Blue Eyes

19

         "Shelby."

Ella lifted her head to see one of the prison guards at the cell door. It was morning, the sun had just risen. She had hardly slept and the exhaustion was starting to take hold.

"You're being released." He said and unlocked the cell door.

Ella wondered if Tommy had managed to get them released. She didn't think it would only take a night to get what he wanted in exchange for damning information about his family. But she wasn't going to question it.

Relieved to be in her own clothes again, she stepped out of the prison walls. She half expected her brother to be there, ready to enlist her onto another job. But there was no one waiting for her outside.

Puzzled, the woman looked up and down the street, unsure of where to go. There was no way she was going back to Warwickshire. She had a few things at Watery Lane but decided to just leave them there. She didn't want to risk running into her brother.

So, she headed for the next train to London.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amelia looked absolutely stunned when she saw her best friend sit down at the desk across from her. "Where on Earth have you been? I thought you'd disappeared!" She hissed, leaning over her typewriter.

Ella was exhausted as she set down her purse and picked up a few papers that had been left in her inbox. "Someone in my family was sick." She lied. "I'm surprised I still had a job here." She admitted and began to load a fresh page into her typewriter.

"Please, Mr. Harding is terrified of your brothers, he wouldn't dream of firing you." Amelia laughed. But she could sense the extreme change in her friend. "Everything alright?"

"No," Ella answered truthfully and began to type up the notes. "I need a drink." That was a plus of being at Arrow House. She could walk around with a whiskey and no one would question her.

Amelia smiled. "Well, once we get off work, we'll go out. We need to catch up!" She insisted.

It sounded like the perfect remedy to her growing headache. All she could hope for was that she didn't run into Alfie Solomons.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"My cousin's visiting from Paris. I invited her to come along, I hope that's okay." Amelia linked arms with Ella as they walked down the street towards the club.

"Yeah, of course." She shrugged. It hurt to know that even a mention of something as harmless as Paris could conjure up memories of Alfie. It made her grind her teeth knowing that he had become so woven into her existence. It would take a while to pick out all of the threads.

The two women chatted as they waited in line to enter the club. Ella's eyes danced over the crowd a few times. She kept expecting to see the familiar movement of people that signaled Alfie's arrival. But the club-goers went about as per usual.

"El, did you hear me?" Amelia asked as they were about to enter the club.

"Hm?"

Her friend giggled. "You've got your head in the clouds. I was asking 'bout that man who hangs 'round your brothers. The fit one, Isaiah. He seeing anyone?" She chewed on her lip. The Peaky Blinders were starting to become well known in the London area. Especially to those who liked the intrigue of gangsters mixed with their night activities. After they brutally took over the Eden Club and started making their moves on other venues, people took notice. People like Amelia who loved the thrill.