Working for Thomas Shelby, you had to remember to turn a blind eye. You first learned this when walking into the stables at night to take the hay out of soak to find Arthur and John beating up some man in the middle of your yard,
"Sorry love, it's business." Arthur's gruff voice had explained, you said nothing, carrying on filling the mangers with hay. You had felt them staring at you. "Listen, sweetheart, you're gonna have to piss off for a minute while we finish tending to this lovely gentleman," John explained patronizingly, as the bloodied man retorted in a thick Russian accent. You had scuttled away that night, returning later on to see blood left on the ground.
So, recently when Tommy bought a man to the stables you had steered clear like always. You overheard them talking about racing the filly, as you turned around the corner into the closed-off stables. Tommy's eyes meet yours as you nodded and swiftly turned around, deciding instead of filling the water baths up to wash tack in the barn. You felt the man next to him watch you. He had a strong build, and his beard gave him a rugged look, Contrasting his smart coat and cane.
After a while of shining saddles and bridles, you heard footsteps stroll past the entrance of the barn "yeh, of course," you heard a gruff voice come from the man "why the fuck you need massive barns Tom I'll never know, not even used for housing my whiskey."
You heard Mr. Shelby chuckle, "I'm a busy man, not a storage company, Alfie."
You grabbed the dirty water bucket and headed to walk past the two men,
"Mr. Shelby... sir." You nodded to both of the men before slipping past them. Thomas hated it when his staff hung around when he was doing business and you and colleagues always had to vacate any room he entered if he had some man by his side, but this time the man seemed to be following you. Always 10 minutes behind you, walking into the tack room or stable block just after you, Tommy being dragged behind him.
Thankfully the man left not long after entering the barn but it wasn't until a week later he showed up again.
This time you were arguing with the gamekeeper about keeping kids off the paddocks. The boarding school was 2 miles away and many boys would sneak into the paddocks at lunch, terrorizing the horses. You were too caught up in telling him off to notice Thomas and the man watching you from behind.
"Do you have any fucking clue?" you remember shouting, the tall ginger man desperately keeping a poker face while you shouted at him. "Do you have any clue how hard it is to break in a horse when you have little shitty boys running after them every day?" your hands communicating your erraticness
as you roared at him "Why don't you do your bloody job right for once and keep fucking teenagers off the land like a good gamekeeper rather than sitting around all day like a bloody wanker? you need to step the fuck up and do what you've been employed to do before I cut your dick off and feed it to your precious pheasants!"
"yep... alright." he replied, his voice lowered almost trying to convey that he's still the manly one, his eyes were flickering behind you. You turned around to see Thomas with his hands in his pockets looking at you proudly and the man next to him stifling a laugh
"Miss Y/L/N," Tommy started, a smug smile still on his face "That was quite a show."
"Quite a show? That was fucking marvelous!" The man with the beard bellowed, grabbing Mr. Shelby's arm to steady himself as he bent over laughing.
"I'm glad to see boldness in my staff, carry on lads." Thomas gestured to you and the gamekeeper. The man walked up to you to take your hand shaking it confidently.
"I'm Alfie Solomons." He smiled boldly, looking you in the eyes before following Thomas off. He clearly tried to make an impression on you. You refused to yourself that it worked and tried to continue ignoring him.
The next month, you had finally bought your dog home from staying with your parents after almost begging Mr. Shelby for her to stay with you for 5 months, saying she would be good for warding off foxes and most importantly boarding school boys.
She was a big Doberman, a beefy girl and didn't take an immediate liking to the Shelby's, who quickly learned to carry treats in their pockets to keep her happy.
You pulled yourself up onto one of the Shelby's horses, Dee, she was a covering mare so didn't race but still needed exercise. As you sorted out the reins in your hands you whistled for Juno your dog, no answer. Confused you walked out of the stables. Looking around you tutted before looking around to see Juno, your dog trotting happily alongside none other than Mr. Alfie Solomons.
"Bloody hell," you muttered under your breath as you saw Alfie stride confidently towards you, his arms swaying at each side of his torso, grin slapped onto his face, an arm in the air to say hello.
