Tommy followed Anna and Oswald through the black entrance doors of Victoria's. Immediately, Tommy scanned the room for Nora. It wasn't until he looked in a dimly lit corner that he saw her, surrounded by a group of men and women. Nora gave a small shake of her head and Tommy turned his eyes from her before Mosely spotted him looking at her. Oswald drug his eyes around the room, a smile on his face.
Mosely picked a table on the edge of the dancefloor and waived a waiter over to order drinks. Anna flirted with him until their drinks were delivered, then she excused herself to the toilet.
"What do you think?" Mosely asked Tommy as he held his arms out, motioning to the club.
"It's nice."
"Nice? Oh no, chap. This is the top club in London. The women here… mm." His eyes lit up. "there's a small room in the back, with a desk. The owner is never in there." He said as he drew his face close to Tommy's. "I can't even count the number of women I've had in that office."
"Who is the owner?" Tommy asked curiously.
"No one knows. There's a rumor that it is a Frenchman, others say an Italian who doesn't want to be exposed to Sabini for fear of losing it." Mosely said leaning back and taking a drink.
"I'm shocked you come here. Being that it lays on the edge of Jewish territory." Tommy pointed out.
"That's why I do it. Because I can. I can look at them on their streets and they can't do a damn thing about it without starting a war with the Italians, which they don't want."
"What's to stop them from coming in here and fighting you?"
"Look around Shelby, do any of these people look like Jews to you?" Mosely laughed.
Tommy lit a cigarette as their conversation paused. A flash lit up the opposite side of the room and the two men looked up to see a man with a camera taking a picture of a large group. The short man then proceeded to another corner of the room, asking to take pictures of friends and family members enjoying their time. When the cameraman reached the corner of the room Nora had been in, Tommy noticed she was gone.
Just then, a waiter brought Tommy and Oswald another round and whispered, "From the lady at the bar." And walked away.
The men looked over. Nora raised her glass, toasting them silently. Tommy watched as Oswald raised his glass back at her and saw a glint in his eyes. He watched as Mosley took in Nora's frame, starting at her legs and working his way up to her face, then back down again. Tommy could see the desire begin to bloom in his eyes as Mosely looked at her.
"Well now, let's not be rude." Mosely said as he took a large drink of his whiskey, never taking his eyes off Nora's.
"What about Anna? Tommy asked.
"Who?" Mosely responded distractedly as he stood.
Nora stared back at Mosely, confidence in her eyes. Tommy noticed her jaw clench slightly before she gave a flirtatious grin to the men.
"It's not every day you meet a member of parliament, let alone two." She said in a seductive, yet friendly tone as they reached her.
"Thank you, for the drink Miss..?" Oswald said.
Before Nora could answer the small man with the camera walked up to the three of them.
"Photograph?" He asked in an excited voice.
"Why not?" Mosely replied.
"Oh, here. Let me step out." Nora offered as she took a step away, but Mosely grabbed her hand.
"No, please. What good would a photograph of the two of us be by ourselves." He said.
"If you're sure?" Nora said hesitantly.
"Absolutely." He assured her as she stepped closer to him.
The cameraman held up his camera a pushed the button. The flash blinded the three of them and as they blinked the floating dots out of their vision the cameraman walked away quickly. The band began to play a slow number as they regained their vision and Mosely looked at Nora.
"Would you do me the honors?" He asked holding out his hand.
Nora looked at his hand then at him before putting her hands in his. Mosely lead her to the dancefloor and wrapped his hand around her waist, putting her close. Nora put her hand in his and began to sway with him, neither one saying a word. Tommy watched, confused. Mosely pulled her so close they looked over the other's shoulders. Oswald looked at Tommy with a coy smile and raised his eyebrows, as if demonstrating to Tommy what he had said about the women earlier. Tommy's jaw clenched as he thought about the things Nora had said about him and how much she despised Mosely. Now she was dancing with him?
They slowly turned around until Nora was looking over Mosely's shoulder looking at Tommy, a mischievous grin on her face and her eyes dancing with humor. When the dance was over, Nora walked away from Mosely toward the table he and Tommy previously sat at. She put her elbow on the table and held up her hand, motioning behind her with her finger. Moments later, a waiter brought a cigarette and placed it between her fingers as Mosely sat down and motioned for Tommy to join. Nora put her cigarette in her mouth and the waiter lit it.
"Well, the workers here certainly like you, don't they?" Mosely said, his hunger for her only growing.
"They better." She said as she exhaled her smoke. "Otherwise they'll be out on their asses."
Mosely and Tommy paused before exchanging a look.
"You come here quite often, don't you Mr. Mosely?"
"Yes. I find the atmosphere refreshing." Oswald said with a smile, forgetting her previous comment.
"Mm." Nora grunted. "The atmosphere….. and the women." She said as she raised her eyebrows slightly, taking another drag of her cigarette.
Mosely paused again. "I'm sorry, I don't believe I caught your name before."
Nora stared at him before a grin crossed her face once more. "Nora Solomons." She said as she held out a hand.
