Elizabeth walked into the Shelby offices, her hat titled on her head. She had gone to visit Tommy after finishing his books at the factory, Finn more than eager to drive her. Ever since Tommy had allowed him to learn how to drive, the young boy had been in his element. Finn had gone into the shop to talk to Arthur while Elizabeth went to find her husband. She walked through the foyer, noting Lizzie sat at her desk and typing.

"He is out," Lizzie said without looking up from her typewriter. Elizabeth frowned and folded her arms over her chest. "He had business with someone about his liquor export. He went to The Garrison."

"Do you have any idea when he might be back?" Elizabeth enquired, removing her wide brimmed hat from her head and holding it in front of her.

Lizzie shrugged, finally looking up and over to the Shelby woman. "He should be back soon," she admitted to Elizabeth. "He went over an hour ago."

"I will wait in his office then," Elizabeth spoke, "thanks," she added on.

"He…he brought your daughter in while you were gone," Lizzie Stark said and Elizabeth was slightly aghast that Lizzie wanted to talk with her. She stood by the door to Tommy's office as Lizzie looked down to her desk and into her book. "I didn't realise how she has grown."

"It happens too quickly," Elizabeth admitted.

"He…Tommy looked at her like she was the most important thing in his world," Lizzie responded and Elizabeth wondered where this conversation was going. She bit down on her lip and closed her eyes for a brief moment before gathering the courage to go and sit across from Lizzie at her desk.

"He is a good father," Elizabeth said. She was able to give her husband that. Despite what he had done and his businesses, Tommy was the best father she could think of for Charlotte.

"It was odd," Lizzie said, finally peering over to Elizabeth. "He acts so differently at work and when I am with him. He was like an entirely different person."

"I…I think I know what you mean," Elizabeth responded. "Tommy can come across as being cold sometimes."

"Whenever I was with him, he was like that," Lizzie said and Elizabeth didn't entirely want to think about her husband with Lizzie Stark. The secretary had tried to move on with Angel, but a part of Elizabeth suspected that she never had moved on from Tommy. "He was always cold and distant, especially when he came back from the war. He wasn't the same man before…well…before you."

"I don't know-"

"-I always thought that we would be together," Lizzie said to Elizabeth. "I had always imagined him being with me when I was younger and working as a whore. I always thought that we had something…a spark…I don't know. It seems silly now. It felt silly when he stopped coming to see me and told me that he had met this girl who he was besotted with…a girl who had gone to live in London."

Elizabeth chewed down on her bottom lip, uncertain of what she should say to her. Should she say anything? Should she just keep quiet? Lizzie seemed to be in somewhat of a philosophical mood.

"I'm sorry," was the only thing Elizabeth could think of saying. "I know that you care for him and I know that you will always feel something for him."

"What does it matter?" Lizzie wondered, shrugging her shoulders. "He has been with you for years now. He has been yours since he laid eyes on you. I just…I thought that I might have that with Angel. Let's face it, I am not getting any younger and then when Tommy came in the other day with Charlotte, it made me feel…well…that I want that…that I could have had that if you had never walked into Small Heath."

"You can still have that," Elizabeth said, trying to be optimistic. "You are still young and there are so many men who would be lucky to have you. You are an independent woman. You can stand on your own two feet."

"Sometimes I do not want to stand on my own two feet," Lizzie said. "Maybe I just want someone to help take the strain."

"You will have that," Elizabeth said. "I do not doubt it."

"Easy for you to say," Lizzie scoffed.

Elizabeth sighed. "Lizzie, I know that you do not like me-"

"-I do not care for you," Lizzie said with a shrug, honesty seeping through in her voice. "I do not know you particularly well, nor do I want to. I know that you…you are not like Tommy. You are not from round here."

"I do not belong?" Elizabeth enquired, brows rising on her forehead. "I got that a lot when I first was with Tommy."

"But he still chose you."

"I love him and he loves me," Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders. "I do not know what more there is to say, Lizzie. I know that you might have felt that I robbed your future from you, or that you should be with Tommy, not me, but it did not work like that. There will be someone out there for you."

"I guess so," Lizzie said. "I don't know why I am doing this. I don't know what is wrong with me."

"There is nothing wrong with you," Elizabeth promised her, wondering if she should offer her some form of comfort as the woman seemed as though she was about to cry. "I think we all can feel lonely, Lizzie, and there is nothing wrong with that. You will meet someone and have what you want. You just need to find the right man."

Lizzie scoffed. "Do you think he exists?"

"The right man?" Elizabeth questioned and then nodded. "Yes. The perfect man? Not at all."

"Liz, what are yer doin' 'ere?"

Elizabeth turned her head over her shoulder to see Tommy striding into the office, peeling his cap from his head and holding it in his hands. Moving to her feet, Elizabeth greeted her husband with a quick peck on the cheek.

"I wanted to talk to you," Elizabeth said.

