god is a woman (arthur shelby.)

twenty three.

☾

The London club felt much different in the day time than in the night. In the night, it was a hotbed of deviance and decadence for the high brow attendees. In the day however, it felt like a deserted restaurant with a bizarrely haunting atmosphere. The corridor Rowan was sat waiting in was eerily silent, so much so she could almost hear her own heartbeat. The only sound breaking the silence was that of Arthur and Tommy having a conversation in the main dance hall.

Arthur wasn't well. Rowan could see it, Tommy could sense it, and the whole of London knew it. He was hiding from his own head by drugging it, hoping the chemicals would drown his ugly thoughts. For a brief period they did exactly that, but once they'd worn off the thoughts came back even stronger, and even darker. She was worried for him, but now there was an even bigger pressure on the whole situation.

Rowan didn't want her baby to be brought up surrounded by their father's overwhelming cocaine dependency. Of course he was yet to know of the baby, so she had to wean him off carefully before letting him know. The plan wasn't working though, Arthur was still as addicted as before. She needed to tell Tommy.

Her peaceful flick through the morning's newspaper was interrupted by the telephone ringing next to her. She put the paper aside and picked up the receiver, holding the mouthpiece up to her lips.

"Hello." She curtly stated.

"Arthur Shelby?" The voice asked.

"I'll get him for you." Rowan told the caller. She held the mouthpiece away so not to deafen whoever had rung and called for her boyfriend to appear. "Phone call."

Arthur in his permanent disheveled state appeared from behind an ornately decorated golden door, his top shirt buttons still undone after Tommy had interrupted his and Rowan's private moment.

"Who is it?" He asked her, using both hands to brush his greasy hair out of his face.

"No clue." She whispered, handing over the phone.

"Go and keep Tom entertained for me darling." He told her, kissing her firmly on the lips.

Rowan obliged, not wanting to get involved with that side of business. She retraced Arthur's footsteps and entered the music hall via the large gold doors. Tommy was sat alone at a table strewn with papers, his eyes darting around the hall as he eyed up the decor. Once his gaze landed on Rowan, he didn't quite know what to say to her.

"Business or pleasure trip?" She asked him, sitting down on the seat opposite him and folding her leg over the other elegantly.

"Business in the morning. We'll have to see how this afternoon goes."

Tommy began to stack his papers up and tuck them under a folder. He noticed Rowan trying to peak at what was typed so neatly by Lizzie on them, and so he quickly took them out of her sight.

"Stop trying to block me out of this family Thomas." She snapped.

"I heard about the baby."

"And stop trying to change the subject."

The air of tension between the two of them was both unbreakable and unbearable. He knew she effectively hated him, and she knew that he didn't trust her within an inch of his life.