Tommy was sitting in the bar and I walked over to him. It was just me working and luckily there was hardly anyone. I poured some whiskey for him.
"Your sister was here. She was worried. You and Freddie. It had made her sick She's all right, but in her condition, she needs peace. Women talk." I explained to him as I placed the bottle back underneath.
"That is something they do." Tommy replied and I just sighed a lot.
"She talked about you. She said you keep everything locked up." I continued and Tommy nodded his head.
"Well, that's what men do." Tommy replied and I lit my cigarette. I could not believe his response.
"Your sister's nice. I like her." I added before I took a puff of the cigarette. "It can't be easy for her. Her brother and her husband, fighting over the same thing. Men should talk, too." I explained and Tommy leaned forward.
"To you?" He asked and I shrugged my shoulders as I held my cigarette in my mouth and made someone a pint. I handed it too them before I started smoking again.
"Why not? I'm a barmaid. It's my job. Men always tell their troubles to a barmaid. Sometimes you don't even want to know." I explained and Tommy stayed quiet. "What is it you and Freddie are fighting over?" I asked him intrigued.
"I'll meet you and Grace here at nine o'clock tomorrow morning." He answered changing the subject completely. "Did you buy a dress?" Tommy asked me and I nodded my head.
"Yes. I bought a dress." I answered as I placed my cigarette in the ash tray.
"Good." Tommy replied and I held onto his hand keeping him from leaving.
"I need to ask you something." I stated and Tommy looked down at my hand before he made his way around the bar and into my private bar area with me, behind the counter. "Any new revelations about me joining Peaky Blinders?" I asked him nervously.
"We are still in deliberation." Tommy answered and I did not know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
"Is there a time scale?" I asked him, he probably was not going to answer but it was worth a try.
"Nine o'clock, tomorrow morning." Tommy instructed before he walked out. I smiled a little as I watched him completely intrigued by everything Tommy Shelby.
___
Grace and I were getting ready in her apartment. I was applying makeup to my face, I was getting really nervous about it all.
"Grace." I said and she turned around to face me, she was all ready. Her red dress matched her everything. I was wearing a red too but it was not like hers. It was more plain and simple. "I do not think I can continue with this mission." I admitted and Grace looked at me speechless.
"Is this because of Tommy?" She asked me leaning on the table, I was sitting next too. I just shrugged my shoulders unsure.
"I do not know where we are with each other but I know that I cannot continue this. I do not want to be a spy anymore." I sighed getting all emotional. Grace just hugged me and I tried to stop myself from crying.
"Clara, if you resign their is a chance you can go to jail. You know that." Grace replied in a sympathetic tone. She knew that I had given up being a spy but she had to explain everything to me.
"I would only go to jail for a month or so. Then I can be free from it all." I hoped but Grace shook her head. "I have a case, many women are fighting nowadays like Eugenie Mikhailovna Shakhovskaya or Maria Bochkareva" I argued.
"They weren't British though." Grace stated and I thought for a moment, but then I thought of one.
"Flora Sande." I replied and Grace shook her head.
"She was born here but she was enlisted by the Royal Serbian Army." Grace argued and I just sighed as I looked at myself in the mirror.
"I am stuck." I sighed to myself and Grace just hugged onto me. "I need to break away from it all, maybe if I explain everything to Tommy he could help me." I explained and Grace shook her head through the whole thing.
"You know that's not a good idea. They will have our heads." Grace replied and I shook mine.
"Peaky Blinders will have mine, I will not mention you." I stated and Grace held onto my hands.
"Look, let's have a great night at the races and forget about everything. Think about it in the morning, okay?" Grace asked me and I nodded my head.
"Okay." I smiled at her as we walked over to the door. We made small talk as we stood outside our apartment waiting for Tommy.
Eventually, he pulled up in his brand new car. Grace and I walked up to him.
"Is it just the three of us going to the races?" Grace asked as I got into the back of the car and she got into the front. I was getting really nervous, sweaty palms and everything. I don't know why.
"Something like that." Tommy replied as he drove off. I looked out of the window worried.
___
"Are you sure we're allowed in here?" Grace asked him nervously as we walked through the back entrance. I had faith in Tommy that he would do the right thing and that his plan wouldn't fail.
"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." Tommy answered as we pushed people out of the way.
"Will we get to lay a bet?" I asked him a little intrigued, I would love to place a bet.
"No - gambling is for mugs. You're lucky you're with me or you'd be wasting your money on fixed races." Tommy explained as he pushed people out of the way and guided us girls down the narrow corridors.
"I always wondered, how do you fix a race?" Grace asked him all elegant.
"How should I know?" Tommy answered before he turned to face me. "OK, you do the talking." Tommy instructed as he looked at me. I was surprised and Grace sighed with relief. She sure didn't want to be in my situation.
