Page 143 of Daddy's Pride
Isla
Littles Market by the Sea- A Sapphic Dirty Daddies Romance
Ellie Rose
Chapter One
Five missed calls.
Isla snuck a glance at her phone, eyebrow raised. What on earth did Rachel want? Her best friend knew that she was at work, and Isla was sure that she wouldn’t call this many times unless it was important.
She smiled an apology to her client and answered when the phone inevitably rang again.
“Rachel? Is everything alright?”
“Isla!” Her best friend’s voice sounded higher pitched than usual, breathier, like she was slipping into Littlespace.
Rachel was adorable when she was in Littlespace, if chaotic.
“Yes, Rachel?”
“I did a thing!”
“You did a thing?”
There was silence on the other end of the phone, and Isla knew—she just knew—that Rachel had forgotten that this was a phone call and that Isla couldn’t see her nod.
She sent an apologetic smile to the woman in front of her, some celebrity’s PA who was trying to discreetly organize for her client’s stuffie to be repaired. Stuffie Hospital London was known in certain circles for being the place that Littles on the downlow could get their bears repaired, without even a whisper affecting their reputation.
It meant that as much as she wanted to talk to Rachel, because she always wanted to talk to Rachel, now probably wasn’t quite the right moment.
“Rach, why don’t you come over at twelve? We can have lunch and talk business at the same time.”
Rachel, who was more than used to Isla’s business talk, immediately cottoned on. “Oh butterscotch, you have a client with you? No worries, I’ll swing by then. Love you Isla!” And the call cut off.
Isla smiled. “Thank you for your patience; clients call to check in with us all the time, and our availability is one of the things that sets us apart.”
The PA nodded, looking impressed, and Isla gave an internal sigh of relief.
After her meeting ended, Isla popped her head round Susie’s office door to let her know how it went. Susie might be Stuffie Hospital London’s CEO, but she loathed having to do any of the celebrity cajoling.
“All good; they’re going to let us know dates, and they’re going to want to come and see the site first, before they’re okay with their stuffie staying overnight.”
Susie nodded, but Isla could tell that she wasn’t entirely listening.
“Hey, you okay?”
Blinking, the redhead looked up at her. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine.” She didn’t sound fine. She sounded tired and sad and… was that a Little tone creeping into her voice? Isla had noticed that Susie had been getting quieter and quieter recently, as if all the stresses of the business were beginning to overwhelm her.
“Rachel’s coming over for lunch. Apparently, she’s done a thing… Do you want to join us?”
“No no, I’ve got tons to do, and I…”
Isla raised her eyebrows. “You still have to eat, Susie.”
Susie sighed a little huffily. “Fine. I’ll lunch.”
There was a long pause in which both of them very pointedly did not look at each other. Then there was a quiet, “I’m sorry Isla, I’m a bit stressed.”