Three days later Oswald Mosely stood at the top of the stairs overlooking the lobby when he saw a woman with cool brown hair walk through the entrance, sunglasses covering part of her face.
"Surely not." He whispered to himself as he watched her get directions from the woman at the front desk.
He bowed his head to hide his face as she reached the top of the stairs then fell in step behind her. He followed her until she came to a stop, seemingly reaching her destination.
"Mrs. Jones to see Mr. Churchill." She said to Winston Churchill's secretary as she took off her glasses.
Mosely's lip snarled as he saw it was her.
The secretary asked her to have a seat for a moment and Nora obliged. Mosely stood around the corner seething. What business does she have with Winston Churchill? He asked himself as he awaited her return from his office.
"Mr. Churchill." Nora greeted in a polite and business-like tone after the secretary shut the door behind her.
"Ah, yes. Mrs. Jones?" he said as he looked over his glasses at her before motioning to the chair for her to sit.
Nora gave a small grin as she sat. "Nora Solomons, sir."
"Yes. I know who you are. Your photograph has been all over the country, they even made a drawing of you…. You are brave for walking into the building during the busiest part of the day."
"I'm sorry if my presence causes any inconvenience for you."
"Not for me. What can I do for you Miss Solomons?"
"I have heard a lot about you sir. My late brother had a good deal of respect for you." She said before taking a deep breath, "I'm just going to get to it. I know you oppose Oswald Mosely, as do I. I am responsible for the photograph in the paper and the drawing. I spread them around the country. Hell, I drew the fucking drawing. Uh, please forgive my language."
"Oh, don't worry about your language in front of me." Churchill said as he puffed on his cigar. "I heard much worse in the war."
"Yes, sir." Nora said as she looked him in the eye. "Which is why I came to you. When Oswald Mosely formed his fascist union and blamed the Jews for, well, everything going wrong in the world…. He declared war on my people."
"And you are their commanding officer." Churchill said with a nod.
"Yes." Nora paused for a moment and Churchill could see the struggle she was having inside. "Wars like this end only one way, sir."
"Death." He said as he understood her meaning.
Nora nodded. "I'm pregnant. It's all very early and it was not the plan. And yes, I am unmarried but," She said as she held up a hand. "I'm going to be a mum…. I have a lot to fight for. I can't lose this war."
"So, what is it you want from me?"
"Your support, sir. Oswald Mosely is an important person in this country. If he were to die, I'm sure there will be an investigation and arrests. You have a lot of influence that, as much as I would like to, I don't possess myself. I have no way of controlling the police or newspapers or…" Nora stopped and looked at him.
"Miss Solomons, I cannot support the murder of a member of parliament." He replied and Nora's face fell slightly. "But there are things going on in this world that Britain needs to be united against, and Oswald Mosely and his party will prevent us from doing so."
"Sir?" Nora asked as she looked at him.
"You do what you have to do." He responded as he looked over his glasses at her with a small twinkle in his eye.
"Yes, sir." Nora said as she nodded and stood to walk out.
Nora walked out of Churchill's office and toward the stairs. As she passed a corridor a hand grabbed her elbow and forced her aside.
"What were you doing talking to Churchill?" Mosely whispered aggressively, his angry face so close to hers, she could feel the heat from his red cheeks.
"Nothing that concerns you." She responded before she ripped her elbow from his grasp. "I assume your anger means you saw our photograph in the paper a few weeks ago?"
Mosely, "There won't be any more photographs of us, in the paper or anywhere. That fucking cameraman is dead."
"Doesn't matter. I got my point across." She said before she started to walk off but he slammed his hand against the wall in front of her.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
She stared at him for a moment before a smile curled the edges of her lips.
"You hired the cameraman?" he asked in astonishment and anger.
Nora didn't respond. Mosely removed his hand from the wall and grabbed her face, his fingers digging into her cheeks.
"You did that drawing?"
Nora chuckled bitterly as she hid the pain from his grasp on her face. "Were you impressed? I'm considering starting a gallery."
Before he could respond, Mosely dropped his hand quickly as two men deep in conversation turned into the corridor and Nora bowed her head to hide her familiar face. The men greeted Mosely who nodded back. When they had passed, he turned his head back to Nora and without warning, she spit in his face before quickly walking away.
Mosely walked in Tommy's office that afternoon and sat, bouncing his knee up and down in impatience.
"Oswald." Tommy said in a monotone greeting as he hung up the phone.
"Are you available tonight? I'm going with Jimmy to meet a new friend; I would like you to join."
"No. My son is in a violin recital; I'm expected to speak before it."
"Mm." Mosely responded distractedly.
"What new friend?" Tommy asked curiously.
Mosely gave a slight shake of his head as he stood and walked to the window. "I met them a little over a month ago for the first time. We renewed our acquaintance earlier in the day. Thought it might do some good to make a home visit."
He stared out the window for a moment before he turned back to Tommy, "Right. Well you will be sorry you missed it. But you don't want to miss an opportunity to get our word out there."
Tommy's brow was furrowed as he watched Mosely leave his office.
Tommy left late that afternoon and began his drive to Margate, as requested by Alfie three days earlier. When he arrived, he walked in the house to find Alfie sitting on the sofa.
"Alfie." Tommy greeted.
"Mm." Alfie grunted in return.
Alfie stared at Tommy, his eyes squinted and lips in a tight line.
"You did ask me to come to you, Alfie." Tommy pointed out after a lengthy silence.
"Right. I did. I asked you to come three fucking days ago, mate." Alfie responded and Tommy could see his knuckles turning white in his lap as his held his fist tight.
"I've been busy."
"But you've not been too busy to fuck my sister, have you?"
Tommy froze.
"yeah, I know all about that, mate." Alfie said as he nodded, "I know all about how she fucking stopped your boy from drowning and how you fucking SEDUCED her afterwards. After I specifically TOLD YOU to keep your fucking cock AWAY FROM MY FUCKING SISTER!"
They said nothing, instead they both clenched their jaws and stared at each other to see who would break first.
"Your sister is a grown woman, Alfie. She's not a child anymore, she-" Tommy began, annoyed that Alfie made him travel hours just to yell at him.
"Yeah, she is a grown fucking woman. Which is why she went back to London. Because she is a grown fucking woman with nothing holding her back from fighting against you bloody fucking politicians! And now, because of her FUCKING condition, right, she isn't thinking clearly. She's wanting to end things with Mosely so bad she's nothing thinking her plans through. So, YOU…. You are going to make it right."
Tommy's brow creased when Alfie mentioned her condition, but Alfie continued.
"You will make sure she doesn't do anything fucking stupid like go to Mosely's fucking house or-"
"What condition?" Tommy interrupted.
Now Alfie paused and stared at Tommy.
"What?" Alfie asked, attempting to act like he didn't know what Tommy was referring to.
"What condition?" Tommy repeated.
Alfie stared at Tommy, internally cursing himself for letting his sister's secret spill from his mouth.