In the grand scheme of things, my schmoozing with Berry went well. She was a delightful, boisterous woman, who loved to laugh and had a billion stories to tell. She also shared a few cooking tips and tricks with me, from her time as a chef. Some were obvious, like her insistence that you shouldn't fall asleep while something is cooking. Others weren't so much, like the fact that you could sharpen your knives on the bottom of a ceramic bowl if you were in a tight spot and didn't have access to an actual knife sharpener.

Mel was also a bundle of joy, and it was great to see her so happy and smiling so wide. Especially with someone she just met. Apparently she and Berry had bonded over the tale of my idiocy in the forest, and from there it became a fast friendship of stories from my short past with Mel, and things I'd told her about times before.

Stories got retold. Most of them were about me being an idiot. There was a lot of giggling and carrying on. Some full-belly laughs and quite a few tears of joy.

I really didn't mind being the butt of their jokes.

There was no rude or mean intent behind the stories. And the laughter shared was crisp and high and uninhibited, shared by all.

We were just three people having a good old time. It just happened to be at my expense.

The real fun began when I started telling stories of my own that not even Mel had heard.

There was the time when I was five that I was chasing a friend around a tree and tripped. Put my two front teeth through my upper lip, cried for about a minute, and then tried to go about chasing them again because they were horrified by the blood and gore and my dumb-ass kid brain thought that was the height of fun.

Or when I was eight and drank my father's mead while we were working on a project together. But I didn't just drink. I fucking chugged. He assumed I had thought it was water or something, but nope. Mead. It wasn't until he yelled at me that I realized what I was tasting, and then I spit it out everywhere like I was trying out as a hose. But the best part (and I told this with tears leaking from my eyes) was when I stopped spraying the mead everywhere, shrugged, and went in for a second drink.

Mel nearly fell out of her chair at that point.

Berry slapped the table, laughing so hard I thought she was going to piss herself.

And I sat there, grinning like some jester who had done their job well and pleased the nobility to the fullest extent.

I didn't think the day could be better than this, which is why when someone knocked at the front door my heart ripped itself out of my chest, shot into my nose, and then immediately plummeted into my shoes.

Mel and Berry both immediately stopped laughing, and they looked at me.

I have a pretty good general policy going: I don't answer my door for anything if I didn’t know who or what it was. Sure, it means I might miss out on something great. But unless I was expecting it, I didn't really need it anyway. And it meant I got to avoid all the solicitors and ballsy beggars who decided that going door-to-door was way more efficient than just selling or begging in normal ways.

Mel motioned to me as if I should go open the door.

I shook my head, firmly.

They'd leave. I didn't have anything that I was expecting (we had all the furniture and other bits I'd ordered, and the various merchants from town weren't set to start their check-ins and deliveries yet) so if I just ignored it, they'd go away.

The door handle jiggled. It wasn't locked.

God damnit, Past!Harper. I must have forgotten to lock it when Berry came in.

Whomever it was at the door swung it open.

They stood in the door, back-lit by the bright outdoor sun, nothing more than a silhouette.

My brain filled in the details.

It was Duncan, here to collect even though it was a handful of days too early.

No. It was someone working for Mari Belle, who had found out I was fucking her over and so needed to beat me within an inch of my life to teach me a lesson.

It was Phelps, here to kick me out for some arbitrary reason, so that he could take all my hard work on fixing up the property and profit from it.

"Uh, hi, sorry," the silhouette said, in a voice I didn't recognize. "Are you guys open?"

I almost collapsed against the table in relief, but I stopped halfway when I remembered I still hadn't sanded the surfaces and I didn't want another fucking splinter in the forehead.

"Not yet," I said, my voice cracking almost instantly. "Two more days, mate."

"Really? Cause something smells delicious."

