"HERE, SWEETHEART." Eleanor drops into the velvet chair beside Ada, who takes the second bag of popcorn from her eagerly as the picture plays in the background.
"Thanks, El." The scared-looking girl smiles, and rare pity aches in Eleanor's heart for her. "I'd have lost my mind without you."
The girl smiles, taking her cap off and resting it in her lap as her eyes shift to the black and white movie before her. She doesn't really remember the last time she actually sat down and watched a movie in the theaters, most likely sometime before Tommy went off to war and she wasn't given such responsibility over the business.
The doors burst open with a loud echo, breaking Eleanor from her thoughts as she instinctively tenses at the loud noise. Her head snaps over and she lets out a muttered, "Fuck," beneath her breath as she sees Tommy storming towards them both.
Ada follows her line of sight and echoes her curse, tears almost immediately welling up beneath her eyes.
Tommy sits down on the other side of Ada, letting out a terse sigh at the sight of Eleanor beside her. "Tell me the man's name, Ada."
"Rudolph Valentino." Ada doesn't look away from the movie, her tone as steady as possible.
As quickly as he'd come, Tommy disappears again and Ada lets out a premature sigh of relief.
"Do you think I'm off the hook?"
"Absolutely not." Eleanor mutters, grabbing a handful of salted popcorn for herself. "I'm surprised he's not shot someone yet."
The movie suddenly dies out, and Eleanor throws her head back with a sigh that Ada echoes as Tommy bursts into the theater once more.
"Get out! All of you, out, now!" He stops in the row that they're seated in, and Eleanor turns to look at him as Ada swallows tears.
"Awfully rude of you to interrupt the picture, Tommy,"
His cold eyes shift to her, but she doesn't even flinch at his anger. "Not now, Eleanor. I said tell me his fucking name."
Ada sits forward, her chest heaving with frustrated breaths as she looks at her big brother. "Freddie fucking Thorne! Yeah," She huffs a humorless laugh as Tommy's face drops. "Your best mate since school. The man who saved your life in France! So go on, cut him. Cut him up and chuck him in the Cut!"
Ada yells after her brother as he leaves without a word, and looks up at the projector in the window. "Oi! I'm a Shelby too, you know. Put my fucking film back on!"
The lights dim again and Ada turns around in her seat with a puff that slowly becomes more hysterical as she looks to Eleanor, who'd remained silent while the siblings had it out.