"What?" I practically shrieked as we walked down the busy corridor.
"Tell security you are Lady Sarah Duggan." Tommy began to say and then people walked in front of us. "Excuse us, excuse us." Tommy said bluntly as we pushed past them. "Lady Sarah Duggan of Kensington. You got lost when you went to look for the boy riding your horse - Dandy Flower." Tommy made up and I looked nervous. "If they ask about us, say we're Prussian and don't speak a word of English." Tommy explained and I stopped. I didn't think I could do it. "Come on, posh girl. Earn your three quid." Tommy smirked and I sighed as I walked in front of them. I placed on my white gloves doing so, it made me look more proper.
"Good evening, I have seemed to have a bit of a predicament. My name is Lady Sarah Duggan of Kensington" I smiled at the bodyguards with the poshest accent I could put on. "I have this horse called Dandy Flower and this boy was riding it and for whatever reason he ended up here." I laughed as I readjusted my hat.
"Who are these two?" They asked me as both Grace and Tommy smiled. I didn't know what to say nothing was coming to my head.
"This is my husband, Brone and his sister Agnes. They liked to be called that nowadays, they got into this terrible accent at our country manors. A horse riding incident. Once they finally woke up they were Prussian. They don't speak a word of English and I needed to find this boy because he keeps my horses and these horses are the only things that are keeping my husband and his sister alive." I explained, what a terrible lie it was. Almost embarrassing. Throughout I actually edged closer to Tommy and held his hand. I started to well up, crying makes men uncomfortable. "Please, you have to let me in. I need to find him. I can't leave these two alone so they would have to come with me." I continued wiping away my tears. "I do not mean to hassle you two fine gentleman, but it would mean a lot me." I smiled at them sweetly and they nodded their heads happily. "Thank you." I grinned at them before I started walking, Grace and Tommy followed after me.
"They had an accident and can only speak Prussian?" Grace asked me confused and I just started laughing.
"You do not know what it is like to be in that situation." I answered her before I turned to Tommy. "I am the worst liar known to mankind." I grinned at him and he shrugged his shoulders.
"I thought you did well." He replied and I nodded my head at him as we walked through the corridors. I was feeling quite pleases with myself.
___
"May I have this dance?" A fine gentleman asked Grace as we all sat at a table together. I winked at Grace.
"Go." I giggled like a school girl and Grace turned to Tommy for permission. He drank some of his whiskey.
"Don't let me stop you." Tommy stated and Grace nodded her head as she walked off with the American. I looked around at everyone dancing, having such a great time. Tommy was only smoking, not talking.
"Please, Thomas, stop talking. You are too much to handle." I smiled at him sarcastically. He laughed a little.
"So what did you use to do at these things?" Tommy asked me and I just shrugged my shoulders.
"Well, I was try to figure out people's live stories." I answered and Tommy motioned for me to continue. I looked down at everyone and then I spotted an old man. "For example, he's about sixty, been married four times and has fifteen kids all together with multiple mistresses." I explained and Tommy smiled at me. Then I found a old woman who looked very unhappy and moody. "Or her, her husband is having multiple affairs and she is doing nothing about it. But she doesn't want to ruin her stellar reputation so she doesn't bed anyone." I finished before giggling a little bit.
"Where do you come up with these things?" Tommy asked me. When I was little, I loved to write. It was a passion of mine and then when I turned eighteen, I joined the Suffragettes. My plans to become a writer changed because I knew I would not have been able to make it if women did not have equal rights. Then I was a nurse and now I am an agent. I don't have time to write anymore.
"I wanted to be a writer when I was younger, then things changed and now I am a barmaid." I answered, missing out vital areas of the truth.
"Tell me about Lady Sarah." Tommy instructed and i just nodded my head. I thought for brief moment before I leaned in.
"Okay." I smiled at him, our faces closer together. "She was happy with her husband, we have five kids by the way. Would you like to know the names?" I asked him smirking and he nodded his head. "We have Tommy, Belle, Annabelle, Julia and Arthur." I answered. "They have been married for ten years, they got married really young. We are rich and wealthy, we live in a country manor on the outskirts. You work with horses, not gambling or races, but you ride them and look after them. I am a writer, short stories. Then the accident happened, Sarah was distraught that he couldn't speak English. She tried her best to learn Prussian but couldn't do it. Everyone told her to leave him but she could not do it. Lady Sarah loved him way too much." I made up on the spot, I was getting right into the story. Like it was our life together.
"Excellent story." He smirked at me as he stubbed his cigarette out. He looked at everyone dancing. "I still prefer the Garrison." Tommy stated and in actual fact, so did I.
