Lydia woke up earlier than usual, bathing and picking out an outfit always took longer than expected. The races were today and Lydia wanted to dress up for the occasion. Lydia applied a subtle and gentle face of makeup, which really made her green eyes stand out. She perfectly blushed her cheeks and wore a nude lip colour, her natural beauty still prevalent.
"Polly? Can you come up here and help me?" Lydia shouted to Polly downstairs.
"Coming dear!" She replied making her way up the stairs and into Lydia's room. Lydia's bareback faced Polly waiting for her dress to be done up at the back. Lydia soon turned around to face Pol, she hadn't been this glammed up in years.
"You look stunning dear, make sure the boys look after you." Polly said handing Lydia her bag.
"Thank you Pol, they always do." Lydia said kissing Pol on the cheek and leaving the room. Walking down the stairs Lydia saw the Shelby family car parked outside filled with Peaky Blinders through the window. Lydia's and Arthur's eyes met, he honked the horn and wafted his hand, signalling for her to come outside. Lydia hurried down the stairs and grabbed her fur shoulder coat.
Lydia walked out of the house excited for the day ahead, she'd never been to the races before. She walked around the front of the car, careful not to lose her balance in her heels. Tommy's eyes didn't leave Lydia, he had never seen her like this before: glamorous and elegant. He'd always found her beautiful but today he thought she looked stunning.
Lydia opened the backseat door and was met with multiple pairs of eyes staring in adoration, the men were astonished at Lydia's appearance. Lydia became quickly aware of this when John whistled at the girl with wide eyes. Tommy soon became agitated at the men's staring and interrupted their thoughts through a clearing of his throat.
Their eyes quickly averted ahead or to the side, however, John's eyes remained on Lydia.
"Fuckin' 'ell Lyds, you look bloody gorgeous! Doesn't she lads?" John announced, complimenting his best friend. Tommy nods at Lydia agreeing with John's statement.
"Thanks Johnny boy, you don't look too bad yourself!" Lydia replied attempting to divert the attention from her.
"Lookin' lovely Lydia! Nice dress, you can wear that to my pub. Tommy 'ere has bought me the Garrison." Arthur cheered from the passenger seat, playfully nudging Tommy in the driver's seat.
Lydia was not surprised at Tommy's purchase for Arthur, it was a very 'Tommy Shelby' thing to do.
"So boys where am I supposed to sit then?" Lydia asked looking at the full car.
"On my lap darlin'! Where else?" John said tapping his lap and helping Lydia into the car. Lydia was again not surprised that she didn't have an actual seat. As she sat on John's lap he quickly wrapped his arm around her waist and she held on to his shoulder.
Tommy became slightly jealous at his brother's hold on Lydia. He knew Lydia's and John's relationship was completely platonic but he couldn't help but wish he was holding her instead of John.
The journey took longer than it should, Tommy's incessant glances at Lydia caused him to eventually take a wrong turn. It frustrated him that she has such an effect on him. Everything about her intrigued him. He practically knew her inside and out, yet always felt there more learn.
Lydia's soft green eyes enticed Tommy as they made eye contact through his rear-view mirror. The connection the pair had was intense yet both of them were too headstrong to make the first move, unsure if the other still felt the same.
Arriving at Cheltenham, they were met with the rest of the Peaky Blinders, who were also startled to see Lydia all dressed up. Tommy once again got aggravated at people staring at her. However Tommy knew he couldn't be getting jealous today, he needed to focus on business. When they get back to Small Heath maybe he could puck up the courage to speak to Lydia about their unarticulated connection. But now was not the time.
Tommy soon realised that his brothers and the rest of the Peaky Blinders would be doing the dirty work today, meaning Lydia couldn't be with them when that happened.
Lydia kept her head down as Tommy announced the plan to the group of gangsters, feeling slightly embarrassed at the men staring and practically drooling over her.
"This is what is known as your final briefing before going over the top!" Tommy announced.
"Johnny, what is our mission, boy?" Arthur added.
"To stick it to the Lee family Arthur!" John shouted taking his cigarette out of his mouth.
The group soon split off, Lydia went to follow John and Arthur but was quickly turned around by a firm grip on her wrist.
Her greens meet his blues.
"You're coming with me." Tommy sternly stated, his voice deep and husky. A cigarette lay delicately between his lips, Lydia admired him for a second before averting her eyes to where they were going.
"Tommy why are we going in this way?" Lydia asked as she was guided through the back entrance by Tommy's hand on the small of her back. She liked the feeling of Tommy's touch on her, it gave her a feeling of comfort and protection.
"Well, I prefer to come to the races the back way. It keeps me out of trouble. Tracks are lawless places. I can't stand petty criminals." He replied, guiding Lydia through a cloud of smoke.
"Okay you do the talking." Tommy said looking down at Lydia.
"What?" Lydia's eyes widen giving Tommy a quizzical look.
"Lyds it's fine, tell security you are Lady Sarah Duggan of Connemara. If they ask about me, say I'm your Prussian husband and I don't speak a word of English." Tommy said in full detail.
"Bloody hell Tommy, how am I supposed to remember that?" Lydia asked.
Tommy and Lydia soon arrived on the balcony looking down at the dance floor, they both watched over at the couples dancing and the women being span around by their partners.
