💜 H E L E N A 💜
||BIRMINGHAM 1909||
I was sitting by the canal, drawing in my sketchbook after my mother decided to tell me we're moving into some posh neighborhood after being proposed to by the man she's been seeing recently.
"What are you doing here?!"
I turned around to see Thomas Shelby with a horse by his side until Charlie Strong took it into the stables.
"Hiding," I answered.
"Arthur and John saw you leaving your house in a hurry," Tommy mentioned.
"Because I needed to get away from my mother after giving me her "wonderful" news for our family," I scoffed.
Tommy sat next to me and noticed me drawing a picture of a horse which made him smile a bit.
"Nice work as usual," he complimented.
"Thanks Tommy," I sighed.
"Aunt Pol told me the "wonderful" news...so where will you be living?" Tommy asked.
"In some posh neighborhood my future stepfather lives in," I responded.
"I guess you and I could always write to each other," he suggested.
"You're going to write to me?!" I chuckled.
"Yes, I'm going to write to you; why are you fvckin' laughin' about this?" Tommy argued.
"You're Thomas Fvckin' Shelby...you don't usually have a long lasting relationship with women who aren't Polly and Ada," I argued.
"That's absolutely hurtful, Hel," he said sarcastically.
"You should know by now, I'll never stroke your ego, it's big enough as it is," I smirked.
"I have something for you," Tommy said.
"What is it???" I asked.
"Close your eyes," he said.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me...close your eyes," Thomas repeated.
I did what he said as I felt a chain go around my neck and he fixed my hair so it wouldn't get tangled.
"How long must I keep my eyes shut?" I asked.
"You can open them now," he said.
I opened my eyes to look down at the necklace he gave me and I immediately recognized it.
"Tommy, I can't-"
"You can and you will, Hel," Tommy said.
"This was your mother's necklace and you should give this to someone you want to spend the rest of your life with," I argued.
"I just did, love," he said.
For the first time ever, Thomas Shelby had officially left me speechless so he took the opportunity to kiss me before heading into the stables. I went back home where I couldn't help but think about what Tommy just finished saying to me.
"Helena, is everything alright?"
I noticed my mother at the doorway as she seemed to be worried about something.
"What?"
"You haven't spoken a word since you came back from Charlie's yard," Mother mentioned.
"Nothing, I just...I'm not sure how I feel about leaving Small Heath," I said.
"Sweetheart, David is giving us a better life and as much as I love Small Heath, we deserve better; your father would want us to be happy and live the way he wanted us to before his death," she stated.
"The people I love are here, not in some posh town where rich people have parties and brag about how great things are for them," I argued.
"That's not you talking....there will be others who can give you a better life than a Shelby can," Mother scoffed.
"Like you would know..." I muttered.
"I do know, Helena....he's more like his father than he cares to admit and I won't allow him to charm his way between your legs," she hissed.
"MOTHER?!"
"I love Polly and Sara but Thomas Shelby is nothing but trouble and he'll only break your heart," Mother said sternly.
I heard the carriage arriving in front of our home and it was time for us to leave so we could live our new life together. The next couple of months was all about my mother and David's wedding and it was aggravating being forced to be around these rich girls. Thankfully, David's maid, Willa and my future stepsister, Eileen were understandable and I honestly prefer hanging with them.
"Eileen, how do you tolerate those posh girls?" I asked.
"I don't...I take the opportunity to sneak away after greeting those brats and come in here to spend my time with Willa," Eileen answered.
"Miss Ayres, this letter came for you," Willa said.
"Thank you"
I took the letter and recognized the handwriting so I went up to my bedroom so my mother doesn't bother me about my relationship with Thomas.
Dear Helena,
As promised, I'm writing this letter to know how Harborne is treating you. It's strange heading to Charlie's yard and not finding you drawing in your sketchbook. I hope you come back for a visit whenever your mother allows you to and I can wrap my arms around you. I hope to get a letter from you sooner rather than later...never change yourself for anyone while living in that posh town.
All my love,
Thomas Shelby
I looked for some paper and grabbed my pen to write a letter back to Tommy.
Dear Tommy,
I'm glad to see you are keeping your promise and I cannot wait to see more from you. It was aggravating to meet the girls from rich families that I could never relate to but I met my future stepsister and she's quite different from the others. We also have a maid named Willa who actually cares about my feelings and respects my boundaries. I miss you all and God willing, we will meet again once I regain my freedom to roam wherever I please but in the meantime, I will be sending a special gift for you and the others very soon.
Love always,
Helena Ayres
Once I was done writing my letter, I handed it over to Willa so she could have it sent back to Small Heath without my mother knowing. We would spend the next decade writing letters to each other especially when he left to fight in the war along with his brothers, Arthur and John.
