Living With Mr Shelby

Chapter Four

"Can I help you?" I asked the young boy who was leaning against the bakery wall outside the shop I had just come from. He had been following me at a distance all day and I was getting quite tired of it.

"Why would I need help from you?" The boy bit back moodily and I saw him glance over at a blond girl in a white dress chatting to a dark haired boy both of whom looked the same age as the boy in front of me.

"What's your name?" I asked, feeling tired of not being able to hold a proper conversation with the boy.

"Finn Shelby, I know yours. It's Lola Farnsworth... you pay for your room at the end of each week and you're lookin for a job." The boy seemed satisfied with the amount of knowledge he had collected from me. Had I known Arthur, John and the slender blue eyed man were behind me I wouldn't have been quite so rude with my reply.

"Well Finn, you like that girl over there but you won't talk to her because she likes that boy, you'd rather stalk girls than talk to them... rather bad habit I might add." I turned to walk away and came face to face with the blue eyed man who had an amused smirk plastered to his face.

"Miss Farnsworth, I trust you have a good reason for being so rude to my brother. I wouldn't want to have to deal with you." He said calmly with his usual blank expression. People around us began to look worried and I frowned, feeling a little confused. I tried to remember the man's name knowing Polly had told me at the Garrison.

"I'm sorry. Sir, but I don't remember your name..." I watched as the man's face flickered darkly and for a second I thought he might strike me. He looked irritated that you didn't remember his name. The men beside him glanced at each other and snickered.

"Tommy." He said coldly my eyes grew wide as I realized he was the Mr Shelby that Curly had been talking about and the very man everyone said I needed to talk to if I wanted a job. Tommy's face showed that he knew these facts and that he was waiting for me to make the next move. I straightened up, my stubborn streak that Grams had always blamed on my Mother, took hold of me. I simply smiled sweetly and moved past the group of men wishing them a good day feeling a swelling satisfaction in my chest as all four stood still looking a little shocked.

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I hated the fact that I was going to the Garrison to look for Tommy, if he helped me get a job I would be in his debt and that was one thing I liked to steer clear of. But apparently in this part of Birmingham that was how things were run. You owe the Shelbys a debt and they will fix whatever problem you had.

Curly had told me over our lunch that Tommy spent half an hour during the afternoon alone in the backroom of the Garrison, so that was when I decided to speak with him. I slid through the front doors of the Garrison without being noticed and it wasn't until I had my hand on the backroom's door that I was stopped.

"Miss you can't go in there." The barkeeper shouted a little too loud and I felt the door pull away from my hand and a cloud of smoke drifted round my head.

"It's all right." Tommy said gently and the pub which had frozen seemed to explode into life again. Tommy pulled me inside the small back room and I looked around waiting for him to indicate where I should sit, he waved his hand to one of the booth's seats opposite where he had clearly been sitting before.

"Curly said you'd be on your own at the moment." I said before he could say anything about me interrupting him, he nodded not seeming angry at all making me change my opinion of Tommy slightly as I recalled the way he had been with Curly at the Garrison the other night.

"And what is it that you want from me Miss Farnsworth?" The way Tommy spoke was calculated like he knew each word I was going to say before I had said it.

"I'd rather not have anything from you Mr Shelby. I believe getting into debt with people is a bad habit." I sighed quickly, throwing him off guard with my response. He chuckled slightly and pulled a cigarette out of its packet offering me one; I shook my head and folded my hands in my lap.

"But here you are anyway." He said once he had lit his cigarette. He'd looked at you while lighting it, as if taking time to make a plan. I nodded and watched him get up to open the little serving hatch and the bartender quickly offered him a glass and a whole bottle of expensive looking whisky.

"No one will hire me because I'm from out of town... they all tell me to come to you." I said letting my irritation lace my voice. Best he knew how much you disliked the situation. You wouldn't give him the satisfaction of rolling over and begging like a dog under the kitchen table. He raised an eyebrow but said nothing as I continued to rant rather loudly at Tommy. "I'm well educated and even have a teacher's permit, why do you think it necessary to put people like me out of a job just because you think you can." Once I had finished Tommy took his cigarette between his fingers and let out a long breath of smoke.

"So you need a job?" Tommy stated and I nodded curtly, he looked me over for a while as he moved in his seat. "Tell me why you moved and what your skills are." I was going to argue with Tommy but the dangerous look in his eyes made me think better of it. I settled for glaring at Tommy while I explained just why I had left my little town, letting him know I wasn't happy about having to tell him about myself.

"You're hiding from Billy Kimber?" He asked once I was done, I nodded feeling a burning anger as I thought about what the cockney had done to me.

"My Father had a rather large debt with him and now Mr Kimber wants me to pay it off... by demeaning myself." I tried to hint at what I meant without saying the word whore making Tommy chuckle at my innocence.

"You said you're well educated and that you can teach?" Tommy asked, waiting for me to elaborate.

"We would have Gypsy families travel to the farm to help with the harvest in the harvesting and planting seasons and I got a certificate in teaching so I could teach them to read and write, I'm also good at cooking and accounting." I said quickly to list off my main skills.

"I assume you were taught the basic housekeeping skills that most girls are taught." Tommy asked, I nodded quickly and he sighed fiddling with his hat that was on the table.

"You look disappointed." I said quietly wondering just what Tommy was thinking.

"Well if you had less skills I would have given you a favor free cause you are such good friends with Curly. But I'll have a lot of use for a girl like you." Tommy said finally. A look of regret crossed his face and for a moment he looked as if he were recalling something rather sad.

"What do you mean by 'use'." I asked coldly. If Tommy was going to try and take advantage of me I wasn't going to make it easy for him by lying down and doing what he said. Something by the look on his face told you he was used to that happening for him.

"I'm not gonna tell you anymore, you can leave now." Tommy was suddenly much colder than he had been the whole fifteen minutes I had been sitting in the backroom with him.

"What no, you need to tell people they can hire me I'm running out of money." I snapped at him as stood abruptly and led me out of the room like a gentleman but with a surprisingly strong force.

"Don't worry about the money." Tommy said and my eyes widened as I realized Mr Shelby had found a way around my stubbornness and left me indebted to him without as much as glance.