Page 49 of Daddy's Little Cupcake

Her keys laid on the counter next to her wallet. She took a deep breath and grabbed them as she walked toward the front door.

Charlotte’s heart broke more with each step she took toward her car. She threw them into the back, got in, and started the car. Charlotte took several deep breaths, and her eyes started to water. She didn’t want to do this.

The drive to the club was short, and Charlotte wished it lasted a little longer. She got out of the car, grabbed the bag full of stuffies, and dragged her feet to the entrance of the club.

She sniffled and opened the door to the club, stepped in, and walked to the shop to drop them off.

“Can I help you?” a man asked behind a desk.

Charlotte didn’t look up from the ground. She didn’t want him to see the tears in her eyes. She took in a shaky breath of air and blinked several times.

“I-I’m here to g-give my stuffies,” Charlotte whispered.

“Okay. Can I have a look at those?” the person asked.

Charlotte held up the trash bag for the guy but didn’t look up. She didn’t want to see the man pulling out her stuffies.

“Can I ask why you’re getting rid of these?” the man asked. “Is someone forcing you?”

Charlotte shook her head because no one was forcing her to get rid of them but herself.

“Can you look at me and tell me?” he asked again.

She blinked several times and took a couple of deep breaths before she looked up at the man. He was giving her a sad smile, and her eyes started to water again.

“It’s okay to cry,” the man said. “Can you answer my two questions?”

“N-no one is f-forcing me to get rid of them. I n-need some money, and I’ve got a lot of stuffies,” Charlotte whispered toward the end.

The man had started to take her stuffies out of the garbage bag, and she had to look away. Charlotte needed to stop calling themherstuffies in her head because they weren’t anymore. They were the club’s until someone bought it.

Oh, how she was going to miss those stuffies.

“What’s your name?” the man asked.

“Charlotte,” she said.

“Well, Charlotte. My name is Jonah, and these stuffies are just wonderful. So many littles are going to love these,” Jonah said.

That didn’t help Charlotte at all. She didn’t want to get rid of them, and he said all the wrong things. He was supposed to tell her that she didn’t need to get rid of them, but he didn’t.

“Oh, honey, it’s going to be okay,” he said. “I know you’ll miss them, but it’s going to be okay.”

Tears fell down Charlotte’s face the longer Jonah talked.

“Charlotte?” another person said, and she instantly recognized the voice as Mac.

She quickly turned around and looked to see if Finn was around. She didn’t want him to see her right now. He couldn’t know that she was struggling for money or that she was crying over stuffies.

Mac’s face turned serious when he looked at her face. He quickly walked over to her and bent down in front of her.

“Are you okay? Why are you crying? Did you fall again?” Mac fired off.

Before she could answer, Jonah answered behind her.

“She didn’t fall, but she did bring stuffed toys in. The littles are going to be so happy when they see we have new stuffed toys for them,” Jonah said. “I can give you seventy-five dollars for all of these.”

Charlotte sniffled and looked down at her feet. Her heart broke even more when he told her the price. She didn’t want to give them up, but seventy-five dollars would help some toward her bills. She needed the money, and it meant she had to make sacrifices right now.

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