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The following is a fan-based
FICTION
Las Lindas and other products set in the same universe are all owned by Chalo/Chalosan and SoulKat.
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Chapter 4: Make or Break
Beta-Reader: Ant0nius
I think I can blame Miles for how this issue started.
At first I didn't catch on the fact that the but cheeky victory of both of us being invited to the private date Mora had wanted to have with Minos would only be the beginning for some troublesome days at the farm. I couldn't quite predict so much in so little, and at the time I was… tired.
I yawned impatiently waiting for the coffee I had ordered to be served. Glancing to the side, I noticed that Mora was still eyeing Miles with a half-hidden glare. I couldn't exactly say this was an overreaction considering her advances towards Minos had been evident since the very beginning. In fact, I was quite confident the Cat Prime had tried to leverage this unplanned intrusion to attempt to mess with the farm owner's plans after being subjected to punishment over the past few days.
Despite the best effort put forward from both sides, bickering and heated exchanges of words would happen every so often. I didn't see too much of a problem with that since both individuals were known to be stubborn in their own ways, and attrition was meant to happen at least on rare occasions.
Still, I decided against being as active as the two were at the table, picking Minos' example to avoid being pulled into their battle of glares and smug smiles. I wasn't sure how the 'new guy' was holding so well at the onslaught unfolding just before him, but he… actually managed. Maybe he had experience with these kinds of clashes and just knew how to weave through them without getting unexpectedly yanked in those.
The culmination of this 'conflict' occured when a familiar waitress finally came by with the beverages we had asked for. It was the same waitress I met a while ago, this time getting the chance to have a better look at her to understand why Miles was so eager to visit this bar after his shifts.
Taffy was, by all definitions, a lovely individual and a decent worker. And no, I wasn't saying that just for appearance's sake like the fawning moron beside me trying to make a good impression with her. The real endearing factor was the fact that her soft tone and polite mannerism made her stand out as a young woman that was always kind to everyone. She just felt genuine to listen to and look at.
"Here are your orders."
I felt a smile appear the moment I saw the steamy cup of coffee suavely land in front of me. Nodding at the waitress, the girl rewarded me with that pretty smile of hers before saying something else. Something that nobody but me and her knew as I was the one that asked her for this favor.
"Also, the owner said that there is a free table over there," The Bunny Prime commented, turning her green eyes to stare at Miles with a curious look. "I wouldn't want to miss one of your stories for anything in the world, Miles."
The guy started to grin giddily, and I had to cover my mouth from snorting as he had completely missed the sarcastic tone in the girl's voice. I had asked her if it would've been possible for her to get him occupied while we were there. I would be sitting by the new table together with the Cat Prime to try and avoid having him start with any annoying behavior with the generous waitress. She still seemed unsure about it, but seemed to trust me when I said I would make sure she wasn't left to handle the flirting alone.
And with me running damage control for this distraction, I allowed for Mora to try and 'work things out' with Minos. The Bull Prime didn't seem to mind the sudden development, but seemed a little annoyed by the gradual increase of flirting from the young woman now left alone with him.
The real reason that had me moving out wasn't that I wanted for her to have that opportunity, it was more about trying to spare myself from a migraine for the next day if both she and Miles continued bickering with each other. I wasn't planning to ruin my good streak of work right there because both of them couldn't find a compromise even now that we were away from the farm.
The conversation from that point onward turned in a very curious attempt from Miles to try and recruit me as his wingman. It was a bit amusing since I hardly understood any of the logic being thrown out at the table, with his subtle manners briefly getting my attention as I tried enjoying my coffee in peace. I just wasn't awake enough to handle that kind of crap. And even though I gave him no advice, he still seemed to hold himself well while talking with Taffy.
Sure, he would add some lies to the truth to try and create a picture of himself as a hard worker, something that I was quite sure the waitress knew wasn't true, but the giggling waitress still decided to give him her phone number signed on a piece of paper by the time we were done with this.
I couldn't understand the reasoning behind that decision, but was too tired to understand what would have driven her to such madness. I would only look at Minos and Mora, trying to 'listen' in to what they were saying and was confused when, at a certain point, the woman's attention turned to me and… she stared rather intensely in my general direction. The fact that she broke out from that glance with a blush fully covering her face also made me realize that… she was drunk.
It didn't take the woman too long before the various bottles of beer started putting her out of commission. It was kind of interesting how Minos kept his composure despite the sight of a sleeping Mora drooling over his shirt. It was adorable to anyone watching, and even Miles had to admit this when he saw the scene before him.
The return back home was mostly calm… if not for the fact that the Bull Prime didn't seem interested in enjoying the quiet night as we walked back to the farm.
"Declan."
I blinked at the curt call, my head turning to address Minos in that regard.
"Hmm? Yes?"
"What do you think of Mora?"
I blinked, actually surprised by how direct that question was. Especially when the person we were talking about was happily snoring on his chest, completely unconscious and unable to hear anything- Oh. Now I see why this was a good situation to ask that.
"That's a tough one," I had to admit, turning to stare forward as I tried to come up with an answer. "I suppose she is a good boss."
