Niamh smoothed down the skirt of her simple taupe dress and fastened shut her overnight bag. The rest of her belongings had been packed up before leaving Birmingham and Tommy had arranged for them to be sent to her new home ahead of her. She wasn't sure she would ever truly think of Camden as home but she was willing to give it a chance. Maybe it was the traveller in her or just the optimist, but she would find Camden's good qualities and use them to make herself feel as comfortable as possible. And she would always carry Small Heath with her wherever she went; whether it was in the little scar just underneath her chin where she had tripped over Arthur's shoes as a child and caught her face on the fireplace, or in the piece of roof slate she had sneaked into one of her bags just the day before.
There was a knock at the door, quiet yet sure, and after calling out for her visitor to enter, she found that she wasn't entirely surprised to see Alfie standing there and looking at her with an unreadable expression. After they had finished their conversation the previous evening, the two of them had parted ways. Niamh had barely slept a wink all night as thoughts of her future and of the man she had married whirled around her mind.
Usually Niamh prided herself on being able to trust her gut instinct because it never usually proved her wrong. However, the fact that she realised that her initial observation and reaction of her new husband was positive confused her for a number of reasons. First of all was what he had done to Arthur and then how he had attempted to take ownership of Tommy's business. Then there was the knowledge that he was a bad man who did bad things to people who got in his way, and while she knew the same could be said for her brothers it was different somehow. She was being hypocritical, she knew that, but she couldn't help it. After all, her brothers did bad things but they were still the same silly boys she had grown up with her entire life. Alfie Solomons was a literal stranger.
Shaking her head, she berated herself under her breath because the real reason for her confusion was actually that she was attracted to Alfie and it made her feel… odd. Of course she had been attracted to men in the past. Heck, she was a young woman in her prime of life and just because she didn't do anything about any of the men she saw who took her fancy it didn't mean that she didn't imagine what it might be like if she did do something about it. And now the man who had occupied her mind all night with images of his intense eyes and full lips was her husband. He was the one man in the world that really she should act upon her feelings towards, only she couldn't. Because as they had both ascertained the night before, this marriage was simply one of convenience and friendship was all that could be expected from such a union.
"Mornin'," Alfie's voice broke her from her thoughts and she found herself blushing.
If Alfie thought her blush to be anything out of the ordinary, he didn't show it and in her embarrassment Niamh failed to notice the way his eyes darkened slightly as they shifted over her in the light of day. Clad in a simple dress this morning that didn't hug her figure in the same way her wedding dress had, there was still no hiding the soft curves that lay beneath the material. Her hair was down today too, cascading in long waves down her back that ended just above her hips. Nowadays so many women favoured the shorter fashionable styles and Alfie was glad that Niamh kept her hair so long because it looked absolutely glorious on her, and the temptation to reach out and touch it was overwhelming.
"Did you sleep alright?" he asked politely.
"Yes," she nodded. "You?"
"Was alright," he shrugged. "Could hear that bloody brother of yours snorin' all fuckin' night though."
"It's actually Ada who's the snorer," Niamh smirked. "I used to share a room with her; I should know."
"Well, fuckin' hell, she sounds like a fuckin' train, don't she?" Alfie pulled a face. "Shocked you didn't murder her or nothin' havin to listen to that night after night."
"I thought about it sometimes," she admitted ruefully. "I suppose that's one thing I should be grateful for about leaving Small Health, hey? Because even though Ada and I have our own rooms now, I can still hear her every night through the thin walls."
Alfie narrowed his eyes at the grin plastered on Niamh's face. Her tone was upbeat and her face radiant, but he had a feeling that she wasn't as happy about leaving home as she was trying to make out. And he couldn't say he blamed her for it one bit. After all, even if her family weren't as close as they obviously were, home was home at the end of the day, and gaining a new husband and a new home in the space of just a few hours was a lot for anyone to take in. For a moment, Alfie almost internally berated himself for giving a shit about the girl's feelings but then he thought back to their agreement the night before, and he realised it was most definitely part of that agreement to make sure she was happy enough in Camden.
"You ever been to London before?" he asked her.
"Never," she shook her head. "If I'm leaving Birmingham then I tend to prefer going out in the countryside where I can ride my horse and feel fresh air on my face."
"You ride?"
"Born riding," she nodded, completely unaware of the alternate meaning that was conjuring up in Alfie's mind. "You?"
"Nah," Alfie scoffed. "Couple o' times durin' the war but that was outta necessity rather than desire. Rather use me feet, you know?"
"I could ride a horse before I could walk," Niamh admitted. "Suppose that's typical of most gypsies though. Well, that's me all packed and ready to go after breakfast."
"We can… if you wanna leave a bit later, we can?" Alfie suggested kindly.
"Tommy and the others want to get off as soon as possible anyway so there's no point in us lingering," she smiled falsely. "Besides I'm looking forward to getting settled in and seeing what Camden's like. Tommy said you have a housekeeper? Is she nice?"
"Anna," he nodded vaguely. "Her mum was a friend of my mum's back in the day an' when she needed a job a couple of years ago, I figured I could do with an 'and around the house anyway. But this was actually her last week with me. She's movin' up north somewhere with her husband so I need to find a new one. S'pose you might like to be in charge of that? Seein' as it's your home too now?"
"Um, I've never had a housekeeper so I doubt I'd know what to look for in one," Niamh grimaced. "I mean, I don't mind cleaning and I like cooking and it's not like I'll have anything else to do so I could always just… unless you want a housekeeper in which case I-"
"If you'd rather do it all yourself then I aint fussed," Alfie shrugged.
