In The Bleak Midwinter | T Shelby

FOUR - BOOKS AND ACCOUNTING

The sky was grey. Again. It felt empty as Kaia looked up at it. It wasn't a dark grey like rain clouds usually were, thick and heavy, deep and miserable. No, these clouds looked empty, much like Kaia.

She had paid for a taxi back into Small Heath following another hopeless day at job hunting in Birmingham city centre. She was wearing a tailored suit with a white shirt and had five inch court heels on, a black handbag and red lipstick. She looked like she could rule the world and yet, she got nowhere.

As she tried to console herself on the journey back to Small Heath, she emptied her conscience to the taxi driver who noticed her looking rather glum.

"They were probably intimidated by you, if you ask me."

Kaia looked at him through the mirror, narrowing her eyes at his statement.

"Intimidated?"

"Look at you. Suit, heels, red lipstick, you scared me when you walked up to the car. Men don't like women who look more powerful than them, well, weak men, anyway."

Kaia scoffed and didn't say anything else. It wasn't the first time she'd been called intimidating and she sincerely hoped it wouldn't be the last. She enjoyed knowing people, especially men, felt threatened by her.

She paid her fare and thanked the driver, who dropped her off around the corner from The Garrison. Bonnie had told her earlier that day that they could go for a drink together in the pub that evening. Kaia accepted her brother's invitation, which was a rarity in itself.

Bonnie hadn't slept at all the night after his sister came into his room and told him what had happened. Though he knew she was more than capable of looking after herself and that she just needed to tell someone what had happened, he still felt a pit or dread growing in his stomach thinking about it happening again.

He wanted to watch out for her, keep an eye on her without it seeming too obvious. Inviting her for a drink would keep her off the streets and out the way of men for an evening, even it was only one night a week.

Kaia walked over to The Garrison, stopping outside the front door. She debated going inside by herself, knowing she was early, but decided against it.

She waited outside in the cold, happy, since there was no rain. No more than five minutes passed by before she heard voices approaching from the bottom of Watery Lane. A group of men were heading towards her, Bonnie being one of them.

She smiled, relaxing slightly after having an initial panic. She wasn't afraid of men after what had happened to her the other week, but she couldn't help but feel a twang of anxiety for a split second if she encountered a man by herself.

"Kaia, you're early."

"And you're late."

Bonnie grinned at his sister, nodding at the men who mumbled things to him as they walked past, all of them heading inside the pub. Kaia didn't recognise any of them apart from Thomas and John Shelby.

"I can go if you want to spend your evening with them, I don't mind."

Bonnie shook his head, pulling his sister inside by her forearm, "Don't be stupid, I need to talk to you anyway. Come on."

Kaia went and sat down at a table while Bonnie got them drinks from the bar. She watched as he chatted away with the men beside him, laughing at jokes and shaking hands with them. He seemed happy, happier than before he joined them, even if it did make their father worried sick about his safety.

Bonnie came back over to the table with a beer and a glass of wine. Kaia smiled in thanks, sipping her drink in silence as she watched some of the men disappear into a small room next to the bar.

"So," Bonnie said with a smile, eyebrows raised enthusiastically, "I know you've been looking for work, and that you've not had much luck, but-"

"Bonnie," Kaia sighed, knowing where this was going, "I want to do this by myself. I don't want your help."

Bonnie bit his lip, looking around the pub and over his shoulder before leaning in closer to his sister, lowering his tone.

"Look, I know you want to do this on your own, I get it. There's an opening at Shelby Company Limited, they need someone to help out with the books, accounting and stuff like that. They don't want to bring just anyone in, you know? They need someone they can trust, someone they know."

"But they don't know me?"

Bonnie groaned and rolled his eyes, "No, but they know me, and Dad, obviously."

Kaia pursed her lips. She looked up at the bar behind Bonnie's shoulders, watching as the man she knew as Thomas Shelby grabbed himself a fresh bottle of whiskey, pulling out the cork with his teeth and spitting it onto the ground. He looked in her direction, holding her gaze before nodding at her and disappearing back into the other room.

"I don't know if I want to work for them, Bon. Dad went mental when you joined them, remember? He'd hit the roof if I-"

"He'd come round to the idea eventually, trust me. It's good money as well, protection-"

"I don't need protection."

Bonnie let out a defeated sigh and held up his hands.

"Alright, you don't need protection. All I'm saying is it might be worth just talking to Tom about it."

Kaia didn't want to. She didn't want anything to do with the people her brother worked for and she certainly didn't want to get a job working for them as well, especially without getting it herself. Despite that, she was tired. She felt as though she had exhausted all of her options in Birmingham and was sick of feeling like she had no purpose all day while her brother and father were both out working.

It was safe to say, Kaia was fed up.

"Alright, I'll- who is that?"

Bonnie glanced over his shoulder and watched as Michael Gray walked into the pub, blazer slung over his shoulder, waltzing straight over to the bar and ordering a bottle of Irish whiskey.

"Really?" He said to his sister, unamused.

"What?" She shrugged, "Am I not allowed to find men attractive now? What's his name?"

"No idea." Bonnie said, lying through his teeth to his sister with a stern poker face.

Kaia glared at him, knowing he was lying to her. She finished her wine and pushed her chair under the table loudly, drawing attention to herself.

"Where are you going? I thought we were having some quality time together?" Bonnie said sarcastically.

"Why don't you go and join your boyfriends." Kaia said.

Bonnie sighed and shook his head, laughing at her as she pulled out a compact mirror from her bag and began to reapply her red lipstick in a rather obvious fashion.

Kaia could feel people's eyes on her, she just hoped she'd caught the attention of the gentleman who'd not long walked into the pub.

As obnoxiously loud as possible, she began to strut towards the door of The Garrison, reaching out for the handle, only for a hand to touch it first from behind her.

"Leaving so soon?"

She turned to look at the gentleman behind her, smirking to herself when she was greeted with the face she'd hoped for.

He was young, perhaps a year or so younger than her, and yet he had the confidence of a man who'd lived a million and one lives before this one.

"Did you have another suggestion?"

He licked his lips, looking down at her with a devious smile. She saw Bonnie out of the corner of her eye pulling up a chair with some other men, no longer feeling guilty about ditching him.

"My dear," he leaned in closer to her, his lips almost touching the skin behind her ear, "I've got plenty."