Chapter 13
FRANKIE
Frankie looked out the window at people were walking on the sidewalk.
It was a beautiful day to go on a walk, but she was inside.
It had been a week since Echo and Rainey were over.
After Deccan had scared her, she had found herself on the couch, clutching Lita to her chest and breathing super hard.
She hadn’t gone outside like the other girls wanted, but they reassured her that it didn’t matter. Then had they told her that the other Littles wanted to meet her badly.
“Are you ready to go to the club?” Daddy asked as he walked into the room and eyed her. “Are you okay?”
Frankie sighed and nodded.
“Frankie.” He gave her a pointed look. “What’s wrong?”
She shrugged. There was a lot wrong, and she wasn’t able to fix any of it. Or at least fix it in the time she wanted to make it right.
“You know we don’t just shrug our shoulders.” Daddy raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong?”
“Just frustrated,” she mumbled.
“About?”
“Everything. Why I got spooked when Deccan said something as we were trying to get me to put a toe outside.” She threw up her arms.
Why was it so hard for her to touch the ground outside? She had left several times for the club with Daddy.
But he had carried her.
So technically she hadn’t actually touched outside and was only in buildings. It was a big difference, and Frankie didn’t know why it was such a big deal.
“He caught you off guard. It’s okay. Rainey also got a little scared,” Daddy calmly replied.
“But I ran back inside, and they had to follow and apologize,” she pointed out.
“Yes, they did, but it’s okay. Deccan didn’t mean to scare you, and he felt bad.
I know you don’t know him that well. I don’t know him well either, but the other Daddies say he has a soft spot for Littles and would do anything for you.
” Daddy knelt in front of her. “They aren’t going to be there when we go to the club.
They are all busy, so it will just be the other owners and the regular staff who are there before opening. ”
That wasn’t a problem for Frankie. Well, it was with the people who she hadn’t seen yet, but they all kept to themselves whenever Frankie and Daddy were in the club.
Which made Frankie feel a little worse that they were having to change how things were done when she was there.
“Are you ready to go?” Daddy asked again.
“Yes,” she whispered.
Daddy helped her stand and wrapped her soft pink blanket around her. She wanted to tell him she could walk out to the car by herself, but she didn’t think she was actually strong enough for that. It was a different beast, and right now, she was completely drained and needed to be loved.
Carefully, Daddy picked her up and walked to the garage, placing her in the car before buckling her up.
“So precious,” Daddy whispered.
Frankie didn’t always feel precious, though. Daddy always told her she was, but she felt more like a burden right now.
“Frankie.” Daddy took her hand after he got into the car. “I want you to know that I’m not disappointed in you. I want you to know that even when you aren’t feeling like you are precious, you are to me. Not a day goes by that I don’t thank God that you came into my life. You are my everything.”
Tears pooled in her eyes as she stared at Daddy. “How do you know what to always say at the right moment?”
Daddy cupped her face, wiping away the tears with his thumb. “It’s written all over your face. I know you.”
Frankie sighed. Daddy let go of her and turned on the engine. She relaxed in her seat and zoned out as he drove to the club. She did this every single time they went to the club. Frankie didn’t really want to see outside and see everything she had been missing out on.
“We’re here, Little One.” Daddy gently touched her shoulder.
A soft smile found its way onto her face as he called her the nickname. It never ceased to make her smile whenever he called her something so sweet.
“I’ll come around and pick you up,” Daddy said before he got out of the car.
Frankie opened her mouth as he let her out, getting ready to tell him she wanted to walk over there, but she stopped herself.
“Yes, Little One?” He cocked his head to the side.
“Nothing,” she mumbled.
Maybe next time they went to the club, she could walk out to the car. Daddy picked her up and walked into the club and straight to his office.
“I need to go meet with Michael and Finn, but I’ll be back soon. If you need anything, you text me and I’ll come straight there,” Daddy told her.
She nodded. It was the same deal every time they came to the club.
She didn’t know why he kept telling her it every single time.
Okay, that was a lie. The first time, she hadn’t heard her phone when Dominic came into the office.
And the second time, she had ventured out to the kitchen, but she did have her phone on her, and Daddy didn’t say anything to her then.
“Tell me you understand.” Daddy raised an eyebrow.
