sell, we were going to be forced to try and sell on every call. If a customer called in with a complaint, we had to try and get more money out of them. I'm sure they would just love that.
An eternity later, or maybe it was ten minutes, we returned to our cubicles with new sales scripts in hand. I held my headset limply in one hand and stared down at the useless piece of paper in the other. I couldn't do this, I just couldn't. I had forced myself to come in for years and answer these phones, but this was just too much. My breathing quickened, but I wasn't getting enough oxygen. I was actually getting too much, but that wasn't registering. My chest tightened like someone was squeezing all the air out of my lungs, and it felt like my throat was closing up. No no no, not now, not here, I thought to myself. I tried to control my breathing, tried to grip my emotions and force them down into that pit where I always shoved them, but it wasn't working. I could feel tears building in my eyes, and I wanted so much just to curl up and cry. Not here, not now, I repeated over and over. I had felt this before, fought this before, and won before. Perhaps the only stronger feeling than the panic was the need to not be seen falling apart around others, but today that need might not be strong enough.
Crumpling the script in my hand, I threw it into the trash under my desk in frustration, then pulled open my bottom drawer where I kept my medication. I didn't like to take it in the middle of the day, but being a zombie was better than being a sobbing mess. Reaching for the bottle, I noticed the manila envelope laying underneath it. I hadn't thought about the contents for… a month? Six? It was hard to tell how much time had passed in this place.
Reaching past the pill bottle, I grabbed the envelope instead and pulled out the pictures that were inside. I saw a picture of a boy splashing around in a small pond, another where he was dressed in overalls and holding a giant cauliflower in his arms, and one where he was sitting on a porch swing, sleeping in the arms of a kindly old woman. Man, I loved that place so much. I was so happy when we visited grandma and grandpa.
Feeling the panic subside somewhat, I set the pictures aside and pulled a smaller envelope out from the larger one. My name was written on the front and a purple wax seal that was still intact over the flap. I had kept this with me for the last ten years, never once opening it, even though at times I was awfully tempted. I remembered what grandpa had said when he gave it to me. "Be patient, my boy. Only open this when the time is right, when the world becomes too much to handle, and you feel empty inside. That will be the moment when you need what I've written here."
Feeling a tear slide down my cheek at the memory, I thought that maybe it was finally time. Hesitating, I looked up at the blinking green light, then back down at the letter in my hands. Yeah, it's definitely time. I slid a finger under the flap and broke through the seal, noticing that the paper inside was noticeably whiter than the envelope, having been somewhat protected from the ravages of time.
Taking out the papers inside, I took a deep breath, and began to read:
Dear Chris
If you're reading this, you must be in dire need of a change.
The same thing happened to me, long ago. I'd lost sight of what mattered most in life… real connections with other people and nature. So I dropped everything and moved to the place I truly belonged.
I've enclosed the deed to that place… my pride and joy: Blue Star Farm. It's located in Stardew Valley, on the southern coast. It's the perfect place to start your new life. I don't know if you'll remember it from your visits when you were young, but I remember how much joy it brought to you then, and I'm sure it will do the same for you now.
This was my most precious gift of all, and now it's yours. I know you'll honor the family name, my boy. Good luck.
Love, Grandpa
P.S. If Lewis is still alive say hi to the old guy for me, will ya?
Overcome with emotion, I read the letter several times. He really left me his farm? I looked at the next few papers, and sure enough, they were legal documents. Apparently, it was being held in trust until I decided to take over. All I had to do was sign the paper and the farm would be mine.
Not even knowing how to process this, I looked up and stared at the far wall where the company motto was stenciled, right above the blinking light. Joja - Join us. Thrive. I couldn't help it. I laughed. Thriving was the furthest thing from what I was doing here. I was literally withering, like a plant without enough sunlight. Withering…
"Chris, I notice you haven't logged back into the phone system, is something wrong?"
I looked over at Matthew who was watching me with disappointment in his eyes. That was one of his favorite tactics. He didn't yell, he just got that look, and took that tone. I looked down at the letter in my hands, then at the pictures on my desk, and finally back up to Matthew. "No, nothing's wrong," I said. "In fact, I think things are finally going to be right."
"Well, I'm glad to hear it. Get back on those phones, Chris. And remember to smile. You're with Joja." He rapped his knuckles on the wall of my cubicle and started to walk away before I interrupted him.
"No, Matthew, you don't understand." I began putting the letter and pictures back in their envelope, logged out of my computer, and gathered my things from the desk drawer. "I quit."
Matthew stopped and turned around to look at me with wide eyes. Nobody quit Joja Corporation, it was the best opportunity around. It was practically the only guaranteed work in the city. "Come again?" he asked. "You can't quit, you're with Joja."
God, I hated that slogan. I had only wanted a job when I started working here, I never wanted to be in a cult. I let out a sigh, but this was different than the thousands of sighs in years prior. This was a sigh of relief, and I ended up smiling. "No, Matthew, I'm not with Joja. Not anymore. Have a good life." I slung my backpack over my shoulder and walked toward the exit. I heard Trisha gasp as if I had just committed the worst kind of sacrilege, but I didn't care anymore. Not about Trisha, not about Matthew, and certainly not about Joja. I was free.
When I got back to my apartment, I looked around at my meager possessions and decided I couldn't get out of the city fast enough. Everything here reminded me of Joja Corporation. My life had revolved completely around working there, and now that I had left, I didn't feel attached to anything. Sitting on my bed, I opened my laptop and did a Joja Search for Pelican Town. I'd need to find a new search provider as well, but that could wait. The first link came up with a very basic web page and a contact number for one Mayor Lewis. I punched the number into my phone and hit the call button, ready to get started on this new chapter in my life.
Author's Note: Welcome to my first attempt at fan fiction. I've never been much of a writer, but this game has inspired me for some reason, along with the quality fanfics and fan art that I've seen floating around the internet. I just don't feel like there has been enough love for Leah and Abigail out there, so I'm going to try and give them what they deserve. If things go well, I may write another story after this one focusing on some of the other wonderful characters in the game *cough*Penny*cough*.
Anyway, this story shouldn't get too crazy, and I'll be experimenting a bit with how much I want to try explaining the world. Depending on how that goes, I'll likely try more or less in the next story. I just would rather actually publish something than spending all my time worrying about it and trying to make it perfect. Updates will come when they come, setting timeframes for myself only causes me anxiety. I'm feeling pretty good about this story though, so I expect them to come frequently for the time being.
The pairing will eventually be Chris and Leah, but this story won't feature anything like love-at-first-sight, and other relationships, both platonic and romantic, are going to be explored through Chris' eyes. I hope you enjoy, and please feel free to leave comments and/or constructive criticism. Thanks!