Little Red

TWENTY THREE

"Ow!! Lighten up on the alcohol, will you, Mr.B?!"

The pig in question sighed as he pulled the cotton swab away from his goddaughter's cheek and said, "I wouldn't have to be doing this if you would learn to keep your hands to yourself, Dani Dear."

Dani huffed and said, "How many times do I have to tell you that she started it?! Was I not supposed to defend myself?!"

"I don't care who started it, Dani. All I care about is the fact that I caught my goddaughter engaging in things I'd thought she'd long grown up from," Mr.B said, which caused Dani to look away from him in shame.

Greta shook her head from her spot against the door as she said, "Seriously, D. What happened?... And why wasn't I there to witness it?!"

At the look she received from her boss, Greta cleared her throat before she then said, "I mean...Shame on you, Daniella Janine!! No starting fights in the parking lot with my ex-girlfriend!...No matter how much she deserved it!"

Dani snorted as Mr.B shook his head with a sigh.

"Tell me what happened, Dani dear," he softly said. "Because what I saw out there? Wasn't the little girl I helped take care of. And quite frankly? I don't think I'd like it too much if I saw it again."

A small frown curved on Dani's lips as her shoulders sunk, and she looked away from him again.

Noticing the change in atmosphere, Greta quietly said, "I'm going to give you guys a minute," and left the room.

Dani sighed once the door was closed. "She accused me of being a bad friend to Greta," she said. "And I don't know...I guess I just lost it...But you don't understand, Mr.B. She's always been so horrible to me when I've never done anything to her. Why should I always have to stay playing nice when she doesn't? I don't think that's really fair."

Mr.B chuckled softly as he got up from his knee to sit down beside his goddaughter on the bench and pull the girl into a side hug. "No, it's not really fair, is it Dani dear?" he asked. "But you can't keep letting what she says get to you like it does. That's not the person you were raised to be, and you know it."

"Yeah, I do," Dani said and shook her head. "But she's so awful. I understand what she's been through, and I feel sorry that she had to go through it, but that isn't an excuse for her to be as horrible a person as she is...I mean...look at me and my situation. I have a whole wolf that's been trying to eat me since I was ten, but you don't see me starting fights with the townsfolk unprovoked."

"We don't see you doing that, do we?" Mr.B asked with another chuckle. "What'd she say to you, sweetheart? Because with the way I saw you going out there, there's no way you two would've stopped if Mother Bear and I hadn't seen you. And that's just not the Dani I know you to be."

"I-...She-..." Dani sighed as the tears threatened to fall again, "She accused me of taking Greta's friendship for granted because I didn't know that the facility was threatening to keep Hans away from her."

"What?" Mr.B asked with furrowed brows. "I mean, they were, but I've long helped fix that out. And the only reason Greta didn't tell you was because we both agreed that the timing wasn't right since it had happened right after Henry's attack on you."

"You...You did?" Dani asked. "That's amazing! So, they're not going to keep them away from each other?!"

Mr.B shook his head and said, "No, no. There are no more worries about that. And there shouldn't be any worries about the meaning of Greta's friendship to you."