Tragic Love

Chapter 13

"Good morning, Miss Solomons." Anna greeted as you walked downstairs.

You looked up to find the housekeeper currently dusting one of the many bookshelves in the house, giving you a friendly smile.

"Good morning, Anna. And please, we've been over this. Call me, Y/N."

Anna just smiled like she always did and you knew she was still going to refer to you as Miss Solomons. She had been doing it for the few last few years, you doubted you could change it any time soon.

"Has the morning paper come in?" You asked, making your way to the kitchen.

She didn't reply straight away as you opened the fridge and grabbed the milk.

"No." She finally answered.

Her voice seemed a little off, almost uncertain causing you to look back over at her as she followed you into the kitchen.

"Are you okay?"

Anna simply nodded, but refused to look at you which was setting off alarm bells in your head.

She walked over to the kitchen table, grabbing a tea towel and subtly moving it to cover something on the table. Frowning in confusion, you put the milk down on the bench and walked across the room towards her, reaching for the tea towel.

"Wait, Miss Solomons." Anna quickly said, grabbing your hand to stop you.

"Anna, what are you hiding?"

She didn't say anything for a moment as she stared at you before looking down at the towel on the table and sighed, letting go of your hand.

"It's this mornings newspaper."

"I thought you said that it hadn't come yet." You responded sceptically.

"I lied."

Why would she lie about the newspaper? If she wanted to read it first, that wasn't an issue. It was just the newspaper, you didn't give a shit.

"Why did you lie?" You asked, looking at her, but she was just staring at the tea towel, not wanting to meet your eyes. "Anna?"

"Because of the front page." She answered.

"What's on the front page?"

"Not what. Who."

Okay, now you were even more confused. Why did it matter who was on the front page?

You didn't bother asking, you just grabbed the tea towel, shifting it off the paper, but stopped when you saw who was on it.

Tommy Shelby.

You stared at the photo for a moment, hating that it was actually a nice photo. Of course it was a nice photo, it was Tommy. He always looked good.

He was standing behind a podium, obviously giving some kind of speech with the headline 'Birmingham's newest Labor MP' written below it.

"I know you and Mr Shelby have a complicated history. I just didn't want you to see it and get upset." Anna said gently from beside you.

She was trying to look out for you. She didn't want to lie, she was just trying to protect you.

"Thank you. That's very kind of you, but I'm okay." You reassured, walking back over to the milk to make your morning coffee.

Anna didn't say anything else after that, disappearing out the kitchen to continue her dusting.

You poured yourself a cup of coffee and grabbed the newspaper off the table before you made your way back up stairs to the main living room. Cyril was fast asleep on the couch, snoring softly as you walked past, opening the doors to the small balcony before taking a seat outside.