An insight into what Mariana Cortéz and Thomas Shelby were like before the violence and murder
And how they became so numb to the world around them.
How they came together and fell apart before the war.
And how the Shelby's became the notorious, ru...
"Plus I met her a few times, and she was boring" he said "What?" I asked "She was boring, he tolerated her, looked at her like she was a pretty little diamond to show off" he said "That doesn't make me feel better Fred" I chuckled sadly.
"It should, because he looks at you in a way that I can't even describe, he adores you and he'd do anything for you, he broke up with her as soon as he found out you were coming home, you could see the disinterest he had every time she spoke, trust me please, it was nothing between them" he said.
"Maybe so" I said, standing up, putting my hat back on "Off home already?" He asked "Nice to know you wanted to see me as well as get the low down on your love life" he commented "No, I'm off to the pub, I'm going to find Greta Jurossi" I said, heading for the door.
Maybe it was nothing to him But there's two sides to every story And as stupid a decision it was, I wanted to hear it from her.
•
I hung around the pub for the rest of the evening Well... several pubs, asking and asking where I could find Greta Jurossi It seems she wasn't widely known by many people.
Quiet girl then. But eventually I found her. Sitting alone in a pub a few streets away from the Garrison And so I walked over to her "Can I buy you a drink?" I asked She looked up.
And I had to stop myself from recoiling as I looked at her She was beautiful Gorgeous even. And it only fuelled my unjustified jealousy further
"I'm sorry, who are you?" She asked politely Why did she have to be so nice? "My name is Mariana, I believe you knew my friend, Thomas Shelby" I said, trying my hardest to sound normal.
"Oh, you know Tommy?" She asked I nodded The 'Tommy' didn't slip past me. "Yes, so, can I get you that drink?" I asked She hesitated, looking down at her near empty glass, before nodding and smiling at me.
•
"So how do you know Tommy?" She asked nicely, both of us seated in an awkward and yet... comfortable situation "I'm an old family friend, I've been away for a while" I smiled
"Oh" she said "Oh?" I asked "He mentioned a girl, that had left a few years ago, he was extremely upset by her leaving, I assume that was you?" She asked.
I nodded once, unsure myself. It must have been me. But the thought of Tommy talking about me to her, unsettled me.
The thoughts that we had kissed twice recently swam around in my head over everything else He hadn't told me about a girlfriend One that was serious. And yet he was fine to kiss me. Twice.
"I believe so" I said "He never... mentioned a name?" I asked, she shook her head. "How is he?" She asked "Tommy?" "Yes, I haven't seen him in... months, he won't speak to me anymore I- I just wondered how he was doing" she pressed.
"He's good, I mean... he's getting by" I said instead I hadn't noticed Tommy being upset at all, I had no clue this girl or this relationship had ever existed He seemed... fine.
But telling her that seemed like it would only upset her more So I decided against it. "Did he mention anything to you about why he... why he broke up with me?" She asked sadly, looking down into her glass.
"I'm sorry he didn't" I said, even if I had known about her, he wouldn't exactly spill all the details to me. Every time I looked at her I felt a tinge of insecurity seep deeper into me.
She had a natural beauty about her. Perfect pinned hair and dark features that radiated grace. She was the pure epitome of grace.
"What exactly did he say about me?" I asked curiously "Not much" she shrugged "He never really wanted to talk about his family or his friends or... anything important really, there was only ever that night he got really drunk and we..." she slowly cut herself off
A blush creeping up her cheeks "You what?" I asked "We... well we um... you know, he took me down to this dingy old tunnel place, down by the river, he told me it was special, but then we stopped because... anyway afterwards when we sat talking he started to cry, we were both really drunk and he started rambling about this girl who... was gone but tormenting his head" she explained
My body froze once she mentioned the canal Our place... He took her to our place?
Finding that out only caused the insecurity to grow The jealousy to take over It wasn't her fault None of this was her fault and yet I felt the need to hit her To pull her hair and tell her to stay away.
But the urge to hit Tommy, to scream and cry at him was far greater
"Why did you stop?" I asked "What?" "You said you stopped, you were fucking and stopped, why?" I asked bluntly, only causing another blush of shyness to blossom on her cheeks.
"I- I don't think that matters, I mean that's not really any of your busine-" "Why did you stop Greta?" I asked She looked at me, whether she saw the desperation in my eyes or whether she gave care for Tommys privacy away... she spoke
"He stopped, he said it didn't feel the same" she told me, clearly embarrassed Didn't feel the same?
"Meaning?" I asked "I don't know, a few weeks after that he broke up with me" she said, a melancholy tone to her voice once more.
"I'm sorry" I offered "It's alright, it wasn't your fault was it?" She chuckled sadly Maybe it was I felt stupid to even dare to think that he was referring to me That he held off on her because of me.
"Still, I'm sorry" I said "Honestly it's fine, if you don't mind me asking, why are you back? Why did you leave? Tommy never told me much about his home life and I... well I guess I'm just curious I'm sorry" she dismissed her own words, looking away
"It's okay, I... I went to prison" I said, catching her attention. "I'm not proud of it and I'm trying to make my amends now, I guess I was driven by curiosity too to meet you" I admitted.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
