forbidden { michael gray } ON TEMPORARY HOLD

s e v e n t e e n

After a few tense words with Tommy, Michael managed to persuade him into letting Talya work with them. Most of the roles had been filled, but Polly knew Lizzie was struggling with her workload as the secretary so she assigned Talya to be her assistant.

Lizzie and Talya's working together wasn't exactly frictionless. Lizzie felt like she didn't need Talya's help, and Talya felt like she could do more than be a secretary to a secretary. But both of them gritted their teeth and got on with it. Usually Lizzie palmed the most boring paperwork to Talya, which was always completed on time and delivered back to her with a smile.

One Friday afternoon, Talya was just packing her stuff up and getting ready to leave when Lizzie sauntered in. "I need you to go the shop for me."

"It's almost 4 o'clock." Talya said as she pointed to the clock. "Are you willing to pay me the overtime?"

Lizzie sneered at Talya as the girl stared at her expectantly. "Just fucking go. I need you to get our alcohol order for the party tonight. It won't take you long."

"Alright." Talya said begrudgingly as she stood up and walked over to Lizzie. "Whose name is it in?"

"Whose do you think?" Lizzie asked, her voice filled with unmasked impatience. "Are you going tonight?"

"No. Me and Ada are going for drinks instead. Neither of us are in the mood for a party."

Lizzie, looking relieved, nodded and waved her hand dismissively. Talya walked out without saying another word. She really fucking hated Lizzie at times. The girl seemed to have a massive problem with her, and Talya had no idea why. Michael's theory was that she was in love with Tommy, and was just parroting his dislike towards Talya to try and win his favour. And plus, she really let the power go to her head. Just because Talya was - technically speaking - her assistant, she treated her like her own employee. It pissed Talya off endlessly, but if it meant having a job, she was willing to swallow Lizzie's obnoxiousness.

Before long, Talya reached the local liquor store. She went straight to the counter, which was being manned by a snooty looking man. As soon as he saw Talya, he looked her up and down before going back to his newspaper.

"Ahem," Talya said. "I've come to collect an order for Thomas Shelby."

The man wasn't listening. He waved his pen absentmindedly in her direction. Talya was half tempted to snap it in half. "Proof of purchase, please."

Talya scoffed. "Didn't you hear me, pal? I said I've come to collect an order for Thomas Shelby."

He looked up at Talya then, and his eyes widened. "Oh! Of course. Just a minute!"

As he scurried into the back of the shop, Talya looked around her. The shop was empty, and its walls were lined from top to bottom with all manner of alcohol from all manner of place. It was certainly an expensive shop. She'd been in there a few times with her mother.

"Here you are, madam." The man said as he slid a huge crate of alcohol over the counter.

Talya almost laughed. How the fuck was she meant to carry all this back to Watery Lane? "Thanks." She picked it up with a heave and turned around. The person she saw in the doorway as she turned almost made her drop the crate in shock. It was her mother.

Helga stared into her daughter's face in alarm. Neither of them knew how to react. Talya went to say 'hello', but her mother walked right past her and went straight to the counter. Half of Talya wanted to hug her mother, to beg her to acknowledge her existence at the very least, and the other half wanted to walk right out of the shop and not look back. The second half won.