"It's funny after all of the places I went too in my childhood, I prefer it too." I explained to him, then I saw the radiant Grace dancing. She looked so happy. "Grace is just so beautiful dancing with that man." I gushed and Tommy turned to face me.
"Do you dance?" He asked me and I just shrugged my shoulders.
"Not that kind of dancing, I did ballet and tap dancing when I was younger. I mean I wasn't the best because I am clumsy and-" I began to say but then I realised that wasn't the proper response. I laughed embarrassed. "If I'm asked properly." I answered in the right manner.
"Lady Sarah of Kensington, will you dance with me?" Tommy asked me and I smiled at him. I placed my hat on the table, I honestly couldn't care if anybody wanted to take it. I really hated hats.
I took Tommy's hand and we made our way to the dance floor. We were dancing together in-between everyone else and it was magical. I kept on seeing him smile and me and I grinned back. Then I stood on his foot.
"I am so sorry." I laughed as we couldn't do dance, it even made him laugh. I had never really seen him laugh before. We couldn't too dance and then I noticed he was looking around. I moved my head so I was in his eye line. "Be here with me." I smiled at him and then I freaked out I couldn't believe I had just said that. It just slipped out in the moment.
"Can't I will let me guard down." Tommy replied cryptically and I looked nervous. What did he mean by that? We continued to dance and then I felt his position change. "Either your left leg is stronger than your right or we're making a getaway." I stated as I continued to look at him.
"Neither." He replied as we edged our way closer to the door.
"I hope this doesn't involve razor blades." I sighed honestly, I wasn't really in the mood for a fight.
"I've decided to move up in the world. Become a legitimate businessman." Tommy explained as we made our way to the side door, Grace looked at me wary and I just shrugged my shoulders.
"My gosh. You're serious." I whispered as he took my hand and guided me straight to the door.
"I'm always serious." Tommy replied as Arthur came out behind it with loads of bags. I sighed some more.
"We chased the Lees across the track, right the way down the Devon road. We got every penny back." Arthur explained and then he looked at me, well he looked me up and down like I was a piece of meat at a butchers. "Nice dress. You can wear that to my pub." A bloody Arthur smirked at me. I just nodded my head at him, I hadn't really spoken to Arthur. Just John and Tommy.
"Buy the boys a drink. Anybody hurt?" Tommy asked and I was worried. What if John was hurt? What if that was the reason why he was not here.
"A few cuts and bruises." Arthur answered and I sighed with relief.
"Off we go, Lady Sarah." Tommy stated as he picked up all the bags. He pushed people through the crowd and followed him too. I followed him all the way to Billy Kimber himself, I wanted to be part of it all. "Steady on Excuse me." Is what Tommy said to everyone.
He dropped the bags onto the Mr Kimbers table and then empty all of the money out of one of them. He sat down and I stood beside Tommy, I rested my little dainty hands on his shoulders protectively. It was like automatic, strange right?
"Your money, Mr Kimber. Rescued from the Lee brothers and returned to you with a request for a fair hearing." Tommy started to say but I couldn't help notice Mr Kimber's eyes fall on me. I felt violated and uncomfortable. "Your own protection is failing, Mr Kimber. Your boys are taking cuts. I want to suggest that from now on, you contract out your racetrack security to the Peaky Blinders. We would be saving you a lot of money, Mr Kimber. A lot of money. In return, you give us five percent of the take and three legal betting pitches at every race meeting north of the River Severn, rising to six after one year if we are all satisfied with the service." Tommy explained like a proper businessman. It was a big turn on for me. "What do you say, Mr Kimber?" Tommy asked and Billy Kimber took his eyes off of me, finally, and looked at Tommy.
"I say you talk business to my accountant. I want to dance." Billy smirked at me and I looked back at him with disgust. "Shall we?" He asked me and I sighed before I took his hand and followed him on the dance floor.
It was a horrible dance and I didn't like one minute of it. I looked at Grace for help but both she and I knew she couldn't do anything. Then I looked at Tommy but he looked back at me with his piercing cold eyes, no emotion nothing.
It almost felt like he just did not care about me.
___
"So, listen we're going to go for dinner at Kimber's house." Tommy whispered in my ear, he was so close to me. I just wanted to turn around and kiss him but I could not.
Billy Kimber finished dancing with me and went off to talk with Tommy, then Tommy came over to me.
"He has a place a couple of miles away." Tommy continued and I nodded my head, to tell him that I was following along with the story. "I have some business to settle first with his accountant, so you go on ahead, with Kimber." Tommy finished and I looked at him shocked.
"Just me and him?" I asked him and Tommy nodded his head like it was nothing.
"Yeah until I'm done here. Is that all right? I'll throw in an extra three quid for your extra time." Tommy smirked carelessly and I just wanted to slap him for his inconsiderateness.