"That's fine with me. Well, unless you tell me you live in a mansion and then maybe a housekeeper might be a good idea after all."
"Well compared to the hovel I grew up in– although hovel sounds a bit unfair considerin' me mum did her best to make the place look lovely– it's like a palace. Four bedrooms, dinin' room, office, livin' room, kitchen, bathroom; pretty standard, you know."
"A bathroom?" Niamh's face lit up genuinely at that. "You don't just bathe in a metal tub by the fire or use the toilet in the outhouse?"
"Nope," Alfie shook his head and grinned at her obvious delight. Edging closer, he held his face closer to her eyes and eyed her surreptitiously. "And do you wanna hear somethin' else? The bath's even got taps; gold plated ones. Don't have to boil water or any of that nonsense. Just turn on the tap and Bob's your uncle."
"If we weren't already married then I think I'd be dragging you down the aisle just on that information alone," Niamh chortled. "And now I've decided that on our way back to London I need you to throw me out into a field or something so I can accidentally on purpose fall in some cow poo or something so that I can have a bath in a real tub with taps when we get home."
"Nah you're alright; no need to go to any drastic measures, I assure you. You can just have one," Alfie sniggered. "And on that note, I'd better go an' find them lads of mine and see what they've found us for breakfast seein' as we won't be touchin' whatever it is your lot's eatin'. Prefer to stay away from all the bacon and sausages, you know. Don't always eat kosher but I draw the line at pigs of any sort."
"Will it bother you if I eat it?" Niamh asked and Alfie found himself taken aback by her question. There was no malice or mockery in it; just genuine curiosity.
"Eat what you want," he shrugged.
"What about when we go home; erm, back to Camden?"
"Prefer you didn't but aint gonna kick up a fuss none if you do," he told her honestly. "Right, I'll be seein' you in a bit then yeah? If you aint down to eat in the next few minutes that aunt of yours'll be up here and I've already had a mouthful from her this mornin'."
"You have?" Niamh frowned.
"Yeah," he nodded. "Tellin' me that if you weren't your usual self this mornin' then she'd chop me balls off an' feed 'em to me. Soon shut up when I told her I never even went near you last night. Told her you slept alone an' she could ask you herself if she wanted to."
Niamh knew her face was reddening again as she thought about the fact that their wedding night wasn't spent the way wedding night's were supposed to be spent, and while she was grateful for it she was embarrassed to admit to herself that she felt slightly disappointed. It was ludicrous and quite shameful given that she didn't even know the man.
"I'm sorry," Niamh apologised sincerely. "She's just… my aunt Pol has a big heart and she's very over protective of me and well, she wasn't entirely thrilled with this whole thing."
"Yeah the funeral get up yesterday gave that away," Alfie snorted. "And you don't have to apologise. There's nowt wrong with bein' loved by your family."
"Well I'm sorry nonetheless, Alfie," Niamh murmured, reaching out to squeeze his arm gently.
For a moment, Alfie felt like he couldn't move as he looked down at her face which was looking up at his own. She was so close that he could smell the scent of her sweet perfume and he could make out darker flecks of blue in her bright eyes. Biting on her bottom lip gently, she frowned at him and he wondered if she could pull that same invisible pull he could. But before either of them could do or say anything else, Polly appeared with her hands on her hips and a stern look upon her face.
"Hope I'm not interrupting anything?" she frowned.
"Speak of the devil," Niamh grinned. "I was just coming down for breakfast, Pol."
"You sure about that?" she eyeballed Alfie venomously.
"Quite sure," Niamh gave her a warning look. "I'll come and find you when I've finished eating, shall I?"
Alfie nodded curtly and disappeared down the hallway, pretending that the metaphorical daggers Polly Shelby was throwing at his back didn't hurt.
"What the fuck was that all about?" Polly asked Niamh the second Solomons was out of ear shot.
"What what was about?" Niamh played ignorant. Truly she didn't even know what it was about herself. It had been almost as though the two of them were in a trance and it had been… unsettling.
"You two eye fucking each other," Polly didn't mince her words.
"Polly!" Niamh exclaimed. "We were just talking… about you actually. And that was it."
"It didn't look like that was it," Polly pursed her lips. "Niamh, I know you're married to the man now and you're off to start a new life with him thanks to Tommy, but don't let yourself get feelings for him. He's not the man for you. He's not worthy of you."
"Pol," Niamh sighed, taking Polly's hand and squeezing it gently. "I'm not getting feelings for anyone, least of all a man I've known for less than a day."
"But what about when you go back to Camden? You'll be living together and you're so easily swayed by a few kind words, love. I just don't want you getting hurt."
"And I appreciate that, I really do," Niamh smiled genuinely. "But I'm a grown woman, and actually Solomons and I came to a kind of business agreement of sorts that I think will work so long as we both stick to it."
"And given Solomons' track record, you think that will be the case?" Polly scoffed.
"Actually, I do," Niamh answered without any hesitation. "Don't ask me how I know but just trust that I'm a Shelby and that I'm rarely wrong when I go with my intuition. Even you have to admit that."
"I suppose so," Polly rolled her eyes but Niamh didn't miss the slight twitch of her lips. "But you promise me if Solomons doesn't stick to his side of the deal that you'll tell me?"
"I will," Niamh promised. "I'll tell you right after I've kneed him in the balls and reminded him that every man can be brought to his knees by an unsuspecting woman when he least expects it."
"I'm gonna bloody miss you," Polly barked out a laugh. She reached out to tuck Niamh's hair behind her ear and for a moment all she could see was the little girl who was always covered in hay from mucking out the horses and with dirt on her face.
"I'll miss you too, Pol. I'll miss all of you."