Jaden left the house a few hours later. Bored out of her mind with nothing to do, she decided to return to Scrooge's store with the hope that he'd give her something to do.
So much for a peaceful afternoon. Jaden thought with an inward sigh.
She hadn't taken more than two steps inside the store before Scrooge caught sight of her and came running over. "Aye, there you are! Now that my shop is up and running, it's time! Time to do what, you say? Well, to jumpstart the village's economy, of course! Even if it means having to light a wee fire under Goofy to get him movin'." Scrooge chuckled at his own wit, using his cane to support him so he didn't fall over from laughing too hard.
Jaden smirked at his attempt at humour, though the idea of a fire underneath Goofy was a tad bit amusing to her. "Of course." She replied.
Somewhat pleased that Jaden appreciated his humour, Scrooge patted her on the shoulder in a friendly manner. "Och, we'll get along just fine! It's time for you to learn the art of selling. Find some gems and sell them to Goofy." The duck instructed her.
Jaden nodded, indicating that she understood what was asked of her and backtracked her way to her house. During her very short stay in the valley, Jaden had already collected a few dozen of gems throughout her searches of other items. Knowing at some point that they'll come in handy, Jaden picked them up and stored them in a small sack that she kept at her house.
Snatching up the satchel, Jaden left the house and made the expected delivery to Goofy's who accepted them gratefully, handing her a small fortune.
Thanking the oversized dog, Jaden headed back to Scrooge's store, gold in hand and made her way over to the counter of the store where Scrooge was situated.
Seeing the money in hand, Scrooge cast Jaden his best grin. "Well done! Now you have money to invest! And my number thirty-seven rule of personal finance is…the most important investment you can make is in your home! I've added an elevator inside your house so you can access room improvements. Go give it a gander, and invest a little in expanding your real estate!" Scrooge encouraged the woman standing before him.
Jaden groaned in slight annoyance. "Can't I just invest in a bed first? Expanding my house seems kind of pointless right now." All she wanted was a damn bed and a good night's rest. If she had to spend another night sleeping on her dirty clothes on the hard, cold floor she was going to strangle someone, namely this money-loving duck standing right before her.
Still, Jaden did as she was told. Pulling out a catalogue from under the counter, she picked out the necessary applicants to expanding her front room, using up the rest of the money she acquired on the, what was in her eyes, the pointless renovation. She wasn't happy at all to be spending money on something so meaningless, considering she barely had anything in the house to begin with, the lack of a bed to start with.
Once she had blew her entire savings on the renovation (and also taking the time to buy some Mickey Mouse clothing she could use as a temporary bed. It was clear that she wasn't going to be getting a proper bed anytime soon,) she turned to Scrooge and lit a cigarette, dragging the smoke into her lungs. She grinned mischievously at the critical glare on Scrooge's face at smoking inside the store, wanting nothing more than to just spite him.
Scrooge walked over to her, taking in the fact that this woman didn't seem at all bothered by his supressed anger and to make the situation even more outrageous, Jaden held out the packet of cigarettes to him, offering him one.
Scrooge shook his head vigorously. "As I live and breathe!" The duck protested.
Jaden couldn't help but chuckle. "Suit yourself." She said, placing the packet back into her trouser pocket.
"Anyway, your home looks like it's worth a fortune now! Well done my friend. Of course, the idea did come from me, so it was sure to be brilliant!" The duck's eyes shone with pride, almost as if he could see the money floating down right in front of his face. "Now you'll have even more room for items from my shop. Feel free to come by anytime! My stock is always changing, but for now let me teach you a little something about business aye?"
He patted Jaden on the back as she stubbed out her cigarette on the counter, ignoring the death glare he gave her. "You've got to keep your customers happy! For many reasons, but chiefly because happy shoppers dinnae mind paying top dollar. Now, I have a customer waiting for their delivery. Have you time to help?"
Jaden pretended to think about that for a few seconds. "Well, I was planning on getting pay back on Goofy, but I suppose that can wait, gives me more time to come up with a better plan. Who's the customer then?"
"The wizard, Merlin, I'm sure you've already had your dealings with him. He can be a rough customer at times," Scrooge grumbled, "can you guess what he's ordered?" This said with slight dissatisfaction.
Jaden's reply was automatic. "Something old…like him." She scoffed, attempting to hold in her laughter at her own joke.
The old duck sighed, wondering if Jaden was even aware that Scrooge was technically just on par with Merlin in regards to age. "Business rule number thirty-two: clients don't like to be the butt of your jokes! The answer was 'blue'. Can you guess where he wants to put this piece of furniture?" Scrooge questioned carefully, unsure if Jaden was going to make another joke out of it.
"Inside a secret room?" She asked seriously.
