Raeger cleared his throat and said to the small crowd before him, "I'm sure you all know why I gathered you here today."
Almost everyone in town was packed into the restaurant, and most of them were clueless.
"I'm preparing a surprise party for Fritz, of course!" Raeger continued.
The townspeople were still confused. Fritz's birthday wasn't even in this season.
Angela sighed and informed the rest of the townspeople, "In a few days, it'll be the anniversary of the day that freckled farmer arrived in town."
"Oh!" all the townspeople exclaimed and nodded their heads.
"That's right! It'll be upstairs, since people still need to eat here and Fritz will probably drop by as well. So I want you all here this Thursday. Your job until then is to make sure Fritz doesn't find out," Raeger said.
"Is that all?" Giorgio asked and stood up to leave, as did most of the other townspeople.
"Unless you want to help!" Raeger added, but hardly anyone listened.
For the few that stayed, Raeger began listing off what he would need for the party, and the others would pipe up whenever they knew they could help.
In the end, all of them had some small thing they could help with, like delivering something from out of town, but Raeger still wanted to do the preparation work himself.
And since it was only a few days until Thursday, Raeger was working all the time.
Not only did he have his restaurant to run, but he also spent every spare minute preparing for Fritz's party. In fact, even when he was running the restaurant, he was still making plans in his head for Thursday.
Fritz may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he could tell Raeger wasn't his usual self.
On Tuesday, Fritz dropped by the restaurant to eat lunch, and while waiting for his food to arrive, he turned to Klaus (who had followed him inside to keep an eye on him) and asked him, "Has Raeger been really absent-minded lately?"
Knowing he couldn't say anything to arouse Fritz's suspicions, Klaus replied, "Hmm, you're right! I wonder why that is?"
"Maybe I should try and find out!" Fritz said, jumping out of his seat determinedly.
"No, no, no, that's not necessary!" Klaus said, pulling Fritz back down with one swift movement. "It's likely he's just very busy. You shouldn't bother him," he continued.
"...Yeah, that's probably it," Fritz sighed.
Raeger said nothing to Fritz except, "What's your order?" "Enjoy your meal," and, "Here's your change," that day.
Fritz felt disheartened. But tomorrow was Wednesday! Raeger didn't have to work on Wednesday, so Fritz would talk to him then.
So as soon as Fritz dealt with his farmwork that Wednesday morning, which he finished as quickly as he could, he set off into town to find Raeger.
He circled the town, saying hello to everyone he saw, talking to a few who had the time, but he didn't find Raeger among them.
Surely he's not still working? Fritz wondered to himself as he opened the door to the restaurant.
Fritz stepped inside to see the lower floor was empty after all, so he called loudly upstairs, "Raeger? Are you home?"
He was at the stairs, about to leap up them two at a time, when Raeger appeared suddenly and rushed down, pushing Fritz back.
"Woah, what's wrong?! You look freaked out," Fritz said.
"You shouldn't be here!" Raeger snapped.
"Hey, why not?" Fritz replied.
Raeger was silent a moment as he tried to think of the best response. "...How many times do I have to tell you the restaurant's closed on Wednesdays!" he shouted.
"I know that! I didn't come by to eat," Fritz grumbled.
"Then you have no reason to be here," Raeger said.
But Fritz wasn't budging.
Raeger still felt panicked, so he pushed Fritz forcefully to the door and shouted, "Don't bother me today, Fritz!"
Now by the door, Fritz looked back at Raeger for a moment, then without saying another word, he walked out the door.
Raeger breathed a sigh of relief. "Now I can get back to work," he murmured to himself and hurried back upstairs.
The next day was Thursday, so Raeger had no more work to do. He could finally relax.
The townspeople slowly arrived at the restaurant and gathered upstairs.
When all the guests were there, Gunther asked, "So who's going to go get Fritz?"
Raeger replied by laughing and saying, "What are you talking about? Fritz will find his own way. Once he realises everyone in town is missing, he'll have to show up here eventually!"
Trusting in Raeger's self-assured laugh, the townspeople waited.
Raeger offered them a little food before the feast, and then they chatted amongst themselves as the time passed.
After a few hours, Angela approached Raeger and whispered to him, "Are you sure Fritz is going to find his way here?"
