Roguish Women- Tommy Shelby

Seeking Absolution

            Ada looked alarmed when Polly and Michael walked into the foyer without Kate. Dressed in black, they looked as if they were in mourning but moved like they were prepared for business. The medium that was necessary.

"Where is Kate?"

Polly already looked stressed enough, her niece's question didn't help any. "She didn't come."

Ada's eyes widened. "Pol, Tommy gave me a list and said that she needed to be here. She's supposed to meet with him after you two meet with him. That's why I asked you-"

Polly held up a hand. "She wouldn't let me in the flat for ten minutes. Then she let me in and said she wasn't going. I said what Tommy said but she just ran off and got sick in the bathroom."

"But-"

"Would you rather I had Michael pick her up and throw her in the car?"

Ada sighed and threw up her hand. "Okay, but you can tell Tommy."

~~~~~~~~~

After discussing legitimate business with Michael and Polly, Tommy dismissed them. Michael stood up to leave instantly, a good soldier. But Polly lingered. "Tommy."

"That's all." He said again, the tension rising in his voice. "Go get Kate."

"That's the thing, Tommy, she didn't come."

He looked up from the mess of paperwork scattered across his desk. "Excuse me?"

"I couldn't get her to come." There wasn't much else to add to it because there wasn't anything Polly could say to make the ordeal better.

"I told Ada she needed to be here, so why isn't she sat in front of me right now?" He pointed at the chair Michael had left.

"I don't know what else to tell you, she said she couldn't."

"She couldn't." Tommy scoffed and leaned back in his leather desk chair. "That's funny."

"You need to realize-"

He interrupted her before she could lecture him about respecting other people's feelings. "Go into the hall, pick up the phone and call her. Tell her if she's not here by tonight, she's in big trouble."

Even if Polly was appalled by her nephew's behavior, there wasn't much she could say. A person in mourning wasn't the most sensible. "Alright." She stood up and headed out of the room to put in a call to Kate.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

A driver was sent to Birmingham to pick up Kate. She arrived just after dinner. The headlights crossed over the study, alerting Tommy. It was the first time that he'd stayed in the house past dusk since Grace's funeral. It made him itch because all he could think about was the bedroom they once shared. The bed that remained empty. Tommy wouldn't ever sleep it in again.

He and Kate hadn't interacted since the funeral. And even then, they hadn't spoken. Tommy hadn't spoken to anyone.

He didn't watch as she stepped out of the car and walked inside. He kept his eyes steady on the bookcase across the room from him. Simply downing glass after glass of whiskey. There was no sense as to why he just didn't drink straight from the bottle instead of pouring the correct amount into the same crystal tumbler. Maybe it was just a habit. Or maybe it removed himself from the reality that he was draining the full bottle. Instead, he was just downing a couple of inches at a time. That's all he'd been doing. Seeing if he could survive another second. Then another and another. Suddenly, the day was gone and the bottle was empty.