TOO LATE FOR APOLOGIES
BRIGHT AND EARLY the next day, Deborah joined Polly on her trip to the betting shop. After a sleepless night on the couch, Deborah awoke to a severely hungover Polly and spent an hour explaining what happened the night before. The older women was furious with her nephew, but the pounding in her head held her back from throwing a full rage. John had called and told them to come back to Small Heath, saying Tommy had called a meeting, so now here they were.
"He's a prick, Deb." Lizzie said, as she rubbed the woman's back soothingly.
The four women were gathered in the kitchen as the men spoke of their plans in the sitting room. While Polly leaned back in her chair, feet up and face covered by a warm cloth, Deborah caught Esme and Lizzie up on what had happened. They were all fuming with the news, but manly shocked to hear what Tommy had done. The last man either of the women thought would cheat on their wife was Thomas Shelby, he was too smitten with her.
Deborah leaned her head on her folded arms that rested against the table. "I don't know what to do, ladies. I'm fucking devastated, but I'm more annoyed at myself for believing he wouldn't do it again." She explained, eyes closed.
"You're not going to forgive him, are you?" Esme asked, sounding surprised.
"I don't know." Deborah sighed, head still down. "We need to sort it out for Ronnie's sake." She paused, before letting out a sound of disgust. "I just can't get the image of that whoring bitch in my bed, wearing my husband's coat. I feel physically sick."
Lizzie, who sat beside her, rubbed her back and pushed a fresh cup of tea closer to her. "Drink your tea, love." She suggested. "Are you ready to see him now?"
"I don't think I can even look at him now." Deborah confessed. "But he'll come barging through anyway, might as well have you throw a bit of sass at him for me."
Lizzie chuckled and stood from her seat. While her head remained down and against her arms, Deborah could hear the woman's heels clicking against the wooden floorboards as she approached the door. The sound of it opening was heard and the men's conversation was cut short.
"The Executive Committee of the Union of Bookies and Allied Trades will see you now, sir." Lizzie announced, a smirk on her painted lips.
Tommy raised an eyebrow at her words, but followed her into the kitchen regardless. He was greeted by silence from the four women, his wife and aunt included. Polly was the first one he noticed, as she was the closest to the door and the painful groans coming from her were hard to miss. He then turned his attention to Lizzie, who had taken her previous seat beside a hunched over Deborah. His wife had yet to raise her head from the table, avoiding any chance of him making eye contact with her.
"Deb?" He spoke up, his voice soft. One of his hands sat in his pocket, clutching the rings she had thrown at him last night before she left.
Deborah shook her head and kept her head down. "Don't even fucking try Tommy." She warned, her voice snappy and demanding.
Deciding not too press her, he turned his attention back to his aunt as he lit a cigarette. "I heard you were giving speeches off the back of a wagon, Pol."
"I can't remember a fucking thing." Polly sighed.
"Well, Moss tells me you were threatening to burn down the Town Hall." Tommy told her, looking at her disapprovingly.
"Oh, Tommy, we were having a laugh." Polly replied drowsily, as she took the cloth off her face. "Actually, the crowd around me was bigger than the crowd around Jessie Eden."
"Who's Jessie Eden?" Tommy asked.
"She's too soft." Polly answered, as she stood up and approached the stove. "You're not going to break the capitalist system talking about separate lavatories for women."
"Who's Jessie Eden?" Tommy repeated.
"She's our new best friend." Lizzie spoke up, eyeing Tommy in disgust.
"Shop steward at the Lucas Factory." Esme continued, as she joined the two women at the table.
"A woman shop steward, I've heard of her." Tommy nodded.
Deborah scoffed and finally sat up. She shook her head as she leaned back into her chair, avoiding Tommy's piercing eyes. "Of course you have."
"There's a leaflet here if you want to take a look, Tommy." Lizzie said, pushing a pamphlet towards the man.
Tommy ignored his wife's jab and read the pamphlet. "So, a separate lavatory, is that it? Is that what you want?" He questioned, sounding amused. "I don't know what you want. You have to tell me what it is that you want and then I'll know."
Esme walked over and stood right in front of Tommy. "Actually, we want to know about the robbery you're planning. Not the factory robbery. The other one. The one you're not telling the women about."
"John has a big mouth." Tommy guessed.
"No Arthur's got a big mouth." Esme corrected. "Arthur told Linda, Linda told me." She explained. "I know you've already told Deb and that Russian whore all about it, but the women you're not fucking would like to know as well."