"Yes!" Raeger whispered back, even though he was now doubting it.
"Perhaps I will go and check on him, just in case," Angela said.
"No, don't... I'll go," Raeger replied.
As he headed for the stairs, Angela shot after him, "Hurry!"
Raeger did hurry. As he ran across town and towards Fritz's farm, he wondered what had happened.
Maybe Fritz had suddenly fallen sick. Maybe he'd gotten news from out of town and had already left. Maybe that's what he'd wanted to talk about yesterday!
Raeger started to wonder why he thought a surprise party was even a good idea. They never worked out according to plan.
Raeger arrived at Fritz's house, knocked four times in rapid succession, and waited.
He wondered how long he should wait, but the door opened and Fritz was there.
"Oh, it's you," Fritz said. He looked pretty bad, so Raeger guessed he might be sick after all.
"Are you okay?" Raeger asked as Fritz turned around and walked back into his house.
"No, I'm not. But what does that matter?" Fritz shook his head and shrugged.
Raeger didn't know what was going on, but he thought Fritz's mood could be improved easily. "I think you should come with me. Today is special, after all."
"That's got nothing to do with me. I'm not special. I'm just a bothersome pest, right? So I don't care," Fritz replied.
"You should care! You're the reason this day is special!" Raeger snapped.
"Wh... What?" Fritz mumbled.
Raeger sighed and said, "Has it really been so long that you don't remember anymore? Today's the anniversary of the day you first came to town!"
"...Is it?" Fritz was completely thrown off. This hadn't occurred to him at all.
Raeger smiled and continued, "Yes. Now come with me to the restaurant. I had a party planned and everything."
"Why are you throwing a party this year and not any years before?" Fritz asked curiously.
Raeger jolted. "Er… well, I guess… I remembered this year. I didn't really think about it before," he mumbled. Before Fritz could comment on that, Raeger quickly added, "Let's get going, okay?"
Raeger ran out of Fritz's house and towards the restaurant. Fritz followed him a moment later and easily overtook him.
Once they reached the upper floor of the restaurant, Fritz was overwhelmed by how everyone had gathered there for him. But he was even more overwhelmed by the feast Raeger had prepared.
Later that day, Raeger remembered to ask Fritz, "I still don't understand though… Why were you shut up inside your house?"
Fritz mumbled in reply, "Well… yesterday when you shouted at me… I thought you really hated me. I thought you just wanted me to stop bothering you."
"Oh… Oh, I'm so sorry. I really really am!" Raeger said.
"Just hearing you say that is enough!" Fritz laughed.
Raeger breathed another sigh of relief after the party was over.
The room all cleaned up, the guests all having gone home, life to go back to normal tomorrow. But more than anything else, he was relieved that Fritz wasn't upset with him anymore.
Sure, Fritz might be kind of annoying on occasion (maybe more than just occasionally), but Raeger would never want him to think he hated him.
The next day, Raeger didn't see Fritz once.
The day after that, Raeger started to worry at Fritz's absence.
On the third day, as Raeger was opening up the restaurant for customers to start coming in, he wondered if he should have visited Fritz that morning while he could.
But Fritz showed up at the restaurant that day. He sat down at the counter and made his order quickly, before Raeger could tell him about the specials of the day or anything else.
"I'll be back with your meal shortly," Raeger said, wondering why Fritz looked so unlike himself.
When Raeger did get back with his food, Fritz still didn't say a word to him.
He ate his food, counted out some coins, then left them as payment and walked out of the building.
Raeger stared after him. The silence was deafening.
Though he didn't know why, Raeger could see Fritz was still angry with him.
Fritz never ignored him.
Raeger internalised the matter momentarily, then let his worries drift away.
Fritz wouldn't do this on purpose. He must have some reason for it.
Just like how Raeger had been planning that surprise party, now Fritz had something that required him to ignore Raeger.
Surely. Surely that was it.
Raeger still wasn't completely satisfied with this conclusion.
The next customer to enter the restaurant was Lillie. She walked over to the counter, intending to make her order and then take a seat at one of the tables, but Raeger was quicker than her.
"Lillie! Can you do me a favour?" Raeger asked.
Lillie was startled and it took a moment for her to reply with, "Um… okay. What do you need?"
