ENCHANTMENT

"Ollie, for fuck sake mate, were you lying to me when you said you could write, because this, yeah, this is fucking illegible." Alfie barked out as he scratched irritatedly at his beard. Giving up entirely, Alfie threw his reading glasses back down onto the desk and slumped back in his seat. He rubbed his eyes roughly, his head aching from trying to make out whatever nonsense Ollie had scribbled down in the books. It was days like this that had Alfie debating why he hired that boy in the first place. Then he remembered Raisa and her incessant nagging for him to hire Ollie. That woman never rests.

Alfie began to turn the gold ring on his right pointer finger as he scanned his eyes across his cluttered office. The dim lamps lighting the room, encasing the drawers and file cabinets stuffed to the brim with different paperwork that worsened Alfie's headache to think about. He could hear the men downstairs shifting crates around and chatting as they did so. Amongst the gruff male voices, he thought he could hear the light tinkling of a laugh that he'd thought about countless times in the last few weeks. It echoed around his brain, bouncing off the walls as big bright blue eyes stared back at him. The way her whole head flew back in amusement and the smell of jasmine and lavender infiltrated his senses, had Alfie feeling dizzy.

Why had he not been able to keep the enchanting young woman out of his head? Meeting her at the wedding had been purely coincidental thanks to Raisa inviting her, the insistent woman had blessed him by doing so. The woman knew it too, hadn't stopped pestering him about her and 'the look in his eyes' since the stupid wedding. Pushing up from his chair, Alfie decided he needed to leave the bakery for the day - clearly needing some fresh air now that he was hearing her bloody laugh in places it wasn't.

Before he could move around his desk, his door burst open.

"Mum, you can't just bloody burst in there!" Ollie shouted from behind the new visitor to his office. Raisa stood in his entry way, with a large smirk on her face and her hands on her hips.

"Fucking hell, Raisa what are you doing here?" Alfie asked, her presence agitating his headache even further. He loved the woman dearly but she knew how to push his buttons.

"Well I thought I'd show Soph' to meet my son, didn't I?" Raisa remarked casually, but her smirk only deepened. Alfie's eyes widened slightly at the mention of the young girls name, his eyes scanning behind her to see through the windows in his office where he could spot the back of Sophie's head. Her tight dark curls tucked messily into a bun shook slightly in their place as she laughed at the exasperated look on Ollie's face. She continued to giggle as she turned around to face Alfie, ceasing her laughter at the sight of the tall man. Her mouth briefly falls open in shock until it quickly pulls into a shy smile, her eyes sparkling in the low light. Forgetting Raisa and Ollie, Alfie mirrors her shy smile and soft eyes as he is completely lost in her beauty. She was more beautiful than he'd remembered from their first meeting.

"Alfie is Ollie's boss, Soph'. Had to push Alfie to hire him of course but he's a good worker so he'd be a fool not to." Raisa said, stepping sideways to allow Sophie to stand next to her in the doorway.

"Could do with his shorthand improving, but suppose he could be worse couldn't he." Alfie grumbled. Raisa shot him a fleeting glare.

"Can't imagine shorthand is all that important in a bloody distillery-"

"Bakery." Alfie shot the woman a dark look. Paying no mind to Alfie, Raisa waved him off.

"Are you on your way out? Sophie why don't you walk with him, can always do with the company can't you Alfie." Raisa suggested with her eyebrow raised.

"Oh, I-uh… I wouldn't want to impose." Sophie said bashfully, gripping the novel in her hands tightly. The flutters in her stomach of being alone with Alfie caused a deep heat to rush to her cheeks. Seeing him in his office like this, hair a mess and his sleeves scrunched up to his elbows, Sophie couldn't help but notice just how manly Alfie was. So muscular and masculine, it had sudden wetness beginning to grow between her legs.

"Despite Raisa's fucking nosiness, I am actually leaving." Alfie said, his tone lilting up at the end leaving the offer open to Sophie. Taking steps around the desk, Alfie pulled his thick black coat off the hook he'd put it on that morning. After shuffling it onto his shoulders, he reached out his hand for Sophie, praying internally to the skies above that she would take it. Following his lead, Sophie gently took his hand and let him lead her out of the office.

"You sure I'm not bothering you? I know Raisa kinda forced you into this." Sophie chuckled nervously as Alfie tucked her hand into the crook of his arm.

