Chapter 8
Frank had been standing across the street from Karen’s building for a good forty five minutes. It was torture, every few minutes he would change his mind- he shouldn’t be here! No- he should stay to make sure they make it home safe!
God this was stupid, Karen would be fine she could make it home herself. He was about to leave when he saw her; walking down the street holding a folded up stroller in one arm, and the hand of a little girl in the other.
Sophie looked better since the last time he saw her, the bruises that were there last week were no longer a dark purple and blue. Now they were a greenish yellow, she was still adorable but those bruises shouldn’t be there. Something that felt like a string attached to his body pulled him forward walking across the street towards them.
Karen still hadn’t noticed him, she would have to be more vigilant about her surroundings- Frank would make sure to tell her to.
It was Sophie that spotted him first, and ran towards him dragging Karen behind her.
Frank bent down towards her before ruffling her messy blonde hair, “Hey kiddo!”
Her little face was beaming up at him, looking at her savior who was miraculously standing before her, “Hi….”
“You stayed?”
“Yeah, I figured I’d want to know if she came home with you. So…”
“Well, do you wanna come up? We have to drop off the stroller and her backpack.” Karen was fishing for her keys that somehow always ended up being in the deepest part of the endless pit called her purse.
“Nah, I’ll stay down here and wait.”
“With the dog? You don’t want to put him inside?”
Frank chuckled at that, knowing how his dog was when left alone in a place he didn’t know. “I don’t think that would be a very good idea, he’s not very good at being alone. It’d be better if he came with us to go shopping.”
Finally she found the blasted keys, “Okay, that’s fine. Soph you ready?”
They both looked down at the girl in question to see she was infatuated by the roughed up dog that sat at Frank’s feet.
“I wanna stay with the dog…” She spoke so softly, like she was afraid if she said something they didn’t like she’d get a slap across the face. And it broke Karen’s heart to see this cute little girl like that, she didn’t want to say no to the first thing she had asked for. In her mind it was making progress- Karen didn’t want Sophie to be afraid to speak her mind, to ask for something she wanted.
She wanted Sophie to be strong, despite everything she’s been through.
“Okay you can stay out here, I’ll just be a minute. As long as it’s okay with you Frank?”
Both the girls looked at him as she asked, and he didn’t know how he could have said no now, so he just nodded his head.
Karen smiled, “Okay great! But Soph you have to promise to listen to Frank, and do whatever he says, okay?”
“Okay, I will.”
“Good, I’ll be right back!” With that she booked it into the building leaving Sophie, Frank, and the dog.
“How you been sweetheart?” Frank wasn’t sure how to talk to her, he hadn’t really hung out with kids her age for at least five or six years, and he was a bit rusty.
“Good.” The girl was obviously shy, despite him being her savior- Frank was a bit intimidating in the light of day.
“Good…”
She sat on the floor next to the dog, petting him up and down his head and neck- the dog was reveling in the little girls attention.
“What’s your dog's name?”
“He doesn’t really have a name. You can call him whatever you want sweetie.” She smiled up at him before a crinkle in her forehead made her look like she was solving the meaning of life.
“What you thinking so hard about?”
“His name. It’s gotta be a good one.”
She was still thinking about when Karen came rushing out, “You guys ready to go?”
Frank nodded but Sophie looked up at the two adults with her, “Can I hold the leash Kare?”
“Umm I don’t know, what do you think Frank?”
He looked down at her little blue eyes that held so much hope in them he couldn’t say no, so he just nodded before standing in front of the dog and looking into its eyes. He was a smart dog, he would understand.
“Be a good boy, got it?” The dog obviously didn’t answer but Frank knew he wouldn’t pull too hard on the girl, so he handed the girl the leash.
The walk to the store was filled by a comfortable silence, both Karen and Frank equally amused by Sophie’s fascination with Franks dog. She patiently waited for him when he went to sniff a tree, constantly praised him for being a ‘good boy’ and holding onto the leash like her life depended on it.
They got to the little boutique and Frank decided to wait outside with the dog while the girls chose the bed she would be using. Spotting a cart across the street he decided to buy two coffees and a hot chocolate for when the girls finished their shopping, then he went to sit on the bench to wait. Fully expecting it to be another twenty to thirty minutes before they came out he was surprised to see them walking out a few minutes later.
