Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN HARVEST MOON.
Note: You might not get some parts of the story if you haven't read my other oneshot, 'Why Me?'.
Sigh… This is getting tiring for me… How much can that girl eat? And yet she still has that scrawny body…
"Now for your payment…" Angela said deviously.
Great, what does she have planned for me…? I thought.
"Be my personal chef for a week," she smiled. "And you shall cook me breakfast, lunch and dinner."
"No. Way. In. Hell," I said flatly.
"C'mon Chase," she said, "it's the least you could do for me after what I did for you last week. You could've been right here, on this bed for a week, if it wasn't for me."
I crossed my arms. "Then what about work?" I said irritably.
"Oh don't worry about that. Hayden said it was okay. He said that it's the least you could do for hurting a 'delicate, young lady'. By the way, Kathy suggested it."
Damn… Does that woman like to see me suffer?
"…Fine," I said. "But why does it have to be a week?"
"Because you have to repay me for each day I have been in the clinic," Angela said, still smiling. "I'm getting out of here at noon tomorrow, so that will make it a week! Aw… Don't look at me that way; at least you get to do something you enjoy!"
No. I don't seem to be enjoying myself am I? What a horrible week it has been. 'Breakfast, lunch and dinner' my ass. She has had five meals today. Five GIGANTIC meals. And honestly, she eats like a pig. 'A delicate, young lady'. Yeah right…
"Fat ass…" I muttered. Shit, did I say that out loud?
"I heard that," Angela said. "But no need to apologize, I'm already used to your snooty attitude."
I cringed and angrily scooped the food from the pan and placed on the plate.
"Food's ready," I said. No answer. "Hey fat ass, your damn food's ready!"
…
And yet no angry comeback.
I turned around and see the chair that she was just sitting in, now empty and the door to her house left slightly open. She left without me noticing. What could she be doing outside at this hour? Might as well look for her…
"Hey!" I called as I searched her ranch. "Angela!"
As I looked around for her, I soon spotted Angela sitting on the dock near the pond next to her house. She seemed pretty deep in thought but I could see that she was troubled with something…
What a clear sky… The stars are shining so brightly… This is such a perfect night for a full moon. I looked down at the pond and stared at the moon's reflection. It looked even prettier, with the moonlight bouncing off of it. But then something disturbed the reflection. I noticed a certain orange head peering behind me.
"I heard you the first time Chase," I said still staring at the moon. "I'll be right there."
"You should really get back inside," he said. "It's freezing out here."
I smiled. "I'm kind of surprised Chase," I said. "You seem like you enjoyed these few days with me."
"What?" he said in disbelief. "What made you think I was enjoying myself? I've spent six days cooking for a pig like you and it's been hell."
I continued to gaze at the sky and giggled.
"Wow, no angry remarks," he said. "There has to be something bothering you." He sat down on the dock besides me.
"No, nothing's bothering me," I said as I smiled at him. "I'm just… Thinking. You know, how this island has been ever since I came here. And I'm beginning to wonder; do they still need me now?"
"Of course they do," he answered. "This island would be absolutely nothing without you. Why are you suddenly thinking about this? You're not planning on leaving… Are you?"
"I've been… Thinking," I merely said as I looked away from him.
"You can't be serious," he said. "I've told you before; this island would be nothing without you. Nothing. And you don't know how many people will miss you." I felt his gaze burning my face.
"Including… Me."
I hate to say it, but right now, I knew my face went red. My quiet giggle turned into a laugh.
"Aw… Chase," I said. "I didn't know you cared for me that much. You know the weather doesn't seem so cold right now."
"What are you saying? It's freezing out here!"
"Well that's because I now have this nice, warm fuzzy feeling inside of me, because of what you said…"
He looked away from me. "Well life on this island would be pretty boring without you anyway… Nothing would be interesting at all. You bring everyone closer together, you know? Let's see… How should I say this…?
He paused.
"You bring life to this island."
Well, it definitely didn't feel cold right now. And for some reason, I couldn't help but smile even wider.
"Thank you, Chase."
For awhile, it stayed silent between us as we both gazed at the clear night sky. I could even hear the crashing tides of the distant beach. I kicked my dangling feet over the dock and stared at my reflection on the pond. Once again, I am back in deep thought. This island would be nothing without me, huh?
'You bring life to this island.'
'And you don't know how many people will miss you.
Including… Me.'
Including Chase…
"Alright, I've decided," I happily said, breaking the silence and startling Chase.
"I'll continue to live on this island."
"And what made you make up your mind?" he asked.
