The Runaway
Chapter
9
"First Impressions, Part 1"
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The day was slowly rolling into the evening as the shouts of children running on the street grew quieter. Men getting done with their long work day were all rushing along to their favorite pubs. Slowly filling them with chatter and the clinking of glasses.
The Garrison was no exception. Charlotte had lost count of how many pints she had pulled or glasses she had filled. She had come in for her first shift two days ago, arriving in the early afternoon so Harry could give her the rundown of working in a pub, the in and outs of pouring drinks for Small Heath patrons. He trained her on how things are ran, where the cashbox key was, where the back stock was and where to pour out the buckets. He was impressed with how quickly she caught on.
Harry had also told her how things were ran when it came to the Shelby's, The Garrison's most loyal patrons. Everything on the house, no questions asked. He also warned her there was nothing he could do if one of them wanted her, but with how they had already taken a liking to her as well as her being related to Celeste and Scarlett, he figured she would be alright.
Harry was almost happy he gave her the job. He really did need the extra help like she had so blatantly pointed out to him when asking for the job. The past two days have cut his work load in half and he was grateful. It wasn't till he remember what kind of men came into The Garrison and how they would treat a pretty girl like her that he started to get weary, despite how well she was doing.
Freddie comes in later that night, a few hours before closing, and is shocked to see Charlotte behind the bar pouring drinks. He hadn't been in The Garrison for a while, meeting with Ada when she could get away and having meetings with his Communists friends had occupied his time.
"Well well, look at you miss prim, looks like you convinced Harry to give you the job." He looks at her and then at Harry down the bar. Wondering what the hell Harry was thinking giving a girl like her a job in a place like this. Surely Celeste and Scarlett had warned her, didn't they? Freddie takes a seat at the bar in front of Charlotte who was wiping down some glasses as she greets him with an eye roll and a small smile.
"So how's good 'ol Birmingham been treating you then?" Freddie asks after he orders a mild. Charlotte sets his drink in front of him as he nods in thanks setting a few coins on the bar.
"Quite well actually. I'm settling in and I've got a job here so I'll keep busy too, it's nice." And it was. Charlotte was slowly building a life here with her aunt and cousins. She liked it.
It had only been a little over a week since she arrived and settled in Small Heath but she was actually enjoying it surprisingly enough. She hadn't felt like this in a while, feeling safe in the comfort of friends and family. She was still on edge, still looking over her shoulder waiting for the ghost to catch up with her but she was okay. She still had nightmares every night but she figured that would be a regular occurrence in her life after all the blood and death she had seen.
Charlotte had been spending most of her spare time with Scarlett and Ada, having chats over tea, as well as JP and Finn learning her way around Birmingham from 'the best of the best' as Finn and JP liked to say. After all she had been through and was running from, it was nice to relax a bit.
"I'm glad to hear it Charlie and I wish you nothing but the best," Freddie takes a drink of his mild before continuing, "but I don't think a girl like you should be in a place like this." He makes a gesture towards the bar around them with the loud and rowdy men. "I'm sure Scarlett and Celeste have already warned you about this place."
Freddie knew it didn't matter though. Charlotte had smart eyes and he had a feeling she knew exactly what she was getting herself into, despite the warnings from her family and everyone else.
Charlotte gives him a small smile, "thank you for your concern Freddie but I'll be alright."
She didn't carry her brothers pocket knife around for nothing. Though she knew a gun would probably be better to defend herself with, the thought of touching one again made her stomach churn and her throat close up as she remembered the last time she had used one. She thought if she never used one again it would still be too soon.
Freddie was still skeptical but he knew there was nothing he could say to sway her. She reminded him of himself in that aspect, both too stubborn to back down from what they want or what they believed in.
He gives her a reluctant nod, "just be safe Charlie. I'm sure your family would be willing to risk murder if anything were to happen to you."
Charlotte let's out a light laugh, "let's hope it never has to come to that."
Harry arrives moments later beside Charlotte asking her to change one of the barrels in the back. She quickly nods at him telling Freddie she would see him later as she turns to the door that leads to the back.