…
"And?"
Frowning at that soft pressure, I turned to glance back at Minos once again. His red eyes weren't allowing any clues to why he was asking me these questions.
"And… you mean 'What do I think of her beyond that'?"
He nodded, and I sighed before thinking more about the reply. I could say much about Mora after about a month of working under her. She was far from any experienced farmer I had the chance of meeting, but she was fairly decent at improvising and learning from her mistakes.
"Well… I guess I find her somewhat nice to talk to. She doesn't seem like the kind of individual that shoots down any suggestions if they have merits," I finally spoke up. "She isn't exactly prepared for the big game that will come once the farm picks up its pace with the work, but I believe she is making larger steps to fixing that. I'm quite certain she knows what to change and where to improve to match up with the challenges ahead of her."
The man continued to look at me for a little while and… then sighed.
"I believe so myself. But I can't help but think that… she is rather interested in me."
"She is really taken. I guess she likes-"
"Tall hunks with muscles?" Miles interjected, getting a friendly nudge through elbows from me.
"I meant guys that do give off a sense of absolute trustworthiness," I resumed with a sigh. "I'm not going to lie about this, Minos, you do seem to have that aura around you- but I can't help but also think that there is so much about it other than being naturally trustworthy."
A surprised look adorned the Bull Prime's face, but he quietly accepted the words with a solid nod.
"I understand."
"And on that note, I also want to ask you a little favor from you. Nothing too big."
Minos nodded again. "And that is?"
I sighed, taking a moment to come up with the proper words to convey my current concerns now that I could.
"Since you know that Mora is actively trying to get you as more than a worker or a friend, I want you to know that she will probably step up her game after today," I pointed out. "She gained little from this golden opportunity, and I know her well enough to expect her to intensify her efforts because of this."
"And your request is?" He calmly pressed on, understanding the point I was laying out for him to think about.
"I know you're rather skeptical she wants to make it a serious relationship… but I can tell she means it," I answered with a tense voice. "She's just clumsy about this and will probably react badly the moment she realized how silly she is going to make herself look to catch your attention."
"And what do you want me to do about it?"
"Consider the circumstances? I'm not an expert when it comes to these kinds of situations, but I don't want to see anyone making issues or mistakes that everyone will come up to regret later," I concluded with a huff. "You will manage, I can tell this much. I just hope that anything that comes out of this doesn't ruin everything at the farm."
…
"I will try my best."
That was more than enough to put me at ease.
Sadly, this proved to not be enough to prevent my worries from fully realizing.
Mora was still sleeping when I had started my shift with Miles. Minos took a little longer to start working his usual schedule, and I could tell the real reason for him to be so cautious today was regarding the last words I had given him about the Cow Prime's advances.
I knew that after yesterday's night, the woman would've done something far bigger than anything we had previously seen. She had been given 'clues' about Minos, and those were going to be used to try and create the best scenario for her to make a move. And I wasn't sure if that would end well... or bad. For everyone.
Going through my shift, I barely paid attention to the fact that Miles had briefly sneaked away from his own tasks to check on Mora, only to find her awake and grumbling about yesterday's fiasco. He would, like he would usually do, poke at her about the matter and… unconsciously entice the young woman to do something ambitious and fairly dumb.
I turned up for lunch later than usual, and saw Minos entering inside the house after Miles… before leaving with a dejected look. He didn't spare me any glances, but I could tell that something had happened inside and it had him scowl. And scowling wasn't something Minos would normally do around others.
I walked up inside the house and stopped by the kitchen to see that… a delicious lunch had been prepared and was now waiting on the table to be devoured by the farm's workers. But as I looked around to try and figure out who was behind this development, I found myself pausing at Mora, the young woman smiling coyly. She was wearing a pretty-looking silver dress with an opening over her cleavage.
I quickly realized what had happened, at least most of it from the hints left on the table and… I tried to stabilize the situation the best way I knew how through those circumstances.
"Hmm~ Something smells delicious." I commented calmly, trying to keep up an act of interest over the food that had been prepared by Mora. I couldn't smell them since the dishes seemed to have gone cold for a while now. "I didn't know you liked to cook, boss."
Miles barely reacted to my comment, but eventually, my words seemed to gain the interest of the disheartened Prime. The owner's green eyes slowly looked at me with a skeptical frown as I advanced over to the one-man meal.
"It's gotta be cold right now-"
"Still, I would like to try some. I'm really famished."
I really was. Despite the fact that the food looked mediocre, I wasn't going to reject the steak that was now calling for me…
…
Regret took a moment to settle in as I took the first bite from the meat. As expected, it wasn't too awful to eat, except for the fact that an insane amount of salt coated it.
I felt my throat drying up at the 'revelation', with my hand almost shooting to grab a glass of water to try and drown the unpleasant sensation away. But I found myself stopping as I realized I couldn't exactly jump and screw up my act so soon. I needed to go through this without making it seem like I was dying. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if the intake of this absurd quantity of salt could send people to the hospital but… I had to give my best for it.
"Delicious," I managed to say without regurgitating what I was trying to eat.