Deborah screwed her eyes shut at Esme's cruel words, although they were the truth. She felt disgusted that she wasn't the only woman Tommy was sleeping with, his own wife. They were meant to be each other's first and last, but Tommy had gone and ruined any chance of that.
Tommy, who had seen Deborah's face pale at Esme's words, tried to divert the conversation. "Polly?" He said.
"Read the leaflet, Tommy." Lizzie spoke up, changing the subject.
Noticing the anger on her nephew's face, Polly knew she had to step in. She had also noticed Deborah slowly shrinking back in her chair and decided the broken woman had spent enough time in the presence of her cheating husband.
"Ladies, why don't I talk to Tommy privately, then I'll report back to you faithfully." Polly suggested.
"You're not just going to take payment from the Russians, are you, Tommy?" Esme snapped, ignoring the woman. "You're going to clean them out, is that right? "
"Esme!" Lizzie warned, trying to calm the gypsy down.
"So, what happens after? When they come for us? When I'm about to give birth?" Esme continues.
"Get out, get back to work." Tommy demanded, pointing at the door.
"Esme, come on." Lizzie said, as she stood up.
"Keep us posted, won't you, sister." Esme requested, her attention on Polly.
"I will." Polly assured, as the two women left the room.
Deborah also stood from her seat, her chair scraping against the floors loudly. As she passed by Polly, the older woman sent her a sympathetic smile and a soft nod.
"I'll see you back at yours, Pol." She informed her, as she approached the exit.
"Don't go." Tommy said, as he grabbed her arm. He was pleading and when Deborah met his eyes, she noticed the desperation in them.
Snatching her arm from his grip, Deborah glared at her husband. "Don't fucking touch me." She spat, before finally leaving the room.
Tommy sighed loudly as he sat down at the kitchen table. He ran a hand down his face, before lighting another cigarette. His head was pounding after a sleepless night and the guilt was eating away at his insides, making him feel like utter shit. The stress of the robbery was a lot, but the pain he had caused Deborah was unbearable to live with.
"Fucking hell." He muttered, leaning back in his chair. "So, Arthur tells Linda everything, eh?"
Polly nodded and sat down across from her nephew at the table. "She's stolen his soul and taken it to a better place - the suburbs. A place where men are honest with their wives."
"Fuck off." Tommy grumbled, as he narrowed his eyes at the woman.
"We can trust Lizzie." Polly assured him, changing the subject.
"Yeah, but I can't trust Esme. I can't trust the fucking Russians to pay me or the army and I can't trust my own brother to keep his fucking mouth shut." Tommy snapped.
"Did you make progress last night?" Polly questions, staring him down with a disapproving look.
Tommy's head snapped back up to look at her. "Yes." He admitted, looking ashamed.
"She better have been worth something, after you broke your wife's heart." Polly said, casually smoking her cigarette.
"She's an excellent source of information regarding the location, of the merchandise." Tommy tried to explain, but he did nothing to make up for his mistake.
"Here we go." Polly rolled her eyes, bored by his repeated excuse.
"You know, there's a general lack of discipline in this fucking company!" Tommy exclaimed, slapping his hand down on the table.
"You picked her." Polly shook her head.
"I'm working, Pol." Tommy said desperately. "I am working for the good of the company."
"What about the good of your family, Tom? You're heartbroken wife, your little girl?" She questioned, eyeing him. "Did you think about them during your few minutes of pleasure?"
"Look, no more marches. No more fucking politics. They can kill us. All right?" Tommy warned, guilt building at his aunt's words. "Joke or no joke."
"You've done it now, Tommy." Polly told him, slouching in her seat. "You've lost her."
A part of Tommy knew that what Polly said was true, he had lost Deborah and maybe for good this time.
☾ ⋆ ❁ ✰ ✧ ❦ ❀
Deborah had spent the rest of the day and that night at Polly's house, chatting with Michael and trying to keep her mind off Tommy. After Polly came home, the three of them and Veronica, had a nice dinner, before Deborah announced that she was going to leave for London tomorrow. She had spent most of the day contemplating the idea, but she decided spending time with her brother's was much easier then being around Tommy. Michael and Polly didn't say anything, knowing it was better not too upset her even more.
Michael had offered Deborah and Veronica a lift back to their house the following morning, so Deborah could pack for her trip. When they reached Arrow House, Deborah waved goodbye to the younger man and walked towards her house. She noticed Tatiana's Bentley in the drive, but Deborah then remembered that Tommy had taken it upon himself to keep it.