"Well, those things you said to me and I don't want to throw away all these memories I made here… Like when I first met you. I immediately hated you. From that cheap smirk of yours, your damn sarcasm, your annoying, arrogant nature, your stuck up attitude, all the way to that smart ass mouth of yours. I hated everything about you and I knew you hated me too. Actually, you hated everyone on the island."
"Gee, that made me feel so much better about myself," he said sarcastically.
"Aw… Don't start acting all emo, I'm getting to the good part," I said. "But after getting to know a little better, I took an interest in you, despite all the arguments we had."
"You're interested in me?" Chase said mockingly. "Why Angela, I feel flattered," he said as he pinched my cheek.
I slapped away his hand and punched him on his arm.
"Not in that way stupid. I meant that I was interested in learning more about you. That mysterious nature of yours kind of annoyed me, you know." I smiled as I began to reminisce. "And on the way, it seemed you grew into one of my best friends."
He stared at me for awhile and looked away again. "You changed me. Made me open up more. Without you being here, I would be lonely, having no friends in my life."
"But you definitely made lots of friends. And it seems like Luke is one of your best friends too."
"That idiot carpenter is no friend of mine. He annoys the hell out of me and makes a complete mess in my kitchen," he retorted.
"Oh? But it seems like you enjoy his presence. You know the saying: opposites attract, right?"
"Like you and me, huh?"
Again, silence. I could feel the warmth slowly going away from my body. How long have we been out here…? After awhile, I remembered something I wanted to talk about.
"Hey Chase," I began.
"Hm?"
"Do you have anyone special right now?"
He looked up at the dark sky. He seemed deep in thought.
"Why would you say that?"
"Just the way you've acted these past few days."
Silence…
"Nah, not really," he answered rather quickly.
I don't believe him. At all. "You're lying."
He turned away. "How can you tell?"
"You're not looking at me."
After awhile he looked at me. "Fine. There is someone I took an interest in. You could say I sort of like her"
I quickly turned to him. "Who?"
"Well, you know her."
"And…?"
"She's someone you can get along with really easily and she's wonderful with people and children."
"She seems pretty nice. Anything else?"
"She's smart and can be an airhead at times. She's hardworking, a decent cook, and someone who can always put up with me no matter what I do. She's also really kind and beautiful too, especially in the moonlight."
"Wow! She seems like the perfect match for you!" I said excitedly. "Someone who can cook and put up with your attitude; she seems like the perfect girl for you! You have my support Chase! If you need any help with her, I'll be proud to lend you any advice. Wow, I can't believe it. A girl other than me who can put up with your attitude, you've found someone special alright!"
I looked back at him and saw that he had an 'are you serious' look. Am I missing something?
"As clever as you are sometimes, you're as dense as ever…" he sighed.
I cringed at that remark. "What's that supposed to mean? Are you saying that I should have guessed who the girl is right away?" I went back to my train of thought. "It isn't Maya, is it?"
He cringed and I noticed a vein of anger pop out from the side of his forehead. "No. Freaking. Way. In. Hell. Are you kidding me?" he said, irritated. "I said decent not horrible. You know just forget. You'll probably figure it out. Someday…
"Whaaat? Why can't you just tell me instead of saying all these weird riddles- ACHOO!"
"And it seems like you are going to catch a cold if you stay out in the cold any longer. Let's go back inside."
We got up from the dock and started walking towards my house.
"Hey Chase, I guess it's alright if you can stay over at my house since it's already late."
"No thanks, I don't want to stay in that pig pen you call a house. Besides I probably won't get that much sleep, you snore like a bulldozer."
"Well fine then. You can go back home all by yourself." I said as I puffed out my cheeks.
"And that's what I'm going to do. I'll be back again tomorrow morning, so don't miss me too much."
"Well," I began, "I guess you can stop being my personal chef now. So this annoying job of yours ends today."I opened the door to my house. "You have repaid your debt well, my servant."
I turned to him as I stood in the doorway.
"And with that Chase, I bid you goodnight." I bowed as I said that.
He smiled. "Well, it has been an honor serving you Ms. Angela; I bid you sweet dreams and farewell." He knelt down on one knee and kissed my hand.
"Good night," he said as he got up walked down the path going home.
I closed the door and began walking to my bedroom for a long awaited sleep. I passed the now cold food on the table and looked at my hand, and suddenly the warmth was slowly coming back. Damn that Chase…
I plopped down on my bed in my comfy pajamas. I couldn't stop thinking about the conversation I had with Chase. And somehow, I couldn't help feeling jealous about the girl he talked about with such happiness.
'As clever as you are sometimes, you're as dense as ever'.
What was that about?
And yet, I couldn't help but think;
Who is she?
So how did you guys like it? Please R&R! Dense girls annoy sometimes, but they make the story even funnier. :)
