I’ve never been the emotional type.

Well, not in my adult life, anyways. I was taught to never show my emotions in front of others who would exploit them. A very cold a cruel lesson taught by my parents at a very young age whenever I would let a traitorous tear slip past my careful barriers.

It’s been 15 years since I’ve last cried, but that changed today.

It’s a day like any other.

I’m standing in line at the coffee shop for my normal cappuccino. I don’t know how I ever used to survive without coffee. I pay the cashier like I always do, sitting in my usual seat by the window. I sip my coffee while looking at the window, used to the bitterness that it brings to my lips.

It’s raining today, each droplet fleeing from the sky and onto the pavement below. I’m so absorbed in my thoughts that I don’t notice the little six-year old that has taken a seat across me until they cough dramatically for my attention.

I let my gaze roam to the little girl’s beaming face, and attempt a smile of my own, but the movement feel foreign on my lips.

“Hello!” She stage-whispers, grinning from ear to ear. She glances over her shoulder at an older woman who must be her mother, giving her a disappointed look before looking back at me. “My mom is no fun. She says I shouldn’t talk to strangers because they’ll try to kidnap me.” I almost laugh at that, but I close my lips together before so much as a snicker can get out. This causes the little girl to frown at me.

“Are you alright?” She asks, her eyebrows furrowed into a frown. I blink back my confusion. I’ve…never been asked that before. I attempt a nod, but the little girl shuffles into the chair next to me, examining me carefully. “You just need a hug.” She exclaimes, wrapping her arms around me.

The feeling of this little girls’s tiny arms wrapped around my waist sends a spark of warmth flooding through me. A treasonous tear slips down my cheek, and I reach up to swipe it away, but the girl hugs me even tighter. I squeeze my eyes shut in an effort to block the steady stream of tears, before realizing it’s a futile effort. I take a deep, steadying breath and wrap my arms around the girl in a silent thank you.