"You think I'm a whore?" I asked him strongly.
"Everybody's a whore, Clara. We just sell different parts of ourselves." Tommy explained and I just scoffed. I looked over at Grace who was having a great time with this American, I didn't want to ruin it for her. I decided to do the bidding. "You said you wanted to work for me. Be a Peaky Blinder, well this is your chance." Tommy whispered and I was annoyed. I had to whore myself out to become a Peaky Blinder. "To do that, you have to sharpen up. The deal is I give him two hours with you. He thinks he's a ladies' man. He thinks he can seduce you. Whenever you want, just kick him in the balls." Tommy finished.
"How about I kick you in the balls for making me do this?" I asked him honestly, he thought it was a joke- I bet you.
"If you want to be part of my organisation, you have to make sacrifices." Tommy finished before he left. I stood still for a moment or two and then Billy Kimber walked up to me. I sighed with disgust.
"Mademoiselle." He smirked and I smiled at him, for Tommy. The things I do for this man.
___
"You showed me up back there at the races. Why don't you teach me how to dance properly?" Billy asked me as he switched on his gramophone. He walked back over to me.
"The music is too slow. Put on a Charleston." I smiled at him but Billy just was not listening.
"Then we'd be far away. I want to dance like this. Come on. You weren't so stiff back there, were you?" He asked me as we danced and I stayed quiet. "You ever been in a house this big?" He asked and I pulled out of the dancing position.
"As a matter of fact yes." I answered as I looked around the room. I just could not look at him.
"Look at you. You look like a bloody film star." He grinned at me and I felt so uncomfortable in this mans presence.
"I want a cigarette." I sighed as I walked over to my bag. I rummaged for my cigarette packet then I heard something shatter. I turned around to face Billy Kimber.
"Oh, look, I dropped something." He smirked at me and I looked at the ground, he had dropped a glass. "Pick it up." He instructed and I gave him a disgusted face.
"Pick it up yourself." I replied bluntly.
"You're a fucking barmaid. If I drop a glass on the floor, you pick it up. I want to watch you pick it up." He ordered me and I stood there, not moving. I was not going to do that, follow a mans command. "Right, you little slag. I have tried to be nice. If I drop a glass on the floor, you bend over and fucking pick up the fucking glass, OK?" He asked me shouting and I shook my head. He walked up to me and tried to kiss me. I pushed him off and tried to reach my gun so I could shot him.
"What?! No, sir no." The butler shouted and I tried to see what the commotion was but I was too busy wrestling Billy Kimber.
"What are you doing here?" Billy asked Tommy angrily. God, was I glad to see him. "I've got another hour." Billy added and Tommy pushed off the butler.
"Just wait - listen to me. Just listen to me." Tommy said in a calming voice and I pushed Billy off of me. "I was going to let you go through with it, but in the end, my conscience got the better of me. She looks good on the outside. But she has the clap. Yeah. Syphilis." Tommy explained and I just glared at him. Unbelievable, first he sold me like a prostitute and now he is saying I have the clap. "When you took a shine to her, I thought I'd use her. Somebody told me she had syph and I thought, "What the hell?" Call it my better nature." Tommy continued and I sighed.
"She's she's a whore." Billy muttered in shock and I just shrugged my shoulders at him. Tommy turned to face me.
"Just go and wait in the car." Tommy instructed and I marched up to him. Tommy could tell that I was annoyed.
"I can walk on my own!" I hissed at him before I stomped out, I just couldn't look at him. Both of them.
___
I was sitting in the car as Tommy drove us back home. I was so annoyed with him. Treating me kind, selling me out and then telling everyone I had the bloody clap. I honestly felt like one of his cheap whores.
"Start of the day, I was Lady Sarah of Kensington." I smiled to myself and then I turned to face him with a scowl. "By the end, I was a whore with the clap." I stated angrily and Tommy just stayed quiet. He didn't utter a word. "You're a fucking bastard, offering me like that. But then you changed your mind. Why did you change your mind, Thomas?" I spat at him and he stayed quiet. "Do you like me like I like you?" I asked him in a hushed tone. Tommy stopped the car on the road and we looked at each other.
Then we started to kiss, it felt really good. It felt right. We started to get deeper and deeper, but then I realised this wasn't the right thing to do, definitely with me. I quickly pulled away and he looked at me confused. I breathed heavily.
"Tommy, I have to tell you something?"I stated and he looked at me with his piercing blue eyes. I just sighed a little.
I could not tell you how this was going to go, good or bad.
+++
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
What do we think of this chapter? I had the funniest time writing it. I hope you all enjoyed it.
what do you think Clara is going to tell Tommy?
Love you all,
Mrs N O'Brien xx