Canary - Thomas Shelby

chapter 2

xx

Tommy:

Images of the tunnels Tommy had spent the majority of his time in France flashed across his mind. Tommy ran his hand through his sweat-slicked hair, it had been a full year since he had returned home but he could not escape the memories of what he had been through.

Tommy turned to his bedside table grabbing his pipe and opium. It was the only thing to quiet his mind for a few hours. He just needed a few hours to sleep and be free from the never-ending nightmares playing in his head. Sleep was a rarity for him these days.

Tommy looked outside hearing two coppers walking down the lane. Since Inspector Campbell had arrived at Birmingham, the police presence had more than doubled. Something that would soon prove to be a problem

"Your day will come," Tommy said more to himself as he watched them walk away.

As the effects of the drugs entered his system Tommy's mind drifted to the twenty-five Lewis machine guns he currently had sitting in the stables. Tommy knew that he should have thrown them into the Cut, Polly had said as much earlier that day. But fate had landed on his side for once and Tommy was not going to let this opportunity go to waste. This could be the very thing to propel his family forward and establish them for years to come.

Sleep battled against Tommy's mind and the last thing he felt himself thinking about before he lost the battle against sleep was Elena, the sassy barmaid he had met earlier that day. She was stupid, brash, and infuriating but she also had the loveliest eyes and made him feel something deep inside that he had not felt since before the war.

Elena:

Elena arrived to work early the next day. Last night she had found a place to stay, a small and dark one-bedroom apartment a few blocks away. It was not much but for the first time in her whole life, she had her own place. Luckily the apartment had come furnished so all she needed to get was clothes and food. She truly had arrived in Birmingham with nothing but the clothes on her back.

As Elena arrived she noticed a blonde girl singing. She had a pretty voice but that didn't stop Elena from interrupting her by saying "Hello Harry" on her way in. The girl stopped singing as Elena continued to walk up to the pair.

"Who's this?" Elena asked finally coming to face the blonde girl. While Elena may have stuck out slightly at the Garrison, Grace looked like a fish out of water. She was far too polished to be in the Garrison and looked like she wouldn't step foot in a place like this unless she was being held against her will.

"Says her name is Grace, came to inquire about the job" Harry responded looking back and forth between the two girls as they inspected each other.

"Sorry, but the job has been filled" Elena bluntly told the girl. She was fortunate she had gotten here yesterday.

"Actually Elena, I could honestly use you both. As long as you are fine with it I say we offer her the job" Harry said smiling. Elena knew having two pretty females would be good for business and even if they didn't get along nothing brought a crowd of drunk men like a catfight.

"Of course Harry, welcome aboard Grace. You might want to change out of your dress it's far too pretty and if I have learned anything in my one day working here is that the boys around here can't keep something nice and pretty if their life depended on it" Elena said giving the girl a small smile that did not meet her eyes. She knew she was likely being paranoid but something about Grace didn't seem right and she was not going to risk her survival getting close to anyone so better to set from the get-go that they were not going to be friends.

xx

By late afternoon Elena was losing her mind. Grace was on her 13th song of the day and Elena felt like clawing her ears out. The girl had a lovely voice but the 50-plus drunk men singing along in various off-key tunes did not have lovely voices. And while Grace got to sing her heart out Elena was alone at the bar serving the never-ending flow of drunk singing men. The day couldn't get any worse.

Not even a minute after that thought crossed Grace's mind, Thomas Shelby and two other men walked in. Grace knew the other two men to be John and Arthur, Thomas's brothers. Elena felt Tommy's eyes find hers in the crowd. His bright blue eyes were captivating despite how annoying his personality might be. God always gives the prettiest faces to the ones with the most annoying souls.

It felt like minutes until he broke eye contact and Elena felt like she could breathe normally again. She watched as he looked over at Grace and assessed her. Elena wouldn't be surprised if one of the brothers had snatched up Grace by the end of the week. She had a pretty face and seemed agreeable enough to the average person.

Elena pulled a beer for what felt like the 200th time in the last hour as she watched Arthur and John take up a table while Tommy walked over to Harry. She watched them speak their eyes flickering to Grace before eventually landing back at Elena. She gave a snarky wave at the boys indicating that she knew they were talking about her before they parted ways and Tommy made his way over to her.

"A scotch," Tommy asked looking impatient over at Harry who had gone up to Grace to stop the singing. It would appear Tommy was not a fan of the singing and that thought almost brought a smile to Elena's face.

"I think your missing a key word there" Elena heckled Tommy. She knew she should be keeping in the background as much as possible and not drawing any attention to herself. But something about ruffling Thomas Shelby's feathers was downright addicting.

"Please" he gruffed out. Elena was surprised he knew the word.

Elena quickly poured the man his drink, their hands brushing as she slid it over. Elena quickly pulled away not anticipating the sudden physical touch.

"I like your hair up" was the last thing Tommy said to her before slipping away to join his brothers. Elena's hands went to the messy bun she had put her hair in this morning. She couldn't help the smile that came to her face as she shook her head going back to helping other customers.

xx

The day was coming to end, Tommy and his brothers had left a few hours ago and the bar was starting to quiet down. It was already 3 am and all Elena wanted to do after the long day was go home and roll into bed.

There had been no more singing from Grace and she appeared in a grumpy mood about it. Elena had kept her distance not wanting to get in the crosshairs.

Elena was stacking the final chair onto the bar when she felt Grace come up behind her.

"I think we are all finished up, should be able to leave once Harry gets up from the stockroom" Elena gave the girl a small smile but that quickly fell when she saw the intense look on Grace's face. Grace's innocent act from earlier was completely gone as she stepped closer to Elena.

"Is there something I can help you with?" Elena said crossing her arms. She would not be intimidated by Grace.

"I know who you are" Grace smirked.

Well shit.