The Girl and The Gangster
Summary: After being turned down from every secretarial role in Birmingham, Alice becomes desperate. Unable to provide for her sick mother, herself and more importantly, her young child, she takes a chance on joining the Shelby Company ltd. But when she runs into a familiar face, her whole world comes crumbling down around her.
Chapter Thirty
News of the Mayor and his fleet of armoured cars didn't fall upon deaf ears. For weeks on end, Michael was busy taking phone calls from officials in Michigan and Indiana; he was making more money than he could've imagined. Tommy had trusted him to make them a success in America and so far, he was living up to the expectation. Alice hated that he was taking his work home with him, but she was happy to see the ambition in his eyes and the grin on his face every time he closed a deal. She stood in the doorway of his office with Johnny clutching her hand as they waited in silence for him to come off the phone. As soon as he had finished, he got out of his chair and Alice let go of Johnny's hand. He ran towards his father with a piece of paper that he was clinging onto for dear life.
"What have you got here?" Johnny was starting to get too big to lift, he had just turned seven and was growing fast, but it didn't stop Michael from putting him on his hip.
"I got all my numbers right!" he showed Michael the paper excitedly and rested his head on his shoulder.
"You're such a clever boy, Johnny. You've got a head for numbers just like your dad." Michael kissed him on the top of his head and set him onto his feet. "Can I keep this? I want to look at it all the time."
"Can I come in and look at it too?" Johnny watched as Michael took out a pin from his drawer and pinned it beside a framed photo of their family.
"Only if your dad is in the office." Alice replied as she leaned against the doorframe, her arms crossed. "You know the rules."
"Okay, mum," he kicked his foot against the carpet and buried his chin into his chest, "but you could let me see it too, couldn't you?"
"Of course, she can," Michael placed his hand on Johnny's shoulder and pushed him towards the door, "go see if your dinner's ready and then we'll go out for a walk."
Johnny nodded and ran out of the office, almost skidding on the tiled floor in the hallway. Alice poked her head out of the door and called after him, "No running in the house, Johnny. You'll wake your sister."
"Since when has Johnny called you mum?" Michael rolled up his shirt sleeves and stepped towards Alice.
"I think one of his friends heard him call me 'mumma' and teased him. He says he's too big to call me that anymore."
He could tell that it bothered her, she didn't want their son to grow up, but it was a way of life. Children didn't stay small forever. He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand before placing his forehead against hers. "You've got to let him grow up."
"I know, it's just strange that he doesn't cling onto my dresses anymore. He doesn't even want to be tucked in with his bear. I had to put it on top of his wardrobe." She closed her eyes for a moment and let out a deep breath. "Dr Krol says that my need to keep Johnny childlike is my way of clinging onto my old life."
"Your old life?"
"Before we had all this money and when we used to be able to hold his hand in public. He didn't mean before you came back into our lives." She reassured him and moved into the hallway, Michael following behind her. "For five and a half years, Johnny was my whole world and when I sit back and think how much has changed in a little over a year, it makes my head spin."
"Things moved quickly not because of circumstance, but because we were making up for lost time." He draped his arm around her shoulder and took her into the kitchen. Johnny was sitting at the counter with his dinner already halfway finished. "If you weren't the right woman for me, I wouldn't have married you."
She smiled and rolled her eyes playfully. "I'll try to remember that when I'm on the cover of every single magazine." She took her latest issue of Harper's Bazaar from the countertop and handed it over to Michael.
He wasn't surprised to see her face staring up at him, but he had to pretend. She couldn't know that he organised this. Alice had to think it was luck. "I thought you said you were just going to be in the magazine, not the cover girl."
She shrugged and moved deeper into the kitchen, picking at one of the plates with a fork. "I don't know what happened, maybe the editor liked my picture."
Michael hadn't saw the picture, but he could see why they were happy enough to take is bribe; Alice looked breath taking and for the first time in a while, he could see a carefree expression. Dr Krol was working wonders on his wife and she was gradually becoming the Alice he fell for.
"I'm sure he loved your picture, you're beautiful."
"Are you going to hang mum's magazine up in your office too?" Johnny said with his mouth full.
"No, maybe I'll get it framed and put it in my new office in Detroit." He looked down at the magazine once more. "Have your mum with me even when she isn't."
Alice kept her eyes on her plate and pursed her lips for a moment. "When do you have to set up the office in Detroit?"
"In a few weeks, my mum's arriving next week and she's going to come with me." Michael rested his weight on the counter and watched Alice. "I won't be away for long, just a week. I need you to take charge in our New York office, you're the only one I trust to keep on top of things."
"As long as you're home in time for my gala then I'll forgive you." She smirked a little and glanced up at him. "And you better wear your finest suit."
"I will be there; my mother will be there, and we will get plenty of donations." He nodded at her once and placed a hand in his pocket. "You have my word."
There was tension in the room as Nora sat across from Brooke and the rest of the ladies, she had no idea why she had been summoned here, they usually met at parties or on a Saturday morning for breakfast; meeting on a weekday was so out of the blue. Brooke eventually lowered the newspaper she was reading and raised a brow at Nora.
"Do you know why I've called you here?"
"No, do you wish to enlighten me?"
"Have you been living under a rock for the past couple of weeks?" Mildred took an old newspaper from the side of her chair and handed it over to Nora. "That's last week's Times."
"Who is on the front page?" Brooke already knew the answer, she had saw that article everywhere she went.
"It's Michael and Alice Gray." Nora replied gravely.
"With the Mayor, you were at that party, were they close with the Mayor?"
"For a period of time, yes…"
"I thought you said that these people were gypsy scum. The Mayor wouldn't meet with gypsy scum. He's a respectable man." Eleanor spoke up for the first time, her hands rested on her growing bump.
