Thomas Shelby Imagines

Old Love

Polly sighed as she tapped the small letter in her hand. She had considered for several hours, burning the letter, and never passing on the message to Tommy. She knew he would over react. He wouldn't take it well.

She was dawdling now. She couldn't get rid of the letter; it wasn't right. He must have known this was going to happen. Although the content of the letter and the names signed together at the bottom in neat swirls would make the sting cruler. She had been spotted across the room and through the crowd by Tommy. She hadn't meant to be seen. Infact, in their thoughts, she had quite forgotten that she wasn't alone.

Reluctantly she moved through the busy workers and stopped outside Tommy's office door. She had told herself that she had until she reached him to decide what to do. She didn't say a word as he held out his hand and read the letter. She watched his face and the more he read, the more his face lost expression and became a hard mask of emotionless anger. Then Tommy moved, suddenly, hurrying out of the room and pushed through the crowd of workers. Polly watched him go with a soft sigh.

Tommy had not planned where to go. He was heading to find something to distract him or somewhere for his anger and hurt. But he couldn't find one place to head to and had, instead, walked through the city. He'd walked enough times round the alleys and back roads that he could have walked round the city twice.

When Polly saw him again he was unkempt. His clothes rumpled and disarrayed. He looked as if he had been crying but had furiously rubbed the tears away. The way he would have done when he was much younger. Polly let out a soft sigh and started to put the kettle onto the stove. Polly didn't think Tommy would have ever run out of cigarettes but he did that night. She could hear him pacing like an unresting spirit. She fell asleep listening to him pacing the floor. When she woke the next morning he had fallen asleep on the sofa. The fire he must have lit had burned down to ash and between his feet sat a large round bottle of whisky.

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You shooed away the woman who was following with several flower centerpieces in her arms. Everyone kept asking you questions or following you around. You honestly just wanted a few moments to yourself. So that you could sit down and catch your breath. Everything was becoming so overwhelming.

You weren't even preparing for the wedding. It was a celebratory dinner. The wedding was at the end of the week. The longer you had to work on the event the more you started to doubt yourself. Nothing was how you wanted it. Your husband and his mother had taken over everything from decor to who was arriving at the wedding. All you wanted was someone to come and take you away. Tell you that you had made a mistake and needed to run off.

You turned to the door as everyone hushed and whispered. Tommy slowly prodded into the room. His face was stiff and expressionless. Hurrying over you smiled, hoping he would fix you with his usual dazzling smile but he simply nodded.

"Tommy! What are you doing here?" You asked quickly.
"I received the invite to the wedding. Also the offer to be a best man. Thought we should come down early and see if we can help." Tommy gestured through the door to the chaos that was his family's arrival. John's children had filled the main hall of the grand house you were staying in for the wedding. You could see them playing and fighting, climbing all over everything.

"Best man?" You asked and he frowned. He had the sense that you hadn't meant for him to be invited. there had been two invitations and while Polly had insisted that Tommy had his separately because he'd been invited to be a groomsman. He thought differently. The confusion at his arrival and his role in your wedding seemed to be proof enough that this was the work of your husband to be.

He'd never liked Tommy. He seemed to always be in competition with him and even though you and Tommy grew further and further apart, he was always waiting for an opportunity to twist the proverbial knife into Tommy's heart. Tommy had always assumed that he was the one for you. He'd done what Polly said and let you go, but you weren't coming back. Or so Tommy thought. He had no clue that the reason you'd been staring up at him with wide shining eyes wasn't just because you were happy to see him. It hadn't occurred to him that he had arrived like a knight on a white horse, a sign from the world that you were making a mistake. That the universe had sent you Thomas Shelby to sweep you off your feet.