With the last fluff of a pillow, Manna had finished her housework for the day, and she sat down on her bed to catch her breath for a few minutes. She heard the clatter of the front door from the room downstairs, and she knew Duke must have been home. She stood up and stretched her legs and arms, and then she heard another sound. It was a slight clatter of metal, and the sound of wood sliding across wood. It was a very familiar sound to her -- the one the drawer made when she put money in it. This time she didn't hear any money go in.
She nervously started to go back downstairs as she saw a figure exit escape through the front door. It was undeniable who she saw -- the black pants, the royal purple vest, the handsome black hair with streaks of silver -- it was most definitely her husband. And there was no doubt what he could've been doing with the money drawer, either. She didn't have to ask any questions or investigate any more.
Her body felt weak, and she couldn't help but to sit where she was on the stairs. She didn't know what the think or what to do. She buried her face in her hands and just hoped and hoped that things would get better somehow.
After almost an hour of having no thoughts, she regained enough strength to finish her flight down the stairs. She drug her feet across the cold wooden floor and made it to the counter, the most familiar place she knew. She counted the money in the drawer and compared it to her notepad, almost without thinking at all.
Six thousand gold. Should she be used to this by now? The numbers seemed to get higher every time, and every time she would feel this horrible. Why? Why was it that bad? Did it really have to hurt that much?
Her mind still numb and her body barely able to hold herself up, she slowly made the voyage upstairs to her bedroom where she cried herself to sleep. The last image she had in her eyes before she escaped from the world for the night was the tear-blurred outline of Aja's bed.
Instead of sitting, Jack stood next to a chair at the table as he stared at the wall next to the table at the bar. Duke kept a watchful eye on the strange farmer as he slowly drank a few glasses of wine.
"I just don't understand you, kid."
There was no response from blue-clothed stranger, who eventually left the bar without a word or a drink. Duke crossed his arms and watched the funny figure wobble out the door. There was something very strange about that kid.
"Are you done for the night?" A cheery girl's voice startled Duke a bit.
"'Course not." He chuckled, folding his arms on the table, "I'll take another. You worried about my drinking?"
Duke narrowed his eyes at Ann, Doug's daughter who helped out around the bar, and gave her a crooked smile. Ann's smile went awkward as she blushed and ran off to grab a bottle of wine to pour. The man laughed to himself and waited for her return.
"Most girls don't wear clothes like that, you know," He told her upon her return, "Do ya wanna be a farmer?"
The innocent girl laughed nervously at the strange question and slowly backed away, hoping he didn't want a serious response. She returned to her work cleaning and Duke bellowed a deep laugh to himself at his table.
After a few more drinks, Duke was feeling better about the day, and decided it would be best to go home early so that he could greet Jack in the morning and explain the harvesting.