"Fritz is ignoring me. I mean, I think he might be. So I was hoping you could go and ask him why. He probably has something to keep secret, so you don't have to tell me what it is. I just want to make sure he doesn't hate me," Raeger said.
"Okay!" Lillie immediately said, then a moment later, she added, "Can I eat first?"
"Of course! I'll give you a discount, since you're helping me out," Raeger said.
"Oh? In that case… can I see the menu?" Lillie asked, wondering how much she should order now.
Raeger sighed and handed Lillie a menu.
Soon enough, Lillie made her order which Raeger jotted down, then she waited as Raeger cooked it all. Since there were no other customers at the time, it wasn't long before Raeger delivered Lillie's food to her.
Raeger waited as Lillie ate her food, then she paid up and went to go pay Fritz a visit.
Fritz was out in the fields of his farm so Lillie called out to him to get his attention.
He turned, she waved, he grinned back, and she hurried over to him.
"Do you have a moment? There's something I wanted to talk to you about," Lillie began.
"Yeah, I'm free right now. What's up?" Fritz replied.
"Have you been doing anything different lately? Maybe working on something secretly, perhaps?" Lillie questioned.
"...No, not that I can think of… and I think I would know!" Fritz laughed.
"Wait… really? So you're not doing anything differently?" Lillie asked.
"No, I'm pretty much the same as always!" Fritz said.
The silly grin plastered across his face seemed to support this statement.
Lillie was surprised and more than a little worried. She wondered if she should mention what Raeger had said.
"Okay. I thought something might be wrong, but I must have been mistaken. I'll see you around!" Lillie said.
"Nothing's wrong with me! It was good to see you though!" Fritz replied.
He waved goodbye as Lillie walked away.
She walked all the way back to Raeger's restaurant, wondering what she would tell Raeger.
In the end, what she said to him was, "Things will probably be back to normal soon enough. Just wait a week or so…"
But it only made him worry more. "You're saying he wasn't acting out of the ordinary at all?!" Raeger questioned.
"He really did seem his usual self," Lillie replied.
"So it's just me… He's still angry at me," Raeger murmured.
"Please, just wait a week before you decide that," Lillie requested.
So Raeger did wait. But it just made it even clearer how much Fritz was trying to avoid him.
He had thought Fritz was angry, but it was more than that. Fritz was trying to block him out.
Aside from Raeger's concerns, everyone else's lives went on.
Angela stopped by Fritz's farm one day and surveyed it. While she was doing so, Fritz walked over to her.
"What are you staring at?" Fritz asked after awhile.
Angela only murmured in reply, "Well, well, I never thought I'd see the day."
"What day?" Fritz asked.
"The day when you managed to turn this farm around. I have to admit, you've been working very hard lately," Angela said.
"Thanks!" Fritz replied, beaming.
"I wonder what's motivating you?" Angela murmured curiously.
"Oh, it's just my amazingly strong willpower!" Fritz informed her.
"...Yeah, sure," Angela said, casting him a derisive look.
Raeger waited, like Lillie had asked him to. He waited the whole week and by then, his doubts had only increased.
By the next Wednesday, Raeger would wait no longer. Fritz was trying to avoid him, he knew, but he wanted to know why. And that's what he intended to find out as he headed for Fritz's farm.
Fritz was out in the fields once more. He looked like his usual cheerful self, but when Raeger called to him and he looked over, his face fell.
There were a few moments of complete silence. Since Fritz didn't respond to his greeting, Raeger started walking towards him, to confront him.
Fritz clearly did not want to be confronted, however, because the moment Raeger took one step towards him, he ran. He ran to the fence, leapt over it, and fled over to Giorgio's farm.
Raeger watched him run away. Knowing he couldn't keep up with Fritz, he didn't bother trying, and instead recalled the look of panic on Fritz's face. It was astonishing.
Sighing to himself, Raeger walked over to Fritz's dilapidated house and entered.
What else could he do if he wished to confront Fritz? He took a seat at the dining table and waited.
Minutes passed and Raeger started to get bored.
A few hours passed and he was getting restless.
He stood up and paced back and forth for awhile to stretch his legs.
Thank goodness it's Wednesday, Raeger thought as he looked out the window. Having no work today meant he had the time to spare.
