Guess what I've been doing instead of fixing my research paper, that's right this (also I can't get on a database at home and I've found 2 sources that I need but can't access so that's also a factor of why I didn't do it either).
If it's in italics, it's Russian. I'll have to figure something else out if I add in any Romani languages (or other languages).
Friday 6PM
"How much longer are you going to take? We still have to go to Anatole's before we even head to the Shelby's." Dolokhov's voice sounded from another room in his spacious apartment. "I'm almost done, I just have to figure out where I left my sweater." Alex called back while she searched the guest bedroom for her sweater. Dolokhov had made his way to the room to figure out what was taking so long and was resting against the door finishing a sweet-smelling cigarette, "What do you need a sweater for, you're not going to wear it there, so might as well not take it." Alex stood up from where she was looking and shot him an incredulous look, "I'm cold now – AND - I know prostitutes that show less skin than I am. HELL! I might as well be a whore with as much leg as I'm showing."
She said the last part while motioning to the slit in her dress that went almost all the way to her hip and showed off the Lion head tattoo on her thigh. The tattoo was almost an exact match to the ones that Anatole and Dolokhov had on their chests and served as a mark of allegiance to their family and to the business they ran.
"While you do have a point Allie, Ana is gonna be mad if we're late."
"I know, I know… Doesn't matter anyways, I found it." She picked up the sweater and pulled it over her head and followed Dolokhov as he headed his car.
6:30
The car lulled to a stop in the gravel outside of Anatole's country house and as Alex was about to get out Dolokhov called her back. When she turned around she saw him holding a flask out to her, "We both know that there won't be nearly enough drinking at this thing." Alex grabbed the flask and drank some before handing it back to him and getting out of the car. Dolokhov threw back the rest of the alcohol and tossed the flask somewhere in the car as he got out. "Let's do this Allie."
As soon as they entered the foyer of the house Alex felt a pair of arms wrap around her leg and start to constrict the blood flow. "Auntie! Auntie! Auntie!" Alex detangled the small girl from her leg and then picked her up to rest on her hip. "Hello Talia, how has my favorite little Dandelion been?" Talia was squirming in Alex's arms trying to nestle closer to her, it was obvious to tell that she was fighting off sleep despite the early hour. "Good!" the clacking of heals on tile pierced the air "Natalia, get down, I doubt that Alexandra desires your clinging." The little girls face fell as she slide down Alex's side as her grandmother instructed. The older woman looked Alex up and down as she crossed the room to collect the child and pursed her lips as she finished her inspection. "I see how my son intends to seal a deal with those Blinder devils. Well, at least your nighttime activities will finally come in handy." She switched to Russian to keep Natalia from listening.
"I hardly think your one to talk mother since we all know Anatole was born before you an' Da' were married." Dolokhov countered, also in Russian, as he pushed off the wall and picked up his niece just to keep his mother from shuffling her out of the room. Corddelia's face took on a red shade and pulled tighter than usual as she glared at her youngest son.
"Here let me take her, I know she's tired so I'll just go ahead and put her to bed before we leave." None of them had noticed David enter the room, but Alex was glad none the less because his interruption helped diffuse the electricity in the air. As David was taking Talia to bed Anatole made his way downstairs to where the three of them were still standing, "I bet you're glad I'm bringing David instead of her now." Cordelia huffed and stormed out exclaiming, "Off all the children in the world, mine had to be disrespectful harlots."
Dolokhov made his way back over to the wall he had been standing at as Alex addressed her cousin, "I don't know what you're talking about she was being her usual peachy self."
"If it makes you feel any better, she detests me as well." David had rejoined them and spoke in his soft calming manner that would have set him apart from the cousins if his appearance hadn't already. He continued after a brief ponderous pause, "Although she does appear to dislike you more."
"As much as I enjoy discussing who my mother likes the least, we need to leave if we are going to get to the Shelby's on time."
Dolokhov held the Range Rover keys out to his brother, "Then by all means, lead the way."
