Grimhilde smiled at the girl. She could see she was embarrassed and nervous. She used to be like that when she was her age.
“I’m not from New York originally but I’ve been here awhile.”
She leaned closer to the girl and spoke gently.
“You know, when I was your age dear, I used to be like you. If I embarrassed myself, it was obvious. You should try and be more confident. It’s ok to mess up and get things wrong. Just try and be yourself and if you embarrass yourself, laugh it off and the people you are with will laugh it off too.” She smiled at her again.
Tink looked at the woman in slight surprise. She knew her awkward behaviour was obvious but no one had taken time really to comment on it, and even in a nice way! The tips seemed so easy when Grimhilde offered them to her and although Tink knew she’d have to put effort in it, she was actually gaining a kind of hope out of this. To be honest, she seemed to have turned out fine and Tink wanted nothing more than to turn out in that direction as well.
“Thanks. I often just worry too much about what others think I suppose. I don’t do it on purpose but... I want people to like me.” She laughed to herself and looked at Grimhilde. “I’m sorry, that sounded shallow. I just-” She took in a deep breath and stopped herself. “I simply may be like this though. Although I believe I master confidence in different ways, more in the sense of not being afraid to prove myself.” She laughed. “Well I suppose I also mastered laughing things off.”