"Right," Tommy said and then looked to Lizzie. "Any messages?"

"None," Lizzie responded. "I am going to go home early. I have a doctor's appointment."

"Aye," Tommy nodded as his secretary moved to her feet and began to get ready to leave. Moving his hand to Liz's he let his fingers brush hers before they moved to his office. Tommy held the door open for her and she entered the space, placing her hat down on the chair in the corner before Tommy helped her from her coat, peeling it from her shoulders and hanging it up on the coat rack.

"What's goin' on?" Tommy asked his wife and then moved to sit down at his desk.

Elizabeth raked a hand through her hair, her curls being tossed over her shoulders. "I was taking Charlotte to school this morning and she said something interesting," Elizabeth informed her husband and went to sit across from him, folding one leg over the other.

"What's up?" Tommy wondered, placing his glasses onto his face as Elizabeth arched her brow.

"She said that she wanted to go on holiday again," Elizabeth said. "She said she wanted to go back to Margate."

"Ah," Tommy mumbled, glasses falling slightly down his nose.

"Yes, ah," Elizabeth responded. "Do you care to tell me what happened in Margate? I know that Alfie said something about Margate, but I did not think that you were going."

"I did," Tommy said.

"And you took Charlotte out of school."

"Only for a couple of days," Tommy said. "It wouldn't 'urt 'er. I needed to do it, Liz. I wanted to go with 'er…I met Alfie, yeah, but I spent time with Charlotte and it was nice."

"I will bite," Elizabeth said. "What happened with Alfie?"

Tommy closed his eyes and leant back in his chair, thinking about the man he had met. He didn't know if he could have ever considered Alfie to be a friend, but in the end he didn't see him as an enemy. He saw him as someone he could work with, but he never had never fully trusted him.

"He wanted to die," Tommy said to his wife. "He doubled crossed me because he 'ad cancer and he knew I would want revenge. He shot at me before I shot 'im…it was a reflex. As soon as he 'ad fired the gun I did the same."

Elizabeth frowned and pinched the bridge of her nose. She let her head bow forwards before resting her forehead in her palm. Tommy watched her for a few brief moments, wondering exactly what she would think. There were times when he wondered if his wife actually accepted everything that he did or if she just said she did.

"Alfie is dead, then?" she double checked.

"Yeah," Tommy nodded his head.

"Why did you not tell me?" Elizabeth asked him.

"I don't know," Tommy admitted to his wife. "You came back and I was ill and I didn't want to add to what 'ad 'appened. I just…well…I just didn't tell yer."

"I wish that you had," Elizabeth responded, lips slightly pursed. "We do not keep secrets from each other. How many times do we have to say that to each other?"

"I'm sorry," Tommy said to her. "I didn't keep it from you to…well…'urt yer."

"I never thought that you would have," Elizabeth said to him and pinched her forehead. "Odd, though, isn't it? Alfie…after everything that he did to us, we knew him for so many years."

"I know," Tommy nodded. "It wasn't easy, Liz. I don't know 'ow I felt."

"He…he was dying," Elizabeth responded. "In a way, I think that he might have seen it as you doing him a favour…helping him."

"Maybe," Tommy mused. "I don't know. I don't know, Liz."

"Well, it is in the past now," Elizabeth responded. "Just try not to keep things from me, understood?"

"Understood," Tommy said. "Anyway, what were yer doin' with Lizzie Stark?"

"Just talking," Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders. "I was waiting for you to come and she asked me about Charlotte. She said you brought her here a while ago. She was asking how she was doing at school and how old she was. You kow, normal conversation."

"You 'ad normal conversation with Lizzie Stark?"

"Excuse me?"

"Well, I know yer don't always get along with 'er. She ain't exactly yer biggest fan."

"Thank you very much," Elizabeth scoffed loudly. "She is not that bad, Tommy. I know why she resents me and I understand that, but I have no ill feeling toward her."

"So…it was just general conversation?"

"Yes," Liz said with a shrug. She didn't want to divulge with Tommy everything that had happened. She suspected that Lizzie wouldn't want him to know. Elizabeth could respect that. It wasn't in her place to gossip. "Anyway, I need to talk to you about the accounts. I was thinking about if you want to expand the business then there are certain things that you could do."

"Are there really?" Tommy asked, wry smile on his face. "And do tell me what they would be, Mrs Shelby?"

Elizabeth chuckled and moved to her feet, going to stand next to her husband and bend down, peering over the books on his desk as she began to speak and Tommy smirked. He listened to her intently, looking at her more than at the books as he wondered exactly what his wife wanted. She had always maintained that she wanted to go back to teaching while maintaining an interest in the business. But Tommy was beginning to doubt that decision. He saw her and he saw how much she enjoyed working in accounts. There was a part of her that liked to see the power the Shelby name held. She would never truly accept that, but Tommy knew deep down that she enjoyed it.

….

A/N: Just a short filled chapter before the new season!