Starting in the Red Night

Chapter 3

    Carbon clouds covered around Nora's body blinding her sight of her arrival to Small Heath. Drunken stares by the men and the envious whispers of ladies, as she continues her pace. As her heel entered a pub, as she lifted her head revealing its name, Garrison. Blighting lights, whistles caught her attention, realizing that she was entering a cage full of wild wolves.

    Heavy gaze towards Nora, directing her towards a couple of men crowded behind their backs.

One of the taller men drew Thomas' attention, "Who's that?"

Thomas narrowed his brows, as Leonora's heel stopped at their end. Unreadable stare, Nora remains her fear concealed underneath her soul.

"Business, Arthur," he answered, lifting his hand with a non-threatening gesture.

Confusing brows met Thomas, "Leonora, I get you introduced to my brothers, Arthur and John, this is Leonora. Our new associates' daught'r."

Arthur and John shared eyes, and directed with mischievous faces.

"Nice meeting you," without losing her voice, Nora managed to say. Removing her hat and her gloves without taking eyes from Thomas and the men that were surrounding him. The background returns to their business losing interest in them, yet Nora perfumed her energy with her presence. Without pronouncing a sound both, Thomas and Nora, kept their stands without breaking, showing their weaknesses.

Thomas grabbed another glass, pouring whiskey, directed in her direction. "You shouldn't be in places that y' don't know too well, this isn't meant for you."

Nora arched an eyebrow, taking a sip of her drink, pursing her soft lips, "I was bored, the least I can do is to explore the place I'll be staying."

"Oh, Tommy she was bored," Arthur commented.
    "Go home, Leonora," Thomas said, "does your father even know you're here?"   

Before she responded, a man in a white suit appeared through the background behind Thomas. She  recognized those deep brown eyes, black curls decorating his frame, and full pink brown lips that gave the warmest smiles, Darryl. Forgetting the words she was about to say, her mind perceived the fact that Darryl is in the same room as Thomas Shelby.    

A dusty cloud cleared as Darryl dangled his glass around the table, without erasing his smile out of his face, opening his mouth,  "Nora, what a surprise."

Nora waited a couple of seconds, recollecting from almost embarrassing herself, she managed to respond, "I can say the same to you."

     Spine of roses fell through her back as Nora confronted the fact that they were practically strangers. Her body maintained hot compared to its freezing weather, her mind running through circles trying to understand how little she knew about Darryl. Even through the rest of the men of the bar, he stood from his charming and gentle aura.

    Thomas cleared out his throat, "I may guess that you already met."
    Nora slowly nodded without taking her sight from Darryl and went back to Thomas, "We met on the boat, coming to Birmingham." She attured, continuing sipping through her glass.

    "The world is small," Thomas noted, "known each oth'r before we knew to walk."

    "I fought alongside him at the war,"Darryl said, "I was his right hand on almost everything."

    Nora remembered the couple of times they were together on the ship. Darryl delivered some of his time as a soldier, it wasn't as detailed and it lacked some contexts about the actual war, but rather focused on the smallest seconds of fun along with his battlemates. Loosely mentioned a couple men that worked with Darryl, but never saying any of their names.

"We've been togeth'r in France, and it has stayed this way once we got back," Thomas said.

Nora's direction went back to Thomas, "He works for you?"

"You like to ask questions that don't concern you."

Darryl moved his body sitting next to Thomas, taking a glass through his lips, "I know it can be umm, surprisin', eh I could say more about myself on the trip, but I wasn't sure if I wanna drown you with business."

"Oh Jackson can be considerate, sometime'," Thomas interjected, cooling, as shrugging his drink. Joining his brows together, he could register the discomfort of Leonora, shocked to see him and Darryl in the same room. The room grew tense, as the silent continued and the stares magnified their intensity. Thomas kept rolling through his brain, how long could they be on the trip together? Was there something Darryl is silencing on purpose? He then proceeded, "Unless you have anything to say to me, I suggest you stop roaming into streets that yo' barely are familiar with."

Reaching Leonora's side of her shoulder, a bit of panic left through her body, "I don't want you to make business with my father," she slipped, maybe the intoxicated side of her drink, or that she confessed out of intimidation of Thomas Shelby.

Thomas lifted his brows, barely changing his expression, "that's so? What makes you say that?"

"I...," she looked around the other men, lowering her voice, "I heard things about you, and I don't want you to scrutinize my father's business with you joining team's with him." She maintained her stare firm alongside his, recovering from almost shifting her demeanor.  

Echos of dry laugh escape Thomas' mouth dancing the end of his cigarette between his lips and, as the rest of the crowd, including Darryl remain quiet. Not anticipating his further response, simply opened his lips.

"It's clear that you're just naive as I thought, and I'm gettin' tir'd of you assuming things that clearly don't know. Please don't act as if yo'r father wasn't sending letters pleading to help to recover his poor business."

Leonora stood stern, without drawing any expression to his words. "This is not a capricho, I lived my whole life knowing the roots— the texture, color, compounds, to create a rich warm  tequila— you don't have that here, everything is sommer and cold, like you."

"What you have in mind  does not concern me. Nevertheless, I don't care what you think. I agreed to do business with Carlos Madrigal, and you... are not." He lifted his head where Darryl placed his empty glass, warming the tension between Thomas and Leonora. Darryl's fingers brush his cigarette, as he said, " please don't scare her away."

    Without Thomas taking his sight of Leonora, he replied, "Darryl, take her back to the manor, you a'e making clients go away."

End of chapter #3

Sorry that I keep from uploading any of the chapters, but school started and really made me impossible to have the energy continue to write anything. Finally decided to continue with this story because I do thing it has potential to be good, again my writing is for practice my skills, so feel free to leave any constructive criticisms, or any feedback.