Chapter One
Essie Rosen had not been expecting any visitors. Particularly any male visitors. Her landlady, Ms. Hirsch, had strict rules on the women in her boarding house receiving gentleman callers. They were only allowed between seven in the morning and seven in the evening. The men had to be related to the women they were calling on, and they were not allowed to leave the sitting room. It was ten at night and since her elder brother, David had been killed a month prior, there were no men in her life. The closest thing she had to a man in her life was her old boss, Dr. Kennedy, and she had been out of his employ for the past three weeks.
It was a mistake to leave him. Since her brother's death, she couldn't afford the flat that the two of them shared, and she had take a room at Ms. Hirsch's boarding house. She couldn't stay working for Dr. Kennedy. He would often flirt with her, and that was something that made Essie deeply uncomfortable. His flirting was getting continuously worse and Essie couldn't take it anymore. And Essie had snapped when he kissed her. She had been tempted to slap him, but she restrained herself, just barely. She handed in her notice and she hadn't seen him since. She had been looking around for another but it had been hard. Any place that was hiring, wouldn't hire her, because her bitter old boss wouldn't give her a reference.
Essie was just about to go to bed. She always saved just a little bit of money, as she always hoped that she would do something else in her life, besides just be a secretary. She would have preferred to open a sketch artist and she had been saving up for new supplies. Now, that money was being used to pay her rent in her new boarding house while she was looking for a new job. Her dreams were put on hold, most likely forever. But Essie couldn't complain. She wouldn't complain. She took everything in her stride. She had a roof over her head, and food in her belly, and for now, that was all that mattered. She had more than plenty of others. She had no right to complain. Essie wasn't one for complaining, very much unlike her brother. Her brother had been a good man, but he complained all the time, always wanting more. And while Essie herself wanted more, she kept her wants to herself, deciding that she had it better than others and she had no right to complain. Just as Essie was going to turn off the lamp and go to bed, she was shocked to hear a knock at her door.
Essie went to open the door, confused as to what it might be. It was ten at night, the doors were locked, and the only people in the house were Ms. Hirsch and the other girls. There were eight in total in the house. Essie guessed it might have been Geraldine. She was often came to Essie to borrow various things, but it was too late for her. She was probably still awake, but there was nothing that she would need now, was there? Essie opened the door and she was shocked to find the disapproving face of Ms. Hirsch. Granted, Ms. Hirsch always looked disapproving, but now, she looked angry.
"Yes, Ms. Hirsch?" Essie asked, beginning to feel a little nervous.
"Would you care to tell me why I have Alfie Solomons in my sitting room at ten at night asking for you?" Ms. Hirsch asked.
For a moment, Essie looked confused. What could she have been talking about? She knew about her brother, how he had been one of the first member of Alfie Solomons gang. Essie had even met the man a few times. It was very brief, and she didn't think that he had paid her any mind. She didn't approve of her brother being part of a gang, and she made that clear to him. Her words did nothing and he continued working for Alfie, and Essie just chose to ignore, making a rule for him to never talk about his work inside the house. Any sort of gang-related activity was left at the door. Essie didn't want to hear about it. She want to pretend that everything that he was doing was legal and his half of the rent was coming from legal businesses.
She couldn't understand why Alfie Solomons would be here to see her. She never had any sort of relationship with Alfie Solomons, there was absolutely no reason for him to see her. She had never exchanged more than a few words with the man, nothing more than 'hello' and 'goodbye.' And seeing the look on Ms. Hirsch's face, made Essie even more nervous. She knew that even if her conversation with Alfie did go well, she would never hear the end of it from Ms. Hirsch, and that wasn't something that Essie was looking forward to. Essie had heard Ms. Hirsch speak of Alfie Solomons and his gang and she made it clear that she really didn't think highly of them. She thought that he was an evil heartless man and it was clear that she had a particular dislike towards Essie because of her brother being so closely affiliated with the gang, and that was saying something, as Ms. Hirsch clearly disliked everyone, and she never hid it.
"Er-I don't know, ma'am," said Essie, the wheels in her mind were turning trying to think of some reason that Alfie Solomons would want to see her.
"Well, go and see," said Ms. Hirsch.
