CONGRATULATIONS
Standing tall, well as tall as she could considering she was 5 foot 2, Sophie hesitated outside of the betting shop. Esme had said they were having a family meeting inside, so now would be as good a time as any to share the good news but she began to have niggling doubts in the back of her mind. She was sure they'd be happy for her but they might not be so pleased about who she was engaged to. They all knew who he was by now and while they hadn't said anything to her, Sophie wasn't sure how well they were tolerating the fact.
Her long curly almost black hair hung loosely down her back, with half of it being pulled back by a beautiful gold clip that Alfie had bought her. Unclenching her nervous fists, she glanced down at the magnificent ring on her left hand. The day after Alfie had asked her to marry him, he'd fished out a large steamer trunk from somewhere within his large house and showed her all of his mothers old stuff that he'd kept. It warmed her heart to see him look at her belongings so lovingly and show her his vulnerability like that. He'd kept a lot of her shawls and books that she'd read, there was also a small wooden box with a few photographs kept inside of the woman and one or two of a very young boyish Alfie. Inside the box had also been some of her jewellery. There was a beautiful pearl beaded necklace, a simple silver locket on a dainty chain and a ring box containing her wedding ring. It had a thin gold band, with a giant pear shaped emerald in the centre. Eitherside of the main jewel were two small circular pearls, one on each side hugging the emerald tightly. Sophie had refused to wear the ring at first, this was one of the few things Alfie had of his mother, she couldn't bear to wear something so precious and valuable. He'd insisted that his mother had wanted him to give it to his wife, and began telling multiple funny anecdotes of his mother gushing about Alfie getting married one day when he was older. Reluctantly, Sophie had agreed to wear it after seeing how much it meant to Alfie to be able to give it to her.
Taking one final deep breath, Sophie pushed the front door open and stepped inside. The betting shop was quiet, only a few men here and there recording bets and checking the numbers behind the desks. It must be more than just a family meeting that they were having if this many men had been invited to it. Smiling at the men as they looked up at who had just entered the shop, she made her way towards the double green doors at the back of the shop. As she neared, she could see it was left slightly ajar.
"I love horses! I could even help." She heard Michael's innocent voice chirp.
"Over my dead body!" Polly exclaimed. Walking further into the room, she could see her brothers and Aunt stood amongst a large group of men that worked in the shop.
"Seems a bit extreme, Pol." Sophie chuckled.
"Sophie! When did you get back?" Polly smiled.
"Just now, got off the train and came straight here to see you all. Am I interrupting something important?" She asked, eyeing Michael and Polly. Turning her attention to Thomas, he smiled at his baby sister.
"No." Polly replied, staring pointedly at Michael.
"Well um- that's good because I have some news." Sophie stammered, staring nervously at the ground. Silence filled the room, all of the family staring at the young girl in anticipation. Exhaling shakily, she began to twist the ring on her finger subconsciously. "I'm-I'm getting married." She smiled, thinking of Alfie and their precious moment as she feels the courage to look up at her family. She looks at Polly first who's beaming back at her as she rushes over to her to give her a big hug. A joyous squeal leaves her lips as she embraces the young girl, squeezing her tightly.
"This is amazing news, Soph! Oh my goodness." She rambles out, taking a step back and pulling at her hand to look at the ring. "Christ, he doesn't hold back there does he." She joked.
Sophie giggled at her aunt, unable to hide her wide smile at her reaction. Glancing up, she connects eyes with Tommy, a quiet smile pulling at his lips. The tight clench of worry around her heart loosened, she had feared his reaction the most and anticipated his discontent.
"Congratulations, Soph." He said quietly but sincerely.
Tears began to build in her eyes at this. "Thank you, Tom." She returned. John was next to come up to her and give her a big hug, with Arthur following quickly behind.
"Does this mean we're losing you to London as well then, eh?" Arthur smiled down at her. Although he wasn't thrilled at the prospect of his sister being married to Alfie Solomons, he was happy to see his sister settling down. Additionally, if what Polly had told him was true about the way the two were together, he knew his sister would be well taken care of.
"No of course not, I'll be coming to visit a lot. Can't keep me away from the horses, can't imagine there's many in London." She joked.
"When's the wedding, then?" John asked, grinning.
"Haven't planned anything yet, he only asked me a few days ago." Said Sophie. She couldn't believe she'd been so worried about telling them. They'd reacted so perfectly, even Arthur who had been raging at the first mention of her being with a man had clearly been happy for her.
"Alright, that's it - back to work. Come on." Tommy motioned to the men in the room. Polly gripped Michael's elbow and mentioned catching up with Sophie later before she rushed out the door. Arthur and John both gave her another hug before also heading off out the betting shop.
