To Be Alone | Tommy Shelby

Chapter 21

"Mr. Shelby! It's a pleasure to see you again!" Celia heard Edith exclaim from the front of the shop. "To what do I owe the pleasure of assisting you?"

"Is Celia here?" he asked, hoping she would be present.

"She is. She's just in the back. I'll get her for you," Edith nodded before she turned and stepped through the curtain to come face to face with Celia. "I guess you heard. Mr. Shelby is looking for you," she smiled at the younger woman, who nodded and then followed her out to the store front.

"Hello, Tommy. What are you doing here?" Celia questioned when she stepped out to see him. She was confused to be seeing him, since she had been bringing his suits home with him each time that he had any there.

"I needed to ask you something. It couldn't wait," he responded, making her cock an eyebrow in his direction. Now she was really confused.

"Go on then," she prodded him when he didn't speak right away, the suspense killing her.

"I've been invited to a gala..." he started, looking to see her reaction as if he was testing the waters. When she didn't say anything he continued, "I'd want you to come with me."

"You really would?" she asked after the words took a moment to settle in. Her face lit up. "You'd want me to come with you?"

"Yes. I'd be honored to have you on my arm," Tommy smiled at her and she relished in it. It had been a bit since he'd truly smiled, and just seeing it made her warm inside.

"Then I'd be honored to join you," she smiled back at him. "When is it happening?"

"A week from today," Tommy answered with a nod.

"I've got to get a dress," Celia stated, slight panic slipping into her words.

She was very excited to be invited to a gala. She'd heard Katherine go on and on about the many she's attending through the years with Joseph, but she had never been to one herself. She didn't know what to expect...how to dress. Would the people there be posh and see right through her? Would they know that she was a woman who worked two jobs to pay for her rent? And for a dress...she didn't even know where to start. She had that beautiful one that Tommy bought for her back in America, but she couldn't wear that again. She needed something that would fit this occasion perfectly, and it stressed her out that she only had a week to figure this out.

"I'll make you a dress, dear," Edith, who was off in the corner and was surely listening to the couple's entire conversation, piped up when neither Celia nor Tommy said anything.

"Edith, you don't have to," Celia brushed her off at first, "I'm sure I'll find something."

"Nonsense. You do so much for Walter and I here. Let us do this as a way to thank you," she stood to her offer.

"Edith..." Celia trailed off, her serious expression fizzling into a smile when she realized that the woman wasn't going to change her mind. "Thank you," she said then.

"I'll pay you, Edith. For the dress," Tommy spoke, already going into his pockets for the roll of banknotes that he had with him.

"Thomas, don't," Edith was quick to disagree with him, waving her hands in front of her as she tried to get him to stop.

Tommy, of course, didn't listen, "please let me pay for the dress," his words came out as a statement rather than a question, and it was now Edith's turn to accept defeat, nodding her head to him.

"I will let you know how much materials cost when I am finished with it," Edith told him, making him nod his head, the money going back into his pocket then. "Do you have anything more to say, Mr. Shelby? I now have a woman who needs to have a dress fitted," Edith questioned then, a grin on her face as her eyes went to Celia.