Chapter 18
Camden Town
Solomons Bakery
Friday Jan. 9, 1920
Tommy POV
Tommy waited for Ollie to open the door and let him into the bakery. Things had quieted down now that John was married to the Lee girl, Esme. He thought back on how that had turned out. Surprising John with a wedding had been the right thing to do. John had almost lost his shite when he found out that he'd betrothed him to a Lee girl. Said he wasn't going to marry some bloody fucking mushroom picker.
Tommy had been sure to explain to him that the girl needed a husband and he was in need of a wife, a mother. Had been sure to make him understand that it was up to him. There would be one mighty fucking bloody war that was gonna make the Somme look like a fuckin tea party. It was up to John, war or peace. John had chosen peace and ended up married to a woman he seemed to actually fancy regardless of her being a Lee.
Ollie opened the door and stepped aside upon seeing it was him, letting him pass through and start down the darkened corridor towards Alfie's office. He could see Alfie walking his way, there was a bang and he paused turning to his workers. Tommy could just make out Alfie's voice, "Fuckin hell boys, calm down."
Alfie gave a nod upon seeing him and turned back towards his office. Tommy followed and closed the door after entering behind him. Alfie surprisingly remained quiet as he sat behind his desk, waiting for him to speak first.
"When Aoife checked in she said to come to you if I have a buyer for my shipment. That you'd be able to get them the information."
"Aye."
"...Right. Do we have a problem Alfie? Because I'm getting the feeling that we might have a problem."
"Do you see me messing with my drawer?"
"No."
"Then there ain't no problem, let's hear this information, eh."
"...The buyer is a man named Calvin Jefferson, he'll meet them in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Given their timetable he's expecting them at some point between the thirteenth and sixteenth. They'll be able to locate him to make contact at The Cavalier. He's to pay one thousand pounds in cash. Half upon meeting for good faith and the rest upon delivery. He is aware that the cargo will be dropped in Virginia Beach and that they will not be transporting it elsewhere for him. I've never dealt with the man before so they need to use caution."
"That all?"
"Yes."
"Fine, I'll get them the information. Now fuck off."
"...Are you certain that we don't have an issue?"
"Believe I already stated that there was no issue, mate."
Tommy knew that something was up but he couldn't figure out what, so he nodded and left Alfie in his office. Whatever it was it hadn't earned him a bullet and a trip to Timbuktu so he supposed he'd have to be grateful for that.
Airship Adelisa Aiglentine
Aine POV
Aine found that she enjoyed helping Finn with his drawing. He was actually quite good for his age, very naturally talented. He was a quick learner and he took the time to practice the techniques she was teaching him. He seemed to finally be warming up to her as well. His young mind was curious and he wasn't afraid to ask questions so he could find the answers. She could see how he managed to get both Aoife and Reilly to fall a bit in love with him. She was well on her way herself.
For once she figured she was finally feeling how Aoife did all the time. She was usually the one that people warmed up to first. People usually had a hard time getting to know Aoife, she wasn't as open and welcoming, at least that's what people had told her.
Aine found that she was happy her sister had been welcomed into this Shelby family so readily. Aoife was an amazing person and she deserved to be treated as warmly as this family had seemed to treat her. She knew Alfie had reservations about Tommy Shelby, and having finally met the man she wasn't positive of him herself. However he'd known she wasn't Aoife and that was big. Plus not only had he known she wasn't Aoife he'd shown zero signs of wanting to get to know her. Absolutely no interest at all. The man clearly liked Aoife for who she was and not just what she looked like.
That in and of itself put him leagues above the rest of the men that had tried to court Aoife through the years. He was certainly pretty to look at physically. While shorter than Alfie he had a sort of self confidence and authority about him that she could see appealing to Aoife. His hair had been hidden by the cap he wore but she took note of his pale yet bright blue eyes. They had been guarded and cold and that gave her pause, was the man even capable of warmth, could he even truly feel emotions. Or was he only interested in using her sister.
She had found that Tommy's family, at least those onboard had spoken of him fondly when the subject of him came up, fondly but carefully. Almost as though they were choosing their words. Finn didn't mince his words though so she found him to be the best source of information when it came to learning anything about Tommy Shelby.
Honestly however, she knew that any information she gleaned from Finn was tainted by the eyes of a boy that clearly loved his brother. Also Finn's knowledge of his brother was limited to what he could remember from before Tommy went to war, so most of what she learned was from the past year. She supposed that was more useful. It showed her a picture of who Tommy is now rather than the man he'd been before he'd gone to war. Aine was wise enough to know that the last year was not all the man was but only a portion and she would not judge him on only a small sliver of his life.