“Hey, you guys already choose something?”
Karen’s face was red and if she were a cartoon there would be steam coming out of her ears, “No, we didn’t find anything. Not the kind of place we want to shop, and not the kind of people we want to buy from!”
He handed her the coffee before giving the hot chocolate to Sophie, “What happened?”
This time it was Sophie who answered, “They were being mean. They were laughing and talking about the stuff on my face…”
“The bruises. And they weren’t even being subtle about it, just openly pointing and laughing at a little girl. So I decided we would take our business elsewhere. How do you feel about Target?” She huffed.
He could easily see how much this affected Karen, and it made his heart beat a little faster for some unknown reason, so he just nodded at her in agreement.
“It’s okay Soph, those old ladies don’t know what they’re talking about, besides Target has a lot more cool stuff we can look at anyway.”
The little girl nodded at Karen as she sipped her sweet drink, “Can I hold the leash again?”
“Of course little lady.” Frank smiled at her as he handed the dog over to the hand that wasn’t holding the drink.
Shopping at Target had been a lot longer of an experience than he thought it would be, seeing as how he said he would come in with them this time. He was about to tie up the dog to a post outside when he looked over to the girls and saw the same look on both their faces.
“Are you sure we should leave him outside, Frank?” Karen obviously didn’t like the idea.
“Yeah, he won’t go anywhere.”
“I don’t know it’s kinda cold. Just bring him in with us.”
“Yeah, he’ll get cold out here all alone!” Sophie had the crinkle between her brows yet again, and it would have been comical to see the same exact look on both the smaller and larger version if it weren’t scolding him.
“Fine. Fine, we’ll bring him in, but I have to hold the leash in there, okay Sophie?”
Her small face lit up, “Okay let's go!”
They ended up buying a daybed and would have to have it shipped to her apartment later today or early tomorrow, they got a few toys for Soph, Karen insisted on buying a bunch of new clothes.
‘Oh isn’t this cute Frank?’
‘We have to get this- Soph let’s see if this fits’
He was starting to get bored of just walking around with a tight hold on the dog beside him, just looking up and down the aisle, so they decided to give him a mission to get him off their backs.
“Frank would you go over there and ask that guy over there where to find sheets for a kids daybed?”
“Sure. Sure.”
“Make sure they’re cute.”
“Will do.”
“I like yellow.” It was Sophie giving him orders now, and he had to admit she was damn cute doing it.
“Okay kiddo.”
When he asked the kid where the sheets were, the pimply faced teen was so scared of the dog Frank didn’t even have to worry the kid would recognize him.
He was heading towards the sheet section looking for anything with a little yellow in it when he got a text.
‘What size is your dog? Like for a Halloween costume or something? -k’
Oh god, what were they getting? He spotted the color he wanted in a box and immediately grabbed it, rushing off to get the girls before they chose a costume for his dog and made him into something totally crazy.
Paying for everything and the shipping for the bed gave him many bags that he happily agreed to carry back to her apartment.
When they finally made it in, it was just as new of an environment to Sophie as it felt to Frank- unfamiliar but not bad. The only one who seemed totally at ease besides Karen was the dog, who instantly walked off to the couch before settling in.
“Want to stay for dinner, Frank?”
He looked at her in disbelief, “And what can you cook Paige? Takeout?”
She playfully smacked his arm, “I’ll have you know I can make a mean Mac N Cheese, one of the few things I actually can cook, but I’m learning. YouTube and Pinterest can be very helpful.”
He laughed before agreeing to stay and walked over to where Soph was going through the bags.
“Are these the sheets you chose?”
He panicked, “Umm Yeah, I hope they’re okay?”
The sheets were mainly white with little yellow ducks all over the sheet.
“They’re perfect. I think I know what I want to calm your dog.”
He smiled at the adorable little girl, “Okay let me hear it.”
“I think I’ll call him Duckie. Is that okay?” She looked at him for approval and he was a sucker who would agree to any name she wanted.
“Yeah that sounds pretty good.”