"You, my darling, are not bothering anyone. Fucking hell, a pleasure to be in your presence again, innit?" Alfie rambled, holding the door open for Sophie to walk through. "What're you doing in London then?"

"Oh I've been visiting my sister a lot recently. She works at a library so I go and sit with her while she works." She said, retaking Alfie's arm as he rejoins her after closing the door. "She gave me this to read." Sophie holds up the book she'd been holding.

"White Fang, eh? Haven't read that one since before the war." Alfie spoke, taking the book from her hands. "Do you like dogs?"

"Oh I love them, always wanted one but Pol' said I wasn't allowed one in the house." Sophie answered. Looking around her, the streets were just as busy as they were before. Only this time she noticed that the pair were receiving a lot of looks from those around them. Did they know who she was? Sophie didn't think that Tommy had started his London expansion yet, so surely no one knew who she was yet. Perhaps they knew Alfie, this was his neighbourhood after all, and he did seem like a rather important person in the community. The people in the wedding hall were staring at them as well, it must've been because of Alfie.

"Pol'?" Alfie questioned, unsure by the strange nickname.

"Oh, my aunt Polly. My mother died when I was very young and my father is a useless prick so my aunt has pretty much raised me. She's one tough woman." Sophie smiled fondly.

"Any woman that has to put up with six kids must be pretty tough, yeah. Bet you were a right trouble when you were a kid." Alfie chuckled, glancing over at her soft face.

"Oh yeah, they couldn't keep me indoors most of the time. Running them ragged around the boat yard. Always barefoot as well, nearly gave Pol a heart attack when I ran over a broken bottle and got loads of glass stuck in my foot. John had to carry me back home and I left a trail of blood all the way from the yard to the living room." She laughed. John had been clipped up the back of the head when Polly saw him carrying her with the skin on the bottom of her foot bloody and mangled. Of course, it hadn't been John's fault as Sophie had actually been running away from him to hide amongst the horses when he'd said it was time to go back home.

"Wild animal, you are. Always look so proper when I see you, make it hard to believe you're so… free." Alfie was staring at her now, what he wouldn't give to see her with her hair down flying in the wind behind her as she ran through meadows and forests. He wanted to see her in her natural state; in her own environment where she truly flourished.

"Should see me ride a horse, that's when I'm at my wildest." Sophie winked cheekily at him, having a sudden burst of confidence. Her daring attitude almost made Alfie stumble as he walked, catching him off guard. He felt his pants tightening seeing this spark inside her.

"Fucking cheeky thing aren't you, gonna let me see you ride a horse sometime then?" He quipped, trying to hide the eagerness in his voice.

"You'll have to come to Birmingham sometime for that, not sure there's too many places in London for me to ride." Sophie smiled. The thought of Alfie in her home, interacting with her family and existing in her world had her positively vibrating. Her stomach was filled with a fluttery feeling at the prospect of seeing him again.

"You want me to drag myself to that shithole?" Alfie exclaimed. Instant regret hit Alfie as he saw the crestfallen look flash across Sophie's face. "Suppose I'll have to won't I, wanna see you in your wilderness." He rushed out, never wanting to see her beautiful face looking so sad again. As the warm smile returned, Alfie let out the breath he'd been holding.

"I'd like that." She said, gripping his arm a little tighter.

The two wandered the streets of Camden, talking endlessly about anything and everything. Sophie marvelled at just how natural their conversations felt, like they fit together perfectly as two puzzle pieces. Sophie even pretended not to notice when they began to retrace their steps. Being so romantic with a man was something she hadn't properly experienced before, so it felt odd to suddenly be so taken with someone. Despite it only being their second meeting, she felt so close to him already and it left her feeling a little winded. Was this a normal reaction? She wondered if she was being silly and naive for her to be opening up so much to someone she had only met twice. It also worried her to try to imagine her family's reaction to Alfie. There was no way her brothers would take it lightly or if they would even accept him into the family. Raisa had said he ran a distillery, which on its own isn't illegal but his attitude towards it and the secrecy around it implied there was something about his business that wasn't entirely legal. Shelby Limited was most definitely not a legal upstanding business either, so it would be hypercritical of them to not like Alfie based on his business dealings, however she knew that would not stop them from disapproving.

