Chapter 15
FRANKIE
Frankie had been sitting in Daddy’s car for the past five minutes, staring at Rainey’s coffee shop. Was she really going to go in there without him to meet the other girls? Was she really considering going out in public?
She was.
The other girls had talked to her about meeting at Rainey’s coffee shop since it was a relaxed, cozy place. Rainey had said not to worry about anything and that they had a table in the corner of the coffee shop where people won’t be able to look at them.
A nice, quiet place to sit and talk with her new friends.
Frankie couldn’t help but smile. She never thought she was going to have friends, and yet here were several other Littles who were excited to meet her and be her friends.
“Are you ready to go in?” Daddy asked.
Frankie took a deep breath and looked at him. Was she ready
No.
“Take a deep breath.” Daddy grabbed her hands and gave them a squeeze. “Hold it and slowly let it out. Good girl. Now do it again.”
She felt herself slowly starting to calm down as she breathed with him.
“I’ll be right out here,” Daddy informed her. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Knowing that helped ease some of her worry, but she still couldn’t help but feel the nerves run through her body like a freight train getting ready to hit her.
“Everything is going to be okay. None of them will let anything happen.” Daddy gently spoke. “They already love you, and you are part of their group. They take care of people who are in their group.”
Frankie didn’t know how she had made it into their group already when she had only met two of them. But Daddy kept reminding her of that, and so did Echo.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Frankie screamed as she turned toward the window to see Echo standing in front of the window, her face super close.
“Are you going to continue to sit in there, or are you going to come in and meet the rest of us?” Echo shouted through the glass.
“You’ve got this,” Daddy gently said. “I’ll be right here.”
Before Frankie could respond to anyone, Echo opened the door and pulled her out of the car.
“Everyone is so excited to meet you!” Echo jumped up and down. “Come on. We need to go in there. Rainey is going to take your order on what you want to drink, and then she’ll be back to sit with us.”
She turned around to look at Daddy, and all he did was smile and give her a thumbs-up.
“Come on,” Echo said again, impatiently. “I can’t wait for everyone to meet you and get to know you. They are going to love you.”
Echo dragged her into the coffee shop and to the back right corner, where several girls were sitting. They all turned around as they stood in front of two empty seats.
“Guys, this is Frankie,” Echo introduced her. “Frankie, this is Hedda, Charlotte, Monroe, Sofia, Elsha, Janie, Monty, and Alice. All of them are somehow related to the club. Some of them work at the club, and some of them have Daddies who work there.”
“Hi,” Frankie whispered.
“It’s so nice to meet you!” Charlotte squealed. “I have been wanting to meet you since I first saw you on Halloween.”
Frankie opened and closed her mouth several times, not knowing what to say in this moment. How was she supposed to respond? While Frankie was curious about them back then, she didn’t want to meet them.
“Sit!” Monroe patted the chair next to her.
“What do you want to drink?” Rainey asked as she sat several drinks in front of the girls.
“Tea, please,” she replied. “Do you have decaf tea?”
“We do. Do you want milk and sugar?” Rainey stood right next to her. “It’s also so nice to see you again.”
“Just sugar.” Frankie smiled.
Rainey walked off, and Frankie turned to look at every girl at the table. Silence filled the air around them, and Frankie didn’t know what to say.
“How long have you been with your Daddy?” Monroe asked. “I’ve been with Daddy for about a year now. I can’t believe it’s been a year, but it’s the best thing ever.”
“Four years,” Frankie replied. “I worked at the club almost four years ago, but I stopped about six months after that.”
She looked around the room. Several customers were sitting at different tables, working on whatever they brought with them, but none of them were staring at her. Her shoulders relaxed a little as she brought her attention back to the girls.
“I worked at the club as well!” Sofia exclaimed. “I tried so hard to keep to myself, but Daddy had other plans. I thought he was just being nice since he was my manager, but everyone else told me he was interested in me.”