Scrooge narrowed his eyes. "Does such a thing exist? I think I'd have heard about one of those if we had 'em here in the valley. He clearly wants something for his study where he reads all his books with all his big words." Scrooge muttered that last part to himself, though he was sure Jaden picked up on it judging from her facial expression. "Now, here's the down payment he made for the furniture, use it to buy something, or throw in some of your own money to get something even nicer." He said whilst handing Jaden the money. "If you don't find something he'd want in my shop, come and talk to me. I've just installed an on demand delivery system so you can order anything in my catalogue."
Jaden took the time to look around the shop. There wasn't much in terms of blue furniture, but one final look around the shop caused Jaden to find one item in particular that stood out to her and that was a rather large ice throne. She knew it wasn't what the wizard had in mind, but she brought it anyway, thinking it would be the perfect prank for the old man. She pointed it out to Scrooge who told her to wait while he boxed it all up for delivery.
Jaden sat on a nearby chair tucked in the corner of the shop as she waited, scrolling through her phone in the meantime. It seemed Merlin had just invited her to the village group chat, despite the fact Jaden didn't remember ever giving him her number. Curiosity got the better of her however and knowing it might come in handy later, she accepted the invite. Upon opening the chat, the first thing she saw was of course Mickey complaining about how much he misses Minnie. Further down there was an image of Goofy showing off his latest catch at the pond, but it was a comment from Merlin that made Jaden stop her scrolling. The wizard had gone off on a rant about some magical nonsense whilst throwing an odd comment about how Dreamlight Valley was going to be saved thanks to Jaden's heroic efforts.
Heroic efforts? He isn't asking for much here is he? The sudden weight on her shoulders seemed almost unbearable to Jaden. She didn't ask for this and who was to say how much longer she'll be trapped in this dreamworld? She could wake up in the real world at any moment and then who would be around to save them?
She was just about to type a message into the chat when Scrooge called over to her. Rising from her chair, she slipped her phone into her back pocket and walked over to him.
Scrooge tapped the crate beside him. "There you go, Jaden."
Jaden looked over the huge crate, disbelief in both her features and her voice. "Do you really expect me to carry that all the way to Merlin's?" When Scrooge nodded, Jaden's eyes widened to their utmost. "But that's on the other side of the village!" She sighed, knowing in her heart of hearts that it was pointless to argue. "Could you at least open the door for me?"
Scrooge obliged and held the door open long enough for Jaden to squeeze her way through. She soon realised that she was unable to fully lift the crate up due to its heavy weight. Instead, she had to opt to pushing the crate all the way to the far end of the meadow to Merlin's house. Jaden had left Scrooge's store at midday and by the time she got to Merlin's the moon was already high in the sky.
Panting heavily, Jaden got to the wizard's doorstep where she saw him pacing around in what looked to be a deep thought.
Merlin walked over to her and smiled when he saw the crate at Jaden's feet. He thanked her profusely for lumbering it all the way here, shaking her hand before opening it up. She was surprised to find that Merlin quite liked what she had picked out. So much for the prank purchase buy. "It's exactly what I wanted! Well done, my friend. Tell Scrooge it's been a pleasure doing business with him."
And with that, Jaden made the trek back to Scrooge's shop. When she opened the door, she placed her hands on her knees, bending over and panting rapidly. "Could you maybe consider hiring some postal vans the next time I have to make a delivery as large as that one?" She complained.
Scrooge didn't seem the least bit phased by this request, choosing to ignore her comment to congratulate her. "Brilliant work! You'll be my employee of the month soon enough-"
"But aren't I your only employee?" Jaden asked sarcastically, cutting him off.
Scrooge had the grace to look ashamed for a split second before carrying on, "Aye, I think you've learned a little something about keepin' customers happy. And you're keeping the economy going, too! Come back to my shop anytime. I'll have new stock in soon."
Without another word, Jaden went off home, completely exhausted. All she wanted to do right now was have a large swig of whiskey and head straight to bed. After the day she had today, she was ready for it to end so she could wake up fresh and not be so grouchy. The last thing she wanted right now was anybody coming into her home and ruining her peace.
However, she soon realised that coming home was a huge mistake. She opened the door and the fresh wave of smoke hit her like a tidal wave. She stumbled back and attempted to cough the smoke from her lungs. She could barely make out the silhouette of Mickey standing by the stove, frantically trying to put the fire out. The first stirrings of anger assailed Jaden as she waved her hand over her face to see clearly as ran over to the mouse and roughly grabbed him by the back of his neck, dragging him away from the burning stove and shoved him over towards the door as the stove suddenly exploded.
The unexpected blast sent Jaden flying across the room, causing her to hit the wall. The breath was quickly knocked out of her as the impact hit. She made one last effort to push herself to her feet, but any trace of strength had already left her body.
Jaden was eyeing the open doorway as her vision blurred right before her eyes. The last thing she saw clearly was Mickey panicking in the doorway, deciding on whether or not he should go back in and retrieve Jaden.
She didn't have to wait very long for the sweet oblivion of darkness to claim her.
