Chapter Text
* August *
*
"DA-DDYY!?"
Gwen flinches at the high-pitched cry and almost drops an armful of hangers at her feet. She catches herself just in time and positions her load on the nearest work station as she hears another call.
"DAA-DYYY!"
Gwen scrutinizes her surrounding. She couldn't see anyone fitting the sound. An older lady looking for a scarf was slowing making her way to the cashier's, while the voices of teenage girls came out of the dressing rooms, giggling and bantering every so often.
Halfway ready to dismiss her concern, Gwen seizes the momentary lull in customers and zones in on the still unsorted piles of clothes in her section. Their missing back-up order finally got delivered this morning but her new colleague hadn't thought beyond getting rid of the boxes, leaving their contents carelessly strewn about. Gwen smirks at the challenge. Organizing and tagging each outfit for display is exactly her forte, allowing her a premium chance to inspect and internally catalog each piece of clothing and where it would be going. She would be missing this part of her job.
"DA-DDY!! DA-AA-DY!!"
An insistent row of desperate sobs now pierces the area and pulls her out of her mind.
"DADDYY!!!"
Alarmed, Gwen abandons everything and follows the frantic calls through the aisles. She would know every corner of the story in the dark, but they're fully stocked, with new fall styles in full display next to summer sales, so even Gwen needs longer to find where she's going. At last, behind one hidden counter, she finds a small girl, frozen on the spot, teary blue eyes searching around in panic.
Instinctively, Gwen kneels down and softens her tone.
"Hey there. Hey sweetie. Are you okay? Is that you looking for you daddy?"
The girl couldn't be more than four or five years old. She was breathing heavily, tension visible all through her posture.
"It's alright. I'm here to help, okay?"
The girl takes a step backwards and Gwen stills in response before she shifts back as well. Then she tries to put a trusting smile to her voice.
"I'm a stranger, I know. It's really good to be careful."
Quickly thinking on her feet, Gwen points to the rectangular sign attached to the pocket of her blouse.
"You see my tag?"
The girl minimally shifts her head up and down.
"It means I work here. So it's my job to help when someone gets lost, right?"
She is rewarded with another fearful nod.
"My name's Gwen, sweetie." She pauses. "Will you tell me yours?"
The girl regards her with hesitant eyes before she's ready to decide.
"Pearl," finally comes a whisper from her as she hugs her arms around her middle and Gwen cannot help but smile.
"That's beautiful. You're very brave, Pearl. Please let me help find your daddy?"
Her last nod elicits more tears from the girl and Gwen continues patiently, her heart clenching for the young child.
"When you last saw him, was he inside this store, or outside in the mall? Can you remember?"
"In here," Pearl says slowly, rubbing the back of one hand over her eyes.
"Good job. He'll be here looking for you, and we'll find him really quick."
Gwen turns sideways so Pearl could see where she was pointing next.
"See the man in the uniform, over by the help desk? He's like a police officer. We're going to walk over and he'll use the big speakers to say that you're here waiting to be picked up. I'm going to stay with you until your daddy comes to find you, okay? Is that a good plan?"
A hopeful expression briefly washes over Pearl's face.
Slowly, Gwen gets up and offers her hand to the little girl. "Alright sweetie. Let's go. Are you ready?"
To Gwen's surprise, Pearl's small fingers take a strong hold on her hand.
"Ready," she whispers fiercely.
***
They make it less than halfway across the store when an agitated dark-haired man in jeans and a dark shirt hurries towards the security officer with long strides.
"Excuse me, Sir, have you seen a little--.
"DADDY!" Pearl suddenly yells at Gwen's side, drops her hand and sprints towards the man. "DADDY!"
He swirls around to her call, his face colored in desperate relief as he opens his arms to her.
"PEARL!"
She reaches him and falls into his huge embrace faster than Gwen could follow.
"My God, Pearl! There you are!"
"Daddy...," she whimpers as the man cradles her to his chest.
"Thank God, little dove. Jesus, thank God! I couldn't even-."
Pearl slings her arms around her father's neck in a tight hold, trembling and shaking against him. "Daddy...," she cries softly. She's looks even smaller compared to his tall figure.
With a secure hold, the man carries his daughter to the nearest armchairs and carefully eases down with her hiccuping in his arms. He runs his palm over her hair repeatedly, gently tucking shoulder-length brown strands behind her ears. All the while he murmurs to her with a rough twang Gwen hasn't heard often in LA.
"It's alright now. I got you, little dove. S' all good. I love you, baby girl. You're right here with me."
It takes the pair a good fifteen minutes to calm down, and as much as Gwen tries not to invade their privacy, she couldn't help but still witness the rest of their exchange.
"C'mere, let me look at you." The man draws Pearl's small face between his hands, a mixture of love and concern written all over his face. "You alright Ellie-Pearl?"
Pearl nods quietly and snuggles back into his chest. "I just wanted to look at the pretty dresses, and when I turned around, you were gone, daddy."
"You couldn't see me anymore?"
"No..." She shakes her head and hiccups once more before she continues in a small whisper. "It was scary."
"Yeah. Daddy got scared, too. It wasn't your fault, I promise."
"Everything in L.A. is so big. What if we don't like it here?"
"Well, it sure is big." The man sighs and leans back against the seating, rubbing his daughter's back. "We're not gonna give up in our first week, though, are we? It'll just take a little while til we're used to it. We'll find something fun to do every day, like we said we'd try. Hm?"
Pearl nods and hums back. "But you can't loose me again. That's no fun at all."
Her innocent statements hits too close to heart. With a strained tone in his voice the man fervently draws her to his chest.
"Shh, you're right, I won't loose you. God knows I can't!"
At that Pearl leans back and shines the sweetest of grin to his face. "Say it, daddy," she pleads, tears now drying on her cheeks.
Her father beams down in response.
"Say what, pumpkin?"
"You know!" Pearl insists and pokes his chest with her index finger until the dimples in his smile mirror her own.
"You're my everything, little dove."
*