poison • thomas shelby

ten.

THAILIANA WILKINSON

"Bloody hell!" Thailiana exclaimed as Tommy told her yet another story of her brother at war. It felt nice to have somebody to tell her things about him that she never got the chance to hear from the man himself. And it being Thomas that was here for her sibling during the war made her happy, because she now had somebody to talk to about him. Jade had always wondered about her brother but Thailiana didn't feel comfortable talking about him with her, feeling as if she'd tell the youngest Wilkinson child and break down herself at the sight of the young girl. She never got to build the same bond that the two eldest held with their brother, with her being so young and with Darian gone to fight for their country, Jade never even had the chance.

The two had been sat there, on Tommy's sofa for the last four hours, chatting on about anything and everything with a bottle of whiskey helping them go on through the night. More like Thailiana talked and the man listened, only adding a few comments in between her words. Usually he'd feel annoyed, but with her he just wanted her to keep going until the bright morning sun shined down onto Small Heath. At some point, the brunette had stopped and asked Thomas to tell her stories of her brother in the war, she was curious to know what kind of man her sibling had become throughout the three years he fought.

The Shelby man glanced down at his pocket watch, eyebrows furrowing as he saw the time. They'd been talking for that long? The clock struck quarter to seven in the morning. Thailiana noticed the shocked look on his face, wondering why he was so surprised. She stood from the sofa and made her way to the window, poking her head through the gap between the curtains and she let out a small gasp as she saw the sun rising. Realising how much time she'd actually spent in the man's company, the brunette frowned. How did she not notice? It must've been the alcohol in her system, it couldn't possibly be because of the blue-eyed gangster that had quickly wiggled his way into her heart, could it?

"You should probably go home and get some rest, you're working later."

"Shit!" Thailiana hurried past Tommy who stood behind her, rapidly slipping her heels back on and shrugging on her coat. She didn't have work at the Garrison until noon but she didn't get even a slight blink of sleep throughout the night, too engrossed in Thomas Shelby to even think of it. She needed her rest or she'd get cranky, at least Jade told her so. The brunette reached up to kiss the tall man on the cheek and before either of them registered her actions, she had already rushed out of the front door and into Watery Lane. At this point, she didn't pay attention to the confused looks people gave her as they saw a woman leave his house for the first time in a while, all she needed to do was get home and sleep after checking that her sister was still in fact alive.

Thomas blinked as he could still feel the touch of her red lips on his skin, despite it only being a small caress of her mouth against his cheek. Deciding to ignore the warmth that flooded through his body, the man slipped on a new suit, almost identical to the one he was previously wearing. Putting on his cap and coat, the set that reminded people that he was a Peaky Blinder, the worst one of the lot.

                                -

For a weekday, the Garrison was quite busy. Thankfully, there was an extra pair of helping hands in addition to the two regulars. At least, there was in the beginning, Grace had disappeared off somewhere. Thailiana scoffed as she saw the blonde looking through the window of the pub, already fed up with her lack of interest in the job. Noticing how there were no more men to serve, the barmaid made her way over to her colleague's side, trying to catch a glimpse at what she was so invested in. Thomas Shelby stood by a beautiful white horse and Thailiana drew in a breath at the sight. Grace huffed discreetly as the brunette joined her, knowing all too well that she'd be the reason her plan to catch Tommy in a lie would fail if it ever did. After all, she'd already got the Shelby man wrapped around her finger which only made Grace's job harder.

The blonde pushed past the woman and grabbed the bucket she'd filled with dirty water, throwing its content into the street just as Tommy approached the entrance. It cut him off, his hold on the horse tightening in fear that it'd scare him. Thailiana continued to watch by the window, eyebrows furrowing at the irish woman. What's she trying to do, make him angry?

"I-I'm sorry Mister Shelby." Grace stuttered, acting as if she hadn't done it on purpose. "I'm Grace, by the way."

"I know who you are."

Thailiana smiled at his bluntness, feeling glad he'd never spoken to her in that impolite manner. She continued to watch, despite her knowing that it was unbelievably creepy to do so.

"What's his name?" The blonde woman asked him, eyeing the horse in curiosity.

"He doesn't have a name." Thomas answered, his voice barring the cold tone it usually did.

"Poor boy deserves a name." Grace added, smiling at the gangster before her.

"You have something to say to me?"

Her smile dropped within a split second, obviously she hadn't been expecting such a question. It proved she knew nothing about him.

"The other night you came into the pub when I was singing," The blonde spoke in a soft voice, not giving up on her original plan. "You said singing wasn't allowed. I'd like there to be one night a week where there's singing, it'd be good for everyone, Saturday nights." Grace hesitantly said, eyes locked onto the blue ones of the man before her. "Harry was too afraid to ask you, so..."

Tommy clenched his jaw, eyes travelling onto the cobblestone ground and back up to the barmaid's face.

"But you're not?"

"I am," Grace gulped, the eye contact she shared with the man almost causing her to tremble out of fear. "But I love to sing."

"You look like one of those rich girls who comes over from Dublin, for the races. Do you like horses?" Thomas moved to the other side of the white stallion, eyes remaining on the pretty blonde. Thailiana furrowed her eyebrows, wondering where he could possibly be going with his questions. "How do you fancy earning some extra money?"

"Doing what?" She stared at him as he mounted the horse, confusion evident on her face.

"Dig out a nice dress, I want to take you to the races."

Thailiana moved away from the window, a trembling hand placing the curtain back in place. Of course, he'd ask Grace to go with him. What had she expected? The woman is beautiful, elegant and talented. Everything she knew she wasn't and never could be. After all, you were born with beauty and Thailiana never found herself to be given such a gift. Maybe she'd imagined everything, the softness in his blue eyes as he stared at her, the late night talk they'd shared a few hours prior to his conversation with Grace, the way her hands fit so well in his large ones as they watched the fire in the middle of Watery Lane.

But one thing she knew for a fact, she'd not let a man toy with her emotions, with her heart. She wasn't stupid enough to not know when somebody was, yet she'd failed to notice the truth when it came to the handsome gangster. Thailiana got back to work, determined to not let Thomas Shelby ruin her.