✓ | GOLDEN LIAR ↠ Thomas Shelby.

16.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

                FELICITY WOODS COULD NOT stop smiling and no matter what occurred amongst her thoughts and wrecked with her subconscious, nothing would stop the upwards pull that tugged on her peony lips as she went about her day.

"What has you in such a good mood?"

The woman behind the bar turned to her friend with a curious grin upon her features, still not able to figure out just what had caused the Woods girl to be in a happier state of mind than she had seen her in for weeks. Grace had returned to the Garrison only a week prior to now and Felicity had not uttered a word about what had gone on whilst she was away, figuring that for now, there was hardly anything to tell.

That was a lie, she knew. Considering the girl was the closest thing to a best friend that she had - other than Jack, Felicity supposed, but the two had gone back to hardly speaking - there was everything to tell.

But Felicity only laughed, and shook her head so to discourage the conversation. "Nothing! Everything's as boring as it ever was, believe me" she attempted to lie, just so Grace would keep off her case for a day or two. For now, the girl wanted to keep the knowledge to herself, so that she would not feel obliged to change any of her mannerisms towards her friends or the rest of the Shelby family.

Grace raised her eyebrows. "Well, that's a lie."

Felicity began to argue profusely - all the while, her friend's expression remained unchanging - until she eventually pulled a face as she realised just how bad she was at pretending everything was not out of the ordinary. "Alright," she sighed in defeat.

The other's grin grew to one of triumph. "So," Grace declared, dropping the objects in her hands and folding her arms across her chest as she waited for any other words. When they did not come, she let out an exasperated, overexaggerated huff. "Aren't you going to tell me anything?"

"Not a single thing," Felicity confirmed, matching her friend's grin with one of her own.

Grace groaned and released her arms so that she could through them into the air, comically displeased. "You," she directed her index finger in the girl's direction accusingly, "are completely hopeless."

"And you," Felicity copied the action, smiling from ear to ear as she did so, "aren't going to get anything out of me like that, Gracie."

The other girl released another inflated sigh before she turned away towards the liquor cabinet, leaving Felicity get on with her day in the same manner as she had done so before. All the while, her happiness continued to prevail and for that, she was glad. She had no intention of letting someone ruin such a pleasant mood. . . yet forgot to remember just how easy it was for someone to go against her wishes and do just that.

⎯

               "Inspector Campbell called," Felicity announced loudly to the house as she swung through the threshold with an angry growl building up in her throat and her features long being taken over by a deepening frown. 

The fact that she had come into contact with the slimy police inspector had most certainly dampened her previous good mood. . .  of which she was not pleased about in the slightest. Her run in with the elder man had ended all of her hopes for a peaceful rest of the day, to say the least.