Aoife was a good judge of character as well, and she needed to have faith that her sister wasn't being blindsided by this man. Aoife had always been careful when it came to love, it had worried her once, but she'd come to see the perceptiveness of Aoife's choices. Her sister hadn't closed her heart off to love, she'd simply been waiting to give a deserving man a chance. She hoped that Tommy Shelby was deserving.
Aoife POV
She heard the clang against her door announcing that someone was wanting an audience with her, even though her door was closed. She'd literally just stepped out of the shower, so she quickly dried herself off and threw on the first pair of pants and shirt that she could lay her hands on.
Throwing the door open she found Reilly waiting patiently on the other side for her. He passed her a piece of paper before stating that they'd received a relay from Alfie.
Aoife took the paper and started to read the particulars about the buyer that Tommy had apparently found.
"So I guess we're heading south towards Virginia then. Have you informed Carrick yet?"
"Yeah, he's adjusting the time table so that we'll arrive there in time to meet this Jefferson fella. We'll skip our stop in Hartford. Carrick's been looking for any excuse to drop Hamilton as a client anyways. The man has been late on his payments for our services more than once. Carrick doesn't want to have to deal with chasing him down to collect the debt he owes us any longer."
"All right, sounds like a plan. Has Eirnin been to this Cavalier place before. Yeah, he and I both have, it's a good meeting spot, close to the docks. We shouldn't have any problems getting there."
"Do we know if we've ever heard of this Jefferson man?"
"We haven't, so we'll be keep our guard up, just to be safe."
Aoife nodded at Reilly as he stepped out her door and closed it behind him so she could change out of her now wet clothes and dry her damn hair so she wasn't dripping all over the place.
John POV
John had to admit that as mad as he'd been with Tommy about betrothing him to Esme Lee, cause he'd had no bloody right, Esme was actually a lovely surprise. She was young and pretty, her voice was sweet to listen to and she was openly making an effort to be his wife. She didn't seem to be put off by the fact that he had four kids and said she was looking forward to meeting them when they returned.
He'd explained to her that the kids were on an airship doing some travelling while the company took care of some dangerous business. He didn't mention that the main reason they'd been sent away was because of the war they'd been having with her family.
She had dark hair and eyes and was a small little thing, similar in size to Aoife, may be a couple of inches taller. When they'd first laid eyes on each other at the wedding ceremony they'd both smiled, in relief for not basically being sold to someone they weren't attracted to.
She was born and raised black blood Gypsy so she had some beliefs that Aunt Polly wasn't too keen on but John found he didn't mind overly much. His family may have stopped roaming and decided to settle in one spot but it was still Gypsy blood that ran through the Shelby veins.
It would be interesting to see how she would fit in with the family. He found the contrast in her to be interesting. She appeared to be both brazen and yet timid at the same time. He figured she'd have a difficult time with Aunt Polly and he hoped she would be firm enough to control the children when they came home.
He was somewhat nervous to tell her just how bad the kids behavior was. Often like little rabid animals that had a tendency to run roughshod over everything and everyone. He would willingly admit that he often felt overwhelmed when he tried to deal with them.
At least they had a small amount of time to spend alone together. It gave them the opportunity to really get to know one another before the kids were a constant presence between them. He hoped that she would take to them and they to her. It really would make life much easier for him. Though he would never thank Tommy for his part in bringing her into his life.
Arthur POV
Things had been hectic around the den lately. They'd made peace with the Lee's but Cheltenham was coming up and he could tell that Tommy was planning something. He just hadn't shared the plan with them yet.
Every time he hoped to speak with Tommy, he'd always find that he was off somewhere working on something. The new inspector hadn't made his presence felt in quite the same fashion as Campbell had but his arrival hadn't gone unnoticed either. The man was slight of figure but Tommy said not to let it fool them. There was intelligence behind his eyes, and Tommy had no doubt that the man would be formidable if he decided to engage them in some fashion.
Campbell had tried to make them look weak, he'd had him detained and beaten him to a pulp before coming to the realization that he hadn't known anything and that although he was the oldest of his family he wasn't actually the head of the Peaky Blinders.