“I understand and will call you if I need anything,” she replied.
“Good girl.” He kissed her on the lips before pulling away. “I’ll be back soon.”
Daddy walked out of the office, and Frankie sank into the couch. What was she going to do while he was gone? She had forgotten to grab her coloring books before they left. She could go downstairs to get some, but then she ran the risk of other people seeing her.
But Frankie was curious about the club. Had it all stayed the same since she left or had they added and changed things?
Knowing people knew she was in the building and were going to stay in their respective places, Frankie picked up Lita and dropped her blanket on the couch. She was going to explore. No one would bother her if they saw her.
No one was going to see her.
Daddy always told everyone when they were coming and to keep away from his office and not to wander.
She was safe.
With that thought, Frankie walked to the door and took a deep breath before opening it. She was going to do this. She was not going to back out. First, she was going to go somewhere familiar. Down the stairs and straight toward the kitchen.
Frankie gripped the railing as she walked down the stairs. If one of the owners told her Daddy, she wanted to make sure she was safe so she didn’t get a spanking for it. She didn’t want to end up over his lap.
Looking right and then left, she let her shoulders relax when she didn’t see anyone walking in the hallways.
She took a left this time, heading straight into the main room where all the Littles played.
The wall was lined with different boxes filled with toys, and there were a couple tables for coloring.
Frankie couldn’t remember if they had all of that when she was working there. She hadn’t paid much attention to them since she couldn’t play with them. She didn’t want the temptation back then to come and play and get distracted.
No.
But now she could come here and play all she wanted. Unless there were other people in here.
“What are you doing in here?” Dominic asked as he walked over to her. “Let’s get you back to the office where you are safe.”
Safe? What was he talking about?
Before she could say anything, Dominic picked her up and walked all the way back to Daddy’s office before placing her on the couch.
“Are you okay?” Dominic asked, looking over her body. “What were you doing out there? Did someone try to lure you out there again like I did with the cookie?”
Frankie shook her head. “I wanted to explore.”
“Tell me who it was, and I will…You wanted to what?” He cocked his head to the side. “What did you just say?”
“I wanted to explore the club and see what has changed. Am I not allowed to do that?” she asked. “I promise I won’t do it again.”
Dominic grabbed her hands and gave them a squeeze. “I wasn’t expecting you to say that. I was worried someone had tried to lure you out of the office with cookies again.”
Giggling, she relaxed into the couch. “I’m okay.”
Dominic took a deep breath and let go of her hands. “You just wanted to look around?” he asked.
She nodded. “I wanted to see what was different since I was last here. I have only been in Daddy’s office or the kitchen, which have not changed one bit.”
“They haven’t. Not much has changed since you left. The doors have been improved, and there are several new faces, but everything else is the same,” Dominic replied. “Are you sure no one was trying to get you out of the office? If it was someone new, you can tell me, and I’ll talk to them myself.”
She shook her head. “No one tried anything. You were the first person I saw.”
Did Daddy tell everyone else she hadn’t seen in person to take the day off? She figured the club would be busy trying to get things ready for when they opened, but it wasn’t.
“Okay. If that changes, you let me know,” Dominic said.
Frankie chuckled. “I promise.”
“What’s wrong?” Daddy asked as he walked into the office.
“Dominic is just panicking a little.” Frankie giggled.
“About?”
“I saw her out in the main room and thought someone had tried to lure her out of the office, so I took her back here and was making sure she was okay,” Dominic replied. “Everything is okay, though. She wanted to explore.”
Daddy looked at her with wide eyes. “You wanted to explore?”
Frankie nodded. It wasn’t like her to want to do it, but she was trying to push herself a little.
“Are you feeling okay?” Daddy asked.
Both Dominic and Daddy looked at her, searching her face for answers.
“I’m okay,” she whispered, looking between both of them.
Why were they looking at her so weirdly?
“Are you sure?” Dominic asked.
“I just wanted to explore the club and see what has changed and what hasn’t. Is there something wrong with that? I know I don’t like going out, but I figured I was safe here, but am I not?” she asked. “Am I not allowed to go walk around and see things?”
Frankie was starting to second-guess herself. Daddy hadn’t told her she couldn’t go walk around, but he hadn’t said anything either. Was Frankie in the wrong?
