Childhood Memory (Finn Shelby)

Part 4

Elsie spent the whole of the next day nervous as well as excited. She was nervous about going to the pub but she was excited to see Finn again. She spent a few hours, making her hair look pretty and to make sure she didn't have any blemishes on her face. She put on her favourite dress and matching shoes.

She looked at the time and saw she had half an hour, she decided to leave then since she didn't actually know where the pub was. She walked around, trying to find it herself but that failed miserably. She asked multiple people for directions and eventually she made it to the pub.

It was a lot different from what she had thought a pub would look like. Inside it was dark, the only lights were behind the bar and then a few dimmed ones around the room. Immediately she felt like the odd one out. The bartender waved his hands in a "come here" gesture and Elsie went up to the bar and sat on a barstool.

"A young lady like you shouldn't be in a place like this by herself, I'd leave before any of these men get any suggestions" he said lowly.

"What suggestions?" Elsie asked innocently, obviously not getting it.

"They may try and fuck you" he said simply, Elsie gave him a bewildered expression, he sighed, "why are you here?"

"My friend Finn told me to meet him here" she said.

"Finn? As in Finn Shelby" the bartender asked, louder than he was previously was speaking.

"Yep, do you know him?" Elsie questioned the bartender who was too busy watching all the men who were previously eying up Elsie turn away, knowing the consequences of even looking at a Shelby's girl. They didn't know Elsie wasn't Finn's 'girl'.

"Yes, him and his brothers come in here sometimes when they're not at their Pub, The Garrison"

"They owned a pub?" She questioned.

"Yeah" the bartender looked at her suspiciously.

"Tommy never told me that" Elsie said.

"You haven't been in Small Heath for that long, have you?"

"No, I used to live here when I was younger then I moved to Warwickshire and now I'm back for a while"

Elsie didn't realise how much time has gone by. "Do you know the time?" She asked.

"It's nine thirty" he said, "would you like another drink?"

Elsie had previously ordered a glass of water which the bartender scoffed "you came to a pub to order water" but still gave it to her anyway.

"No thank you. I might leave, Finn's obviously forgotten about me. Thanks for keeping me company" she grabbed her purse and handed the man some money, he tried to refuse to take it but she insisted. She made her way out of the pub and felt tears forming at her eyes.

She felt stupid for getting all nervous and excited for this, it was obviously a waste of time. She made it two streets down before she broke down. She was in a strange place she couldn't remember and the only person she came there for had ditched her.

"Woah, woah. Elsie? Is that you?" Elsie looked up from where she was on the floor, dirt now covering her dress, Isaiah offered her his hand to help her up. "Why're you crying?" He questioned once she stood up.

"This'll sound stupid" she sniffled, wiping away the tears with the sleeve of her dress.

"I bet it won't" he said, urging her to tell him.

"Finn told me to meet me at the pub two streets up and he didn't show up, he left me there for almost two hours" she said tearily.

"He didn't show up?" Isaiah echoed and she nodded, "that's not like him, perhaps he had work to do, his brothers are like that, always piling work up at stupid times" he said.

"He could have told me, apparently men in there wanted to-" she paused not wanting to say it out loud, she whispered the words "to fuck me"

Isaiah burst out laughing, not at what she said but how she said it. "That's what happens when a pretty girl like you goes into a pub, men are like that in pubs"

Isaiah decided to keep Elsie company before she wanted to go back to the inn. It was several hours since he found her on the side of the road but they both felt as if they knew each other really well, they spoke about their lives and Elsie can confirm, she just received her first friend.
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All Finn could think about during the family meeting is that he really needed to leave and get to the pub, to Elsie. He was too polite to ask to leave and definitely too polite to just leave. Instead he sat there for two hours, fidgeting and glancing at the clock and as soon as the meeting was finished, he grabbed his hat and coat and walked out of the building without a word to anyone.

He reached the pub in record time and looked around, trying to spot the girl, hoping she hadn't left, she had. "Did Elsie come here? Pretty girl, blonde hair, almost grey eyes-"

"Yeah, she did" the bartender replied gruffly, wiping down the surface of the bar.

"Where is she?" Finn asked, almost frantically.

"She left crying half an hour ago, she was waiting for you. Nice girl too. Shame" he shook his head.

Finn's heart broke and he felt guilty. "Do you know where she went?"

"Nope"

Finn almost growled so instead he pushed over a barstool angrily before storming off outside, hopefully finding where she went. He almost reached the end of the street when he heard a "wait, sir"

He was surprised since he had never been called 'sir' before but turned anyway, it was one of the barmaids, obviously new as she didn't recognise him and vice versa. "I saw a girl matching your description walking around with a black man, around your age, I'm guessing. Sorry if that wasn't any help"

"No, that was useful, thank you" Finn then ran in the direction of his best friend's house.

He knocked on the door loudly, he heard a "who is it?"

"Jeremiah, it's me Finn." The boy replied and he opened the door.

"It's a bit late" he told him but Finn ignored him and asked where Isaiah was. "He was going to a pub but hasn't come back yet, probably drunk" he shook his head, "you can wait here until he comes back"

Finn agreed and waited on the sofa whilst Jeremiah went upstairs to sleep. Eventually Isaiah came back and was quite shocked to see Finn, almost asleep on the sofa. "Finn?" His voice woke the boy up properly.

"Where's Elsie?" He questioned, not quite angrily but a tone of accusation and hostility ebbing its way into his voice.

"She's back at the inn she's staying at. She was waiting for you at a pub. She told me that men were looking at her. They wanted to fuck her and no doubt she's a virgin so that makes it worse."

"I got there as fast as I could" Finn said defensively.

"Finn, that's not good enough. She came all the way to Birmingham just to become friends with you once more and you ditched her, unintentionally or not, if someone did that to me I'd be fucked off too"

"Where is she?"

"Mate, I'm not telling you where she is. Just give her time, Finn. Talk to her tomorrow" Isaiah told him.

Finn grumbled a "Fine" before leaving Isaiah's house.

Too bad in the morning when Isaiah and Finn went to the Inn, Elsie was gone and Isaiah got a black eye.