A considerable time later, they found themselves sat on a bench in a small park. Sophie was leaning into Alfie to try to keep warm as the weather had dropped significantly in the time that they'd been talking. He'd kept trying to offer her his coat but she'd refused everytime, until one particularly violent shiver racked her body and then he had to physically wrap the coat around her shoulders. Alfie had taken her hand in his and was running his thumb over her knuckles. This act of affection was so foreign to Alfie, he'd never been so tender and delicate with a woman like this. This woman was going to ruin him and he couldn't have felt any happier about it.

"So these dreams, yeah? You can predict the future like fucking witchcraft?" Alfie joked. When Sophie had mentioned her Romani dreams, Alfie thought she was joking. He was still struggling to wrap his head around the fact she was being deadly serious.

Sophie rolled her eyes at his humour, "No, it's not like a prediction it's just like the spirits show me things to expect or hints of things that have been put out into the universe, you know?"

"The spirits, eh?" Alfie nudged her side gently.

"Yes. Polly always tells me I'm gifted by them and that it's a good thing but recently I'm not so sure..." Sophie trailed off, her mind drifting back to the topic she'd travelled to London to avoid.

"What's that mean?" Alfie sensed her discomfort and he ached to rid her of it.

"It's silly." Sophie mumbled, dropping her head down to stare at their entwined hands.

"Nah, that's nonsense." Alfie said encouragingly.

"They're always bad things that I see… a-a-and it's not always clear or easy to figure out what they're supposed to mean. So when they happen and I realise what it means and that I knew it was coming, I just feel useless. What's the point of being able to see things coming if I can't do anything about it? I just have to experience all these horrible things in my life twice and then feel guilty about it because I should've done something to stop it." Sophie said, tears springing to her eyes again. She huffed angrily at her watery eyes, frustrated at herself. "And now I keep fucking crying about it like such an idiot - I'm sorry."

Her thoughts are interrupted by a warm calloused hand caressing her face and gently wiping her tears away. Sophie's blue eyes flick up to meet Alfie's grey ones. The mist in his eyes had cleared to show a sparkling silver. His look is intensely compassionate as he takes her head in both hands.

"You, yeah, are a fucking angel. Fucking holy princess in all her fucking glory, now get that straight. I don't know much about this gypo-shit, yeah, but I know that you are not someone who fucking lets awful shit happen to good people you love. So you can get that out of your head right fucking now, love." Alfie said so passionately, if Sophie had been anyone else they would've likely been intimidated. Her face felt hot, being so close to Alfie like this and looking deeply into his eyes as he spoke so affectionately about her. All she could focus on was his full pink lips and the shapes they made as he spoke. His words had put her in a deep trance, enraptured by his words, she leaned forward and softly connected their lips. His hands tightened slightly on her cheeks, pulling her in even closer as his lips moved with hers. She tasted like honey, so sweet and enticing he couldn't get enough. The smell of jasmine and lavender surrounded his senses and threatened to drown him. The two became lost in each other's world, never wanting to come up for air or put any distance between them, both completely intoxicated on the taste of the other.

Alfie gently bit her bottom lip, causing a soft gasp to escape her lips. He took that opportunity to deepen their kiss by slipping his tongue into her mouth. Sophie wasn't too sure how to react, she'd never kissed anyone like this before. She'd given a boy a brief kiss before, there'd been a boy called James who she went to school with and lived nearby. He'd had a crush on Sophie and one day after Sophie had been wandering back into Small Heath from a long horse ride in the countryside he'd cornered her and expressed his feelings. She'd been so panicked, she gave him a quick kiss and ran away. The kiss with Alfie was so much more emotional and adult, every move mattered and deepened their connection. Hesitantly connecting tongues with Alfie, she felt one of his hands delicately brush her throat as it ghosted around it. At his movements she felt a sudden rush of heat and wetness growing in her underwear causing her to shift slightly where she sat.

Stopping the kiss from going any further, Sophie slowly pulled back. Her hand had found its way to his chest, resting lightly over the centre of his solid muscular chest.

"Start coming to visit me, yeah?" Alfie whispered huskily, his eyes lingering on her swollen lips. His pants felt so tight and restrictive, his body aching for more of Sophie.

"Okay." Sophie said, matching his quiet, delicate tone.