Forgive us

Thursday rolled around quickly, Macey hadn't slept much since seeing her father but it meant she was up to date on all her uni work. She had finished her latest assessments and even had them submitted a week before the due date. She had exams coming up and had managed to get all her study notes done. Exams were the first week in November and it was halfway through October so Macey had plenty of time to study especially when she was literally running on two hours of sleep a night. No amount of concealer would cover the bags under her eyes.

Macey and Johan had been texting back and forth most days. She enjoyed the distraction but that only lasted short amounts of time. Johan had wanted to go and visit her but with Macey at uni during the day and him working nights, the first time he would see her was when she was at work on Thursday night. Macey had assured him that she was fine but he wanted to see for himself.

Macey made the walk to work, she hadn't run into Cherry this morning and didn't want to ask for a lift. She hated imposing on people. She brought herself an extra large coffee on the way to wake herself up a little. She was grateful for the distraction of work. Hopefully, she would wear herself out enough to be able to sleep peacefully tonight.

Macey walked into the bar in her own little world. She headed out the back to put her stuff away and to clock in. She hoped she was kept busy as she didn't want time to think. Thinking resulted in remembering the words her father had said and she had done enough of that every night since seeing her monster.

Macey was behind the bar tonight which she didn't mind. She prepared the bar with clean glasses and checked the drink levels busying herself to keep distracted. Johan had seen Macey but was stuck at the door tonight so he couldn't go to speak to her. He saw from a distance how tired she looked and shook his head, yeh right she was doing fine he thought to himself. He hoped they had a break together so he could speak with her.

Macey was thankful her shift was busy as one of the other guys called in sick so it was just her behind the bar until close. She handled it and even skipped her dinner break. She took her 15 minutes though when Cherry jumped behind the bar so she could use the restroom and shove something down her throat to shut her stomach up. Johan couldn't believe how she handled the bar by herself for 10 hours with no break. He had seen her skull a red bull though which made him frown. Both of them were on close so he helped Macey clean the bar up even with her protesting.

Macey didn't care about sleep at this stage because she knew the minute she closed her eyes she would see her monster again. Every time there was a dip in service her mind would wonder and always end up thinking of her father's words or of a time when he hurt her. "Macey want a lift home?" Cherry called out. "I got it Cherry" Johan responded as Macey hadn't even heard the girl, she was stuck in her head again.

"Macey, let's go" Johan said placing his hand on her back. Macey slightly jumped at the contact but soon recovered when she saw it was Johan. Johan frowned at her reaction but said nothing. Both Macey and Johan locked up the bar and headed out the back. "How are you getting home?" Johan asked Macey knowing she would say she was walking. Macey forced a smile, "walking, need to wind down before going to bed" Macey replied.

Johan shook his head "Come get in the car. It's obvious you aren't sleeping. I'll take you back to your place and you can grab some clothes. You can come over and we can talk about it or just watch movies" Johan offered. Macey went to decline but Johan jumped in "I won't take no for an answer Macey" he added. Macey nodded her head and jumped in the car with Johan making the 5-minute drive to Macey's dorm.

"Want me to come up?" Johan offered Macey. "Nah, I just have to grab a change of clothes and my computer for my lecture and tut tomorrow and then I'll be down" Macey replied before heading into the dorm room. She took off her work uniform and shoved it in the clothes basket pulling on a hoodie and track pants. She then packed some jeans and clean underwear in her bag with her toothbrush and toiletries. She grabbed her folder and laptop along with her phone charger and headed back down.

Johan was waiting at the dorm door for Macey and took her bag as she exited the door. "Are you hungry? We can go drive-thru" Johan questioned putting her bag in the back of his car before getting into the driver's side. "I am good but if you are hungry we can head through the drive thru" Macey replied. "Did you eat tonight?" Johan asked Macey as he hadn't seen her take a break besides a 15-minute break. Macey nodded her head, she had a sandwich and her wallet didn't need to be paying for food at the moment.

Johan shook his head and headed through the drive through anyway. He grabbed 20 nuggets, chips and two McFlurries before heading back to his place. Macey followed Johan into his apartment carrying her bag. Johan sat the food on the coffee table and Macey followed suit sitting next to him. Johan handed Macey a McFlurry before putting the nuggets and chips between them. "Eat" was all he said to her before her stomach decided to grumble making both of them burst into laughter.