Forgive us

Macey got into Cherry's car fuming with the fact that Asher had touched her. Yes, when she was a kid she wanted nothing more than one of her brothers to comfort her but she wasn't a kid anymore. "Are you ok?" Cherry asked Macey. Macey looked at Cherry "Yeah absolutely peachy" Macey replied sarcastically.

Cherry rolled her eyes at Macey "You know I'm here for you" Cherry told Macey seeing the conflict on Macey's face. "My brothers found me" Macey replied defeated. She never wanted to see them at all again. "And?" Cherry replied. No one knew the story of Macey and her family except for Jane. She didn't want people feeling sorry for her and the fewer people who knew meant the less likely that her location would get back to her family.

Macey took a deep breath and told Cherry everything on the drive to work. She glazed over parts just saying they were abusive as she didn't want to go into detail. She explained how some of them became physical as she got older and how she ran at the age of 16 living on the streets for a few days. Cherry was shocked at what she heard. She had no idea Macey had been through that at all. To her, Macey was always a happy girl who went above and beyond to help anyone.

"Macey, you know what they did was wrong right?" Cherry asked. "God I know. At first, I blamed myself but I knew everything they did was wrong and nothing I did or could do would have changed that. If I stayed they would have killed me" Macey replied. "Why are they back now?" Cherry asked as they pulled into the car park at work. "My father is dying and he wants to speak to me apparently" Macey replied. "And what do you want?" Cherry asked.

Macey went to answer but stopped herself. What did she want? As a kid she wanted her family to love her and then she wanted safety. She hated them so much for what they did to her but she also wanted to know why. Why did they hate her so much? Why did they hurt her? What had she ever done to them? Why did her father turn his back on her when she was only a child? "I don't know" Macey whispered.

Cherry took Macey's hand, "that's ok not to know. You need to tell them to give you space to figure out what you want Mace. Then you need to think about what you want and if your father died tomorrow would you have anything you wished you had said or done?" Cherry stated.

Macey stayed in the car for a few minutes not sure what to say or do. "Come on otherwise we will be late for work. I need to tell you though, that I stuffed up and told your brother where you work. I'm sorry Macey I didn't know" Cherry said. Macey got out of the car and smiled at her friend. "That's ok, I'll treat them like any other customer here, if they aren't paying customers, I'll make them leave" Macey replied confidently. "They don't need to pay though" Cherry replied. Macey laughed "They don't know that though and they will be spending daddies money" she replied.

Macey and Cherry headed into work greeting the other people who were going to be on shift with them. Cherry's boyfriend was one of the guys who worked in the kitchen so they were happy to be working together. There were a few new security guards working tonight that Macey had never met but Cherry knew and had a word to them about keeping an eye on Macey. She was worried that her brothers might turn up and cause problems for her friend.

Macey headed out to the bar which was quiet and began to restock the cups and fridges in preparation for the busy night. There was a major wrestling match that was being shown in the bar which would draw a huge crowd. Macey hoped that there would also be people who would tip as she classed that as play money and wanted to do a bit of retail therapy to clear her mind.

Asher, Tyler and Diesel walked into the sports bar scanning the area for their sister. They had assumed she would be working in the bistro but couldn't spot her anywhere. "Maybe she doesn't start yet?" Diesel spoke up. "Yeah let's just wait maybe grab a drink, she could start a bit later" Tyler replied earning a nod from Asher. He was still lost in his head about the look in Macey's eyes. He saw how lost she was even behind the smile on her face with others. He had learnt long ago how to read her true feelings in her eyes because he had seen the pain in them all those years he had taken care of her behind their father's back.

Macey was behind the bar speaking to one of the new security guards. Macey knew it was always good to be friendly with security so they had your back if shit hit the fan. His name was Johan and he was 25 and new to the area. He was a good-looking guy with a cute smile but Macey thought nothing of it. Security guards flirted with all the girls at bars anyway.

Asher walked into the bar to get drinks for everyone. He immediately spotted Macey at the bar and made a beeline for her. Macey wasn't paying attention, she saw a customer and nothing else. "Hey, what can I get you?" Macey asked without really seeing who she was serving. She just slipped into work mode.

"How about giving me a few hours of your time?" Asher asked. Macey looked up at Asher who was gently smiling at his sister and rolled her eyes. "You either order a drink or you leave. Bar rules" Macey replied glaring at her brother which caused Johan to laugh. Johan had no idea who the guy was but liked the way Macey handled it, she was professional but shut it down quickly. "Fine three cokes please" Asher responded realising his sister was in fact serious.

Macey got the drinks sorted and took the money placing the change in front of Asher who messaged his brothers getting them to move into the bar area. "I'm not leaving Macey until you hear me out" Asher stated. Macey shook her head at her brother and moved on to the next customer.