As soon as she walks through the back, the front doors open and the bar goes dead silent. The air filling with fear and anticipation before whispers start to pick up.
Thomas Shelby had just walked through the doors making his way towards the bar near Freddie. Harry immediately comes over and ask him what he would like to drink.
"Whiskey, Irish." Tommy says with a rough edge to his voice as he places his peaky cap on the bar top. He pulls out a cigarette case placing one in his mouth, moving it between his lips before pulling out a few shillings and matches. Harry places a glass in front of him before filling it as Freddie asks for a refill on his mild.
"Well if it isn't the prince himself, chose to grace us with your presence tonight." Freddie says sarcastically.
Ever since they came home from the war Freddie and Tommy have felt nothing but animosity towards each other. The war changed them both, there was no denying that, but in complete different ways.
Freddie felt like fighting for the cause was the most important thing, next to his beautiful Ada of course. Fighting all those bastards who sent him and his comrades into the pits of hell themselves. He wanted to help the people fight back against them in the real world.
Tommy was different.
Tommy felt that the only way to fight for the cause, was to become one of the people against it. He learned from the war that if you wanted something you had to get it for yourself. You don't get what you want you get what you take. Nothing was going to stop him now, he was already dead anyway.
Tommy scoffs at Freddie's words while lighting his cigarette, "what do you want now Freddie?" Tommy knew he always had something to say about how Tommy lived now but he didn't care. He didn't have time to.
"Nothing Thomas, I don't want anything from you." Freddie meant it, he didn't want anything from him, except maybe the freedom to love Ada out in the open. He would never say that though. "I'm just wondering how someone who was a leader and comrade on the battlefield for men just like him, could have been lead so astray."
Tommy just let's out a humorless chuckle. "No I wouldn't say I've been lead astray Freddie," he downs the rest of his drink in one go before motioning towards Harry. "I just decided to bet on the winning horse from now on." With that he puts out his cigarette, picks up his cap and when Harry comes over, tells him to bring a bottle to the snug.
Tommy walks around the corner to the smug doors before closing it behind him. Freddie is left with bubbling anger for the man he used to call his best friend, wondering if they would ever see eye-to-eye again.
Charlotte returns a few moments later and notices a tension that filled the bar along with Freddie who had tense shoulders and a clenched jaw. She wonders what could have happened while she was in the back to have affected Freddie and everyone else in the bar. Even when Harry comes over with a bottle of Irish whiskey telling her to take it to the snug, on the house, she notices his weariness.
Despite the tension Charlotte's attention is caught once she hears him and is amused thinking she'll finally be serving that drink to John. She nods taking the bottle and a glass walking towards the snug door.
Charlotte knocks on the door twice waiting for a response till she hears a deep voice say 'come in.' It was a voice she didn't recognize.
It wasn't till she opened the door and looked at who was occupying the room that she realized why she hadn't known the voice. She had never seen this man before.
Tommy looked up as the door opened, eyes locking onto the barmaid he had never seen before. The new barmaid who was also Scarlett's cousin and Celeste niece, Charlotte Moore. He didn't know this of course, but his curiosity peaked for a second.
They both paused, her with the glass and whiskey in her hands, him with his cigarette case in his hands, staring at each other. Both observing one another in the small room separated from the rest of the bar.
Charlotte was momentarily shocked. She could only guess this was the last of the Shelby's she hadn't met yet. The infamous Thomas Shelby. She knew he had to be one of them, with the similar features they all seemed to share. They were all beautiful but Charlotte couldn't help but think Thomas was strikingly handsome. She needed a moment to grasp onto the fact that she was in fact slightly breathless in his presence. His light steel blue eyes were mesmerizing and breathtaking. They were complimented well with his dark brown hair and sharp features. He had full lips and looked quite good in his three-piece suit. She also noticed the bags under his eyes and that he looked as though he was weighed down by a boatload of troubles but still kept his calm stature. Out of all the Shelby's Charlotte couldn't deny that she found him the most attractive, though she hated herself for even thinking it.
