six
doomed
1924
Anna leaned against the cold, stone wall of the church, eyes closed and cigarette in hand. The pounding headache invading her brain was likely something to do with the cocaine and alcohol twisting sinfully through her veins.
However, her refusal to believe she was in a bad place led her to blame the church bells blaring out instead.
It was Tommy's wedding day, a day she never thought would come. Since she had almost left town, everything had changed with both Anna and the family. Arthur had got married, Tommy found love and business was booming. As for Anna, she was tougher, flirtier and didn't take shit from anyone, especially Michael.
None of the blinders understood their relationship. They fucked a lot and would show affection towards each other if they got too drunk. Michael clearly wanted something more but she wasn't so eager to let a man control her life.
"Anna." Michael's voice tore through her head, ripping her from her thoughts. "Aren't you coming inside? The bride will be here soon." She looked up with glazed eyes, seeing his full of concern.
As her cigarette had only a few puffs left in it, she took one long drag before throwing it to the side and walking straight past Michael.
She marched into the church, attracting the usual stares before sitting down beside her mother. Glancing over to Grace's family, she was met with mostly looks of disgust. Trailing her eyes down the line, they eventually rested on a boy who was already looking at her in awe. He appeared around her age but seemed far more immature as most of the upper class did.
She smirked at him, prompting him to look at his feet to hide his reddened cheeks. By this point, Michael had positioned himself very close next to Anna, holding a hymn sheet between them. It wasn't long after this that Grace arrived and the ceremony started.
Anna found herself mindlessly staring at the happy couple as they exchanged their vows. She couldn't help but imagine herself up there, marrying the man of her dreams. It scared he to think she could end up like her mother, alone. What scared her even more was that as she pictured herself up at the alter, Michael was stood in Tommy's place.
As if on cue, Anna felt a strong, familiar hand grip hers.
Anna couldn't help but find the rest of the formalities excruciatingly boring. Her life over the past few years had been filled with such excitement that standing taking pictures almost made her fall asleep. She was only hoping that being back at the house would instigate something more exciting; she was wrong. What made matters worse was that she was coming down from her high, fast.
Knowing Michael had cocaine in his coat pocket, she had asked to borrow it prior to the wedding, giving her easy access.
When she thought no one was looking, she slipped off to the bathroom, gripping the small, blue bottles. Shortly after inhaling the narcotic into her system, she felt familiar hands grip her waist.
"What have I told you about snow?" Michael had a way of speaking that sent shivers down Anna's spine. By now, she had learnt to hide it. Without his hands leaving her waist, she turned so that she was facing him, a smirk present on her face.
"That it's awesome and I should keep doing it?"
"Quite the opposite actually." He wiped Anna's face where some cocaine had stuck.
"You do it, why cant I?"
"Because you do it far more often than I do and you're far smaller, making it a lot worse."
"Let me live Michael."
"I'm trying to keep you alive."
"Snow's good for you! Keeps you alert." Before Anna could comprehend what was happening, Michael assaulted her lips with his own, surprising her and pushing her further back into the sink.
"Not very alert now are we." He whispered, his lips barely touching hers.
"Hasn't kicked in yet." She dismissed, kissing him once again.
His hands drifted down towards her thighs, encouraging her to jump up onto the sink. She complied, their kiss immediately becoming more hungry. Anna's hands were rested on his jaw with a stern grip. Michael's, however, couldn't stop moving. After covering every part of her clothed body, he allowed his hands to slip under her skirt, moving up her thighs.
They both had to force themselves to move away from each other when they heard the door to the bathroom open. Anna was the first to look up, seeing Isiah smiling from ear to ear. Neither of the couple made an attempt to make what they were doing look like anything other than what it was, Michael didn't even bother to move his hands from under her dress.
"What?" Michael yelled, audibly annoyed.
"Tommy wants a meeting with all the boys in the kitchen." Michael sighed, finally moving his hands from their home on Anna's bare skin. He'd refuse whatever Isiah wanted in a heartbeat but he knew he couldn't say no to Tommy.
Assisting Anna in jumping off the sink, the two followed Isiah back to where the party was, going separate ways as the two boys veered off to the kitchen.
Heading to the first tray of alcohol she could see, she picked up a glass and gulped it down in one, making a face at the unexpected taste.
"Not a fan of champagne?" An unfamiliar voice asked. When she looked up, she saw it was the boy she had seen before during the ceremony. He was more mature looking up close and definitely more handsome.
"Just not used to it."
"Oh yeah? And what is it you'd normally drink?"
"Whiskey."
"Never heard of a girl drinking whisky before." Her eyes involuntarily rolled. Firstly for calling her a 'girl' and secondly for being so obviously closed minded.
"There's a lot of things about me you wouldn't have seen in a woman before." The hint of anger in her voice didn't stop the evident flirty undertones from shining through. He smiled back at her before outstretching his hand.
"James."
"Anna." She didn't take is hand, just looked at it before searching the room for somewhere else she could take herself. It wasn't long before she saw Polly and Lizzie stood talking. "Please excuse me."
James grabbed her arm, still covered by Michael's coat, as she tried to walk off. "I was told there would be snow." His voice was now much lower and his expression no longer presented him as a stuck up little rich boy. Out of the corner of her eye, Anna saw Michael and Isiah renter the room, their gaze immediately shifting to her.
"See James." She moved out of his grip, closer towards him. "That will depend on what mood you put me in." She flirted, smirking at him before turning back to her desired route to her mother. She could already tell she was going to have fun tonight.