"Home." Veronica cheered, once she spotted the familiar house. The little girl clapped and bounced in her mother's arms, as they approached the front door.
"Yes, bubba, we're home." Deborah smiled softly. A pang of guilt ran through her, knowing she had to force Veronica away from her home and her father again.
Walking into the house, Deborah was hit with the horrible memory of the other night. This time, thankfully, the house was buzzing with maids as they prepared for the day. Things felt normal, as everyone greeted herself and Veronica, however, Deborah noticed a few maids looking glum.
"Trisha." Deborah called to one of the maids, who was passing by.
"Yes, Mrs. Shelby?" Trisha smiled, stopping in front of her.
"What's going on?" Deborah asked, gesturing to the group of women with tear stained cheeks.
Trisha shuffled awkwardly and stared down at her laced hands. "Mr. Shelby fired all the staff who were formal soldiers." She revealed. "Some of the men were those ladies husbands."
Deborah was surprised by the news, not expecting Tommy to do something like that. He had specifically hired former soldiers when they first moved here, saying that he trusted those men and wanted to help them. She was confused to why he had suddenly sacked all of them.
"Where's Mary?" Deborah asked, looking around for the head maid.
"With Mr. Shelby." Trisha replied, gesturing towards the door to Tommy's study. "He arrived in late last night with blood running down the side of his head. He hasn't left his office since."
Deborah began handing Veronica over to the women. "Can you bathe Ronnie for me please Trisha?"
"Of course, Miss." The maid nodded, before scurrying off.
Deborah walked towards Tommy's study and walked straight in, not bothering to knock. She found her husband slouched down on one of the seat's opposite his desk, pale and dried blood running down the side of his face. Mary was standing a few feet away from him, looking confused and worried at her boss.
"Mrs. Shelby." Mary said, looking surprised to see the women. "Welcome home."
"Christ, what happened?" Deborah questioned, as she approached her husband. "What did you do now, Tommy?"
Tommy rested his elbows on his knees, as he leaned forward in his seat. He didn't say anything as Deborah crouched down and examined the large wound on the side of his head. Just like Mary, he was in shock to see his wife back in their home and looked concerned for him.
"Tommy?" She repeated, looking at him expectingly.
"I'm so sorry." Tommy whispered, as he cringed in pain. Tears began to build in his blue, bloody shot eyes, as he leaned forward to rest his head against Deborah's shoulder. "It's my job to protect my family, to protect you." He said, his voice strained.
Deborah ignored his words and turned to the maid. "Mary, can you get me a bowl of warm water, a cloth and a bottle of alcohol please." She ordered, looking back at the maid.
Once Mary had rushed out of the room, Deborah turned her attention back to the wound on Tommy's head. It was large and covered with dried blood, but she could make out the slight crack of his skull. It was really bad and need medical treatment immediately, but if Deborah knew her husband, he wasn't going to comply to that.
"I need you to tell me who did this, Tommy." Deborah asked him again, as she carefully lifted his head from her shoulder.
Tommy sat up and wiped the stray tears from his cheek. "It was the priest. I was right about him." He finally revealed.
Deborah watched as he leaned forward and reached for the telephone that sat on the desk behind her. Tommy's face grew red as he fought through the pain and dialled a number, before placing it against his ear.
"Yes, Arthur." Tommy said, as the person on the other line answered. "They want the robbery to be sabotaged. They don't give a fuck who gets hurt. It's a bigger picture now. Did John make a list?" He questioned. "Did John make a list?" He repeated. "Right. Good."
"Tommy, what's going on?" Deborah asked, once he hung up the phone. "What list are you talking about?"
Tommy ignored his wife as he dialled another number into the phone. "Hello? Ada? It's me, it's Tommy." He spoke. "Ada, I need you to. I need you to speak to one of your comrades and get me a meeting with someone from the Soviet Embassy - Embassy. Tonight. Your place. Ten- ten pm."
Tommy hung up the phone and rushed around his desk, before gagging and throwing up into the bin. Deborah ran after him and patted his back, as he vomited everything out of his stomach.
Deborah didn't know what he was up to and despite how upset and angry she was at him for what he had done, Deborah knew he was in no shape to travel to London alone. For now she would help him, but as soon as he was okay again, she was leaving, for good this time.
★ ♥ ღ ❞ ➳ ⚘
ok, hear me out. I know we all hate tommy for what he did, deborah especially but remember what's to come next in the storyline. A lot of things are about to go wrong for tommy and deb.