Burned

6

            It was still raining the next morning so Alfie and Louise drove to the bakery. They stopped at her apartment beforehand to allow her to get a fresh change of clothes and her coat. They didn't say much on the short drive there. Louise nibbled at a pastry Evelyn had wrapped up for her. Alfie didn't eat.

The night before seemed like a fever dream. Both of them acted out of character. She broke down, not afraid to appear vulnerable. He had comforted her and didn't interrupt once. Time would tell if they returned to normal that day. After all, Alfie had killed her husband. It was perplexing to Louise. She knew the proper reaction would be to run. But it never crossed her mind.

Louise subtly glanced over at the gangster. He was focused on the rain slipping across the car window and didn't notice. The brim of his hat tilted down a bit, covering his eyes in a shadow. With his head at an angle, she could view his profile. He'd trimmed his bear recently and she could clearly see the bare strip of skin running down his right cheek. She'd noticed it before, but it was much more prominent when he kept his facial hair shorter.

Louise was apprehensive. She wasn't afraid to ask about the scar, Alfie wouldn't mind. She was more afraid of what caused it. In Alfie's line of work, it could've been anything.

The car stopped and Alfie snapped out of his thoughts while Louise averted her eyes so he didn't notice she was looking at him.

"Watch out, there'll be fucking puddles everywhere." He said as he got out of the car.

She stepped out and opened the umbrella they'd brought. She caught up to Alfie, skirting around the muddy puddles.

Alfie pushed open the heavy side doors, allowing her inside. "Morning Ollie." He greeted the young man who was waiting by the entrance.

Louise closed up the umbrella, shaking it out near the door. She leaned it against the wall to dry.

"Mr. Sabini is here," Ollie said warily.

Alfie's face visibly changed. His forehead creased and his mustache twitched. "Mate, I'm gonna need you to fucking say that to me again because I thought I heard you say..."

"You have an appointment with Mr. Sabini." Louise stepped into the conversation. She shrugged off her coat and casually lifted her hands to fix the pins in her hair.

He cocked his head to the side and his eyes flicked to her. "Eh?"

"I told you yesterday." She met his gaze. "I told Ollie too so he'd know."

Ollie cringed subtly, fearing the worse. It was very hard to stop Alfie in the middle of his ranting. And usually, if someone tried, his anger would just change course to the person who interrupted him.

Alfie swallowed and regrouped. "Yeah...'course." He nodded briskly. "I remember." He didn't. The day before he'd been too preoccupied to really retain anything.

She shook her head slightly because she knew he had forgotten. "I'll be in your office if you want me to be in the meeting as well." She walked down the hallway through the distillery.

"He's downstairs," Ollie told his boss.

Alfie grunted in agreement and pulled off his jacket, ready to get into the meeting with Sabini. He lagged behind Louise, watching her walk to his office. Her high-heeled boots clicked across the concrete and drew the worker's attention.

Unaware of Alfie's presence nearby, the younger men ogled at Louise. One of them wolf-whistled at her. He was too new to the bakery to fully realize his mistake.The second the fateful whistle hit his ears, Alfie snapped back into the rampage that had been cut off. He shoved his coat at Ollie and went towards the direction of the noise. He moved like a storm cloud, intimidating and dangerous. Louise heard him approaching and turned around.