Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon!

Writer’s Note – “Ah! My first fic I’m doing that isn’t in any way planned. XP Writing for the heck of it can be pretty fun, too.”

Warning: Future yuri for future craziness. This is really not meant to be taken too seriously. AT ALL. Have fun.

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Café Callaway

My workplace and living space until I can afford a place by the city.

“Katie, it’s time to close up shop.” Carl called. He was a man of average height with the soft skin, hair, and face of a child, one of the many things he shared in common with his full time employee.

Katie lifted her head from the table she’d been snoozing on. Her sausage rolls were in a messy heap and her clothes a bit more ruffled than usual. Embarrassment hit her. “Ah! I wasn’t sleeping!”

“It’s ok, we’re closed.” Carl laughed, watching her face redden with anger before dumping some dishes in the sink. “We just have to finish cleaning up and we’re done for the day.”

“Oh,” The girl let herself calm down. It wasn’t good to get mad at Carl, especially when it was her fault she was embarrassed in the first place. She straightened out her skirt and jumped behind the sink, filling it with soapy water. “I was hoping we’d see more people today, you know? Today was a perfect day for cake and tea.”

Carl wiped down the table she’d been at earlier with some humor, “I know what you mean. Tomorrow will be a better day.”

Business in the last week moved slowly. It could have been the cool fall breeze didn’t put people in the mood. Or everyone was too busy preparing for winter that they had no time for pleasantries. He felt especially let down that he hadn’t seen his girlfriend in a while. A pretty farm girl he’d met about a year ago.

Initially, it was Katie who got them together. A very awkward arrangement, but it worked nicely, and he was very happy with it. And of course, Katie was happy for him too.

“Excuse me…” A gentle voice called from the door. “Am I here too late?”

Katie looked up and grinned, “Hey, it’s Ellen.”

“Ellen!” Carl dropped his cleaning rag on the floor, but merely ignored it. His adorably round eyes focused on the brunette at the entrance, “No! You’re not too late. Anything you need, I’m here.”

“Thank you,” Ellen smiled sweetly. She kept her hair short, which made her look boyish at times, but her personality, more than made up for it. “Can I see you for a moment?”

Katie watched the two leave ad sighed. “Looks like I’m stuck with all the cleaning again…”

It wasn’t the first time, so she didn’t stomp about it too much. She’d ask Carl for an extra tip when he got back though… She smiled, scrubbing at the dishes. She hadn’t even moved on to the third plate when Carl came trudging back into the café. His round eyes were awfully downcast; it seemed like his youth was sucked right out of him.

“Hey…” She bit her lip. It wasn’t often she saw him like that—no, she never saw him like that. It was worrisome, and she debated asking him about it.

It didn’t take much to guess, really.

“Thank the Harvest Goddess tomorrow’s Tuesday,” he murmured.

Katie wiped the last plate clean. Every so often, she sent a glance toward the man sitting at the table, lifeless. It got to a point where she finally blew it, “Ok! What happened?”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it? Ellen…” he sighed, running a hand through his curly locks. “She said she didn’t feel right being with me. She left.”

“Why!?” demanded Katie; she practically slammed her hands down on the counter.

“I don’t know. Maybe because I look too young?”

Katie huffed and twirled one of her rolls of hair with her fingers. “Well, don’t worry about that! It’ll pass over. I hate when people judge you by looks! People like us… just need to find love among our own kind, I guess…” She blushed when her comment came across as suggestive, and waved her hands when Carl gave her a questioning look, “No, not me. What I mean is, you should find someone who has a cute face like you do. So she can’t complain!”

“But what if that wasn’t the problem…” he muttered, but she didn’t seem to hear him.

“That’s right!” She swept across the floor dramatically, holding up a hand in some poetic fashion, “Love is sweet, but you add too much heat, it burns to a crisp! It’s so sad…”

Carl felt he needed to get the girl some help. “That… I’m not going to ask.”

“I’ll help you, Carl.” Katie nodded to him with affirmation. Which only confused him more, but he kept to his word and didn’t ask any questions.

‘I’m sure there’re some baby-dolls around here. Ellen is sweet, but… I guess they really weren’t meant for each other… I hate sad love stories.’ Katie thought sadly as she got ready for bed. Tuesday, her day off, would be spent productively finding her boss a new girlfriend. If that got him out of his gloomy state, she might get a pay-raise!

Unfortunately…

…things didn’t go according to plan.

That entire day she somehow wound up being recruited to help out at the Blue Sky Ranch. They shipped good quality milk, so Carl told her it was essential they help out whenever they were able. Katie couldn’t help but feel he still loved Ellen. And so, favors were still dealt. She just hoped she’d get paid overtime or something.

For that matter, two whole weeks following that, Katie made no progress. Through several mysterious cases of chance, she’d been hauled about helping someone with something or the other.

Her patience was running thin.

There really weren’t any “doll-faces” in Rosebud. The mayor’s daughter, Maria, was very calm and collected, definitely not compatible with Carl. Gwen and Ann were too tomboyish, Eve too curvaceous, Dia too shy and Lyla uninterested. Jamie was certainly out of the question.

It frustrated her to no end! She was considering… maybe asking Alex…

“Oh, are you Katie?”

She stopped in her train of thought. The smell of pines reached her nose, and for the first time, she realized where she was. Somewhere up the mountain trail. “How did I end up here?” she asked herself incredulously.

“You walked here.”

Katie turned to the source of the giggling—and lo and behold; a gift from the heavens! Large, green eyes, flowing, fluffy pink hair and rounded cheeks; she’d found her girl alright. She looked really darn familiar, but she couldn’t put her finger to a name. She didn’t go out very far from the café often, so she didn’t quite know everyone personally.

“What’s your name again? I’m sorry!”

The young woman giggled lightheartedly, balancing a small basket with one arm. “I’m Nina. I don’t usually go far from home so… it’s ok. So, Katie, why are you here?”

‘To hook you up with my boss.’ “I don’t know.” Katie blushed, slightly embarrassed. “I didn’t realize I started walking…”

“Wow… you must be tired. Why don’t you take this…” Nina reached into her basket, pulling out a small jar of honey. Katie could only assume that’s what she was collecting out in the mountains. Nina smiled cutely, “Sweets restore stamina!”

Oh yeah, she was perfect.

“Thanks.” Katie accepted the gift gracefully. Fortunately, the pink-haired girl missed the gleam in her eye. “I’d like to repay you. Why don’t you stop by Café Callaway sometime?”

“Oh… if I can… Yes, I’d like to.” Nina nodded her agreement, unknowingly signing Katie’s contract.

Katie grinned on her way down the hill. By chance, she’d found the perfect girl. Carl had better thank her on his hands and knees for this! It took some effort, but she swore she’d pull it off… There was nothing she wouldn’t do for that legendary pay-raise!

Of course, Carl had no wind of this. Not of the pay-raise idea, at least.

But she never let him in on such important matters until the deed was done. Otherwise, things wouldn’t get done…

“The city, the city, I’m moving to the city…” Katie hummed, slightly out-of-tune.

To be continued… unfortunately.