ENVIRONMENT

Sophie had taken to visiting Alfie more, usually spending most of the week in his home. She didn't want to make her family feel like she'd moved on and forgotten them so she made sure to see them all at least once a week. Ada moving permanently had hurt her brothers and aunt and after witnessing it herself, she couldn't bear to add to that. Alongside that, Sophie also was struggling with the lack of horses and fresh air in London.

In her time in London, her and Alfie spent every night together. He still had to work of course, so he would leave her in bed in the mornings and come back in time for dinner. Some days he would forgo work altogether but since her semi-permanent move into his home, she was there too often for him to just take that time off work. Alfie had begun to experience an ache in his chest whenever he got up for work in the mornings. Seeing his beautiful girl laid amongst the satin sheets, her bright blue eyes peering up at him innocently as he kissed her goodbye, made him never want to have to leave again. The business was always first and foremost in his mind, with the death of his mother he had to focus on getting somewhere in life. The small decrepit apartment he'd grown up in and his mother struggling to hold down two jobs just to keep a roof above their heads had him dead set on never being in that situation again. The addiction to power came swiftly after he'd set up the bakery. His work had been mostly scattered between protection rackets, jewellery dealing and betting, but the rum distillery had officially established his power in north west London. He never really considered what came after that, he never really had a reason to before Sophie. So as he sat in his dimly lit office, waiting for his next meeting, he began to plan. One day, he would leave it all behind. He could tell Sophie hated this world, the smoke and crime was not her natural environment and she was yearning to be free of it. Alfie could see when she would hide her true feelings, mostly for his benefit, but she had always been forced to be around it with her brothers and detested it even then. Once they were married, he'd be taking a big step back from the business. Looking for an adequate fill-in to keep parts of his business afloat would be difficult, Ollie would take a lot of work to groom into the position but he was certainly trustworthy.

Another moving part of consolidating his happy future with Sophie was finding a new place for them to live. He knew Sophie liked his current home but it was just exactly what it was: his house. He wanted something that was theirs together, where she could feel truly at home and not like a guest. It needed to be somewhere that she could put her touch on and really be comfortable in even when he's not there.

He'd sent Ollie and Raisa out to view a series of different houses in their area, wanting to keep it as a surprise for Sophie. They'd managed to narrow it down to one house and when Alfie had gone to see it for himself he immediately could picture both him and Sophie living there. The tall ceilings and large windows made every room look so big and spacious and it had several bedrooms for if they ever decided to have children. It was unfurnished, ready for her to put her stamp on it if she wished.

After Alfie had finished the tedious paperwork he'd set out to complete that day, he promptly waved goodbye to Ollie, made his way back to his house and requested that Sophie follow him. The two had taken a car with two of Alfie's best men, where protection was concerned, sat up front driving.

"Where are we supposed to be going, exactly?" Sophie asked, quirking her eyebrow up at him. They sat closely together, her delicate hand held tightly in his large one. He mindlessly traced his thumb over her knuckles, trying to hide his nervousness. He could see no reason why Sophie wouldn't love the surprise, but he was clueless when it came to romantic things like this.

"Gotta be fucking patient, yeah love?" Alfie smiled, glancing out the window. Once they turned the corner they'd be there. Sophie smiled softly back at him before turning to watch out the window. She didn't think she'd been to this area of London before. They hadn't been driving long so it couldn't have been very far from their home or the row of shops a few streets down that she would visit often with Raisa when Alfie was busy at work. She loved Raisa like a family member, but she'd begun to feel rather claustrophobic in London. The towering buildings lined her world and fenced her in, the liberation she felt in the open fields outside of Birmingham was far gone. She knew when moving unofficially to London to be with Alfie that she'd be giving that up, but she had vastly underestimated how much it would affect her. When Alfie was with her the suffocating feeling in her throat ebbed significantly, but when she was in his house alone it crept up on her steadily. There had been times it had crashed down on her like a tidal wave, leaving her crying on the bathroom floor and gasping for air. Luckily she would manage to get a hold of the feeling before Alfie came back home.

Disrupting her thoughts, the car pulled to a gentle stop in the middle of a street. The houses that lined it were far larger and grander than Alfie's house, dark red bricks organised neatly and cemented perfectly together. The white window frames were blindingly bright, not a speck of dust or dirt in sight. They were beautiful; the nicest houses Sophie had ever seen. Alfie had stepped out of the car, walking around and opening Sophie's door for her and extending a hand. Sophie surveyed his face, his expression was decidedly blank and not giving anything away as to why he had brought her here. She took his hand and joined him on the street. Perhaps they were visiting some important business partners of Alfies? She quickly dismissed the thought, if that were the case he would've made sure that they'd both dressed up more appropriately. Alfie wore his usual cream linen shirt and grey slacks, both slightly creased from where he'd presumably tugged at them during his work. Sophie was similarly casually dressed, a loose white blouse and dark navy skirt tight around her waist that dropped to her mid shin, just an outfit she'd thrown together for moving around the house.

