Love and Lies • 𝑇𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑦 𝑆ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑏𝑦

Chapter Fifteen

A few weeks later, Ann was in a London apartment, cocooned under the covers of the bed.

One peek out the rain coated windows had her spiralling down a session of self hate, as the morning light proved she'd wasted another day unmoving towards a future. 

Two job offers that would take her out of the continent came and went without her having the strength to accept, because all she could think about were Tommy's voice on a loop 'Do you have to hear me say the words?' 

A trip to the bathroom showed her that the stress had taken a toll. In the mirror, she saw that the circles that had appeared under her eyes the first night in the room had now blossomed into something resembling bruises. Three weeks awake on a crowded boat hadn't had her looking as bad as she did now. She needed to pull herself together, because she knew that if she could back in time, she wouldn't change her decision to leave Birmingham, because it was the right decision, the smart decision. 

She'd said goodbye, she was free, why did she feel chained?  

She sighed, frustrated as she pulled off her clothes and let the heat of a bath distract her for a few moments. She sat in the tub, alternating between submerging her entire body under and floating so her ears filled with water. When the warmth turned cold, she got out.

In a robe that was quickly getting wet from her dripping hair, she sat on the floor at the foot of her bed, with her luggage open and her knives in hand. With a smooth stone, she worked on sharpening the silver weapons and practising the motions of using them, until the light outside turned orange. Then she stood up, putting her suitcase onto the bed in the process, and stretched her stiff muscles.

Just as she was lowering her arms from above her head, she heard it, the soft click of the front door closing. She snatched a knife from her bag and moved quickly, stopping at the wall besides the bedroom door. 

She clenched her weapon in her hand as she sifted through the silence, trying to catch another sound.

Then the door was forcefully pushed open and Ann swung, but her arm was pushed back at her wrist before her blade could do its job, and a fist struck her face. The intruder then grabbed Ann's wrist, twisting it outward until her fingers were unnaturally bent. But before she could lose her weapon, Ann jerked her foot behind the intruder's ankle until they were falling backwards, and she followed, one hand locked on their neck and the other tightening her grip on her knife.

She pinned the stranger flat on their back, her knees on either side of their hips, and her blade pressed to their throat until she recognised the face, smiling broadly up at her. 

"What the hell Belle!" Ann snapped, with wide eyes, and a fast pulsing heart.

"That's funny, you'd think I'd be the one surprised, considering this is my apartment." The pressure of a gun pressed into Ann's ribs, then the click of its safety being pulled echoed. She frowned, then pressed the knife in, but not hard enough to break skin.

"I didn't think you'd mind." 

"Wow, you're an English woman this time." Belle's eyebrows rose.

Ann sighed. "Are you on a job?" she asked, her words coming out unusual as she tried to fall out of the British accent.

"No. The man I pay to keep an eye on the building wrote me a letter about a strange woman using my apartment. Are you getting sloppy?" 

"I saw him make me. Why do you always choose suspicious looking men for lookouts? Doesn't it defeat the point?" 

"Maybe I like that the people who make me angry know I'm coming. The smell of fear makes everything so much more fun." 

Ann scoffed and rolled her eyes, looking at her friend with disbelief as her smile stretched wider. Then they both chuckled, pulling their weapons away. Ann stood up, and helped Belle to her feet, before wrapping her in a hug.