Tommy and Sophie were left standing in the shop alone. Tommy had lit a cigarette and stood smoking it, glancing at Sophie.
"Sophie Solomons, aye?" Tommy smirked.
"Sophie Shelby Solomons." She corrected. She loved Alfie greatly and loved the idea of taking his name, but she didn't want to lose her identity. Sophie Shelby was who she'd grown up being - it was who she was. That didn't need to change just because she was married.
"How modern of you." Tommy teased, raising his eyebrows as he brought his cigarette to his lips. This prompted Sophie to roll her eyes, a playful scoff leaving her mouth.
"Are you going to come to the wedding?" She asked hesitantly. It was bound to be one strange wedding, half jewish and half gypsy, not to mention the countless gangsters that were undoubtedly going to be there. Tommy and her brothers had seemed sincere in their congratulations, but asking them to walk into the den of the Camden Jews, even if they were on good terms at the moment, might be too much to ask of them.
"Just tell me when and where." He said earnestly. Thomas felt his heart swell at the wide grin that appeared on his sister's face. Deep down, Tommy knew this day would come sooner or later. Sophie was a beautiful girl and she would of course settle down one day and get married, however he hadn't anticipated that she would be marrying one of his business partners and fellow gang leaders. It made it even more imperative that Tommy saw to it that her relationship and marriage was secure and that she was safe and well cared for.
Thomas was drawn out of his thoughts as Sophie closed the distance between them and embraced him tightly. Her cheek pressed against his chest, Sophie's eyes closed happily. This was all she needed. Her family were happy, and there were no grudges held against her for marrying someone who, to say the least, was not exactly what they had pictured for their baby sister. If even Thomas was willing to support her marriage, the others definitely would.
Ada had taken it well, albeit she was very surprised. Sophie hadn't gotten around to informing her of her lover's name and identity so dropping that bombshell alongside her engagement had been a lot to process at first. She'd very quickly gotten over her shock and was filled with ecstasy for her sister. Ada had been nervous, living in London she'd obviously heard of Alfie before, however she was hardly in a place to criticise considering her relationship with Freddie Thorne, a wanted communist. So they'd sat in Ada's big new house and fantasised about what her wedding would look like, like careless young women who had nothing better to worry about. Freddie had been Jewish, but the two hadn't had a proper wedding and had instead opted for a shotgun wedding, which Sophie thought far more fitting to Ada. It did mean however that Ada was clueless on Jewish wedding traditions and therefore was no help to Sophie in knowing what was expected of her. Luckily Sophie had Raisa to help with all of that.
Not long after Alfie's initial proposal, they had both made a trip to visit Raisa and tell her the good news. Alfie had been complaining about her nagging him endlessly about seeing the young girl and so Sophie had suggested the visit. As much as he liked to grumble and groan about Raisa's insistence, Sophie could tell he was excited to tell her. Raisa had been the closest to his mother and had at times temporarily filled the void that his mothers death had left. Alfie wished it was his mother that they were going to see on that visit, but Raisa was a good substitute. So they stood on her front door step, waiting for her to open the door.
The shiny black door was surrounded by a lush green climbing ivy scaling the bricks. Her home seemed humble from the outside, a narrow townhouse that despite its slightly smaller appearance, undoubtedly cost a substantial amount of money. It had never been confirmed by him, but Sophie suspected that Alfie had purchased the house for her.
"Taking her sweet time, ain't she." Alfie grumbled. Sophie shot him a discerning look, tutting at his rudeness.
A sharp wind blew suddenly, chilling Sophie to her bones, despite the large thick coat she was wearing. Taking a small step off the raised doorstep, Sophie moved closer to Alfie and cuddled herself into his large frame to keep warm. He was quick to tightly wrap his arm around her waist, pulling her into his side further.
"Fucking hell… gonna catch your fucking death out here." Alfie grunted before reaching forward to slam his fist on the door repeatedly. His movement caught her off guard, jumping from the abrasively loud banging his fist was making.
"Alfie!" Sophie gasped, shaking her head at him to stop.
Suddenly, a window from the floor above swung open and Raisa's greying hair flew wildly in the wind as she peeked her head out.
"What on earth are you doing Mr Solomons, going to break my bloody door down!" She quipped, staring down at him.
"Well if you answered the fucking door, love." He shot back, ceasing his banging.
"In all my time living here Alfie, when have you ever bothered to knock?" Raisa said incredulously, narrowing her eyes at the man.
"Well trying to be polite in the presence of a lady, aren't I?" He said softly, stepping back from the door so that Sophie was visible to Raisa. The sight of the young girl caused Raisa's mouth to drop into an 'o' and her free hand to raise to her cheek in surprise.
