The Sweetest of Hearts.1| T.S

•Secrets out.

II. Secrets out.

Monday morning was Maude's first day in the betting shop. She was up early to do her hair and makeup, dressing in a long-sleeved, light pink dress, with white heels and a white coat, along with matching gloves. Like every other day since the day she turned eighteen when she started taking pride in how she looked, you could pull Maude Felton through a ring.

She stood out amongst the people as she made her way down the street, her back straight and her head held high, the posture of a proper lady. When she stepped into the empty betting shop, Arthur could nearly smell her perfume from in his office.

She looked up at the sound of heavy footsteps approaching her, sending a kind smile to Arthur when she met his gaze. "Morning, Mr. Shelby." She greeted as she set down her velvet black purse on one of the tables, tugging her gloves off and neatly laying them next to her purse.

"Call me Arthur." He insisted as he came to a stop in front of her, waving a dismissive hand in the air and shaking his head. "First day on the job, ey?"He asked with a small smile as he rested his hands on his hips.

"Indeed it is." She replied with a nod of her head, her eyes drifting over the empty shop before returning to Arthur. "Am I early?" She asked as she quirked an eyebrow.

"You are, love." He confirmed with another nod of his head, chuckling softly to himself as he pointed a finger in her direction. "Tommy will like you." He insisted and Maude's eyebrows knitted together in response.

Another door to the shop, that lead into the Shelby family's home, opened up and Tommy stepped into the shop, eyes immediately falling on Maude. "Morning." He greeted, sending a quick glance over at his brother before looking back at her again. "Maude, I've talked to my aunt, if you want tea, feel free to go through those doors and make yourself a cup in the kitchen." He informed her as he pointed back at the doors he had just stepped through.

"Thank you, Tommy." She said with a small smile and a nod of her head, clasping her hands together in front of her and picking at her painted nails.

Tommy grabbed a stack of leather-bound books and placed them on the table in front f her." The first item of business, I need you to go through these books for me." He instructed her as he clasped his hands together behind his back.

Maude opened the first book, eyebrows furrowing as her eyes scanned over the pages. The two brothers watched her with knowing looks in their eyes, neither of them surprised when she looked up at them with raised eyebrows. "All the sums are wrong." She muttered in confusion as she looked between them, her eyes settling on Tommy.

He hummed in agreement as he nodded his head. "Yes, none of these fuckers know how to even count, which is why I need you to fix it." He explained, hand waving around as he talked.

"I'm on it." She insisted as she sat down by the table, grabbing a pen and getting to work on fixing the books.

"If you need anything, you know where my office is," Tommy called out to her as he walked off to his office and she hummed in response.

She worked in peaceful silence for an hour before the men began to stream in for their shifts at the shop. The quiet shop turned loud as the men talked and screamed over one another, calling out to each other from different ends of the shop.

Maude's head was buried deep in the book, her hand sore as she wrote non-stop, her muscles growing tense but not once did she stop for a break. Only when her older brother approached her, did her hand halt and her head shot up. "Well, look who it is." Henry called out as he came to a stop next to her, leaning against the table. "No has been bothering you, sister?" He asked as he looked down at her with raised eyebrows.