Essie said nothing, she only nodded. Ms. Hirsch stepped aside and Essie exited the room. Essie was wearing a peach robe over a sleeveless peach nightgown, both of which fell just below her knees. Unlike the day, when her brown hair was pinned up in a stylish but understated up-do, it was falling in loose curls, some of it tumbling over her shoulders and the sides that she cut to her chin, framing her face. Her gray eyes were wide with curiosity and fear, wondering what a man like Alfie Solomons could want with her. She hadn't been wearing any shoes or slippers, so her bare feet quietly padded down the stairs making little noise. She stopped as she reached the threshold of the sitting room.
"Mr. Solomons?" Essie asked, her voice small and timid.
Essie did not want to show fear to Alfie Solomons, but she was failing miserably. She couldn't help it. Alfie was sitting on one of the chairs and it was such a stark contrast. The chair was upholstered with pink fabric and it had a floral pattern. Alfie Solomons was dressed entirely in black, apart from his white shirt. Essie could see a few stains on his clothes, all understandable, considering all of the work Alfie did in his distillery—bakery. Essie scolded herself for thinking of the word distillery. She knew that Alfie had a temper. Everyone knew. The slightest thing could set him off. And she knew confusing 'bakery' and 'distillery' as well as 'bread' and 'rum' was something that would set off his temper. She did not want to be on the receiving end of his temper. She had never seen it, but she heard her brother speak of it. Even his descriptions were frightening. Alfie had a cane and he leaned on it as he stood up. Essie could feel herself shrink back as his eyes looked over her. It wasn't in a lustful was, though, no the way that Dr. Kennedy looked at her. It was more of just getting a good look at her. It made her feel uncomfortable, but it was a different sort of uncomfortable. With Dr. Kennedy, she was afraid he would go too far, the kind of too far when he had kissed her. With Alfie, it was a fear of the unknown. Why he wanted to speak with her. There was no reason, as far as Essie could guess, that he would need to have any association with her. Essie would be lying if she said she didn't find Alfie Solomons attractive. He certainly was. But he was also intimidating. He wasn't that tall, but he was broad, and that was intimidating to Essie. He was could certainly knock Essie out in one blow, and Essie did not want to set him off. Would he hit a woman? Essie didn't know. She had never heard of him hurting a woman. Any time she heard of anything he had done, any bodily harm that had been done, had been done to a man. But when he noticed how frightened she had looked, his face soften the tiniest bit, and seeing that made Essie relax a little bit.
"Ms. Hirsch said you were asking for me?" Essie continued, her voice shaking just bit.
She was wondering how he got in here. Ms. Hirsch's rules where meant to be followed, and no exceptions were made. But then again, this was Alfie Solomons. He was always an exception. She was sure that everyone could be bribed with a certain amount of money, even someone with such staunch morals as Ms. Hirsch.
"You don't have a job, Miss Rosen," was the first thing he said.
Essie was shocked by his statement for a few reasons. The first, that he knew that she was unemployed, and the second, that he had come to talk to her about that. Was this really the reason that he was here? To talk to her about her employment status?
"Yes, sir," said Essie, her voice laced with confusion and uncertainty.
"You do now," said Mr. Solomons. "Be at my bakery at nine tomorrow morning."
His words shocked her and she didn't speak or move, a million thoughts running through her head. He began to take his leave walking past her and leaving the room and making his way passed Essie. Essie was frozen in place, her mind still trying to process his words. He just told her she had a job with the only details being that she needed to be at the bakery at nine. What sort of use would she be in a place like that? She didn't even think he had any women working in his bakery. She certainly wouldn't be useful as the kind of baker he would need. It wasn't until Mr. Solomons opened the door, letting the cold night wind in that Essie finally jolted from her daze and looked towards him, and finally able to speak.
"Mr. Solomons?" Essie asked, her voice soft and nervous. "Forgive me, but I'm afraid I don't exactly understand."
Mr. Solomons turned around, and looked at her. Essie was relieved that he didn't look angry. He closed the door and took a few steps towards her. In a few short strides he was directly in front of her and Essie's eyes widened. Had she said something wrong? Was he going to hurt her because of that?
"I am in need of a secretary," he said simply. "And you are in need of a job."
Essie breathed a small sigh of relief, pleased that he didn't seem angry with her. But she was still completely confused. She didn't even think she wanted to work for Alfie Solomons. She knew that it was a dangerous line of business and she didn't think she could be a part of it. She didn't even want to be a part of it. Her brother was, and now he was gone.
"Why me, sir?" Essie asked, not being able to wrap her head around it.
"Your brother spoke highly of you," said Alfie.