"Oh! Sophie, dear it's so good to see you!" She gasped.
"Yeah, yeah now come and fucking let us in, won't you?" Alfie interrupted the reunion, feeling Sophie's cold tremors from the weather.
"Oh! Yes, yes!" Raisa hurried before slamming the door shut and darting down the stairs. Only a few moments later, the shiny front door swung open and Raisa was stood in the front room, waving them frantically indoors. Suppressing a laugh, Sophie followed her into the small living room. There were two brown fabric couches pushed up against the two joining walls, with a small circular wooden table in the gap between them. A large oval mirror with gold framing was hung on the opposite wall, with floral wallpaper covering the walls. A cosy looking lit fireplace kept the room warm, casting a soft glow mixing with the dull grey light from the window.
Now Raisa had a clear view of Sophie, she gasped at the scars littering her face. She reached to take the young girls head in both hands, pulling her gently into the direct light of the fire.
"Oh my dear." She sighed. Her analytical brown eyes scanned across her skin. Behind the pair, Alfie had slammed the door closed and joined them in the middle of the room. Sensing her discomfort, he cleared his throat uneasily - not enjoying the attention Raisa was directing towards his soon-to-be wife.
"I hear you put up a bloody good fight. Hope they got what they deserved, absolute scum attacking a young woman like that." Raisa continued on, oblivious to Sophie's awkwardness. "Looks like it's healing up nicely enough, hopefully it won't scar. I have some great oils that should help them fade quickly."
"I'm fine, Raisa honestly. It doesn't even hurt anymore." Sophie reassured, reaching up and pulling her hands away from her face. The two women shared a warm smile, Raisa's kind eyes made a warm feeling begin to swirl in Sophie's chest. She had only seen Riasa a handful of times, but her kind aura was hard to ignore and it always seemed to set Sophie at ease.
"How about some tea?" The older woman smiled. Sophie returned her expression, her own grin widening in response. Raisa hurried out of the room, presumably to the kitchen to make up a pot of tea.
Standing alone in the room, Sophie turned back to look at Alfie and gave him a reassuring smile. She reached her hand out to him and he took it gently, raising it to his lips and giving her soft knuckles a kiss. Her eyes closed briefly, savouring the feel of his soft lips, and a feeling of calm washed over her. Any lingering discomfort melted away under his gaze. Their misty grey encased her with safety and love, the excitement of sharing the promise they'd made to each other started to build in her stomach. He lowered her hand from his lips, giving it a soft squeeze and rubbing his thumb over his mother's ring.
Disrupting their sacred moment, Raisa rushed back into the room with a tray full of teacups and a large large teapot. She placed it down carefully on the small round table next to the couches and turned back to the couple.
"So, how is it you've finally managed to drag Alfie to my house? I know what the old oaf is like- far too grumpy these days aren't you." Raisa teased, a glimmer in her dark amber eyes. This prompted Alfie to grumble incoherently under his breath.
Biting her lip to stifle her chuckling, Sophie looked away from her future husband and focussed on Raisa.
"Well, actually we have something to tell you." Sophie spoke shyly, glancing back at Alfie. The older woman raised an eyebrow at the two of them, placing her hands on her hips. Flicking her eyes between the two, she waited for either of them to say something. Sophie was waiting for Alfie to speak, it didn't seem right for her to be the one to break the news when Raisa was as close as Aflie had to family.
"She's gonna be my fucking wife, ain't she." Alfie rushed out, his awkwardness when it came to being soft and vulnerable making his skin crawl.
Raisa's hands shot to her mouth, her eyes wide and taking in the news.
"Oh my goodness!" She exclaimed, rushing forward to pull the two into a wide armed embrace. She had an arm around either person, forcing Alfie to bend down significantly so that her arm was wrapped around his shoulders. "I'm so happy for the two of you! I knew I saw something really special between you two." She gushed, stepping back from the two.
Raisa quickly took Sophie's left hand, looking down at the ring, a wave of emotions swept over her. She recognised the ring instantly. She remembered Alfie's mother wearing it constantly, it was one of her greatest treasures and she never took it off - even after her husband had died.
"Oh, Alfie." She nearly wept, reaching forward and pulling him into a tight hold, rubbing her hand up and down his back as far as she could reach considering the height difference.
"She'd be so proud of you, my boy." She whispered meaningfully.
Sophie's heart swelled, Alfie would never voice it, but she knew that those words meant a lot to him. She wished she could have met his mother, she seemed like a real powerhouse - a trait Alfie had definitely gained from her. From over Raisa's shoulder, Alfie's eyes connected with hers and they shared a content smile. Everything felt so right, like they were meant to be together.