The shadow walked into the room more, and my eyes adjusted to see more details. He was about my height, with broad shoulders and a thin waist. His chest was shaved smooth, and it was barely covered by straps of leather that seemed to be doing little more than giving him a really interesting tan line. At his hip was a giant fucking weapon that looked like a bladed question mark with a really tiny handle. I didn't actually know how it would fit in the big meaty mitts he called hands. The best part was the majestic mane he was carting around that put Mel's carefully cared for locks to shame. It was like rivers of gold pouring from his scalp. Meshed nicely with the too-long-to-be-lazy beard, which was a little darker than what was on the top of his head.

Every part of him was well manicured and styled for a particular image.

He must have spent a fortune on it.

Color me impressed.

"Oh. Hey, Berry," he said, when his eyes adjusted to the gloom of Ambition. "How goes it?"

"Simon."

Wow. Either there was some serious history between the two of them, or Berry wasn't quite the bright ball of sunshine I'd pegged her for.

I looked at this 'Simon' a bit closer.

He looked like an idiotic meathead.

But that could have been a ruse. Especially since he obviously spent so much coin on maintaining his appearance.

"So, uh, sorry. You're really not open?"

Nope. Just an empty meathead. Cool.

"Yeah, sorry mate," I said, in a tone that said I wasn't sorry. "We're just testing out recipes before we open. As I said, it should be about another two days."

"Aww," Simon said, kicking at the floor a little. "It smelled so good. Wait, what's Berry doing here? Does she get to try some?"

"I sure do!" Berry said, gleefully, before I could even open my mouth. "Perk of being a friend, and actually helping people, instead of using them like they're some cheap bit of cloth suited only for you to wipe your bum on!"

Definitely some history.

"You still mad about that? Moon's light, Berry, that was like last week."

Recent history. Even better.

I found myself leaning forward, elbows on the table.

Mel did the same.

Look, we didn't exactly have many forms of entertainment around here, at least since Derrick and I patched up the rat holes.

This was prime time drama and I was here for it.

Berry looked at the two of us and clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. "Don't encourage him, guys. This barely constructed pile of meat that talks like a man is another adventurer."

"I assumed. He certainly looks the part."

Simon puffed out his chest at Mel's words.

"Yeah, well, he's the worst kind. Asks for favors and offers the world for it, but as soon as he gets the chance he leaves you tied up in a bandit camp while he loots all the fucking tents like an asshole and doesn't share!"

I'm fairly sure that if Berry had something in range of her to throw, Simon would need to be ducking. As it was, Mel had to put a hand to her shoulder to ensure the small adventurer was staying in her seat.

A fist fight in here would be devastating. Not only for my furniture, but for the fighters involved.

I still hadn't moved any tables outside.

Memo to me: move them as soon as Simon's gone.

The meathead at the door scoffed. "You know full well I rescued you after."

"They were going to sell me into slavery, Simon! I was two minutes from taking my own life! And you had the fucking audacity to tell me I shouldn't have gotten captured in the first place, even though that was your master plan to take out the sentries!"

"It worked, didn't it?"

Berry rolled her eyes so hard I thought they were going to fall out of her head. "You know what? I'm done. I can't deal with him. Harper, you're great, and I'm sure Ambition is going to do good things. But I can't be around Simon without wanting to punch him, and your place is too nice to do that in."

At that moment, I had a choice. Did I defend Berry, who was obviously full of righteous anger but also was just a decent person who could become a friend, or did I let her go and side with the meathead? Simon seemed like the kind of guy who would appreciate a dude sticking up for a dude against a 'crazy’ girl, and he also seemed like the type of guy who would have a lot of friends just like him.

Ambition was depending on adventurers to fuel its economy. To buy my food, eat my food, go do quests, and then come back and eat more food to do more quests. If I went up against someone like Simon, didn't that mean I was going to lose a lot of business?

When I didn't say anything, Berry pushed her chair away from the table. She looked so deflated. Gone was the jovial woman who had just spent the last thirty or so minutes joking with me about my sorted past. No longer were there tears of joy in her eyes.

Instead they were full of pain.