But he was still irritated by how long he was having to wait for Fritz.
Raeger sat back down at the table and planned to only wait one more hour before he gave up.
He crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his foot on the ground impatiently.
There was no clock in the room, so Raeger just watched the light in the room change as the sun began to set.
Finally, the door opened.
Raeger leapt to his feet and glared at the startled Fritz who looked ready to run back out the door.
"You can't avoid me forever!" Raeger shouted at him.
Fritz looked at him worriedly, then accepted his fate. He walked over to Raeger and asked him, "What do you want?"
"I want to know why you've been ignoring me," Raeger said.
"Why have I been ignoring you...? Because… because I'm busy!" Fritz snapped.
"Busy doing what? You're not too busy to talk to everyone else! It's just me you're ignoring!" Raeger shouted back.
"That's because you're too much of a distraction! I… I'm going to become the world's greatest farmer! But how am I supposed to do that when I can't work at all?" Fritz said.
"I'm not stopping you from working," Raeger growled.
"Don't blame this on me! I already waste too much of my time, I've heard that from everyone enough. I can't waste even more of it just daydreaming about you!" Fritz shouted.
"...What?" Raeger murmured.
Fritz's face was turning red. His eyes darted back and forth, then he grumbled, "I wish I could just… focus on my work. But I can't."
Raeger was still processing what Fritz had said before, so Fritz pushed him towards the door and said, "Get out! Stop bothering me!"
Raeger stumbled out the door and Fritz slammed it in his face.
The next time Fritz ventured into town, he considered avoiding Raeger's restaurant again. But he was hungry and it was always such a hassle to get food elsewhere.
In the end, Fritz overcame his embarrassment and entered the restaurant.
He was a little surprised to see that Raeger was beaming, looking as though nothing had ever bothered him.
Raeger glanced over at Fritz when he entered, but that didn't falter his grin at all.
He returned to laughing along with his customers almost immediately.
Fritz decided he was better off not asking any questions and getting out of here as quickly as possible. He walked up to the counter, hoping to make his order soon.
Raeger didn't budge from where he stood and he continued chatting with his other customers.
"You don't have a lot of free time, do you? But what about when you do?" one customer inquired.
"Actually, I'm always working. I'm the local distraction, you know?" Raeger replied.
Fritz almost jumped right out of his skin. He was determined to keep calm though, and so he mimicked Angela's sarcasm as he muttered, "Wow, you're so modest."
"I wasn't the first one to mention it," Raeger retorted, without even looking over at Fritz.
Fritz knew for sure now. Raeger was mocking him.
Fritz was about to turn around and walk out the door but before he could, Raeger walked over to him and asked, "What would you like?"
"An apology," Fritz immediately replied.
"For what? What did I do?" Raeger asked.
"What do you mean for what? You're mocking me and you know it," Fritz said.
"I can't apologise for being so amazing that it distracts you," Raeger said.
"Is this supposed to be a joke? I thought you were upset that I was ignoring you! But no. You don't care if I'm here or not, as long as somebody's here to feed your ego," Fritz growled.
Raeger burst into laughter, attaining the highest state of nonchalantness imaginable.
Fritz could see there was no point in trying anymore, so he turned around and stormed out of the restaurant. Raeger didn't seem bothered at all, and returned to his other customers almost at once.
He didn't seem bothered the entire day as he worked away.
Finally, at the end of the day when he was closing up the restaurant and had just locked the door, did he let it bother him.
At once, he ran upstairs, grabbed a pen and paper, and began writing a letter to Fritz.
When it was finished, Raeger set his alarm for even earlier than usual, so that the next morning, he arose before anyone else in the town.
Raeger took the letter he'd written the night before and set off into the early morning silence.
The sun had not yet risen and not one bird had begun its song. The silence was eerie and disorienting, but Raeger wouldn't have felt willing to complete his mission if it were otherwise.
When he arrived at Fritz's house, Raeger slipped his letter beneath the door, then hurried back home without a moment's delay.
Later that morning, after Fritz had awoken at a more normal hour, he came across the letter.
Curiously, he picked it up, turned it over, but as there was no way to identify the sender, he simply opened it and read,
I'm sorry Fritz,
I didn't mean anything I said.
