Innkeeper

You go back to the inn. You don't know what the hell you're doing, but you're doing it.

"Back so soon doc?" Rita says as you ignore her and look for Eliza.

You instinctively head back to the kitchen where you find her talking to some of the other staff members.

"Eliza, I have to talk to you!" you say anxiously.
"Um…okay, I'm almost done here."

You wait impatiently for Eliza to finish talking to her subordinates, while you're doing that your mother is eyeing you suspiciously as she begins cooking a large piece of meat.

You can't wait here! This was a mistake! You have to leave now!

You rush out of the kitchen, but you don't get far when you feel Eliza's hand grab your shoulder.

"Hey, where are you going? I thought you had to talk to me." She says.

You turn around and nothing comes out. You just take one look at her face and you can't contain yourself. You grab and kiss her right on the lips. This is followed by a few cheers and claps from the patrons in the bar.

"Huh, took him long enough to realize it." Wendy says and goes back to cleaning the bar.

Eliza's response is pure shock. She doesn't know what to do except run into the ladies room. You call out to her before realizing you've done this in front of several onlookers. You panic again and run into the kitchen.

"What's going on out there? Did I hear you call out Eliza's name? What did you do?"
"I…I fucked up…" you blurt out.

You quickly explain what just happened and your mother shakes her head while throwing a washcloth on the table.

"(Sigh) I KNEW something was up when you wanted to talk to her and were acting more jittery than a goblin caught in a troll's larder. I don't know what to tell you son except you've handled this poorly. This is definitely something you're going to have to fix yourself, but you need to do it soon, because Eliza's one of the best employees here and I don't need her all upset right now."

You think about slipping out the back, but your mother's right, you need to take care of this now. At least part of it, because you'll need to take care of the rest tonight when you talk to Cindy.

You sheepishly exit the kitchen wondering if everyone will be looking. Most glance your way, but go back to their business.

"She's down in the cellar doctor love." Wendy says.

Not saying another word you go down to the cellar. You see Eliza trying to keep busy by taking stock of the beer casks with another employee you don't know.

"Eliza."
"I can't talk anymore, I really have to make sure we have enough beer this month. Our shipment is a little late. It was nice seeing you." She answers without looking in your direction.
"Eliza we need to talk about what just happened."
"I think we should just forget about it. Shouldn't you be getting home? I'm sure Cindy will be wondering about where you are."

At this point you grab Eliza again and tell the stock boy to leave, he doesn't seem to want to get involved in whatever drama you two have so he complies.

"Let me go."
"Okay, but we're gonna talk!"
"Talk about what? About me being the other woman? I don't want to be that and Cindy doesn't deserve it! I don't deserve it!"
"I'm gonna break up with Cindy! I want you. I know that now. I should've acted on it earlier…"
"You certainly should have! (sob) Do you know how much I wanted you to say something? Years! From the moment you came back to this inn after your father died, I wanted you to say something. Now it's too late!"
"It's not too late! I just said I'll break up with Cindy then we can be together!"
"Just like that huh? You can toss her aside so easily? I thought you were in love with her."
"I was…I mean…no…agh! Shit look, I want to be with you! Why are you making this so difficult?"
"Because it IS fucking difficult! (sob) I had just come to accept the fact that you and I were never going to happen no matter how much I wanted it. (sob) And now you come back and stir all my emotions up, because you're having doubts about your relationship with Cindy? What the hell happens when you start having doubts about me one day?"
"That wouldn't happen…"
"How do I know? I mean… (sniffle) we've never even gone out on a date. How do you know if we're even going to be compatible?"
"Well let's go on one right now. Anywhere you want!"
"Just leave me alone. I need time to myself."

You try to touch Eliza to reassure her, but she flinches away. You don't say anything else and leave her be like she wanted.

On your way home you think about everything and how badly it all went. You didn't know Eliza pined after you for so long. You really had no idea. If you did you would've…

Would've, could've, should've, doesn't really matter now. What matters now is what you're going to do about all this. Eliza also brought up a good point on how can you possibly know that you're compatible and how it looks like you're just reaching out to her because of your doubts with Cindy.

Speaking of Cindy, you need to figure out what you're going to say to her when you get home.