The Story Begins

"He's just so…dreamy!" Angela blabbed to her newfound friend, Maya. "I mean, as if he could ever like me- Kathy's a knockout." Maya sighed and nodded.

"I can feel you there," she mumbled, stealing a glance at her favorite chef. "My cooking is never good enough for the orange maniac over there…"

"Oh, puh-lease. At least you get to see him every day! I have to bust my butt to get over to talk to Owen, only to find him busy talking to Kathy." Angela frowned and rested her chin in her hands as rain pattered across the inn window. The gloomy weather seemed to match her attitude when a clap of thunder sounded when she stood up from her chair. "I'm gonna head home and check on the one potato I planted. It's probably waterlogged by now…" She pulled on her rubbery rain attire, complete with a matching ducky umbrella, and left after saying her goodbyes to the few people who had gathered to eat. "Stupid flabby belly, stupid boring hair…" She muttered darkly. Despite the umbrella, the harsh wind blew the rain to pelt her face.

Mud splashed around her shiny boots; some even slipped in through the opening at the top to soak into her socks, making her feet feel like hell by the time she got home. The storm intensified when she finally stepped inside and removed her coat and boots, which had luckily kept her mostly dry. Angela jumped back violently from the window when something came flying toward her window and collided with a splat. What in the hell…? A potato. The only one she had, had been caught by the wind and hurled toward her house. It slid down the pane of glass, making a slight squeaking noise as it slid down.

"This is hopeless!" Angela exclaimed, throwing her hands up, knocking her raincoat off the rack. "God dammit!" She angrily mopped up the mud and threw the dirty rag in the direction of her washing machine, hoping that, somehow, it would miraculously land inside. And as if willed by the laundry gods, it did, adding a little sunshine to her life. She hopped into the hot water (money courtesy of the many part time jobs she had taken over the past month) of her shower and let out a long sigh. She'd get sick if she didn't, or so Yolanda said. That inn had become her home-away-from-home. It was where she felt comfortable, and the food was given to her on the house for helping to clean. The reason she liked it was probably the food, but the people weren't so bad either. She hummed "My Girl" as she scrubbed her hair, and didn't stop when she had wrapped herself in a fluffy towel she brought from home. At that moment, a strong knock came at her door. The door opened to reveal to whom else but the man of her dreams.

"Hey, you left your hammer at-"he began before completely taking in Angela's appearance. "…at the, uh, mines." Angela screamed and slammed the door.

"That did not just happen!" She opened the door a crack and peered out. "It did happen!" Angela whispered to herself, slapping her hands across her face. "Okay, okay, pull yourself together Angie. You can handle this." She took a deep breath and opened the door fully.