I knocked on the door of the Inn, where Tori lives.
Her mother, whom I call Lady Ann, opened the door.
Her long brown hair was pulled into a pigtail, her face glowed when she saw me.
"Oh! Come in! Come in!" she said as she pulled me in.
I noticed that no one was in the inn right now, maybe they had gone to the beach…
She pulled me upstairs and told me how happy she was for Tori and kept thanking me for coming.
As we got closer to the top, the wonderful smell of curry, lobster sashimi, and pizza grew stronger.
We finally reached the top of the stairs, it's not very long, but it seemed long…
I could see that Lady Ann had spent all night cooking and cleaning.
There was lots of food, and the floors looked clean enough to eat off of!
She brought me to Tori's room, where of coarse, she was reading.
Tori looked gorgeous! Her blonde hair, which was usually in braids, was down and stretched to her low back.
She was wearing a long sleeved pink dress that went to her knees, the sleeves were too long and they nearly covered her entire hand.
She was also wearing knee high pink boots with gold trim.
And she was wearing makeup! Pink eye shadow that matched her dress, and bright pink lip-gloss.
"RAGUNA!!!" she yelled when she looked up and saw me. "I-I wasn't expecting you yet."
"Heh. I never knew you to dress up." I commented.
"Oh… Oh… Please forgive me… My mother th-thought this was a d-date…" she said trying to hide her embarrassment.
"Who said it wasn't?" I said with a sly smile. Her face turned bright pink.
"Whoa! Careful now! You'll blend in with your dress." I joked.
She looked away and smiled happily. Even if this wasn't a date, who was I to destroy her high hopes?
We ate and talked (about books and the farm mainly) until Lady Ann interrupted us.
"You guys hungry yet?" she asked.
"Yeah!" I answered excitedly. I hadn't eaten all day.
We went to the dinner table and began to eat the enormous feast Lady Ann had prepared.
There was Lobster Sashimi, Pizza, Pumpkin Pudding, Pound Cake, Ultimate Curry, Shrimp Sashimi, Fried Veggies, Fried Rice, Rolls, Apple Pie, Mushroom Rice, Wine, and so much more!
Finally, around midnight, it was time to go home.
"Th-Thanks for coming over R-Raguna…" Tori said as she blushed bright pink.
I grabbed her hand and kissed it. "The pleasure was all mine." She likes romance doesn't she? This is the icing on top of her cake.
She blushed even harder, and ran back into the house and yelled, "Goodnight!"
I laughed to myself and began to leave, but before I could, Lady Ann grabbed my arm.
"Raguna. I have a favor to ask you." she said desperately.
She walked outside with me and closed the door.
"You like my daughter, right?" she asked.
"Yeah… I guess." I said.
She looked away dreamily at that stars, the same way Tori does.
"I love the inn. It's not just a job for me, it's my life." she said. "It's been passed down through my family for generations…"
I nodded and she looked down at the ground.
"Raguna, Zavier didn't really go to Mist's tonight." she said. "He tried, but she kicked him out. He came home a few minutes after you got here. I hid him in the kitchen because I did not want to upset Tori. She loves him."
She looked up at me with her eyes full of tears. "Zavier and Tori are all I have, and it doesn't look like they would ever get married. I won't live forever, and I don't want the inn to die with my children."
I've never seen her cry before, this was really serious. She's usually tough and can handle anything.
She wiped her eyes and said, "Raguna please, I'm begging you. At least consider marrying my daughter."
Uh oh… Here we go again…
"You're the first man to ever show interest in her… And she likes you… a lot." she pleaded. "I'm never desperate or emotional like this, I do it for my kids. I have to be strong. I've had to ever since… Ever since Richard died… Please…."
I now I really was in trouble…