A Shelby Mistress

Arrow House

Tommy's nightly routine was the same every night, right down to the last second. Even when he tried to purposely avoid doing it he still found him stuck in the same loop following them same steps over and over from the moment he entered the house. Tommy was certain the newly laid flooring had become indented with the bottom of his shoes and yet they would no ease their suffering and allow him onto a new path.
At six in the evening he would step through the doors of Arrow House where Grace would be waiting with a bright smile and a kiss as she pried the briefcase from his hand and plucked the cap from his head. Sometime he would get the urge to take the briefcase back and disappear down the long road again and out of sight. Instead Tommy would lightly smile at her and watched how she passed his things to Frances. She was amongst the new maids Grace had picked out before they moved into their new home. Grace had stressed to him how important it was to have an orderly home especially one as big as there's. If everything wasn't perfect then everything was out of control and Tommy didn't have the time to deal with running the household so the duty rested on Grace's shoulders, not that she had any complaints in fact she seemed to love it.

At six thirty dinner would be served on a table large enough to host every member of the Lee family and Tommy would sit at the top on his throne as if he was presiding over his own court, an empty court. Once Tommy had lit a cigarette he would ask Grace about her day and he would listen for a moment as she tucked into her plate and offered him the highlights of her day. It was only then once Tommy found himself unwillingly relaxing that the noise began to start. It would start of with the rhythm of a steady beating drum growing louder and louder until there was a final boom and chaos broke out yet Tommy remained still at the table with that same small smile and smoking his cigarette until the filter had burnt through and there was nothing left.
Then once Grace was almost finished eating he would finally excuse himself and head into his office, firmly shutting the door behind him and blocking everyone out. Tommy would open the briefcase that had been perfectly placed within the middle of his desk and open it, feeling a sense of relief as the papers stared up at him. The noise would quieten down once more, not completely but the small rhythm of the drums were now harmless. He would spend the rest of his evening in his office continuously writing until his fingers were blistered and his mind was settled once again, only then would Grace enter and hold her hand out to go to bed, interrupting the peace that was steadily flowing through him yet his joints rejoiced in the interruption.

Tommy had timed her one restless night. It took Grace seven minutes to fall asleep leaving Tommy all alone in the darkness of their new room. He didn't know why she wanted him to go to bed with her, she knew how restless she was and hated the amount of times he twisted himself during the night. In the end Tommy would turn on his side and place his hand on Grace's stomach, on top of their baby that grew peacefully inside her. She was beginning to show and with only four months left to go Tommy was both impatient for the baby and worried.
Despite all his faults, Tommy hoped he would be a good Dad. A Dad his child would be proud to have and love. He also hoped the child would never turn out like him, he or she would have a good comfortable life and so far from the mud and shit Tommy had raised himself from and continued to raise himself from. Birmingham was home but Tommy wasn't done building his empire yet. To achieve a peaceful empire for his child Tommy first had to build it up with violence, bloodshed and money, it was the only way.

The feeling of his child still wasn't enough to settle Tommy down on the night and the longer he laid there the more unrested he became. Throwing the covers from his clammy skin Tommy would put his pants back on and go back down to the office. It was now the only place in the house where he felt sane, whatever sane was and that was how he lived through each day, following the same routine until it had embedded itself into his mind.

Today was the day Tommy had been dreading. After keeping them apart for so long Polly and Grace were now coming to face to face. Every member of his family had been to the new house except from Polly, she had refused to, she didn't want to see Grace or be near her. The hate Polly had for Grace unsettled Tommy, he didn't believe Polly would kill Grace but the threat still lingered in the air. Tommy didn't want anything to happen to Grace, she was the mother of his child and had every right to raise their child alongside him no matter what grievances came with it.
After speaking with Aurora Polly's decision to not see Grace changed and she'd decided it was time to have a tour around the new house. Tommy didn't know what Aurora said to Polly but it had worked much to everyone's surprise particularly Grace's who still remained unsure about Polly visiting, expressing multiple times to Tommy that she didn't want Polly to step foot in her house nevertheless Polly would be visiting and Grace would have to come face to face with her past.