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Tommy Shelby sat still in the theatre waiting for the show to start, "When you said you were gonna take me out in London, I didn't imagine you'd much be into ballet."
Alfie Solomons sat next to him, the best seats in the house right near the front, "Well, I'm not one for the ballet but I do love the story of Alice in Wonderland. Bloody marvellous when Miss Libby suggested it to the theatre company. She's playing Alice, ya know?"
"Marvellous..." Tommy spoke, thinking of ways to leave something he'd been avoiding for two years or so.
The house lights dimmed as the dancers stepped into stage, the principle dancers back turned to the audience and then the lights lifted on the stage, Tommy's breath halted as she turned.
Elsie looked older. More mature and less child like. Her once sullen cheeks had a little more colour and fullness about them, although it could have been the makeup she was wearing. She was even more beautiful than he remembered.
"That's our Libby," Alfie spoke, pointing to the girl Tommy had been missing, "Rather beautiful. Fantastic lover." Tommy's hands balled up into fists as he had to stop himself beating the sod in the face.
Keeping a straight face, his eyes never leaving the dancer, "So, this Libby and you?"
"Oh no, far too young for me. Not Jewish either. But I've heard little chit chat about her time up in North." Alfie's smirk grew bigger, "Think it was Birmingham. A little place called Small Heath?"
Alfie knew what he was doing. Even though Elizabeth wasn't raving about her time in Birmingham, he had heard snippets about her with the Shelby family. Not from the girl herself but instead, her father.
Thomas knew what Alfie was doing. Trying to get a rise out of the fella, Alfie was successfully pissing Tommy off.
***
Ada Shelby didn't really know Elsie in Birmingham. However, in London, the two girls stuck by each others side in friendship. Both wanting to leave Birmingham behind, they promised never to talk about each other if old contacts came in contact. And Ada kept that when Tommy came and visited her. She was planning on keeping it when she moved into her new place. But fate had other plans when Tommy asked if she knew where Elsie was.
And he knew she knew.
As Elsie walked to her apartment door, searching through her bag to find the key, she wasn't expecting what was going to happen, "Elizabeth."
Her heart froze, hearing the voice she'd missed for so long, it sending floods of feelings that she'd pushed down back in a second, "Thomas..." She replied, almost whispering, still not facing him.
She could feel him step closer, so close, her breath halting. Moving the hair away from her neck, he leant down, placing a light kiss on it, "You left me." She couldn't move, "Why?" This time she did face him. Finally seeing him after two years was like seeing him for the first time all over again.
"My father found me." She claimed, "Said he wouldn't leave without me. Said he'd hurt those close to me to get me back. Also said that I couldn't contact you." She shrugged, an embarrassed smile lightly on her lips, "Families, eh? Can't live with 'em."
She didn't finish the saying, making Tommy smile at her, "Are you going to let me into your flat?"
"What kind of lady do you think I am?" She asked, offended, before grinning and twisting the door handle, "Beware. There's a loose floorboar-" Elsie wasn't graceful, still, Tommy could say the least as the brunette tripped over the floorboard she spoke about, but catching herself just before she fell, "Bollocks, I really need to get that fixed." She muttered to herself.
Before she could say something else, Tommy had spun her around and his lips found hers in a hungry passion, her leading him to the bedroom. Sure, prostitutes let him get off, relieve pressure, but when he deflowered Miss Partridge, it was a connection he'd never left with anyone before. Well, besides his Greta.
He was angry at first, but when it came down to it, finally seeing the girl, who was no longer a girl really, his anger drifted away. It was like old times, even if they'd only made love once before. Although, it was several times that night if they were to be honest.
Thomas Shelby pushed Elsie onto her double bed, unlike her single one she used to have at the theatre. And it was as if they had never parted.
***
The next morning Elsie was up and getting ready as Tommy laid in the bedroom, still asleep.
She was making herself some breakfast when a knock came on the door. Her eyes widened, looking at the closed bedroom door to the front door of her apartment, "Crap."
"Libby?" She heard her brother's voice call out from behind the door, "You in, doll?"
"COMING!" She shouted, hoping that Tomm would get the message to be quiet, "William, what a lovely surprise!" She spoke in an over exaggerated manner, "What do I owe this visit?"
William? Tommy thought to himself as he was rudely awakened. Who the fuck was William?
William furrowed his eyebrows at his sister's odd behaviour, "You alright, Libby?" He placed the back of his hand against her forehead, ignoring her annoyed look as he did so.
"Yea, I'm fine. How's dad?" She quickly changed the conversation.
"He's asking you, dear sister, to join us for dinner with Mr Solomons. Something about 'gypsy scum'."He put air quotes around the gypsy scum part.
Thomas's tense figure relaxed as he heard the word sister. However, in the relaxing moment, he accidently knocked one of Elsie's books off her bedside table.
William's eyes dotted over to the closed bedroom door, hearing something drop, "Is someone here?"
"No!" Elsie claimed with wide eyes, looking positively guilty, "No! No." She turned away from him, a smirk replacing the concern look.
"You sly minx. Who is it?" William could keep a secret. He didn't particularly like his father and he'd bonded with his sister since their reunion, "Don't tell me it's one of your guards. That's so... Boring."
Elsie blushed, her guards not actually being with her for the past few weeks, having paid them off, "No!" She exclaimed, spinning around to him, watching as he stalked over to the bedroom door, "William, no!"
It was too late. She was caught red handed with a rare Thomas Shelby in her bed, "Hello." Tommy greeted her brother.
"Hello," William greeted back, before glancing at his sister, "Golly. You have some explaining to do, Missy."