7:50 PM
"Dol," His head sprung up as he pulled an earbud out of his ear. "Wake up Alex, we're here." About ten minutes into the drive she had fallen asleep against his shoulder and had slept soundly for the rest of the drive. She blinked her eyes a few times and stretched her arms as much as she could in the confines of the car, "Are we there?" Her voice resonated with sleep. "Yeah, don't forget to leave the sweater. Also, try not to fall asleep over dinner." The car rolled to a stop for the second time that night, and she noticed a few figures standing in the front entrance of the house as she hopped out of the car, still wearing her sweater.
"Dol, escort me- "
"- Dolokhov don't and Alex for the love of God, please take the sweater off."
By this point they had all exited the car and Alex had started to slowly walk towards the entrance of the house while still facing her family, "Maybe I want a big reveal. I mean really, if I'm going to be your whore for this deal I might as well have some – pizazz." Her eyes widened and she shook her hands sarcastically to emphasize the end.
David was looking around pretending to take in the architecture of the house while Dolokhov was leaning against the car smoking another cigarette. Anatole spoke while he walked towards her. "Alex, for the last time you're not a whore in this deal. It's an intimidation tactic, there women would never have scars they don't let them in on the dangerous business." By this point they were a foot from each other and she was looking up at him with all the anger she could must that soon after a nap and replied in a low voice she knew only he would hear. "But I didn't get my scars from business now did I, or at least not the ones you want them to see. No I got those from family." She was glaring at him at this point and reached for the bottom edge of her sweater and pulled it off and flung it in his face.
Her skin prickled in the chill, and she felt goosebumps form on her chest and back. She ardently wished that she could have worn a bra with the dress for some added layer of insulation on her breasts, even if it would have blocked her sternum tattoo. Plus, she wouldn't have had to tie the top at her neck which was causing her some discomfort, but she would just have to deal with it now.
Dolokhov picked up her sweater and placed it in the car and they finally headed up the stairs and into the house.
When they entered the house, there were only three people in the foyer. There was a petite blond woman in a stylish pink dress, another woman who looked older but not by too much who was sporting a beautiful scarlet dress, and a man who looked akin to death himself, with his pale skin and hollow blue eyes that seemed to peer into each of the separately yet at the same time. In turn the three introduced themselves, the blond woman was Grace Burgess, she seemed very kind but just as calculating and the man. The scarlet woman was called Polly Gray, she looked familiar to Alex but she wasn't sure why. The man and Polly had vaguely similar features so Alex assumed they were related by blood and not marriage. The man's name was apparently Thomas Shelby if Anatole saying, "Good to finally meat you Mr. Shelby. I hope we can work together in person as easily as over the phone," was anything to go by.
"Please, call me Thomas since we plan to be working together." Polly stopped inspecting Alex's appearance, to quip "I personally hope it's easier in person I hate doing business on the phone."
Anatole cracked a smile and nodded in agreement. After Anatole, David, Dolokhov, and Alex introduced themselves, Grace walked to Thomas and linked her arm with his and said, "Darling, why don't we go join the boys as they finish their game and wait until after dinner to start business." She paused for a minute to gauge if she would have to push anymore and decided she did, "The food will be ready in a few minutes, it'll give everyone time to mingle and get on better terms before business too." Polly's voice rang out, "Yes, Thomas I agree with the girl for once, business can wait."
As they walked towards the back of the house Alex peered into the rooms they passed. Towards the front of the house there was a spacious living room with a flat screen and a few couches, she saw a study that seemed nice, but rarely used, a small library with one wall of solid glass looking out into the night, and a few small bedrooms that were probably for non-familial guests. The room they finally entered had an odd beachy yet refined feeling to it. The first thing Alex notice in the room, was the large pool that was just beyond the windows; however, the second thing was the group of four men around a pool table, who in turn had three women sitting in chairs pretending to be watching them while in reality they were watching the television.
Alex recognized none of the women, however she did see Isaiah's friend Finn and Henry, no Michael not Henry, and her mood instantly soured.
