𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙏𝙃 - 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙨 𝙎𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙗𝙮

SEVEN

SEVEN

The next couple of days were normal and boring, though she found exciting days meant some kind of trouble. Being behind the bar, serving customers, the Shelbys came in, throwing the room into an awkward silence before heading into their private room. She found being behind the bar opened her to having chats about wives and children or just daily things that had pissed the men off, and more often than not, she found herself giving them advice. She felt like a pastor or therapist, if she was honest. Though she didn't mind. She had been the one who'd always served the Shelbys, except for the days that she wasn't working.

She had 2 days off every week. The whole weekend to herself, it seemed so daunting to the girl. At first she tried to refuse it, telling Harry that she would rather spend her time behind the bar than at home doing anything else, or even to just reduce her time off by a day, but that was the law apparently, but she'd much rather be behind the bar, even during the bar fights and having to kick out rude customers than to be at home, drowning in her own thoughts. Sleep was still something she didn't have the luxury to enjoy. Even worse, since her episode with Thomas. She hadn't slept out of sheer fear for 2 days and felt as if she was about to drop dead, but she carried on nonetheless.

"Have a break, love, you look exhausted," Harry said. He looked worryingly towards the young girl. Achara looked even worse than when Thomas last saw her, like she'd dug herself deeper into the pit she'd been living in. She looked at her boss and sighed. She had been dealing with his worry since she stepped foot in the establishment, even warranting worry from the Shelby brothers. The girl had been avoiding Thomas and hadn't looked him in the eye as his eyes caught hers for a split second. She was embarrassed, ashamed. Few people had seen her like that before and it tore at her pride now that he has.

"No, I'm fine!" She replied, waving her hands around to prove her point. It was useless though because Harry's worry never faded from his face and he just continued to look at her like she was a starving puppy, she frowned at him and knew that there was nothing she could say or do to ease his worry, and that made her feel awful. The last thing she wanted was people worrying for her, even more not being able to reassure said worrier. Then she was called into the private room to serve the Shelbys, yet again. She sighed in relief. Harry's worry was severely stressing her out. She always hated people worrying. That's why she never told them what was going on in her head and about what happened to her, because they always seemed to be so much more sad and upset about it than she was.

She grabbed a bottle of whiskey and 3 small glasses before heading into the private room. She smiled when she saw Arthur and John. They had always been kind to her, in their own way. With their cheeky grins and their jokes, it made her feel more at ease. She didn't know why as she'd usually feel uncomfortable and trapped around those sorts of people but they just clicked. She enjoyed their company, but often found them quite annoying. John gave her a wink as she filled up their glasses. She was about to leave before Arthur bellowed her back. So the girl sat in between the two men and crossed her legs, waiting for whatever it was they wanted to tell her.

"You ever been to the fair Achara?" He asked. She looked around and John was surveying her attentively. Thomas, however, had taken to almost ignoring her entire existence. She felt annoyed. First, he was cold towards her, then he asked for her opinion; which she thought was as close as she would get to him warming up to her, and then he suddenly turned so cold again. The young girl laughed awkwardly before answering their question. She scratched the back of her head while tilting it slightly.

She looked at Arthur with an eyebrow raised and asked, "What's a fair?" The boys' jaws dropped as their eyes went wide and then came along the 'You don't know what a bloody fair is?!' and 'God, they must have kept you in a cave!' She winced when she heard the second idea. If only they knew they had kept her locked up for many years, though she doubted she'd ever tell them, and doubted they'd even care enough to ask. It was only when she asked her question did Thomas finally lifted his blue eyes to look at her. He wished he didn't look at her entirely.