It had smarted, that there was a lot of business happening and he didn't know what the hell most people were talking about most of the time. They'd ask him questions but he wouldn't have any answers. It made him feel even lower when the Flanders Blues hit him. Much like today, he'd found a bottle and then another and another. He wasn't exactly sure how much he'd had, but there was a half full bottle in his hand as he found his way into the church and took a seat to contemplate his life in silence.
He didn't know how long he sat there, only that he'd been alone in one moment and then he'd found Tommy sitting behind him in the next.
"You got to stop doing this Arthur."
"Doing what Tommy."
"Allowing the war a place in your mind. You need to try and lock it out."
"But it's not just in the mind Tommy it's in the heart and soul as well. How do you block it out of everything and not become a block of ice like you?"
"You become that block of ice, until something or someone comes along and starts melting it in ways that don't disrupt what you want to not think of."
"Yeah but you're not immune to it are you Tommy? Your door might be closed but I can still smell the opium you use at night out in the hall when I walk passed your room. You can block it out during the day but at night it's right there bleeding past your bloody locks isn't it."
"I've always found distraction to work wonders. What you need is a distraction, that will keep you too occupied to even think a whisper about it."
"Yeah, and what distraction would that be?"
"What is the one thing you always said you wanted Arthur? Hm. When we were in France you used to say. When I get back to England I want to own me own pub. Well?"
"...Now you've gone soft. You've gone soft Tommy."
"We're rebuilding the Garrison Arthur and your name is going to be above the door."
" I don't know the first thing about running a pub."
"You've spent two thirds of your life in pubs, just pour it instead a drinkin it."
"But I can still drink it, right?"
"Your pub Arthur, you do what you want. Now come on, I've got workers started on rebuilding it, with a couple of changes. As the owner you're going to need to tell them what you want it to look like though. They need your input in its rebuilding."
Tommy POV
After introducing Arthur to the man in charge of rebuilding the Garrison he left him to create the pub he had pictured in his mind. He had one other errand he needed to take care of today. He'd been putting it off and he couldn't any longer. He needed to see Lizzie Stark.
She had surprisingly not tried to contact him since her appearance at the den when he'd been out. He did offer her a job and he was still going to offer it to her. He needed to make sure she understood that she was to be his secretary only, there would be no additional non-secretarial work involved.
He had no feelings in regards to her. She offered a service and he had used her services in the past. That was the point of paying for it, there were no emotions involved. She had mentioned to him the classes she'd been taking as she tried to better herself, one evening in passing after they'd finished. He knowing how hard overcoming her current line of work would be, and also knowing he could trust in her enough to keep her mouth shut about the company's business had thought it a passable idea.
He just needed to make sure he was clear with her and that she understood there was to be nothing other than business between them. Polly was typically never wrong about these things so he would give it the caution it was due. It wouldn't serve either of them to have any misunderstanding if she was to work for him.
He also needed to make sure Aoife was aware of his history with Lizzie. As much as he preferred not to mention it to Aoife, if Lizzie was going to be working with him everyday Aoife would need to know. If it ever came up she wouldn't be blindsided with it. He found he wanted to be honest with her, and while it would be an uncomfortable conversation it was a necessary one for the health of their relationship.
He knocked on Lizzie's door and waited for her to let him in. She seemed surprised to see him but said nothing as she stood aside to let him pass. She closed the door before she spoke.
"I wasn't expecting you."
"John said you'd come to the den about the job."
"I wasn't sure it was real, given no one seemed to know about it."
"I told you, you finish your schooling and there'd be a job for you at Shelby Limited. I take it by you stopping by that you've finished?"
"Yeah. Passed my final exams with flying colors. I can even type with my eyes closed."
"Are you still wanting a job?"
"I wouldn't have gone to the den if I didn't."
"...If you come work for me, you'll be my secretary and I'll expect you to show up sober and on time every day. You'll dress professionally and do as you're told."
"Yes."
"You need to understand that this is a job, just a job. Nothing else. I won't be seeing you as anything other than the secretary for the Shelby Company."
"...Understood."
"Good. I'll expect to see you at 8am on Monday morning. And Lizzie, on a professional level my secretary won't be needing to supplement her income. You'll be getting a salary of eight pounds a month, more than enough to maintain a respectable home. I can't have anything or anyone in my employ that could stain the company's name. I don't care about your previous work as long as it's not current. I'm working on trying to make most of the company's business legal."
Tommy watched as Lizzie nodded her understanding, her voice was strong when she told him she'd see him come Monday morning. He left her flat and she locked the door behind him.
Now all that was left for him to do was talk with Aoife. He'd have to wait till Monday to hear from her.