Daddy's Searching

“N-no. Thank you.” Cursing herself for screwing everything up with a flippant answer, Belinda looked down at the dish in front of her. She’d just ruined everything.

The waiter removed her plate to box up the leftovers. Belinda knew she’d never eat them. Her heart was sick. How could she be so stupid? Trying to maintain her composure, she blinked away the tears that gathered in her eyes.

“Little girl, look at me.”

Not quite in control of herself, Belinda held up a finger to ask him to wait as she dug in her purse for something important to buy herself some time. Finally, she pulled out her lip balm and rolled it over her lips before looking up at him. It gave her just a few seconds to compose her expression.

“Are you ready to go?” she asked, striving to keep her voice light and cheery.

“We’ll be ready in a minute. The server is settling our bill. You are upset because I corrected your use of Daddy?”

“I’m not upset,” she denied.

“That would be rule number two. No lying.”

“All these rules and I’ve already messed everything up. I’ll call for a ride home. I’m sorry. I hope we can work together professionally without allowing this to derail us.” Belinda spoke quickly as she pulled out her phone to search for the ride share app she always used.

His hand covered her screen. “I will take you home, Belinda. Whatever happens between us, I will not allow it to affect our work interactions. This is going to be okay, Little girl. I promise.”