"Not only that but when I got my monthly subscription of Harper's Bazaar the other morning, Alice was staring up at me." Brooke didn't look pleased; she knew that Alice's gala was now going to be a sophisticated affair and she was going to have to beg to go. Brooke didn't like begging.
"I don't know how she got on the cover, chance perhaps?" Nora set the newspaper on the table in front of her and clasped her hands.
"Well chance has now propelled her to our level, and we would be ridiculous if we didn't offer her a place in our little group. In fact, I would like her to join if she would accept our invitation because I was harsh on her as favour to you" Brooke was pointing at Nora and she could tell that it was making her squirm. "Whatever issue you have with Alice, you either sort it out or leave our group. We are ladies of the highest class, it's time to behave like it."
Nora enjoyed being friends with these ladies, she was enjoying the high life and the exclusive parties, losing her footing in society was unthinkable; she had lost her place after her first husband died and she wouldn't be demoted again. "You're right, I've let my own personal feelings overtake my rational thinking mind. I will put any tension to bed at the soonest opportunity."
"Good, because Alice is on her way." Brooke replied as she resumed reading her newspaper.
"She's coming, now?"
"Yes, she should be here any moment." Mildred replied with a smile. They were all preparing to grovel, some of them were better than others, they just hoped they could secure another invitation.
Minutes passed into an hour and there was still no sign of Alice, she was going to make them wait because now she was the one who had the upper hand. She followed Brooke's butler into her lounge and watched their expressions change as he announced her arrival. She looked to Nora and then to Brooke with a raised brow before taking a seat beside Mildred. She lit a cigarette and lay back in the chair, watching the smoke twirl in front of her face for a second before saying, "So, a gangster's wife is now eligible for the Upper West Side society."
"Alice, please let me extend a sincere apology to you for my behaviour the last time we met. I was under the impression by a clearly unreliable source," Brooke glanced at Nora, as did Alice, "that your husband was still an active criminal."
"And what made you change your mind about me? Was it that your source was clearly inaccurate, my face on the magazine or the fact that the Mayor and other state officials have been doing business with us?" Alice felt confident, she was in complete control of this situation and to see Nora fidget uncomfortably in her chair brought her a little bit of happiness.
"I wont lie, it is a mixture of all three, but I do believe that we all got off on the wrong foot and I hope that you accept our apology."
"All of us got off on the wrong foot?" Alice turned away from Nora and raised a brow. "Did Nora tell all of you how we know each other?"
"Alice, I don't think this is the right time or place." Nora's voice was pleading, but after everything that she had done to Alice, no amount of pleading was going to keep her silent.
"Nora is my half-sister and when I met her a year ago, she was a drunk who tried to seduce my husband while I was pregnant." She revelled in the shocked and appalled faces of the three women in front of her and she could only imagine the look of embarrassment on the face behind her. "So, I will accept your apologies because your mistakes do seem to be genuine, but Nora on the other hand, I will think about your apology when I receive it. Once I have that, I will extend an invitation to my charity gala to all of you."
When Alice got onto her feet, Brooke began to panic, she had hoped to secure an invitation before Alice left and now her wish relied on Nora swallowing her pride. She shot a look at Nora and widened her eyes, hinting that she should speak up. It was hard for Nora to apologise; Alice had just humiliated her in front of her friends, and she didn't know why Alice wanted a singular apology from her. She listened to Alice's heels as she started to leave the room and stood up, staring at the back of Alice's head.
"Wait," Alice stopped and glared over her shoulder, "I apologise for everything… I crossed a line with Michael and instead of trying to outcast you, I should've welcomed you with open arms. After all, you're the only blood relation I have in this world. I'm sorry, Alice."
"Thank you for finally admitting that you were wrong to try and steal my husband because I have been holding on to a lot of hate directed towards you. My invites are reextended and I look forward to seeing you all there, with any luck, there will be no more drama."
"How did Nora's apology make you feel?" Dr Krol's glasses had fallen to the tip of his nose as he scribbled notes down in his book. He had noticed a significant change in Alice since their first meeting, but there was still plenty of work to do with her. He could tell that she was still holding a lot back.
"I felt like I was in control, since that night I kicked her out of my life, I had been imagining what it would be like to come face to face with her again and when I saw her doing well with a new husband, I was angry; in my mind she didn't deserve happiness and a part of me hoped that she would be living in squalor."
"Is that how you would feel if I crossed you?"
"I don't think so, neither of my siblings made life easy for me, I always thought that with Danny it was because he didn't understand how life outside of the caravans worked but he was highly intelligent. He knew how to play me. With Nora, I don't know if it was jealousy because I knew our mother or if that's how her world worked, backstabbing and infidelity…"
"Do you want a relationship with your sister?"
"It would soothe my soul if I didn't have to keep fighting, if I could just have a normal, functioning relationship with someone other than Michael."
Dr Krol finally pushed his glasses back up his bridge and glanced up at Alice. "Are you willing to put in the work for a functioning relationship with Nora?"
"I tried with Danny and I suppose I can try with Nora."
"I want you meet up with her, one on one and work out whatever issues you have. If you are wanting to be friends with this group of women and she's going to be around you, you will feel very anxious or quite angry and it won't do you any good. Get to the root of the problem and weed it out."
Alice stared at him, he made it sound easy, but she knew that sitting with Nora and having a conversation was going to be one of the hardest things she could do. She was going to have to listen as Nora explained her actions while remaining calm. What could she say to make their relationship better? Nothing would make her actions bearable.
A:N Do you think the two sisters will be able to have a civilised conversation? How will their relationship pan out? Thank you so much for reading and the continued support of this story!