I have an image to keep up in town, so I can't just grovel at your feet and apologise.
But know that this letter is the equivalent of me grovelling.
I'm so, so, so sorry. I never meant to hurt your feelings.
I shouldn't have laughed at you. But I didn't know what else to do with everyone around me.
Please come by the restaurant today so we can put all this behind us.
From your dear friend, Raeger.
Fritz stared at the letter for a full minute after he'd read it. He was appalled.
What in the world was Raeger thinking?! Fritz wondered. If he knew he shouldn't have laughed, then why did he? Why did he have to make a joke out of me? He could have just said something like, "I can't speak to you right now," but no, he had to bring up my own words and turn them into a joke!
Fritz wasn't happy at all with this letter. All the letter proved was one thing.
Raeger's pride was more important to him than their friendship.
Fritz stared at the letter for a few more minutes before he decided what he would do with it.
Raeger was sure he would see Fritz that day after he read his letter.
It was almost time to open the restaurant for the day, and Raeger presumed Fritz would still be at work in the fields like all farmers.
So he was surprised when he spotted Fritz in town, running from place to place, speaking with many of the townspeople. At that moment, he was chatting away to Gunther and Corona outside the carpenter's shop, waving a piece of paper in the air.
Raeger jolted. A piece of paper? Surely not…
He ran over to the carpenter's shop, trying to get a better look at the paper Fritz was holding.
"What's going on here?" Raeger asked, trying to sound calm and not panicky at all.
The group looked over at him and Corona quickly covered her mouth to stifle the laugh she would have let out otherwise. Gunther only sighed and shook his head when he saw Raeger.
Raeger decided to ignore them and focus his attention on Fritz.
"I'm just sharing this little thing with the town," Fritz said, holding up the paper he held.
"That… wouldn't happen to be… my letter, would it?" Raeger asked, almost trembling from rage.
"Of course it is," Fritz replied.
Gunther and Corona glanced at each other for a split second before they said, "We should get back to work," and then rushed back indoors, leaving Fritz and Raeger to argue, as that was clearly what was about to happen.
"You're messing with me, right? You wouldn't really show everyonethat letter," Raeger said, laughing nervously.
"That's exactly what I did!" Fritz said, seeming delighted with himself.
"...Why would you do that?! You could have just not accepted my apology! Why did you have to show people that letter?!" Raeger shouted, furious now.
"You humiliated me, so now I'm humiliating you," Fritz replied.
"Nobody knew I was talking about you when I said that stuff! Why would you think this is the same as that?!" Raeger asked.
"This was the only way you'd get angry!" Fritz shouted back.
Raeger wasn't sure what to say. He suddenly noticed that his hands had been clenched into fists so tight, the knuckles were white and his hands were beginning to hurt.
He took a deep breath in, turned away from Fritz and left, stomping his way back to his restaurant.
Every customer at the restaurant that day could tell Raeger was fuming. He worked like usual, but he didn't bother with small talk.
A few days later, he seemed better. He was smiling and chatting with his customers again.
Then Fritz walked in through the door.
Raeger didn't say a word to him as he sat down at the counter and made his order.
Silently, he walked over to the kitchen and focused on nothing but cooking Fritz's meal. When he was done, he brought the severely overcooked, burnt meal to Fritz and tossed the plate in front of him.
Fritz looked up and glared at Raeger. Raeger returned the glare.
This staring contest could have lasted forever, but Fritz stood up, said, "I guess I have no reason to come back here," and stormed out of the restaurant.
They were both absolutely furious with each other, and so they came to a standstill.
Neither would apologise to the other and neither was willing to forgive.
Fritz still caught himself staring at Raeger from time to time. He went out of his way to avoid the restaurant and Raeger himself, but it wasn't possible to avoid someone in this town forever.
Everyone went to the festivals, and in moments like those, Fritz couldn't help but stare at him.
Many days passed, and neither of them even tried to start a conversation with the other.
As always, the townspeople noticed but chose not to interfere.
One day, when Lillie had returned to town from work, she asked Angela, "Are Raeger and Fritz still not talking?" Angela nodded her head and Lillie continued, "Seriously?! They can't be happy about all this, surely!"
"Maybe it's better for them both this way," Angela murmured.