Mosely's face fell in disappointment and shock. He looked at Tommy whose eyebrows creased, and mouth hung slightly open to prevent Mosely noticing his familiarity with Nora.
Mosely regained his composure before saying, "I've heard a lot about you Miss Solomons."
"Have you?" She responded, her face still clearly enjoying their shock.
"Yes. You have men coming to Camden Town."
"They need the work." She said shrugging.
"And what kind of work do you have them doing?" Oswald asked.
Nora smiled and began putting out her cigarette. "Mr. Mosely, Why is it you are targeting my people? It doesn't make much sense to me, logically, when you spend almost every weekend drinking with Jewish men and taking Jewish women into my office."
"Your- …." Mosely started put stopped and looked around the room.
Nora leaned in close and said, "You do realize this is a Jewish club, don't you Mr. Mosely?"
"It's…" Mosely paused again before he shook his head and his face returned to its rightful, poised, state. "No. No one knows who owns this place. You are trying to pull one over on me." He took a drink of his whiskey before pointing at her, "Which you almost did."
"My brother," She paused as she put a hand on her heart, "rest his soul, bought this building for me on my twenty-first birthday and on my twenty-third birthday, he opened it as a club."
Mosely shook his head at her. "You're not a good liar, Miss Solomons."
Tommy noticed a small twitch of her eye at his comment before she waved her hand to the corner of the room and Anna came with a handbag.
"Thank you, Anna." Nora said and Anna nodded and walked away, leaving the handbag on the table.
Mosely's neck began to redden as Anna walked away and Tommy knew he believed she was telling the truth. Nora opened the bag and pulled out a legal paper, opening it to reveal a deed. She placed it on the table and slid it in front of Tommy and Mosely. Tommy examined the deed. It had the address of the building they were in, dated nine years ago, and complete with Alfie's scratchy signature at the bottom next to Nora's gentle signature.
"How is it no one knows this is your club?" Tommy asked in an unbelieving tone.
"I was here long enough to sign then deed then I left to travel, my brother opened the club for me on his own as a gift." She paused again as her face fell. "He truly was a wonderful brother." She sighed then picked up her face, "He didn't want others thinking it was his club, what with Sabini having opened his club, and because I was out of the country, guests started making up their own stories. We decided to let the rumors spread the mystery on their own. It was almost a game." She laughed. "when I would call or come in for a small time, he would tell me who people thought owned the club and we would laugh. Then I would start a rumor that it was someone else before I left. The people of Camden know of course but they find it funny as well. Mostly because men like you come in, thinking it some sort of 'safe place' that you can come and fuck women that you've never met before and buy drinks for men who you think will vote for you."
Nora's face turned smug as a small snarl lifted her lip.
"All this time you have been paying my travel fees. And in return I have let you fuck my mates…. My Jewish mates."
Mosely's jaw was clenched. "These men aren't-" He started.
"They are a bit unorthodox; I'll admit. But I'd say about sixty percent of them are Jews. And I'd make a strong wager that ninety-three percent of the women you've fucked in that back office were Jewish…. So, what's say we end this now? Hmm? You clearly don't hate Jews as much as you think you do. Just end your union and your war against my people."
"Your people are all lower than the rest of us." Mosely said behind gritted teeth as he leaned close.
"Yet, after we danced you would have had me laying over that desk if I hadn't told you my name."
Mosely's anger was mixed with embarrassment as he stood and began to gather his coat.
"Come Tommy, we are leaving." He said still staring angrily at Nora, and Tommy stood, glancing at Nora.
"I do look forward to seeing the two of you again." Nora said with a smile and Mosely turned on his heels and stomped out.
Tommy looked back at Nora as he walked toward the exit. Nora gave a faint wink that no one would notice but him.
Tommy followed Mosely out the door. When they were outside Mosely turned to him angrily. "How? How did I not know?"
"Maybe she's lying." Tommy offered.
"No. You saw that deed. FUCK! Not a word of this. To anyone, you understand? This could be detrimental to our campaign."
Tommy stared at him a moment before nodding his head.
The next day Tommy readied himself to meet with his family. He could hear them talking excitedly and as he walked in, they all fell silent, staring at him.
"What'd I miss?" He asked.
"Have you read the paper this morning?" Ada asked, cautiously.
"No. I've been busy. Why? What's in the paper?"
The family all looked at each other before Arthur threw the morning's paper on the table in front of him. On the front page was a large black and white photograph of Nora standing by the bar next to Oswald Mosely whose hand was on her elbow with Tommy standing next to Oswald, his face stoic as usual. The headline read in big bold letters FASCIST LEADERS SUPPORT JEWISH BUSINESS.
Nora sat in her office when the short cameraman was led in by Ishmael.
"Did you take the alley?" Nora asked.
"Yes, ma'am." The short man.
"And?"
"The photograph and story are in every major paper in England."
"Good. Thank you, Frank. You may go." She said as she gave him a rewarding smile and he scurried off, his bald head reflecting the lights as he went.
"Can we trust him to keep his mouth shut?" Ishmael asked as they watched Frank leave.
"For now." She said and she looked down at the paper on her desk and the large black and white photograph of Oswald Mosely.