In The Bleak Midwinter | T Shelby

FOURTEEN - A DINNER INVITATION

Kaia walked into the office the following Monday with slightly more than a spring in her step. Despite what had happened on Friday night, she was doing OK. She'd done her best to push the thought out of her mind and suppress the memory, which had proven easier than she thought when her brother and father came home with so much to tell her about their week that she didn't have time to think about anything but their stories.

And of course, Thomas had helped.

When she arrived at work, she avoided Lizzie's stare as she walked over to her desk. Beth and Eliza were already sat working, unaware of anything that had happened since they'd said goodbye to each other that Friday night.

Kaia had gone back and forth toying with the idea of sharing her weekend with her friends, but had ultimately decided to keep everything to herself. She wasn't sure that she wanted to relay anything that had happened on Friday night to anybody ever again, in fact, she wasn't sure that she'd even be able to get the words out.

And when it came to Thomas, Kaia was certain that if she was to tell the girls about their morning together, she wouldn't do it in the office, knowing herself just how fast gossip travelled.

Tommy had left the Gold house around midday that Saturday morning. As soon as he'd gone, Kaia felt cold. The house was still and quiet, empty of anything apart from herself who at that time, felt empty too. It was as if Thomas had breathed new life into her and she didn't like the feeling she got when she watched him walk out of the door. What was worse was the fact that she had no idea when she would see him again. Kaia was left in the dark.

As she began working, Kaia could sense somebody staring at her from across the room. She looked up and as expected, saw Lizzie glaring at her. Beginning to feel uneasy at the eye contact, Kaia shifted in her seat and put her head down, continuing to work. Something in her gut was telling her that Lizzie knew.

When it was time for lunch, Kaia decided to take herself on a walk instead of staying inside. For a mid-autumn afternoon, the sun was shining and the sky was a bright blue, not a cloud in sight. She knew winter would be coming soon enough and she wouldn't have the chance to take walks outside without catching her death and so, she headed down to the canal that ran alongside the back of the factory.

There was a cool breeze that afternoon, but Kaia didn't mind. The water was grey, rippling softly as men jumped on and off the canal boats docked at the sides, hauling cargo onto the banks. She looked at the boats, wondering where they'd come from and where they were going. The canal before her was long and she could see it winding off into the distance before it disappeared underneath a bridge. Part of her wondered what life would be like outside of Small Heath. Perhaps Thomas was right, maybe she should take the chance to leave while she still could.

Possibilities had always fascinated Kaia. The fact that she never knew how her day would go when she opened her eyes, or how her life would be in ten years time was something that she thought about a lot. She wanted a good life, a happy life. She wanted to be a mother to her children like she knew her mother would've been to her and Bonnie if she'd had the proper chance. She wanted to be successful, wealthy and wear rich satin suits and expensive high heels, and she wanted to do it all herself.

Though as she trudged alongside the water, she knew that as long as she stayed in Small Heath, she'd never be able to achieve any of that, not on her own, anyway. It was an industrial area, like a lot of England was, but the thought of moving to London to try and make something of herself had always been in the back of her mind.

The thing that was keeping Kaia in Small Heath was her family. She knew that if she left, Aberama would break. He wouldn't have been able to cope with his daughter leaving, not after the passing of his wife. Kaia was the glue that held the family together, whether the two men realised it or not.

"It's not safe round here, love. You should turn back the other- Kaia?"

She turned to her left as she heard her name being called, looking over and seeing John Shelby stood with a shotgun over his shoulder and a toothpick between his lips.

"John," she said with a smile, walking over to her old classmate.

"It's been a long time since I've seen you, how are you?"

The two embraced and Kaia took a small step to her right to stand on a paving stone instead of her heels sinking into the mud and dirt.

"I'm good thank you. You work with Bonnie now, don't you?"

"Yeah, yeah I do. Good lad, you look just like each other."

Kaia blushed and smiled. She'd always been told she was her mother's double growing up, nobody had ever told her that she and her brother looked alike before.

"I hear you're working in the factory office now, that right?"

"Yes," Kaia sighed, "Thanks to your brother."

John chuckled, "I thought he'd have something to do with it. Proper taken your Bonnie under his wing has Tom, I think he'd sooner save his life than mine, and I'm his bloody brother."

Kaia's heart warmed at the thought of Tommy protecting her brother. Although she was well aware that Bonnie was more than capable of looking after himself, which he'd proved time and time again, it did put her heart at ease knowing he had someone looking out for him.

"While we're on the subject, why don't you come for dinner tonight at our house? Bonnie's coming and I think he was going to mention it to Aberama as well, you're more than welcome to join us?"

"I'd love to, that's very kind of you John, thank you."

"Not a problem, Esme's got enough food to feed the whole of Small Heath. Let me walk you back to work, anyway, there's some fuckin' nutcases around here."

Kaia and John walked back towards the office, chatting along the way about memories from school and their families. Kaia had no friends from school that she kept in touch with, in fact, she didn't have many while she was there. But having a familiar face around in John was a nice feeling.

The two of them said goodbye and Kaia wandered back up the stairs to the office, taking a seat at her desk and flicking through the stacks of paper she had to sort out.

"You'll never guess what."

Kaia looked up as Eliza and Beth perched themselves on either side of her desk, both of them with their eyes wide with excitement.

"What?" Kaia asked, one eyebrow raised.

The girls looked at each other before Beth spoke.

"You know how we thought the whole Tommy and Lizzie thing was over? It doesn't look like it is. She disappeared for the entire lunch hour and came down here looking like she'd been dragged through a hedge backwards. I reckon they're back at it."

Kaia looked over at Lizzie who was sat with her head bowed, writing on a sheet of paper with a cigarette between her fingers and a dirty smirk on her face, knowing that Kaia was looking at her.

"Clearly we were wrong the other day, maybe he just felt bad about the necklace." Eliza shrugged her shoulders and the two girls went back to their own desks, leaving Kaia sat staring at Lizzie with her heart slowly sinking to the bottom of her chest.

"Yeah," Kaia whispered, "Maybe."