Created by the devil

Empty future.

The warm water hugged her curves in every way. She felt the coldness of the iron bath on the back of her head as she leaned against it. She tilted her leg and rinsed it with a sponge. Placing her feet back in the water, she sighed out loud with pleasure. The steam, caused by the warmth of the bath, danced around the room.

Not long, after Gia was reunited with her godson in the Shelby resident, someone came to get him. It broke her heart to see the young boy go. Especially when he made it abundantly clear e didn't desire to be with his family. All the stress wasn't good for Gia and the baby. She tried to play it off and be more than what people expected from her, but at the end of the day, she just wanted to be able to breathe once in a while.

As she looked at her hands that had become wrinkly, she decided that she'd get out soon enough. When Stella had detected some movement in the hallway, she started to show her teeth at the door. When Gia heard the door open, and her dog stopped growling, she understood who it was.

She heard the ground crack as he made her way over to her. She heard the sound of a chair creasing against the wooden floor. When he sat down behind her, he tilted his sleeves and picked up a can. He filled it with water from inside the bath and poured it all over her back.

He went on to kiss her on her neck and then rest his head on her shoulder. She accepted that this was his way of saying thank you without losing any pride and placed her hand on his cheek. She sighed at the thought of losing him one day. "Promise me you'll try your best not to get yourself killed tomorrow." She turned around.

Now, nose to nose, both Tommy and Gia could see how unsure they both were of going to the Epsom. Tommy would be lying if he said he was a hundred per cent sure he would come back to her. She placed her hands on his cheeks and pulled him even closer "Promise it. Even if you're not coming back. Promise you'll find your way back to me."

He sighed and placed his hands on her cheeks. "You know I can't. But I can promise that if something is to happen, I'll come back. I'll come back in your dreams and thoughts." She closed her eyes out of pain from his answer. He kissed her forehead, showing the magic intimacy of everyday life.

Gia was at Polly's house the entire day, ignoring all her work. She couldn't do it, she couldn't sit down on her office chair and look people in the eye while promising them an empty future. She was pacing the whole time, and nothing either Polly or Ada tried helped her calm down.

She tried being with her mom but seeing how the woman's health decreased broke her heart. She started forgetting smaller details that didn't go unnoticed to Gia's eye. Tommy going back on the streets after Luca gave more men and options to Mr Campbell was the one thing that made her bucket overflow.

"Sit down will ya?" Esme told Gia as she couldn't concentrate with her pacing. "It takes a minute getting used to. After an hour you won't notice it." Polly intruded as she was looking at the paper. Gia found herself looking through their eyes. She was acting childish, she thought as she scoffed at her own actions. All these women were waiting for their husbands and children to come back. Like in the war.

But the war was done. Why would they go back to their old ways? Like an angel sent from heaven, Linda walked through the door waving the paper. The poor woman had been trying so long to look past the sins of the family to give Arthur a chance. She threw the paper on the table for Gia to read. She cleared her throat as she read, "Women for change."

"Who the fuck is Jessie Eden?" Gia threw the paper back on the table and placed her hand on her stomach. Linda took off her gloves and answered, "She works at the Lucas factory in Sparkhill." Gia had heard her name before, but she couldn't put her finger on where exactly.As Linda had understood that the women were more interested in having a drink or a smoke she went on, "She is gathering with other women in a pub at midday. They're going to talk about a protest in the near future for all the shit we women go through."

"Them bastards down there, having fun. Yet, me seven months gone sat here like a pudding." Esme spoke loud. Lizzie came into the conversation saying, "Only one outside lavatory between the lot of us." Linda put another thing on the list "Not consulted." "Bend over a fucking desk." Lizzie stood up.

As the other women were listing all sorts of reasons for going to Jessie Edens speech, Gia looked over at Polly. Both women hadn't said a word yet. As Polly looked back at Gia, blowing the smoke out of her mouth she voiced "Lock the door. We're out for today." Gia smiled and whispered, "Fuck it." She stood up with the keys in her hand and closed the door, leaving the men outside.

As she turned around she said to the women who were already putting on their coats "First, we've gotta stop somewhere." Gia had made sure that the women and men were treated equally in her enterprise, but that didn't stop them to divide themselves. It might have taken twenty minutes of their time but it was worth it.

As Gia walked into her building she yelled, "For all ya women, get ya bags and coats, we're going out." A man who stood close to Gia asked "What about us?" She scoffed and answered, "Guess you'll have to be on your own today, big boy." On their way, they were to stop the inequality on the work floor.

With a name as big as Gia's it was sure to cause attention. But right now what other people thought of her was the thing on her mind. She wanted change to happen. You would think that with a name like hers and the fact that during the war she was the only person standing, that she would have recognition. Maybe in a perfect world, she would.

But on this exact day that wasn't the case. The thought was on her mind that when her son is born he would have more rights than her the moment he came out of her womb. She who carried him for nine months, she who will support him financially, and she who will love him for the rest of his life will not have as many rights for the simple fact that she's just a woman.

That's if he is a boy. If she's a girl, she will already be doomed by the second that she's into this cruel world. She had to go for her child and family but also for the women who were too scared to speak up for themselves. She wanted to live, not just survive.