Gabriela's tale

ten

*January 5th 1922*

A new year for new goals and bigger things. Everything in life was going good, really good actually. 

Working I love my job, all my friends and family. John, Arthur, and I have still been hanging out, they come to the house or we hangout at the Garrison. 

John and I haven't talked about us, and we haven't kissed since Christmas. 

It felt even harder this time around, not being with him, but I had to stop it. Esme and I are in a good place now, and the fact that I've done things with John already made me feel awful. 

I walked to work like I did everyday. It was cold, all the hairs on my body standing, I wrapped my coat tightly around myself. 

I made it to the Shelby house, taking in the heat but it wasn't much warmer inside. 

I said good morning to everyone I walked passed and I got to my office and walked in and put my things down on the table and started taking off my gloves and coat. 

Two minutes later tommy walked into my office.

"Keep that on, we're going for a drive." he said, I grabbed my coat and put it back on.

"Where are we going?" I asked, but he didn't respond. 

He walked out of my office and I grabbed my purse and followed after him. We made it outside, I put my gloves on and we got in the car. There wasn't any talking for a while until he said.

"we're meeting with Alfie Solomons, you know him. we have business to discuss, and he told me to bring you along." tommy said.

"me? why?" I asked.

"he said that he's spoken to you on the telephone a couple of times, he said you have a sweet voice and he wants to meet you. So play nice." he said. I blushed a little at that, he said I have a sweet voice.

"I'm always nice." I said.

"Well you have to be extra nice today." he said, and I nodded.

"Where are we meeting him?" I asked.

"He's here in Birmingham. I've picked out somewhere nice for us to have some tea and something to eat." he said.

"You can never trust people like him like us, So Arthur and John are going to meet us there just in case anything happens. They'll be outside." he said. 

I got slightly nervous. I really hope nothing is going to happen. I've never met anyone other than the Peaky blinders who are in this type of work.

"Do you still have that gun I gave you?" he asked me. I held up my purse and nodded.

"I do. All the time." I said. 

We drove for almost an hour, we were still in Birmingham, but in the nicer parts of it.

We arrived at this building, it was nice and decorative. 

tommy got out of the car and came to my side and opened the car for me. He held his hand out. I grabbed it and got out of the car. I thanked him and he put his hand on my lower back to direct me towards the front door.

"You see that black car at the end?" he whispered to me. I looked over normally and saw it.

"That's Arthur and John so if anything happens you run to them." he said, I nodded and we walked up the stairs and inside the building.

tommy walked to the front desk and said the name Thomas Shelby, they sat us in an empty room. We took our seats at a table and there was three other seats these.