Essie looked confused. She knew that her brother was one of the first members of Alfie's gang and had served with him in the war. And she and David had been close. But knowing that he spoke highly of her did make her smile. He had always been so reckless and despite how close they were, it had mostly been her taking care of him and not getting a thank you. Knowing he spoke highly of her warmed her heart.
But, she was still confused. Did that really qualify her to work for Alfie Solomons? Granted, she did have previous work as a secretary, she knew what she was doing. She was clever, an she was well aware of that. She had a good head on her shoulders, she was organized and she had a good head on her shoulders. But she was not a criminal, and she didn't know if she could work for one.
"I take care of those who work for me, right?" he said. "And their families, if they die in my service."
He continued as if that explained everything. She had heard about this from her brother. He had a tendency to be vague and expected everyone to know what he meant without elaboration. Her brother knew it, and after sometime, he was able to decipher what Alfie said. Essie didn't have that sort of practice, though. For as clever as she was, this was something that was incredibly confusing for her.
"Look, you won't have to do anything illegal," he said, noting how apprehensive she looked at his offer. "And I'll pay you double what you was making for that bastard."
Essie seemed to be contemplating the offer. She was still confused. How did he know about her old job, the bastard that she used to work for, and how much she used to make? She decided not to question it. She was tempted to take this job. Her saved money wouldn't be able to last for much longer, and as much as she didn't wish to work for Alfie Solomons, beggars couldn't be choosers.
"Alright, Mr. Solomons," said Essie. "I suppose I'll see you tomorrow morning."
"Well, that's fucking great, innit," said Alfie, giving Essie a wide grin that she hadn't been expecting, but it did bring a soft smile to her face.
As he turned and headed out the door, Essie said a quiet, "Goodnight, Mr. Solomons."
She couldn't believe it! She had a job and one that paid better than her other one, at that. It wasn't her ideal job. Most jobs would have been better than working for a gangster, but like she had said, beggars couldn't be choosers. She hadn't been able to treat herself to new art supplies for quite some time and with double the pay, she would finally be able to buy some. That would make it all worth it.
Essie couldn't keep the smile off her face as she turned around and made her way upstairs. But it disappeared when she saw Ms. Hirsch standing at the top of the stairs, waiting for her. She didn't look pleased at having company so late, especially when that company was Alfie Solomons. He most likely had to bribe her with a hefty sum to be allowed in.
"What did that man want?" Ms. Hirsch asked, sounding annoyed and angry.
Essie couldn't tell her that he had come to offer her a job. She would be thrown out on the streets if she found out that one of her boarders was working for Alfie Solomons. Now that she would have a steady income again, she could look for a place that didn't have such strict rules. But she couldn't do that just yet. She had to keep it hidden until she got her first pay check.
"Er-he just wanted to ask how I was getting on after my brother's death," said Essie.
Ms. Hirsch looked at Essie skeptically, but she didn't say anything. Ms. Hirsch turned and began walking back to her room, and Essie breathed a sigh of relief. The smile that she was wearing as Alfie left returned to her face as she went back to her room. She closed the door and locked it as the reality of what she had done by accepting the position of Alfie Solomons secretary set in.
She would be lying if she said she wasn't scared. Despite her brother working as a gangster, or rather 'baker' was the correct term in Alfie's mind as well as her brother's, Essie wanted to be as far away from that sort of thing as possible. She wasn't cut out for that sort of thing. She couldn't shoot a gun. Hell, she didn't even own one. She didn't think she would need one though, or so she hoped. She was just a secretary. That's it.
Being in such a close proximity to Alfie Solomons day in and day out was a little bit nerve-wracking. She had heard about his infamous temper and she was terrified that one day she would be on the receiving end. She wasn't cut out for this sort of life, she was sure. She wasn't tough in the way that gangsters were. But she reminded herself that she wasn't a gangster, she was only a secretary to one.
Essie was the brains of her family, that's what her mother had told her, while her brother was the brawns. David had once tried to teach her to shoot a gun. She fired one shot, and it scared her off. Even something like that was a little too much for her. But she wouldn't be needed to fire a gun, or at least she hoped. She would just have to sit at a desk and do what she was told. That was nothing unfamiliar to her.
Essie tried to put her fears behind her as she settled into bed and turned off the light. She had to get to sleep, as she finally had a full day of work ahead of her. As she drifted off to sleep, she found herself looking forward to it. It hadn't been so long since she had that, but she found that, while she had been looking for a job, she had missed it.
…
Thank you so much for reading! I'd appreciate it if you would let me know what you think.
Also, Essie's faceclaim is Aisling Loftus.
