In The Bleak Midwinter | T Shelby

TWO - DINNER

Kaia sighed loudly as she watched the clock on the wall strike ten o'clock. In a rage, she flew out of her chair, making the legs scrape across the wooden floor loudly. She grabbed the three plates one by one and tipped the food from each of them into the bin, biting her tongue so she wouldn't scream out of anger.

Aberama had left at half past five to meet Bonnie in The Garrison for a drink that evening, telling Kaia that they'd both be home no later than nine o'clock to have dinner together. Ten o'clock came and there was no sign of either of them.

She'd gone to the effort of cooking her father's favourite meal for his birthday, but he didn't even had the manners to turn up on time to eat it.

Kaia thought about going to bed. She wasn't even hungry, she was too angry to be hungry and after thinking, she decided she was too angry to fall asleep as well.

Pulling on a pale brown trench coat, Kaia locked the front door behind her and headed in the direction of The Garrison. If they were going to leave her sat waiting for them to come home while they were getting drunk, the least they could do as an apology was buy her a drink.

Kaia had been trawling around Birmingham all day looking for a job. She'd asked in cafes, pubs, shops, offices, even hospitals to see if they needed any trainee nurses, but she had no luck anywhere.

Already angry and frustrated from not getting anywhere with employment, waiting alone for her family to come home for the tea she'd made for them topped the whole day off for her.

It was raining on the way to the pub which didn't do anything to improve Kaia's mood. She huffed loudly, pulled her jacket across her body and hurrying along the streets towards the pub, trying to dodge the rain bouncing up from the ground.

She eventually arrived, smelling the ale and the smoke before she could even see the glow from the windows. The warmth when she pushed open the door was inviting, but the stares from the men that were sat drinking that evening were not.

"Oh Jesus," Aberama's eyes widened in guilt when he watched his daughter storm into the pub looking soaked to the bone with a flash of anger in her eyes.

"What's she doing here?" Bonnie furrowed his brows in disgust at his sister.

"I told her we'd be home at nine."

"Oh, fuck."

"My thoughts exactly, son."

The two of them tried to avoid her gaze as they sat in the corner behind a group of men. Kaia looked around the pub desperately trying to find her father and brother, ready to give them a piece of her mind and force them to buy her more than one drink.

"Excuse me miss, if you're not drinking you need to leave."

Kaia looked up at the gentleman before her with a raised eyebrow. She glanced at him, looking him up and down before turning her head away from his direction and continuing to look for her family.

"I said," he cleared his throat and stepped in front of her, blocking her view and forcing her to make eye contact with him, "If you're not drinking, you need to leave."

Kaia sighed loudly.

"I will be drinking if you move out my way, I'm looking for someone."

"Who?"

"Move out of my way."

Kaia tried to step around the dark haired gentleman who wore a navy waistcoat with a white shirt underneath, but he blocked her path once more.

With his finger pointed at her, he narrowed his eyes and nodded his head microscopically, a tiny smile playing on his lips.

"I know you, you're Aberama's girl aren't you."

She said nothing, only looked at him with the same fed up gaze she had done since their first interaction.

"You've grown." He said, "Do you remember me?"

"Name?" She said, looking at him blankly.

He laughed, shocked.

"Thomas Shelby."

Kaia knew exactly who Thomas Shelby was, but she didn't want him to know that. She was well aware that he was a self-entitled, self-absorbed bastard. At least, that's what she'd heard people say, including her own father.

As far as she knew, Thomas and her father worked together at some point, and sometimes they still did, but Aberama was trying to avoid getting involved with their business if he didn't have to.

Kaia remembered seeing Thomas and his brothers around Small Heath when she was younger, remembering John from school. Now, she didn't spend much time in Small Heath if she could help it, and she hadn't seen any of the Shelby brothers in years.

"Doesn't ring a bell." She said, shaking her head with empty eyes.

Thomas chuckled again, but without a smile. She felt uneasy as he looked at her, unsure whether she should take another step around him or not. The silence he'd brought upon them made Kaia's skin flush hot.

"Your father and brother are over there, hiding from you."

Thomas pointed over to the corner where, sure enough, Bonnie and her father were sat cowardly nursing their beers with apologetic smiles on their faces.

She sighed loudly and without saying another word to Thomas, pushed past him and stormed over to the corner.

Tommy blinked in disbelief at her attitude, wondering how on earth Aberama had coped bringing her up. He laughed quietly to himself and walked back over to the bar, watching intently as she argued over something with the two men.

"Who the bloody hell is that?" Arthur said as he parked himself next to Tommy at the bar, sliding him a whiskey.

"That," he slapped Arthur's shoulder, "Is Aberama Gold's daughter."

"I thought his daughter was young?"

Tommy scoffed, raising his eyebrows as he watched Kaia snatch the pint glass from her brother's hands and start downing the rest of the ale.

"She went to school with our John so she can't be that young."

Arthur smirked as he watched her continue to argue with her father. Whatever it was they were talking about, she seemed to be pretty wound up about it.

The last time Arthur had seen Kaia Gold, she was barely twelve years old. Now, she had just stormed into his pub, indirectly insulted his brother, and now looked as if she was going to strangle her own brother.

And she did all of it while looking beautiful. She had thick jet black hair and dark blue eyes, petite with a small waist and narrow frame, though the anger that came from within her was anything but small.

"Jesus," Arthur drew in a breath as the two brothers carried on watching the family dispute from the other side of the pub, "If she wasn't Aberama's daughter I'd be all over that. Maybe I should try anyway."

Tommy turned to his brother with an unamused look, his eyes saying really? Arthur shrugged and sipped his whiskey.

Kaia eventually stopped shouting and had settled down beside her father, drinking the remainder of the beer he had in his glass.

Aberama looked up and saw the two brothers watching. He'd seen Thomas confront his daughter at the door, but he hadn't been able to hear what was said, he'd just watched his daughter push him out of the way which admittedly amused him more than it should've.

Despite that, Aberama Gold knew his daughter was beautiful. He knew exactly what she was doing when she didn't come home at night and he knew exactly what every man was thinking when they looked at her, including Thomas and Arthur Shelby as they watched from afar.

Thomas gulped when he caught Aberama's eye, looking down at his drink and swirling it around in the bottom of the glass.

"I wouldn't bother," Tommy let out a breath and looked up at Arthur, "Aberama would have shot you dead before you'd taken your shirt off."