Their little group had reached the others and Thomas was about to start introducing them, when Michael locked eyes with Alex and his face darkened. Michael spoke almost instantly, "The fuck are you doing here?" Polly's head shot up at him, "Michael! That is no way to speak to a guest." At this point, everyone was alternating between looking at Michael and Alex, while Finn looked at the ground like he wanted to melt into it in case he was called on. "It's fine miss, he's always been like that. Bad upbringing, I suppose." Alex quirked her eyebrow at him and then shot Polly a smile, as her mouth hung open in shock. "Also, I realized why you looked familiar when I first saw you. He looked quite a bit like you when we were younger."
The room was silent until a small voice near the door broke the silence, "The food is ready Mr. Shelby." And once more the room was enveloped in silence, as Alex looked at Thomas Shelby, "Well, I'm starving and will be much more inclined to be gawked at over dinner," and she angled her body to the side indicating for someone to lead the way. "Yes. Well. Dinner." He motioned forward as he and Grace lead the party to dinner.
The dinner went surprisingly well considering how poorly the evening had started off. Most everyone got along and those who didn't bantered for fun. It was clear that Anatole and Thomas had similar personalities, something that David and Grace bonded over, and that Polly was very interested in how they ran their business. She had started off trying to get information from Dolokhov, but he was more interested in talking with John, Arthur, and eventually even Michael. Finn spent most of the evening on his phone not particularly interested in anything that was happening around him, which left Alex stuck talking to Linda, who occasionally tried to reign in her husband, Ada, who Alex quite enjoyed talking to, and Esme who was engaged, but seemed to be listening more than talking.
After dinner Anatole and Dolokhov, and Thomas, Michael, John, and Arthur made their way to an office that was a few doors away from the dining room. Alex and Polly had been invited to the meeting as well, but Alex had no desire and Polly said she wanted to spend time with Ada while she was home from the States. So, the six women and David made their way back to the room where they all met while Finn disappeared to god knows where.
David and Linda spoke about religion and shared ideologies, while Esme gathered the balls and set up the pool table for a game. After much deliberation, Esme and Grace formed a team and Alex and Polly formed a team.
"I do have to warn you Polly, I am awful at pool." Alex smiled as Polly laughed, "It's not about winning it's about getting to know each other." Esme looked at Grace and smiled slyly, "Although winning doesn't hurt."
"Very true," Polly leaned down as she broke the triangle and the game was off.
After the first round, Polly broke out the whiskey and everyone started to relax more. However, that meant that Polly was getting ready to question Alex about her relationship to Michael.
A few more rounds ended as Alex was lining up her shot and Polly lit a cigarette "So, how do you know my son." Missed, and the ball went over the edge of the table. "I was kind of hoping you had forgotten about that."
"I lost him for the better part of his life and now after seven years, someone from then shows up, and you thought I'd forget." Esme was rather drunk by this point and they had stopped keeping score since neither side was doing particularly well at this point. But, Grace was still sober enough to listen in on Polly and Alex as the talked.
"We grew up together. I met him when he was six, he had been placed with his foster family a little over a month before I got there. My aunt moved there with me after she adopted me, because Russia was no longer safe for me."
"How old were you?" Polly took her shot and sunk the eight-ball too early.
"I guess that's the game then," she paused a minute lost in the past, "I was six when I moved to England."
"So young, where were your parents?'
"Mum! That's enough."
Michael, John, Arthur, and Dolokhov had returned without either of them noticing. Michael was still looking at his mother as Dolokhov shot Alex a look asking how she was doing. To which she simply raised her glass and turned to Polly, "Could you tell me the way to the bathroom?"
"Of course, just down the hall to the left."
Alex could feel them staring at her as she left the room, no doubt getting their first full view of the angel wings carved into her back and the tattoo that ran between them.
While she did sort of have to pee, Alex was mainly taking the opportunity to get away from the crowd that had formed. She found herself wandering into the library she had seen earlier, except it was much larger than she thought, there were three stories of books and on the ground floor there were couches. The other floors were just landings with ladder to get books. Eventually she found herself seated in a plush by the window wall reliving the past she had fought hard to keep buried in her mind.
Alex could feel the sun on her skin and her aunt's hand clasping her own as they walked home from the store.
"Auntie Mel, why is that rude boy staring at us.'
"Perhaps he wants to be your friend Alexandra."
"I think he's just rude."