“She got in trouble so much.” Charlotte giggled. “Her walking from her apartment to the club at night is a big no-no. So if any of you ever think of doing it, don’t. You don’t want to end up over someone’s lap.”
“I did do that, but I didn’t have enough money to pay for a cab every night,” Sofia explained.
“That’s why you tell someone so they can drive you home.” Monroe gave her a knowing look.
“You know I couldn’t do that. I didn’t live in a good part of town,” Sofia replied. “I didn’t want anyone to take pity on me and move me into their house or pay for an apartment that I couldn’t afford. I was getting there very slowly.”
“By skipping meals and working any hours you could get to save up money,” Charlotte mumbled. “Lesson learned. We aren’t going to do it again.”
They fell into silence again as they all took a drink of their beverages.
“Here is your tea.” Rainey placed a cup in front of her. “Does anyone need anything before I sit down with you guys?”
A resounding no came from around the table.
“Good. I was really hoping to rest for a little while. Levi has wanted to be held all the time and won’t let me sit down much. Thankfully, Daddy has him right now.” Rainey sighed as she sat next to Frankie.
She looked at the drink in front of her and then at her hands. The cup was in a mug, and she could easily spill it with how shaky her hands were. How was she going to drink? Maybe she should have asked to have a to-go cup so she was less likely to spill, but it was too late now.
“You can do it,” Monroe whispered. “Echo and Rainey told me everything. No one is going to judge you if you spill a little. Heck, several of us spill stuff every single time we are here.”
It didn’t make her feel any better. But Frankie grabbed the cup with both hands and slowly took a small sip before placing it back on the table.
“What do you like to do in your free time?” Elsha asked.
Elsha. Why did her name sound so similar? She couldn’t possibly be the girl Dominic talked about all those years ago, could she? No.
“Eat nuggies when I’m at the club. Trent makes them for me,” Frankie replied. “I like to color.”
It was pretty sad that the list of things was so small, but she hadn’t been outside in forever.
“Wait.” Monroe held up her hand. “Trent makes you nuggies?”
Frankie’s eyes went wide as she looked at Monroe and then the other girls. “Y-yes?” she hesitantly replied.
“He doesn’t make me nuggies when I visit the club.” Monroe pouted. “But I guess I can forgive him for that. Maybe I’ll just beg and remind him that he makes you some.”
Frankie figured Trent did that for everyone. Should she feel special now?
“Trent must really like you if you get nuggies from him. I didn’t even know we had them at the club.” Hedda giggled. “Now I get to bug him about it.”
“I didn’t know,” she whispered.
Everyone’s eyes turned to her, and they all giggled.
“It’s nothing against you. Promise. Trent is just particular in who can go into the kitchen and who can get foo,” Charlotte explained. “Now we can give him a hard time for only giving you nuggies.”
“Oh,” she whispered.
Frankie’s shoulders relaxed as she slumped into her chair. Hopefully, Trent wouldn’t get her in trouble or withhold chicken nuggies when she saw him. How depressing would that be?
“When are you going to be at the club next?” Sofia asked. “Maybe we can all show up at the same time and hang out in the Littles’ room and color or play while our Daddies work.”
As she reached for her cup, Frankie opened her mouth as her hand connected with her mug, knocking it over. Tea spilled all over the table. Her eyes were wide as she stared at the table.
“Oh no,” she whispered and stood abruptly.
Frankie ran out of the coffee shop and straight to Daddy’s car, but as she stood out there searching the driver’s side, she realized Daddy wasn’t there.
Shit.
Where was Daddy?
Looking right and left, she tried to find him, but to no avail. Frankie turned and ran back into the coffee shop.
“Frankie!” some of the girls yelled, but she didn’t pay any attention to them.
She ran straight toward the bathroom, opening and shutting the door quickly, locking it.
“Frankie, you’re okay,” Monroe whispered. “Can you come out for us?”
Frankie kept quiet, though, as she leaned up against the wall, taking a deep breath. How could she have done that?