"Yeah, see? Even the chef thinks you should go back to your kitchen and give up being an adventurer, little Berry."

I shot a look at Mel.

She must have known what I was thinking, because the murder bled out of her eyes and she smiled easily. Instead, she put a hand to Berry's wrist, stopping her from leaving.

"Actually, 'little Simon,' I think it's you who should be leaving. Ambition is a place for adventurers, not opportunistic assholes."

"The fuck do you think I am, asshole? I'm an adventurer!"

"No. You're a sorry little man who spends a lot of money on making sure people see him as an adventurer, but there's nothing beneath the surface." I stood from my chair, making sure to push it backwards with a great deal of force. It crashed to the ground with a boom, giving Simon a little fright. "See, I used to be an adventurer like you. And then I realized how much of an asshole I was. I started doing things to actually help people, instead of just using them for my own gain."

I stood up to my full height. It really wasn't very impressive, especially since I was the same height as Simon.

But Berry and Mel were looking up to me. Literally. Maybe even figuratively. And so that made me feel like I was a lot taller.

"So, I suggest, Simon, that you head on out. Go home, think long and hard to yourself as to why you're a sad little man who uses others and then tries to make it their fault. And when you're through, change. Come back when you have. Until then, you're banned from Ambition. I don't need the money of sorry little dickheads like you."

The mass of muscle in the doorway made like he was going to draw his sword, and so I called my own to my hand from my inventory.

Fear shown in his eyes, clear as day from across the room.

He'd been expecting to bully me. To wave around his fancy little sword and I'd cower because I had no way to defend myself. But I wasn’t going down that easily. And so he had no idea what to do.

After a moment of hesitation, Simon turned and just left.

I was expecting some parting jab.

Some threat of return or something.

He even paused at the door jamb, as if trying to make the little mice in his brain work to think of some insult to spear my way.

But instead, he just walked out the door, figurative tail between his legs.

Unsatisfying.

I put my sword back in my inventory before turning to Berry and grinning. "Wow. That guy's an asshole."

"You went way lighter on him than I would have," Mel said, even as she stroked Berry's arm. "Let me have a go next time, Harper?"

"Sure," I said, although I wasn't really serious. Mel would cut a bitch for real, while I just wanted to make sure they knew I was seriously thinking about it. "You okay, Berry?"

"Yeah. Um... thanks." I didn't believe her for a second. She looked as if she were two steps from tears still. "I, um, hate to break it to you, but Simon's likely going to badmouth you guys. A lot. You might have just ruined your business just to defend me."

"Nah," I said, even though my mind had been concocting that exact scenario. "See, I don't want assholes like that to eat here, regardless of how many friends they have. I'd rather have decent folk come eat here." I rubbed my forehead, suddenly very tired. "Although, if you could help us find some who are also adventurers, that might help a bit?"

"Are you kidding?" Berry's face lit up. "I'll bring them by the bucket load. I don't care if I have to go two towns over. Or three. Hell, I'll go to Kinon and back in a day if I have to just to spread the word." She smiled, warmly, and I instantly felt absolutely certain in my decision. "Thanks, you guys. You're the best."

I smiled and went to offer my thanks, but the timer in the corner of my vision flashed, letting me know it was down to the last five minutes. "Ooh. Looks like stew is almost done." I picked my tipped-over chair up and pushed it in. "I'm going to go take care of that. But um... while I do, can you ladies help me?"

"Whatcha need?" they said, almost in tandem.

"Mel, there are way too many tables and chairs in here. It's a fucking fire hazard. Can you move some outside? I keep meaning to but…” I shrugged, since she knew how busy I was. “Just like... two tables should be fine. And arrange them nicely?"

The pixie turned to Berry, exaggerated mock surprise elongating her features. "Did he... just delegate?" She turned to me, her eyes dancing with mirth. "Who are you, and what have you done with Harper Emerson?"

"That’s it. Next time the opportunity arises, I'm leaving you tied up in the middle of a bandit camp."

"Such a tease."