Page 9 of Doctor Frost

“I know. At least we make our own fun.” She laughed.

I grabbed an apple and placed it on my tray, then an egg salad sandwich and a chocolate bar, followed by a soda.

“Although, we should remember that the holidays aren’t the same for everyone, but I agree the office could use a little holiday spirit,” she said, eyeing the food on my tray. “I haven’t seen you ingest that much sugar in a while, especially with a headache.”

I was normally a healthy eater, but today I was craving junk food. Dalton had tested my patience in more ways than one. Not only was I irritated, but it felt like someone was squeezing my head in a vise, and it didn’t help that I was feeling highly emotional because most of the time my food choices reflected that.

“Yeah, I know. I shouldn’t, but I can’t help it.” I shrugged. “Not today.”

“Try to put a smile on that beautiful face.” She giggled. “I know…it’s that bad.”

“I am,” I said as we both laughed at her last comment, as I looked down at my sugar loaded tray.

We stepped up to the register, and we both paid, then we said our goodbyes and I went and sat down at an empty table in the cafeteria’s corner. I needed to unwind and try to get rid of this headache before I went back to deal with my grump of a boss.

I cracked open my soda, took a bite of my sandwich, and began checking emails when I heard a high-pitched scream. I glanced up to see a young girl standing in the centre of the cafeteria, her hair an absolute disaster, her cheeks red and tear stained.

I frowned, wondering what was going on, and almost immediately I had my answer when she stepped to the side and I saw none other than Dalton sitting at the table. No doubt he was the cause of why she was acting this way.

I rolled my eyes. Dalton was everywhere I was, even in the breakroom. I watched from a distance as the young girl stomped her foot and pointed to her head and started crying. I’d had enough.

Dalton looked panicked as he looked around the room. He didn’t know what to do, and if people weren’t staring, I’d have probably just sat there and watched everything unfold. I was interested to see how the man who caused chaos in my life daily would handle the chaos this young girl was causing him. However, when she screamed again, my head almost exploded, so instead of just sitting there and watching, I got up from my seat and made my way over to where he sat, trying to calm the girl down with no luck.

“Dalton, I couldn’t help but overhear…is there anything I can do to help?” I questioned, looking down at the young girl’s tear-filled eyes.

One look at her told me she must be his daughter, and one look from him told me I was interrupting this special father-daughter bonding moment.

“Not now, Amelia,” he barked, then focused his attention on his daughter.

“Claire, I don’t know what you want me to do about this,” he said back to the young girl who broke down into tears again.

Ignoring his orders like I normally did, I knelt down beside her and turned her toward me before she let out another one of those nails-on-the-chalkboard screeching screams.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” I questioned, looking up into her tear-filled eyes.

She looked at her father first and then at me. Wiping her eyes, she let out a sigh.

“I wanted to get my hair done at the same place my friend went to, but Dad chose the place instead and look at what they did. It’s a disaster. I have a dance tonight, and I can’t go like this. The kids will make fun of me. It’s never gonna look right, and it’s all his fault.”

I glanced over at Dalton, who was watching me. He looked angry that I’d disobeyed him, but he clearly did not know how to fix this issue.

“I don’t think your dad did this,” I said, meeting his eyes.

He shrugged at me.

“He picked the salon.” She sobbed.

I held my hand out toward him, hopefully signalling him to not say anything, as Claire wrapped her arms around me and cried against me.

“It’s okay,” I said, turning my attention back to her. “I could help you if you like. We could head over to the washroom. I have some things in my locker that I can use to fix your hair,” I said.

She lifted her head, and those tear-filled eyes stared back at me. “Really?”

I nodded. “Yep, we can get you looking perfect in no time.” I smiled.

“Can I, Dad?” she asked. “Please?”

Dalton just glared at me, not saying anything.

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