Tommy didn't really know what he was feeling right now. He was surprised yes, not only because there was a new barmaid at his local pub but because of the new barmaid's beauty. Tommy was a bit startled but covered it well. He didn't think he had seen such a woman in his life. Well no where in Birmingham that's for sure. Her blonde hair was long and clipped back and fell just past her waist, with a few shorter pieces framing her face. Her green eyes looked wide, bright and alluring in the light of the snug while looking at him. Like the green of the fields that he only see's when he leaves the shit and smoke of Birmingham. He felt as though he could get lost while looking in them, the blue sky of his eyes captivated by the green earth in hers. She had smooth features with natural light pink lips. Tommy had to hold himself back from staring at her too long, analyzing every part of her face as if to imprint it in his memory forever. Who was this radiant woman and what was she doing here of all places?
Charlotte could now guess as to why Freddie was so tense earlier, from what she could remember of what Scarlett told her about the Shelby's, Tommy and Freddie used to be the best of friends. She also told Charlotte about Tommy before the war and how he used to smile and laugh a lot. Looking at him now, Charlotte could tell he hadn't genuinely laughed or smiled in a long time. Much like herself.
They both snapped out of their daze at the same time. Tommy clears his throat as Charlotte sets the glass down, pouring him some of the bottle before setting it down as well.
"Will that be all?" she asks softly.
She was unusually nervous under his gaze, his eyes felt like Polly's when she first met her, analyzing her every move, cold and calculated. But somehow this felt different. Charlotte felt as though her body was set aflame under his gaze, searing into her soul. She felt exposed and electrified in a way she couldn't describe or understand.
Tommy says nothing and downs the drink she poured him before looking up at her with a calculating look before asking, "are you a whore?"
Tommy heard her American accent and slowly started to put the puzzle together after his initial shock of her beauty. He could only guess this new barmaid was Celeste's niece and Scarlett's cousin. Still he was curious, why was a girl like her working in The Garrison? He didn't really think she was a whore, she was far too pretty, but if she wasn't then she was in the wrong place.
Charlotte is thrown off at the question. Quite offended actually that a man, no matter who he is, would ask her or any woman such a question. She reckoned this was probably normal for woman in a place like this but he didn't even know her name. Who was he to assume things about her without knowing who she was? Granted he probably did know who she was but they hadn't been properly introduced. That still didn't give him the right to ask her that, these fucking Birmingham men had a lot of nerve.
After a moment Charlotte scoffs in disbelief. She raises a brow at him, crossing her arms while tilting her head slighting before retorting, "are you?"
Charlotte knew very well that this man was not a whore. She knew he basically ran all of Birmingham but if he could make assumptions about her before knowing who she is why couldn't she? She couldn't help it really, she always had something smart to say. Her grandmother always said she had a smart mouth, getting her into trouble more than enough times.
Tommy raises his eyebrows in disbelief. Did this woman not know who she was speaking to? He was Thomas fucking Shelby.
She obviously hadn't been told how things were ran around here. As he opened his mouth to put her in her place, there was a bang from inside the pub along with glass shattering.
They both turn their heads away from each other, looking towards the snug door. Charlotte walks out of the door to see what's going on with Tommy following behind her. Questions circling through his brain about the new American barmaid.
♕♡︎♔
And here it is! Tommy and Charlotte finally met!
Tommy and Charlotte are going to have an interesting relationship in the beginning. Tommy is used to always getting what he wants, never being told no but Charlotte is not the type of girl to go along with that. She's definitely going to make him question her and himself a lot through the story and it's going to be inch-resting.
Thank you for reading and please don't forget to comment and vote!!
I really want to know your opinions on Tommy and Charlotte's relationship or any other relationships and what you're interested to see! Feedback is appreciated :)
!!Also!!
As of right now (4/17/23) The Runaway has 1.22k reads and 80+ votes! I can't believe it! I just wanted to say a quick thank you to you all for reading and for your votes & comments!!
I appreciate it so much and it truly helps keep me motivated/ excited to write more! I'm so happy people are enjoying the story so far and I can't wait to share the rest with you :)
Thank you again!!
<3
Next part coming soon!