*
Anna found herself in a trance out of utter boredom as she sat around the grand table in Tommy's dining room. Arthur had just left to see what was keeping Tommy and Grace, eventhough most guessed they were consummating their marriage. Anna was seated between Polly and Michael. The friend she had made earlier was much further away, limiting who she had to talk to.
"Are you okay?" Michael asked, noticing that Anna didn't seem completely engaged.
"Fan-fucking-tastic."
"Are you sure? Because-"
"I'm a big girl Michael, I can look after myself." Michael sighed in response, not wanting to repeat the argument they regularly had.
All he wanted to do was take care of her but she made it very clear she didn't need to be cared for. She failed to understand that Michael knew she didn't need his help, he just really wanted to give her it.
Shortly after, Tommy and Grace returned and the mindless, upper-class conversation continued. Eventually, Anna accepted that nothing exciting was going to happen, and went looking for fun herself.
While Michael was caught up in a conversation with Finn and Isiah, Anna left in search of her new friend. Now the dinner was over, James was stood around with his father and some of Grace's other relatives, all arrogantly dressed in their uniforms. Upon noticing her, James' eyes immediately lit up and he turned his full attention to her.
"Still want to play in the snow?" Anna smirked suggestively. James nodded in response and the two headed for the nearest exit.
Leading him up the stairs and into a random room, Anna lit the fire while James made himself comfortable in one of the chairs around the table. Anna made sure to sway her hips a little more than usual as she walked over to the whiskey and glasses that had been placed in each room.
"Showing me how you gangsters drink now too?" James joked as Anna sat down across from him.
"May as well give you the full experience." Anna could tell in his eyes that she was nothing more than an experience for him, something to brag about, to showcase how adventurous he was. Pouring them both a drink, she settled back into her chair.
"So what role do you play in all of this?" James asked.
"I'm an accountant by day."
"And by night?"
"Well I'm sure you've heard of what we do by night."
"I've heard stories, they all seem too crazy to be true."
"I guarantee that whatever you've heard doesn't come close." Tommy always warned of revealing too much of the illegal business and James was waving a bright red flag in Anna's face.
Reaching into Michael's coat, which was gracefully draped on the back of her chair, Anna pulled out two blue jars, placing them both on the table which divided them. A smile grew on James' face as his gaze shifted between Anna and the 'snow'.
"Do you need me to show you how?" Anna taunted.
"Well this isn't the kind of thing they teach you at school." Sitting forward, Anna poured a small amount of the substance out in front him. Pulling her dress up, she pulled a ten pound note from her stocking before returning her dress to its previous position.
When she looked up again, it was clear James' attention was no longer on the cocaine. Nevertheless, Anna used the note to form the white powder into a line. She then rolled it up and handed it to him. Leaning back, she lit a cigarette while she watched the boy in front of her try to figure out what to do.
"Stop overthinking it."
"You're not what they said you'd be like." James was obviously trying to put it off, but Anna didn't mind. She wasn't going to waste good cocaine on someone who didn't want it.
"And what did they say I'd be like?"
"In London they said you were a whore and that Tommy uses you to get men to do what he says." Anna felt anger rising in her gut. There was one instance where Anna had flirted with a teenage boy because Tommy wanted to make a deal with his father, that hardly earned her the title of a 'whore'.
"Well I'm not a whore." She said as calmly as she possible could.
"Shame." James bent down and inhaled the substance on the table. Just as he finished, the door opened, banging against the wall. Anna didn't need to look up to know who it was.
"What the fuck?" James yelled, standing up.
"Leave now and I won't have to hurt you."
"No way, fuck her some other time pal, this is the only chance I'll get."
"How fucking dare you." Anna finally looked up, seeing Michael in James' face with his fists clenched by his sides. Throwing her cigarette in the fire, she got up and wedged herself between the two before they could start throwing punches. Michael's hands immediately went to her waist.
"Just get out James." Anna instructed with little emotion in her voice. Luckily, he obeyed, avoiding an inevitable beating.
To Michael's surprise, Anna turned towards him and crashed her lips onto his. He walked her backwards until she hit the wall, pressing his body against hers. Neither of them needed to say anything, their actions said everything for them.
After their encounter in the bathroom, Michael was already riled up and not willing to wait any longer. Pulling away from her lips for a split second, he lifted Anna up so that her legs were wrapped around him. Walking over to the bed on the other side of the room, he placed her down and quickly began removing his shirt.
Anna watched with a smile on her face at the man undressing himself for her. Once he had taken his own clothes off, his attention turned back to Anna. He once again captured her lips, his hands moving to unbutton her dress. It slipped over her shoulders and all the way down until it became part of the ever growing pile of clothing. It wasn't long before her undergarments joined the pile and the two were left with nothing between them as they kissed furiously.
Anna knew by now just how Michael worked, what are him squirm and what made him come completely undone. Their endless knowledge of each other's bodies made their intimate moments euphoric. They moved together in a way that made them both feel as though they were in heaven, their sweaty bodies moulding together as if they were designed to fit.
It was very rare that Anna's mind would wonder during sex, she was too caught up in the moment. However, as a gun shot rang out, her attention was ripped from what was going on. While she quickly realised what the sound was, she found herself admiring the man on top of her. The expression of pure pleasure his face made Anna feel better than the sex itself. As much as Anna hated to admit it, she was at her happiest when she was with Michael.