Page 41 of Daddy's Little Fighter
Frankie held onto him tighter as he looked over at Rainey. She was walking down the hallway, Echo following close behind her.
“You have to come back out and stay with us,” Echo begged.
“I want to go home,” Frankie whispered.
“Stay for a little while longer?” Echo asked. “Please. Everyone makes mistakes. I promise it won’t be the last one in the coffee shop today.”
“Echo is right. We have people spilling all the time,” Rainey pointed out.
Noah pulled away and grabbed Frankie’s hand. “Let’s go out and see the other Littles, and then you can make a decision. Sound okay?”
Frankie pouted but nodded her agreement. The four of them walked back into the main room and straight toward the tablethey had been sitting at. No one looked at them, and Noah was thankful. Frankie would have bolted if everyone were looking at her.
“Frankie!” Monroe announced. “Come sit by me again. We are going to be best friends.”
Frankie gripped his hand tighter, staying silent.
“Excuse me?” An older lady stopped them. “Young lady?”
Frankie and Noah turned to see the woman looking at Frankie. Noah was on alert, waiting to defend Frankie if she needed it.
“I used to be the same way you are, hands tremoring and worried people were looking at me all the time. Worried I was going to spill anything I picked up or break it,” the older lady started. “But at some point, you just have to let it go and not care or worry about it. Life goes on, and you have to enjoy it. Everyone makes messes in this world. You aren’t the first, and you aren’t going to be the last, either. So don’t worry about it. Live your life instead of watching it go by.”
Everyone was quiet. Noah wasn’t expecting her to say something like that.
“Umm,” Frankie whispered.
“Here is my phone number. I’ve gone through exactly what you are going through. If you want to talk, call me.” The older lady handed a piece of paper to Frankie. “And make sure to keep your Daddy close. He’s even invited if you want to bring him along.” She winked at Frankie before walking away.
CHAPTER 17
FRANKIE
Frankie stared at the space that the older lady had been standing in, holding the piece of paper with her number on. Her mind was blank as she tried to think of something, but she was in shock. Frankie was prepared for the older lady to give her a scolding on spilling the tea all over the table and running away.
“I,” she whispered, but stopped herself.
Frankie looked up at Daddy and held the piece of paper up.
“Do you want me to hold onto that until you are ready to call her?” he asked.
She nodded. Frankie would lose it if she kept it on her.
“We don’t care that you spilled your drink,” a different customer chimed in. “The Littles spill their drinks all the time when they come here. We are used to it.”
She looked to her right and saw an older man smiling at her.
“See?” Another younger male gained her attention.
Right as Frankie looked over, she saw him knocking over his cup, the little liquid he had in there pouring all over the table. Gasping, her hand flew up to her mouth as she watched. What were they doing?
The whole coffee shop was silent as the coffee continued to run off the table and onto the ground.
“Oops,” a young woman said as her cup fell over. She looked right at Frankie and giggled.
Frankie couldn’t help but giggle with her and gazed around the coffee shop to see two other people ‘accidentally’ spill their drinks as well.
“See, you spilling your drink earlier wasn’t a big deal. Everyone does it,” Daddy said, shaking his head.
