A Manager From Heaven (girlxgirlxgirl)

46. Peach grove

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"Here it is again. A-list actresses Eva and Mary go into surprise retirement. Fans still camped outside the company awaiting an explanation." The old man reads, grumbling about it and flipping the page of his large newspaper. His wife sighs with a smile, packing up the last of her apples in a large brown bag. "Oh those big city people are so concerned about this retirement thing. I don't see the fuss of it."

She hands the bag to Tamera, a kind smile on her face.

"You're from the big city, aren't you Tamera? What do you think about all of it?"

She glances at the front page of the newspaper that the man is holding. It's Hecate and Hela on the front page as always. It's been like that ever since they announced their retirement a few weeks ago. People must've been obsessed with them, because they can't talk about anything else. Even major newspapers have updates of their story splashed onto the front page. Tangie hates it. It's like she can never escape them. And just as she had begun to get used to living as a human. Just as she had begun to forget about the existence of angels and demons.

She gives the woman the kindest smile she can muster and accepts the bag. "Well it's certainly ridiculous that it's been on the front page for so many days now."

With that, she waves her goodbye, putting her bag of apples in her basket. She has made sure to decorate the basket in a cute way. Everything needs to be sweet and lighthearted. It's the only way she'll recover from everything she's seen these past few hundred years. The basket has a bag of sugar and oats in it, too. Tangie was thinking of making some crunch apple pie. She imagines she'll grow tired of peaches during harvest season.

Despite wanting to never use her powers again, she can't turn them all off. While walking down the village road, she continues to hear the private conversation between the old man and his wife.

"Isn't she just a hardworking girl?"

She smiles. It's a good thing that she comes across this way. Hardworking and sweet. It's what she wants to be. The old man grumbles back to his wife. "We should send Cecil to go help out with the grove when it's harvest season. Can't be easy to do it all by herself."

Tangie keeps walking, trying to keep some lightness in her heart. The late spring wind blows on her face, gentle but cold enough to feel refreshing.

It's been about five months since she last saw them, and a lot of things have changed in that time. In fact, she knew them for a lesser time than she's been without them. Her little peach grove finally looks professional now, after months of trying to clear away the overgrown parts and the dead trees. Her house is habitable, finally, after the many long winter months she kept on renovating it.

The village is tight knit and beautiful, with small dirt roads swirling around the many sweet houses. Each house has its own garden, and now that summer is finally on its way, the gardens look beautiful under the sunlight. The sky is almost constantly blue, such a change from the city's greyness.

On the outskirts of the village there are rows and rows of forests and farmland, until eventually the next village takes form. They grow lots of things here, but it's mostly fruits and grapes. The hot but slightly moist climate makes an excellent environment for fruit groves to grow, and each plot of farmland is filled with sweet fruit trees and berry bushes. Tangie acquired the peach farm that is right on the edge of the village. It's not big, and it's definitely old and overgrown and unmanaged, but after seeing its potential, Tangie couldn't let it go.