"That's fine Alex, just don't be rude back." A woman approached them with two boys in tow , one of them was the rude boy. "Hello, Ms. I'm Hellen. I live a few houses down from you and I was wondering if you would like to come over for dinner tonight with your daughter. A sort of welcome to the neighborhood."
"That would be lovely Helen, thank you." Alex looked at her aunt in disbelief and tugged on her hand, "I don't want to Auntie."
"Hush, Alexandra. Sorry about her, my niece is a little shy."
The wheat was swirling around them as the sun was setting and a chill was starting to set in, "Hurry up Henry! Auntie will be mad if were late." He jogged to catch up with her fast pace. At 9 he was already taller than her and his longer legs made their trek home easier. "This was your idea, shouldn't you have known how long it would take to get to the stream?"
She turned to face him as the fences where finally in sight, "In a perfect world I would know everything, but this is not a perfect world." With that she took off running hoping to beat him home.
The teacher was droning on at the front of the room, attempting to teach the class."
Alex slipped put a sheet of paper and wrote, "This is awful, how much longer." And passed it to Henry a few desks away.
"Too damn long."
"Mr. Jones, Miss. Lev note passing will not be tolerated in my class, hand it here." Henry gave the woman the note, "What are the scribbles? Are you trying to be funny?" The woman raised her eyebrow and peered between the two of them. "It's in Russian Mrs."
"Why I never, office now Miss Lev!"
Alex stood up both enraged and confused, "What for?"
"Disobedience, NOW child!
Alex rolled out of the bed and looked for her clothes. "You don't have to leave yet." Alex looked at James in disbelief, "Yeah I do, your brother will be here any minute." Alex found her pants as she heard Henry call through the house, "Alex! Alex, you here. She'd better be here, she told me to meet her here." There was a slight knock then the door opened, "Have you seen-" He paused seeing Alex and James, "-Well, I guess that answers where you were." He slammed the door closed again and stormed out of the house slamming the front door.
The ground was cold but the sky made up for it, there were so many stars, "There's the north star." Henry's arm was outstretch pointing to some star though Alex couldn't tell which one. "That's nice, but I have no idea what you're pointing at." She shivered slightly in the cold so he pulled her closer to him. "Hen, who was that man that came to see you today?"
"Let's talk about it tomorrow and take a few minutes of you not worrying."
"My job is to worry."
He turned to her and smiled, kissing the top of her head. "Really I thought your job was selling drugs."
"Shut up."
It was cold and dark and Alex could feel a warm liquid running down her back, and she hurt, she hurt everywhere. A rough hand grabbed her face as she lost consciousness.
Her eyes shot open and she looked around trying to get her eyes to focus on anything. She saw a vague blob leaning against the railing in front of her, "I'm flattered that you still dream about me. Even if it does end with whatever that was."
Her eyes finally focused and she shot him a disgusted look, "I don't normally, your mother brought it up. That's the only reason."
He crouched in front of her and she saw her friend again in his eyes, "What was that last part? What happened Alex?"
She stood abruptly pushing him back and walking past him, "That doesn't concern you." She heard him move closer and he grabbed her arm and turned her around, "Why not? We were engaged. We were going to be family."
"Yes, we were going to be, but you got a better option and you left me in that shitty town," her voice rose as she spoke and her eyes showed her anger, then her dropped. "You said you would come back for me, but you never did."
He grabbed her arms to keep her facing him, 'Yes I did, but you weren't there. Where were you?"
"I don't want to talk about it." She started to move away from him.
"Allie, where did you go?"
She turned back to him and stepped so that she was close to his face and harnessed all her rage, "I said I don't want to talk about it!" She walked down the stairs and out of the room to meet her family that was walking by, "Ah, there you are we were about to start a search for you."
"Here I am."
"Well, then it is time for us to be leaving."
Michael made his way into the corridor at this point and most of the Shelby's repressed a chuckle, while Polly stared her down. To which Alex wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, "It was good seeing you again Henry-Michael and Finn, say hi to Isaiah for me."
Guys, I'm shit at pool, so if that was an unbearably awful description take my inexperience into account. Also I refuse to call it billiards, that just sounds so pompous to me, idk.