“You are safe here, and you are okay to walk around,” Daddy replied. “I just didn’t think you would want to.”
“Okay.” She looked down at her hands.
“Little One,” Daddy gently said as he walked over to her, sitting next to her. “You are okay to walk around. I don’t ever want to tell you that you can’t. It is safe for you to explore and walk around. I just want to make sure that you are okay.”
“I feel safe,” she reiterated. “I feel really safe.”
“Then you can walk around all you want.” Daddy brought her into his side.
“Next time, I won’t freak out and pick you up.” Dominic chuckled. “Sorry about that. I just didn’t hear anything from you or your Daddy that you were going to walk around and thought the worst.”
“It’s okay.” She gave him a smile.
“I need to go back to work, but if you need anything, you text me.” Daddy kissed her forehead and got up.
Dominic stood as well and walked over to the door. “I have several things that need to get done, but if you want to hang out with me, you can. I’ll be by the entrance.”
“Okay,” she replied to both of them as they walked out of the room.
Frankie looked at Lita for several seconds, letting her mind settle around everything that had happened.
“They must think I’m crazy.” Frankie spoke to Lita. “Do you think I’m crazy?”
Lita didn’t respond, though.
Typical.
Lita seemed not to be responding to her more and more recently. Had she done something to Lita that she couldn’t remember?
Frankie knew she was a stuffed animal, but Lita had been with her for a long time, and they did everything together. Frankie’s stomach grumbled, and she wrapped an arm around her stomach.
“I guess I worked up an appetite with everything that just happened,” she mumbled and looked at the door.
Would she be able to walk out again without being seen? Would Daddy get worried and try to find her?
Frankie pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind as she grabbed Lita and walked out of the office. She needed to get food, or else her stomach was going to start eating her, and that wasn’t going to be good.
It didn’t take her long to reach the kitchen.
She stopped at the entrance, looking in to see Trent all alone in his kitchen as he prepped snacks for the Littles.
That was one thing she missed about working here.
Before she left, Frankie had gained several pounds because Trent was feeding her all the time. She wasn’t complaining, though.
“Trent?” she hesitantly asked as she walked farther into the kitchen.
He turned around with wide eyes. “Frankie. What can I do for you? Are you okay?”
She nodded. “I was…” She took a deep breath. “I am hungry.”
“Oh, perfect!” Trent exclaimed. “Sit down where you normally sit, and I’ll get you some food.” ,
Frankie did what he said and looked around the kitchen as he got some chicken nuggies out of the fridge.
“Do you want the same as I used to give you or a little more or less?” Trent asked. “Do you want a salad with it or just nuggies?”
“The same. Just nuggies with ketchup, please,” she replied. “Nothing has changed in the kitchen since I left.”
“It hasn’t,” he replied as he put the food in the oven. “I didn’t want to change anything. Just in case you ever came back and wanted to eat again. I wanted it to look the same so you knew you always had a place in the kitchen.”
Her mouth fell open as she looked at him. Frankie was not expecting him to say tha.
“I know. Several of the owners asked me if I wanted any upgrades, and while I have upgraded the appliances, I wanted everything else to stay the same so you knew you always had a spot in my kitchen to come sit, eat, and talk.” Trent shrugged as he pulled the nuggies out of the kitchen.
Tears pooled in her eyes and ran down her face as he set the plate in front of her.
“Oh, Frankie. I didn’t mean to make you cry.” Trent handed her a napkin. “Please don’t cry.”
“That was so sweet,” she whispered, wiping away the tears.
Frankie looked down at the plate in front of her and took a deep breath. He was really playing with her heartstrings right now.
“Several people thought I was crazy and thought you weren’t going to come back, but I was holding on to the hope that you were going to.
I knew you would eventually, even if it took twenty years.
The layout wasn’t going to change,” Trent replied.
“But enough with that. You are here, and you need to eat. I can hear your tummy monster yelling to eat. If I don’t feed it, it’s going to start eating you. ”
Her cheeks heated as she wrapped an arm around her stomach. She hadn’t even heard her stomach grumble again. How embarrassing!
“Any time you want food and are here, you know where to find me. I always have nuggies ready to be put in the oven,” Trent told her. “Just like before. You are always welcome here, Frankie.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“Now, eat up.”