"you see I don't like 'orses that much. They're unpredictable and I don't trust their eyes. But lookin' at her is a pretty sight ill tell you that." he commented gesturing his hand up and down softly at the horse.
"Quite." You patted Dee's neck, smiling sweetly which immediately caused Alfie to grin.
"where's your tour guide, Mr. Solomons?" you commented, not seeing Thomas hovering impatiently around him.
"he let me off the lead, didn't he?"
"I doubt that, sir"
"Yeah, bit of a fib. He told me to give you back this beauty" he said rubbing your dogs head.
"Thank you," you say patting your leg so she would sit next to Dee's legs. "Did Mr. Shelby want anything else of me before I go for a ride?" you asked, bending down to adjust your stirrups. He opened his mouth for a second to say something but quickly stopped himself
"Nah love, have a nice ride" he turned back quickly, trotting over to Thomas who had his head poked out of the barn. Probably shouting some obscenities at him.
When you returned from your ride Alfie was waiting for you next to the stables, taking you by surprise.
"Mr. Solomons, what are you doing here?"
"Waiting for you, love" he paused holding Dee as you jumped down. "And call me Alfie."
"Did you need something?" you responded, looking positively perplexed at him before undoing Dee's girth and sliding the saddle off her back, placing it on the ground before tying her up quickly. Alfie stepped back as you slid her bride off, replacing it with a head collar.
"I'd like you to come for a drink with me." You paused, turning round to see him leaning against the wall of one of the stables, relaxed
"to come for a drink with you?" you repeated his words, slower. "Why's that?" your question was answered by a chuckle from Alfie, quickly followed up by a grunt which you could only describe as slight embarrassment.
"because, you seem like a bloody lovely woman." You snorted at his comment before agreeing. You had nothing else to do so your mind just went. fuck it, why not?
Alfie met you at your cottage, in his hands he held a bunch of lavender as you pulled the door open, you had decided to wear a dress for the first time in years. An old green dress hugged your curves loosely as you felt Alfie look directly at you, his gaze making your cheeks go red hot.
"Is that from Thomas' garden?" you said gesturing to the flowers
"yeh, have to keep the upper hand on him somehow" he laughed handing them to you.
"is that why your taking me out?" you responded, holding the flowers close to your heart as you watched Alfie shake his head slowly before holding his hand out for you to take.
"I'm taking you out for a drink because I really fuckin' like you"
When you arrived Alfie offered you wine,
"That's a complete misjudgment of character." You chuckled "Wine is for posh fucks and venison"
his hands gestured at a bottle of rum behind the bar, "so, rum?"
"Now, Rum leads to bad decisions."
"I would say fun n' fucking" Alfie said lifting two fingers up at the bar tender before you smacked him playfully.
The bartender handed over your drinks, sliding one over to you. Alfie took your hand that was resting on your knee. You felt his calloused fingers against yours, you fiddled with the multiple golden rings that wrapped themselves around them, smiling as he raised his glass
"leChaim!" you said, expecting him to follow with cheers. Forgetting he was a leader of a Jewish gang.
"You're Jewish?" he paused, gripping your hand slightly tighter. "You're a fucking gift from god ill tell you that."
The night passed quickly, the moments rolled into one mass of laughter and flirting before you finally got Alfie to drive you home, since you had to work the next morning. He walked you to your door, pausing before releasing your hand to let you unlock the door. He leant forward to kiss your cheek, taking him by surprise when you kissed his lips. He kissed you back instantly, pinning you up against your door as he grabbed your thigh. You moved your hands up so they cupped his jaw, The coarseness of his beard tickled your chin as his lips lead the way..
You finally pulled away, "fuckin hell." Alfie whispered under his breath, you replied quickly with a 'mhm' sound, nodding your head as you still held his face. You slowly let go.
"we need to do this again" you said, slightly out of breath.
"that's a fucking done deal" he lifted his hands to your waist before retracting them slowly. " I will be seeing you very soon, alright?" he muttered as he stepped off your porch and into the night.
"Alright" you said quietly to yourself.