"I still prefer the Garrison." Tommy stated nonchalantly, taking a drag of his fourth cigarette since they arrived in Cheltenham.
"I agree with you there Tommy." Lydia said looking up at the man admiring his chiselled, freshly shaven face.
"Would you care to dance Lady Connemara?" Tommy asked holding out his hand for Lydia.
"Why I would love to Mr Shelby." Lydia replied chuckling. Tommy was never this gentleman like towards her.
As the pair dance across the dance floor, Lydia recalled her and Tommy's short-lived romance before the war, questioning if he'd even thought about it since.
"So Tommy, how come you didn't bring your new 'friend' Grace? I'm sure this is more her scene than mine." Lydia asked wary of her footwork, hoping she didn't stumble.
"Well if you must know Lydia, I'd rather bring you than her. She's too much of a snob, besides; you were right, she lied about where she worked so she's probably lied about other things too." Tommy explained, watching Lydia in the corner of his eye.
Lydia was pleasantly surprised at his reply, but it didn't change the fact that Grace liked Tommy, which made Lydia jealous, much to her own annoyance.
Tommy twirled Lydia around, yet never fully let go of her. He placed his hand gently back onto Lydia's waist taking her across the dance floor.
"Either your left leg is stronger than your right, or we're making a getaway, which one is it Tommy?" Lydia whispered questioning Tommy.
"Neither Lydia, neither." He replied, reaching the far corner of the room and opening a door. Arthurs's face appears with blood splattered across it, he placed bags of money in front of the pair.
"We've got every penny back Tommy lad." Arthur stated as John appeared next to him.
"Enjoyin' the races Lyds?" John asked.
"Please tell me that's not your blood?" Lydia asked ignoring his question, stepping towards him checking for cuts. She licked her thumb and wiped the spotted blood from his cheek. Before she could step back, John leaned in a kissed her cheek playfully.
Tommy patted the shoulder of his older brother sending him off back to the rest of the Peaky Blinders. Tommy picked up the bags of money and turned to Lydia.
"Off we go Lady Sarah." He said leading the way. They quickly reached the bar and Tommy placed his hand on Lydia's back.
"Stay here for a minute Lyds." He stated before rushing over to Kimber's table with the bags of money. Within moments Lydia noticed Billy Kimber sauntering over in her direction. He stopped directly in front of her.
"Your man said it was alright for me to have this dance." Kimber stated grabbing hold of Lydia's hand.
"Did he now?" Lydia muttered under her breath as she is taken to the dance floor once again.
Lydia turned her face as far away as possible from Kimber as they danced, she and Tommy soon noticed one another and she rolled her eyes in annoyance for him letting this happen. Tommy simply blew out smoke from his cigarette to the side and stared ahead at Lydia and Kimber dancing.
Watching Kimber's hands tightly grip Lydia's hand and her waist made Tommy feel stiff and uncomfortable in his suit. He hated the idea of another man, that wasn't any of his brothers touching her. But he knew if he wanted business with Kimber he had to let them dance.
As the song finished Lydia instantly left the dance floor and headed to the bar, quickly requesting a gin. For her it felt like the song was never-ending, Kimber's breath on her neck made her want to chunder right there and then.
Tommy strutted over to the bar next to where Lydia was sitting alone and ordered a whiskey for himself noticing Lydia already had her own drink.
"So listen we're gonna go for dinner at Kimber's house. He has a place a couple of miles away. I have some business to settle first with his accountant, so you go on ahead with Kimber." Tommy said avoiding eye contact with the girl.
"Just me and him Thomas?" Lydia asked raising her eyebrows at Tommy. She knew he hated it when she calls him Thomas.
"Yeah...Till I'm done here. Is that alright?" He asked, already feeling guilty.
"From the sounds of it- I don't have much choice. Wish I'd stayed with Arthur and John." Lydia sighed. Before Tommy had time to reply Lydia scolded the man. "You do realise I'm not a whore Thomas?"
"Everybody is a whore Lydia, we just sell different parts of ourselves." He replied.
"I swear to god Thomas Shelby, if anything happens... Kimber won't be the only one with a kick to the bollocks." Lydia threatened, not wanting to relive the past events of last year: the worst experience of her life, completely and utterly violated by a coward of a man.
Lydia abruptly left Tommy alone and walked over to Kimber who was stood at the door waiting for her, he had a devilish grin across his face. Tommy harshly rubbed his hand down his face, not wanting Lydia to go with Kimber knowing his intentions with her were not pure. Tommy developed a sinking feeling in his chest as he watched Kimber's car drive away.
A hand was placed on Tommy's shoulder, interrupting his thoughts of remorse and shame.
"Alright Tommy? Where's our Lyds?" John asked joyfully, blissfully unaware of what would soon be uncovered.
"Erm...she's...er- she's with Kimber, going back to his place." Tommy stuttered knowing John would angry.
"What the bloody hell Tommy! What are you fucking playin' at! Allowin' Lydia to go back with that prick, you fucking idiot! You have no idea what's happened to her and now you've gone and made thing fuckin' worse!" John shouted, furious at his brother, knowing full well what happened to Lydia last year. John huffed and stormed off towards the car, telling Arthur to head straight for Kimber's. Tommy soon followed in the other car.
A/N- hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading - rory x