"C'mon love, this way." Alfie ushered, gently tugging her along with him as he walked towards the giant glossy blue door. It was a brilliantly bold royal blue, different from the solid black colours of the other house doors on the street. A giant gold knocker, the head of a lion with the golden ring in its mouth was planted in the middle of the door. Alfie approached the metal black railing, sectioning off the front patch of patio at the front of the house. Pale white steps led up to the front door, with black and white checkerboard tiles covering the stretch of floor in front of the door. There was a large bay window at the front of the house, however it was elevated too high for Sophie to catch a glimpse into the house. The next floor up had two large twin rectangular windows, mirrored on the floor above those as well. It was a beautiful house, whoever lived there must be very wealthy, Sophie thought.

Leading her up to the front door, Alfie grabbed her waist and manoeuvred Sophie so that she stood in front of him with her back to his chest and facing the front door. Leaning down Alfie brushed the hair away from her ear and placed a soft kiss underneath her ear lobe.

"Open the door, meyn likht." He whispered into her ear, holding her waist tightly in his hands.

She turned her head back to look at him with a questioning glance on her face. A grin tugged at his lips, he loved the way her blue eyes were so innocently curious staring up at him. He motioned his head towards the door, encouraging her to open it. Inhaling deeply, Sophie stepped forward and told hold of the large gold doorknob, twisted it and pushed the door open. The smell of fresh hardwood floors filled Sophie's nostrils as she walked into the long hallway. Soft grey panelling lined the walls midway between the floor and ceiling. The oakwood floor continued on down the hallway and onto the staircase at the far end. Taking steps further, she could see a large oak door in the wall to her left.

Why were they in this house? Sophie turned her head back to Alfie who was standing in the door frame, watching her.

"Go on." He chuckled, moving closer to her.

Sophie opened the door and looked into the large empty room. There was no furniture but the walls had been painted a subtle taupe colour. She walked curiously into the room, the large bay window lighting the room with the sunlight from outside, captured her attention. As she made her way across the room, the clicking of the heels of her boots echoed across the walls. Upon reaching the window, Sophie brushed her fingers across the white wooden windowsill in contemplation. Clearly no one lived here, the house was empty and seemingly freshly renovated. Had Alfie bought this house?

"Alfie, what's going on?" She asked, scanning the street from the window. It was a seemingly quiet street, she hadn't seen any cars drive past since they'd arrived.

"What do you think of the place?" Alfie prompted, watching her back studiously.

"It seems lovely, Alf… but what are we doing here? Is this yours?" Sophie pressed, turning to face him once more. The size of the room made her appear so small, like a tiny doll in a dollhouse, he was entranced by how innocent she was. Taking swift strides to connect the distance between them, he pulled her into his arms and placed a hand under her chin and tilted her gaze up to meet his eyes.

"It's ours, Soph." He beamed, placing a kiss on the tip of her nose.

"Ours?" She repeated, eyes wide at the revelation. "But what about the-"

"Yeah well, figured it would be better to get something that felt a little more of a home for us you know. Could see you didn't feel entirely comfortable in the other house, yeah?" He explained.

"Alf, you didn't have to do this just for me. The other house is perfectly nice."

"Right well I did it for both of us, alright? Can't be raising kids in the other house can we? Now you can make this your home." His voice was tender as he caressed her cheek. Sophie took in his words and as she began to process what he had done, she was overwhelmed with love. She wasn't one for huge gifts or expenses, but the realisation that Alfie had seen her discomfort despite her best efforts to keep it hidden had made her feel so deeply understood by him. He saw her for who she was, not placated by appearances only - Alfie was truly invested in her happiness and wellbeing.

Sophie leant forward on her feet, standing on the tips of her toes to connect their lips together passionately. His soft lips immediately returned the kiss, gripping her face firmly with his hands. She loved his taste, like warm honey and smoke from a bonfire blended together harmoniously on his tongue. Her hands snaked up and into his hair, pulling carefully on its ends in pleasure.

After a few moments, Sophie pulled back and looked into his eyes.

"I love you, Alf." She smiled. "Is there a garden?"

Alfie threw his head back with a barking laugh, of course that was the first thing she was thinking about. Her soft girlish giggles joined his and they echoed together around the room. As his laughter subdued, he managed a nod before taking her hand and pulling her through the house towards the garden.