"You can't be serious! No! You go speak to Fritz and I'll go speak to Raeger and we'll tell them to stop being so stubborn!" Lillie shouted.
Angela sighed and agreed to go along with her plan, which Lillie decided should be on her next day off, the following Saturday.
When Angela visited Fritz, she asked him, "Do you really intend to avoid Raeger for the rest of your life?"
"Huh? I didn't think you'd care about this," Fritz said, tilting his head and looking at Angela curiously.
"I'm just looking out for you. I don't want to see you starve to death if you can't find any food some day, just because you're not willing to go to the restaurant," Angela said.
"But… what's the point if Raeger's just going to burn all my food anyway?" Fritz asked hopelessly.
"Then you must come to some agreement with him! If you can't go back to the way you used to be, then at least make Raeger see that he must treat you as a customer rather than a friend," Angela snapped.
Fritz frowned. He looked very upset. Quietly, he murmured, "I don't want things to be like that. I don't like this distance… I just want him to say sorry."
"All I ask is that you stop being idle and do something," Angela said. She left after that.
Meanwhile, Lillie was at the restaurant. "Raeger!" she snapped at the chef.
"What?" he replied, startled and confused.
"Why aren't you talking to Fritz? You're not really planning on blocking him out forever, are you?" Lillie asked.
Raeger said nothing. He looked at Lillie for awhile, then asked her, "Are you going to order anything or are we done here?"
Lillie was shocked. She fell silent for some time, and then just before Raeger turned away, she asked, "Don't you feel bad? Don't you feel sad? Do you really want things to stay like this?"
"I didn't say anything," Raeger replied.
"Stop this! Why won't you just try and talk to him?" Lillie demanded.
"I… I'm not changing my schedule for anyone. He'll have to come to me," Raeger replied.
He turned and walked away before Lillie could say anything else. She was very annoyed.
The next day, Raeger was heading back to his restaurant after his usual morning visit to the trade depot, and was a little absent-minded.
He held something gingerly in his hands, but shoved it into his pocket when he saw Fritz at the other end of the street.
Fritz walked over to Raeger and they looked each other in the eye, waiting for the other to speak first.
Finally, Raeger said, "Good morning."
"...Good morning," Fritz replied.
The silence between them started up again.
Not wishing for an eternal staring contest, or to look him in the eye at all, Raeger glanced away and asked Fritz, "Will you ever forgive me?"
Fritz crossed his arms over his chest, and made his offer. "Only if you apologise to me in front of everyone in town. And you have to grovel," he said.
"That will never happen!" Raeger snapped.
"Then I won't forgive you," Fritz replied.
"Are you absolutely certain? Are you sure this won't change your mind?!" Raeger took out of his pocket what he'd hidden in there and then forced it into Fritz's hand.
Confused, Fritz looked down and became shocked when he saw Raeger had just forced a ring into his hand.
"I want you to go out with me. Will you?" Raeger asked.
Fritz didn't say a word. He didn't even look up, his eyes focused only on the ring. His eyes went wide and he started shaking his head.
Raeger had been nervous but now he was terrified. Fritz must be shaking his head to say no.
Quickly, Raeger said, "Can I have it back then? Before someone sees..."
Fritz closed his hand around the ring and took it out of Raeger's reach. He shook his head once again and said, "I want to be the one to ask!"
"Wh- What?" Raeger murmured.
"Raeger, I'm in love with you. I'd be honoured if you'd go out with me!" Fritz said.
Raeger felt his face burning. He didn't say anything for awhile, but eventually he asked Fritz, "Why did you need to be the one to ask?"
"I just did, okay?!" Fritz shouted back.
There was silence after that, both waiting for the other to respond. They glared at one another, waiting for the other to back down.
Simultaneously, they both broke down and shouted, "Yes, I'll go out with you!"
Then they both grinned.
Fritz looked at the ring again and said, "I can't believe you actually got a ring… So… can I show it to somebody?"
"What? No. I just… that's embarrassing," Raeger mumbled.
"...Can I show it to everybody?" Fritz asked, teasingly.
"No! Definitely not!" Raeger shouted.
Fritz held the ring triumphantly up in the air and ran in the opposite direction, laughing. Raeger ran after him, shouting to him to stop.