Sleep did not come easily to Katherina on her second night in Small Heath. She laid awake restless and terrified for hours in the flat, which Harry had been kind enough to allow her to stay in. So it was no surprise that she felt so weary and her head was beginning to pound. The noise in the pub wasn't helping in the slightest at all and neither were the lights in fact it was making it worse.

But she forced herself to smile and pretend everything was okay when all she wanted to do was sleep a night through without the nightmares.

She didn't know how to make them stop.

Perhaps there was a chemist nearby she could visit and ask for advice or at least be given something to help.

She worked regardless, she passed beer, whiskey and wine across the bar to customers, giving small smiles here and there along with some small chat. All the while, all she could think about was keeping this job and not giving Harry a reason to let her go.

Though she did notice, a pair of icy blue eyes staring in her direction, which she tried to ignore. He drank his usual as he spoke to Harry quietly through the window.

She didn't know why but it started to make her feel nervous and self-conscious at his gaze. Biting her lip, she tried to keep her nerves at bay and act normal when a man ordered a beer.

"What's your name?" She looked up and met the man's brown eyes.

"K-Katerina." She answered biting her lip nervously again.

"Beautiful name for a beautiful girl-"

"Mr. Shelby wants a bottle of whiskey," Harry interrupted, coming to stand next to her. "He asked for you personally. There wasn't anything I could do for you."

At that, the man moved away almost immediately.

"O-Oh," She replied softly. "Alright."

She prepared the order before placing it on a tray with a glass, before making her way to the private room.

At first, she didn't see him as she entered, but she moved over to the table anyway and place the tray down and removed the contents before picking the tray up again. She was about to leave when she saw him standing by the small window with a cigarette in his mouth.

Causing her to instantly look down, she was about to head back to the door when he spoke.

"Take a seat."

"I-I should help Harry." She replied quietly.

"Sit down," He said firmly. "I'm sure Harry can handle things for a moment." She furrowed her eyebrows doubting. But moved to sit down. "How was your day?"

"U-um it was okay." She replied timidly, placing the tray back on the table away from the whiskey and glass. "H-How was yours?"

Yet she was met with silence, the only sound she could hear was his footsteps moving towards the table. Looking up, she saw him grab the bottle of whiskey and began to pour himself a glass.

"I-I should hea..."

"How do you like working here?" He inquired abruptly.

"I-It great, Mr Shelby." She answered.

"Tommy, call me, Tommy." He said with a smirk as he took a seat opposite her.

"No-one been bothering you?"

"N-No." Katherina replied, looking up towards Tommy in confusion.

"You wouldn't be lying would you."

"N-no, Mr S-Shelby." She replied looking down, trying to avoid his stare.

"Tommy." He reprimanded her for being formal.

'Please don't look at me that way.' She thought terrified, it was as if he was trying to peer into her soul. She would admit he was very handsome, in truth, he was far the most handsomeness man she had ever seen. But the more handsome a man was, the more they thought they could get away with. Well, that's what he told her.

"You don't seem like the type of girl to work in a pub." she peered up at him with confusion at his comment. "You seem way too innocent." She could have sworn his eyes grew softer as he spoke. "So that begs the question why here?"

"I-I need a job?" She replied, looking down as she began to play with the cuffs of her blouse. "A-And I saw this opening so I thought I would apply."

She was taken aback by his words.

She told him, reciting the same thing, she relayed to the other Shelby brother.

Again she was welcomed, with an uncomfortable silence.

"P-Please may I go back to work?" Her voice was weak and a literal mess, and she felt as if she were going to cry any minute.

What she did next was incredibly bold even to her and may have come across as disrespectful as she stood from her seat and grabbed the tray. She just made her way over to the door when she felt him behind her, making her tremble in fear, though she tried her best to hide it. However, he made no move to hurt her, instead, he simply moved to open the door for her.

"Thank you." She quietly spoke in turn, before making her way, away from him and headed to the bar without a second glance in his direction.

"Katherina!" Harry's voice came from the side of her. "A beer barrel needs to be changed!"

She smiled in thanks, she made her way around the back. As she made her way out the back. She released a deep breath that she didn't know she was holding.

Once she was done with her duty, she made her way back to the front of the pub, to see Tommy speaking to Harry.

As if noticing her stare, he looked over to her, before turning and leaving the pub.

000

After, she spent a while serving beers, whiskeys, rums and gins whenever the men asked for them and cleaned the tables when a group of men left.

It wasn't long until crowds entered the pub for the evening as well as the Shelby brothers who entered with two women. She could feel all eyes on her for a moment but she didn't look up, instead, she continued to serve and clean.

"How are you finding the job so far?" Harry asked when she came back around the bar and started cleaning the glasses. "Especially with the large crowds tonight."

"H-Honestly, I'm finding everything okay." She replied smiling, especially when people seemed to back off from trying to flirt with her suddenly.

"That's good." He answered as he passed a beer to a customer.

Katherine continued to pour drinks for overly drunk men who reeked of booze. Yet even in their drunken state, they didn't seemed to go in a violent rage like some she knew. Instead, they just seemed merry.

She was just wiping down the far end when she came face to face with one of the dark-haired women that had come in with the Shelby brothers.

"U-um w-what can I get you ma'am' She asked, feeling really intimidated by the woman in front of her. Yet tried to make a concerted effort to be cheerful despite her fatigue.

"Gin and tonic." The dark-haired woman spoke, Katherina nodded before going to prepare it. As she did so she saw that Harry was taking orders from the Shelby brothers and the girl. "So, you're Katherina then?"

"Y-Yes, ma'am." she replied as she came back with her drink.

"I can see what the boys were talking about now," she said, a small smile on her face, however that only made Katherina confused. "I'm Polly, their aunt." She nodded in the direction of the brothers as she spoke.

"N-Nice to meet you." She said with a small smile once again playing with her cuffs as she waited for customers but they all seemed to avoid the bar all of a sudden.

"They say you showed up a few days ago looking for work," Polly was digging, trying to look into her soul like Tommy did earlier. She felt so self-conscious. "Where did you come from?"

"N-Nowhere special." She answered as met Polly's eyes.

"That's what Tommy, told me." Polly gave her a look but it wasn't one that was reprimanding, it was one of understanding, making Katherina look down a little bit ashamed.

There was something warm about Polly even though she seemed cold and stern in her appearance.

"I-I came from a place just out of Nottingham." She answered quietly, as she continued playing with her cuffs, while looking around the bar.

"Oh really." Polly said generally sounding interested. "What made you come all the way here?"

"C-Change of scenery, I suppose." She lied, and what was worse she thought Polly picked up on it as well but chose to say nothing.

"I bet your family must be really missing you, seeing as you are so far away from home." Polly asked quieter even over the boisterous crowd as if sensing her uncomfortableness.

Katherina hesitated playing with her cuffs for a moment. Trying her best to block out the memories so she didn't have one of her episodes.

"N-no, ma'am," she said. "M-My parents have long since passed on to the other side."

"No family left at all?"

Biting her lip as she looked around the pub again trying to remember that he wouldn't be there.

"O-Only an uncle."

"Won't he be worried." Polly dug more.

"H-He know I'm here safe," She lied.

Polly looked at her for a long moment before giving her a smile.

"That's good to know, especially when a lovely girl like you is here alone." Polly said grabbing her drink. "I want you to do one thing for me."

Katherine nodded unsure.

"If any one bothers you, you go to one of my boys or come to me alright." She said. "Promise me." Making Katherina meet her eyes.

Bitting her a lip again, making her wonder for the fourth time today why she hadn't made her lip bleed, she nodded even though that was another lie she told.