working girl » tommy shelby.

chapter ten

Rosie spent one last night at the brothel, doing her very best to earn as much money as she possibly could. If she was going London, then she wouldn't want Tommy to pay for everything and the money that Campbell had given her would scarcely pay for a few nights in a hotel, let alone everything else that she needed. The money that was saved away for America would be kept with Lauren until she decided what she was going to do. A part of her wanted to stay in Birmingham, or London, with Tommy but another part of her wanted to go to America and make something of herself.

When the final client before her break had rolled off her body and left the brothel, Rosie ran down the hallway and into Lauren's room who had been having a low night. Not many customers were at the brothel and the ones that did come for their daily fuck, Rosie snatched them away before any of the other girls could have them. She felt disgraceful as she slept with numerous men in one night, but she was content, happy it wouldn't have to happen again.

"Are you sure this is what you want? I mean, what if things don't go well and you and Tommy don't work out?" Lauren asked, placing reservations into Rosie's head. Rosie shook her head and waved a hand in the hair as she downed her glass of Whiskey. "This is all so sudden. You've only known him for just over a month and now, you are going down to London with him and leaving here."

"I've known him for longer than a month," Rosie giggled. "We were childhood sweethearts, Lauren. I met him before the War and we spent every day together. I used to sneak to his and he would sneak into my room when he visited my father. The War broke us up and I don't want to lose him again."

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" Lauren asked with a surprised look. She had been entirely unaware to Rosie and Tommy's association, as had every Tom, Dick, and Harry.

"I wanted to forget about it. I didn't think that me and Tommy would ever get back together and when he fell back into my life, I fell for him all over again. Yeah, it's only been a month but it's enough to bring back all of the old feelings." Lauren nodded and sighed deeply, still trying to get her head around everything. Rosie laid back on Lauren's bed and chuckled to herself. "We kissed today."

Lauren perked up at statement and jumped onto the bed besides Rosie, prodding her elbow into Rosie's ribs. "I need all of the gossip."

"He's at the hospital now, he had a run in with the Italians. I went over to see him, and he basically asked me to go to London with him and then we just kissed, I don't know. It wasn't much of a kiss and didn't last long but it was enough," she told her best friend, smiling at the thought of Tommy's lips on her own. She was like a school girl all over again, thinking about her crush and smiling like an idiot as she laid in bed.

"Do you love him?"

"I've always loved him, never stopped. I just stopped thinking about him to try and heal the pain, but he was always there in the back of my mind, always."

"Who else knows about this?"

"Just you," she answered, leaving out the fact that Campbell knew. Lauren understood Rosie's hatred towards Campbell and the two of them often spoke about him with disgust as they remembered the times that he came to the brothel before he left two years ago. Lauren was unaware of Campbell's visit only the night before and she wanted to keep it a secret, she felt disgusting just thinking about it, let alone talking about the worst hour of her life. "His family don't know about me, at least I don't think they do."