Walking though the great, wooden doors, a small statured blonde beauty approached the only two people in the bar, on wooden stools talking in hushed whispers, sat Ainsley nursing a glass of whiskey, half empty.
"I'm here about the job as a barmaid." The blonde spoke up, capturing the two's attention.
"Are you mad?" Harry replied with a scoff, whilst Ainsley sat, holding a calculated look regarding the blonde.
"Am I what?" The blonde replied with a confused and slightly offended expression.
"Do you know about this place?"
"I saw it in an advertisement."
"Job's been filled." Harry dismissed, trying to remove the persistent blonde from the pub.
"It was in yesterday's paper."
"Believe me, love, I'm doing you a favour."
"I'm not asking for favours, I'm asking for employment." Ainsley nodded slightly, building up a small ounce of respect for the ballsy woman in front of her.
"You're too...nice. How would you know? And too pretty. They'd have you up against a wall."
"Now now harry, you know that would never happen here, you remember what happened last time dont you?" Ainsley finally spoke with a sinister smile as Harry remembered the event she talked about – a drunk man tried to advance on Ainsley and left the pub with multiple broken bones and blinded eyes, gifted to him from Ainsley herself and her darling husband.
"I have experience and references." Grace replied, handing her papers to Harry, ignoring the curiosity she had towards what was just said.
"What part of Ireland are you from?" Harry asked with scepticism.
"Galway. I worked in Dublin."
"Me mother was from Galway." Sighing Harry continued, You're too pretty.
"Watch. And listen."
♪ I wish I was in Carrickfergus ♪
♪ Only for nights in Ballygrand ♪
♪ I would swim over the deepest ocean ♪
♪ The deepest ocean my love to find ♪
♪ My boyhood friends and my own relations ♪
♪ Have all passed on now like the melting snow. ♪
Ainsley nodded in approval although she had heard better, as she was told by Tommy her own voice held the gift of the angels, though she never agreed.
"In Ireland my singing made them cry and stopped them fighting."
"Well, I hope you know a lot of songs." Harry replied, finally giving in to the girls stubbornness.
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"I need a bottle of rum, Harry get me Ainsley I know she's here somewhere." Tommy demanded with a stern face, as he finally caught the new barmaids attention.
"Yes right away Mr Shelby, Grace, whatever it is, it's on the house." Harry replied quickly not wanting to upset the Blinder currently stood waiting.
"A whole bottle?"
"Yeah."
"White or dark rum?"
"Don't care." Tommy spoke annoyed with the list of questions, wanting to leave as quick as possible.
"Harry said it's on the house." Grace replied as she placed the bottle in front of Tommy and bravely looked him in his crystal blue eyes.
"Are you a whοre? Cos if you're not, you're in the wrong place." Tommy retorted, looking up and down at the barmaid unimpressed at what he saw.
"That's not nice Tommy, leave the girl alone for heavens sake." Ainsley spoke up with slight sarcasm from behind him, wrapping her hand around the neck of the bottle and the other around Tommys bicep. Dragging him out of the snug quickly in regard to reaching Arthur as fast as she could.
"He's one of them you warned me about?" Grace spoke, glancing to Harry but keeping her eyes on the door which the couple just left through.
"Look, Grace, you're a friendly girl but be careful. If I say something's on the house, then say nothing to whoever you're serving. If they decide that they want you, then there's nothing anybody could do about it. Especially Ainsley, shes a pure angel, till you cross her of course, then god help ya."
Grace focussed her attention back to Harry as he spoke, thinking about the enigma that was Ainsley Shelby and how she would affect her mission.
"Lucky for you, Tommy already has who he wants, and god bless anyone who tries take her from him."
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"John, wipe the blood out of his eye." Ada ordered as she walked towards Arthur.
"Since when did you give orders?" John replied with a scoff.
"I'm a trained nurse."
"Don't make me laugh, it hurts me face." Arthur chuckled with a wince as he sat in pain.
"I bloody am!" Ada shouted, offended at her brothers' comments.
"You went to one first-aid class in the church hall and got thrown out for giggling."
"Not before I learnt how to stop somebody from choking."
"I'm not bloody choking, am I?"
"You will be when I wrap this cloth round your neck." Ada replied as Ainsley and Tommy strode through the door with the bottle of rum.
"Let me see him."
"All right, have this." Ainsley spoke, catching the attention of the family who havent yet seen her since she returned.
"Thank god Ainsley, I am saved." Arthur spoke with a sigh of relief and what could only be seen as a soft smile, which is quickly replaced with a thick frown as Ainsley shoved the bottle of rum to his lips with a apologetic smile.
"Give me that. You're all right." Tommy spoke as he took the bottle from Arthur and handed it back to his wife, Ainsley poured the rum onto a cloth and started to wipe his wounds once more.
"He said Mr Churchill sent him to Birmingham. National interest, he said. Something about a robbery. He said he wants us to help him."
"We don't help coppers." John spoke up from his seat, scoffing in disgust at the thought of what Arthur said.
"He knew all about our war records, even yours Ains. He said we're patriots... like him. He wants us to be his eyes and ears. I said..." Catching Ainsleys attention, causing her to pause in her actions. Seeing this Tommy grabbed her hand and rubbed soft circles on her hand, knowing that the topic upset her.
"I said we'd have a family meeting and take a vote." Arthur spoke pausing as he saw the expression on Tommy's face, quick to anger, Arthur continued.
"Well, why not? Hmm? We've no truck with Fenians or communists. What's wrong with you? Seriously Ains, what the fսck is wrong with him lately?!" Not replying, just offering Arthur a shrug with a "your telling me look", glancing towards Polly with a lock eliciting a nod from the matriarch in return.
Sighing, Polly was quick to reply and dismiss the situation, wanting to speak to Ainsley as soon as she could. "If I knew, I'd buy the cure from Compton's Chemists."
STAI LEGGENDO
Unconditional Love
FanfictionAinsley and Thomas Shelby, are madly, no, insatiably in love with each other. Ever since they were children. They went from fighting away bullies to fighting their feelings - although they inevitably lost that fight. Where you see one, the other is...