…
"Really?" Mora asked, clearly surprised by the praise. "I mean, surely it has some flaws-"
"Salt," I muttered, stopping from going too honestly about it. "It's been sprinkled too much with salt."
The woman, now distracted from her interaction with Miles, nodded in understanding.
"I tried to follow one of mom's old recipes. It was something like 'Steak Four'."
…
Oh Gods, she used the same amount of ingredients for four steaks.
That explained why I could feel hints of other stuff beyond that layer of salt. Still… Why did she have to make it so salty?!
I managed to devour the entire thing without making any more scenes, still at the expense of having one of the worst cases of stomach aches I've had in recent years. To my credit, I was holding my act quite well until I arrived back in my room without getting the others suspicious about my early retreat to my bed.
I contemplated trying to keep up with the appearances, but I decided against doing so as I felt the cramps starting to leave my legs wobbly. With my stomach put in a state of uneasiness for the next hours, I decided to skip dinner by saying that I was too tired and needed to catch up on some rest. Thankfully, nobody questioned my simple request as I locked myself in my room until it was nighttime and… I had to really fall asleep.
Going to bed earlier than usual, I was glad that the stuff I took for the stomachache was actually working by the time I was unconscious. Despite that, I still ended up having some bizarre nightmares…
I mean, I thought it was an odd dream to feel like I was being subjected to a low-grade earthquake while asleep, especially with the Newer Continent not having any inner continental plates crashing together to create this kind of geological circumstance.
It was only after I woke up to begin the next day that the truth came out.
The first issue I took notice about was the fact that the house was more silent than usual. Waking up later than usual, I had expected for noises of bickering to fill the halls of the place, and yet the entire building was devoid of life… except for the entrance. As I checked around to try and see where the others were, I eventually reached the porch and found quite the scene.
Mora was sitting by the steps that had the small staircase to the entrance. Her hands covered her face as she quietly sobbed quietly into them. Soon I stared up in her general direction and I saw the retreating form of a certain Bull Prime, his bag now filled with his stuff over his shoulder as he walked away from the farm. A bizarre sense of silence enveloped the farm and… for a moment, it was only my thoughts that fueled this state of confusion.
What happened? Why was Mora crying? Why was Minos walking away? Where is Miles and-
I stopped as I realized that the woman had finally taken notice of my presence. Still sniffling and shivering a little bit, her eyes were red and puffy from the crying. She looked absolutely terrible. Taking a few steps towards her, I slowly sat down beside her before we both stared at each other.
The Cow Prime looked at me with a curious look, almost 'saying' that she was expecting me to do something. I just couldn't tell if she expected a bad reaction, or maybe a nice one beyond the bad ones she was currently suffering from. I sighed before ultimately deciding to give her a calm but kind look.
"What happened here, Boss?"
She looked down to her legs and… sighed tiredly.
"I'm a bad person."
The woman decided to come clean and tell the whole truth. I was surprised that she did , as I could tell Mora was well aware of how damning it was on her, but she still decided to go through with that burden and for a moment, I found myself only looking and listening.
My mind struggled to come up with a good response since from what I could infer from her narration… pretty much everyone was to blame.
Minos decided to outright refuse Mora on her offer. I hadn't expected that her efforts in making that lunch were received so awfully, but I was even more shocked when she explained how Miles fitted in this entire thing. I knew the Cat Prime was really driven by his sexual interests but… I hadn't expected him to be gullible enough to be seduced by the woman so easily.
Still, despite the faults of those two now 'fired' workers, the biggest issue was made by Mora herself. She had offered herself to Miles in an effort to get 'Minos jealous'. I knew it was anger making these plans to her, but I was so close to facepalming when she brought up how she had decided to fire Miles the moment everything backfired on her.
The question in that moment was clear. Should I stay now that this mess was made? Can Mora redeem herself from this major screwup?
…
Despite my mind saying that, at this point, there was no way Las Lindas was going to recover from this blow and… that Mora had shown a particularly ugly aspect of her personality, I knew that leaving her now would destabilize the situation further. While she had tried her best to contain the regret, her body wasn't able to match her spirit.
So I stood up and… sighed. "As soon as the shift is over, I want to have a long discussion with you about this situation," I said with a tense voice. "I want you to take a moment, recollect your thoughts and… maybe we can come up with something.
…
"Y-you're not leaving?"
"At this point? It wouldn't help," I admitted with a dry voice. "But that doesn't mean I'm fine with what just happened, Boss. I tried making a point with Minos that you meant well and… now I feel twice betrayed. I need some time alone to think but…"
…
"I'm not leaving."
I started to walk away, my destination being the barn as I needed to take the proper tools to start working.
The day was long, but I was quite unsure if the farm was going to recover from both Miles and Minos anytime soon. Not with how the situation had unfolded, and not for a long time.
Right now, what I needed was some time alone to think and then help Mora get through this ordeal. I felt like an idiot for putting myself through this but… I could tell I had to do this.
AN
First bump in the road. Let's hope things get fixed soon and… first possible awkward situation coming soon?
