Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon.
Here is finally an update. By the way, this is a friends of mineral town fan fiction so Cliff and Karen are not cousins.
Chapter 3: Mineral City
A limousine pulled up by the inn where Ann was waiting at about 2:00. Jack got out of it and opened the door for her. Ann sat down in the fancy vehicle and blushed; she wondered how much money Jack had to use up just for the limo.
"We should be there in about 3 hours," the driver told Jack and Ann. Ann sighed and thought to herself about Mineral City itself and how much fun it was going to be. Jack slowly reached for Ann's hand, who gladly accepted it. They sat and chatted, occasionally taking a look at nice view.
"So what hotel are we staying at?" Ann asked after about 2 hours and 55 minutes had passed since they had gotten in the car.
"Mineral Paradise Suites," Jack answered, Ann gasped in surprise.
"How can you afford such a place?" Ann asked, then noticing how rude that sounded, rephrased, "I mean, isn't that place a bit expensive?"
"It is, but one of my good friends was the founder of the hotel and is letting us stay for free," Jack responded, chuckling.
"We have arrived," the driver said, Jack got out and opened the door for Ann, she smiled.
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After Jack and Ann had checked into their hotel they talked about what they should do.
"How about we go to the Gourmet's for dinner?" Ann asked, Jack nodded and they walked into the restaurant.
"Welcome to Gourmet's how may I help y- whoa!" Gourmet (the one who judges cooking festivals) stopped mid-sentence, "If it isn't two of the best cooks at the festival I judge, please, take a seat and order anything you want."
After Jack and Ann sat down she whispered, "I guess we have good luck." The two looked over the menu and couldn't decide what in the world to order, after a while they made their decisions and a waiter came to the table.
"I'll order the chicken and rice special with a salad," Jack said.
"Dressing?" the waiter asked.
"Gourmet's special dressing," Jack responded.
"And I'll have the same thing he is having," Ann told the waiter.
"Drinks?" the waiter asked. Jack looked at Ann questioningly, she shook her head.
"Just water," he answered. The waiter walked away after writing down their orders. "So what should we do after we eat?"
"Well, I saw when we checked in that there was a party at the hotel tonight," Ann told Jack.
"Sounds good to me," Jack said as the waiter came up with their water and salads, he placed them on the table and put a small dish of lemon and lime slices in the middle of them. The waiter walked away as Ann took a lemon slice and squeezed the juice into her water, Jack copied her process.
They ate their salad, sipped their water, and chatted until their main courses arrived. Jack and Ann gobbled their courses away, admiring the delicious and authentic spices and tastes. The Gourmet made his way to their table to ask how it was.
"It was delicious," Ann told him.
"May I interest either of you in desert?" the Gourmet asked.
"No, the meal was filling enough," Jack said as Ann shook her head, "Can you give this to the waiter?" Jack handed the Gourmet a tip, he nodded as Jack and Ann got up and left the store.
Ann led the way back to the hotel, as she was good with memory, and when they got their it was about 7:00 and the party had obviously started.
"Karen would love it here," Ann said as she eyed a bunch of people drinking, Jack chuckled at Ann's observation.
"What's up good lookin'? Do ya wanna dance?" a man asked Ann, she almost let loose the food she had just eaten when she smelled his breath.
"Leave me alone, creep," Ann responded. The man grabbed her arm and pulled her onto the dance floor, Ann tried to pull away, but his grip was strong.
"I said no you jerk!" Ann screamed, but he just continued. Jack came up from behind and pushed the man into the wall making him drop his beer, his expression immediately darkened.
"She said no," Jack made clear. The man growled angrily and threw a punch at Jack, who easily dodged, as this man's aim was off.
"You'll pay for that," the man said, recklessly tossing countless punches which were amazingly easy to dodge, it would only be a matter of seconds before this guy got tired.
"Let's leave, Ann," Jack said after the guy had stopped punching and fell to the floor.
"Good idea," Ann agreed, they left and started wandering to city. "Whoa look at that hill, I bet we could get a great view of the city from there!" After stumbling their way to the top, Jack and Ann sat down and looked at the lit up city.
"Look at that big sign in neon lights," Ann pointed out, "It says Cooking Battles! The movie, I bet it was the gourmet's idea." Jack turned to look at Ann, the moonlight reflecting off her shimmering crystal water eyes, Jack felt himself closing in and didn't prevent himself, Ann copied Jack's process and soon their lips met. All the worlds' troubles disappeared while the couple was in their serene moment. Once they pulled away Jack took hold of Ann's hand and they continued their gaze at the city.
"Hey Jack?" Ann tried to get his attention.
"Yeah?" Jack replied.
"It was really nice of you to take me to Mineral City," Ann thanked. They closed in again and kissed, Jack embraced her and the moment lasted for about ten seconds until they both slowly pulled away. One thing was for sure, it was going to be great week.