𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐓𝐨 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤
-𝟎𝟎𝟏-
𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡, 𝟏𝟗𝟏𝟗

Valerie sat on the edge of her bed, her knee bouncing aggressively as she began thinking of ways she'd get all her money back. It would take her weeks to get it all back just by taking on customers.

Since finding out about her money being stolen the night previous, she found herself wracking her brain all afternoon for how it was even possible that somebody had gotten into her bedroom and taken it.

There was a knock on the door and she looked up and quickly tucked her hair behind her ears. The door slowly opened and the man who ran the whole business appeared. "Mr Peterson." She greeted, standing to her feet.

"Florence," he nodded, looking around the slightly trashed bedroom. Despite knowing her real name, he always used her whore name. "There's somebody who wants to see you tonight." He seemed nervous. Valerie was now paying full attention. "A usual?" She asked.

"No.. er, Florence, it's a Shelby man." He spoke with some type of sympathy lacing his voice.

Her face dropped slightly. "Arthur or Tommy?" She asked, bringing up the names of the only two Shelby brothers she had ever really seen.

"Thomas." He told her. "He wants you at the house on Watery Lane before it hits seven."

Valerie nodded and glanced at the small clock that sat on her drawers. She didn't have long. "Thank you," she nodded, waiting for him to leave before taking a seat at the desk.

Valerie stared at herself for a few moments as her heart pounded like mad. A Shelby wanted her? Usually they'd have whores from the brothel on Coventry Lane. Carefully, Valerie painted a dark red lipstick onto her lips and took a deep breath. She ran a brush through her dark hair and tucked it behind her ears. What was the worst that could happen? She knew they were bad man but surely they would never dream of laying a hand on a woman.

-

Valerie entered the home on Watery Lane which was surprisingly empty considering the betting shop attached to it was usually booming. "Can I help you, love?" An older woman who Valerie believed to be Polly Gray spoke from the table.

She held her coat closed and looked toward Polly nervously. "I'm here to see Mr Shelby."

"Well, love, there's four of them and i'm gathering you aren't on about our Finn." She chuckled, placing down her cup of tea. Valerie's lips parted and she forced a smile, "my apologies. I'm here to see Tommy." She explained.

Polly raised a brown but nodded toward the office at the back of the room. "Tell him that me and his brothers are down at the Garrison." Polly brushed past the girl and left the house. Valerie swallowed hard and slowly walked to the office with her hands still clutching onto her coat.

She spotted him through the window and assured herself everything would be fine. Knocking on the door, Tommy looked up and nodded for her to come inside.

"You must be Florence." He said, putting out his cigarette and getting up from his seat.

"And you must be Tommy." She pushed away her doubts and chose to be confident. "What's your real name?" He asked. She stared him in the eye. "Florence." She said bluntly. Tommy gave her a once over and noticed how young she was. "How old are you, Florence?"

"How old do you want me to be?"

"This isn't a game. How old are you?" Tommy leaned against the table. She looked down for a moment before meeting his eyes. "Eighteen." She admitted. Tommy chuckled to himself and nodded toward the chair beside him. "Take a seat, Florence."

She did as he said and carefully sat.

Tommy cleared his throat and lit another cigarette before pointing the box toward her. She took one and muttered a quick 'thank you.'

"You see, I didn't request to see you for the sake of using you as my own whore." Tommy explained. He lit her cigarette and sighed. "My brother John- do you know him?"

"No, Mr Shelby."

"Well, my brother John planned to marry Lizzie Stark. And i'm sure you know her — she's the whore of Garrison Lane. And as you can imagine, it's not ended too well but our John's taken it a bit hard." Tommy began telling her the story.

"What's that got to do with me?" She asked.

"You're going to help him," he said, pointing his cigarette toward her. She frowned but let him continue. "And i'll pay you double what your usual rate is."

Valerie sat and thought for a few seconds. She only ever heard stories about the elder Shelby brothers. Never once did she hear anything about John. "I'll do it." She agreed quickly. Tommy hummed in amusement. "Very well then."

Valerie stood to her feet and made her way to the door, "your Aunt said to tell you they'll be down at the Garrison." Valerie recited the woman's words. "How about you come with me, eh?" He suggested. "Oh, Mr Shelby, I really shouldn't. I'm expected to be back when i'm not working." She said, slightly disappointed that she wasn't going to be making any money.

"Well your boss won't be having a problem of any sort if he knows the reason that you're at the Garrison." Tommy assured her, "now come on. We don't have all night."

-

On the way down to the Garrison, Tommy explained to Valerie that she was to just sit there in the pub and 'sit and look pretty' until John noticed her.

Tommy knew that wouldn't take long because Valerie was a pretty girl and John, being in his early twenties and having a tough love life, would definitely start up a conversation after having a few drinks.

"Mr Shelby says it's on the house," Harry slid a drink toward Valerie. She held it between her palms and listened whilst the pub livened up due to the late hour.

She could hear the laughs coming from inside the snug and soon enough, just as promised, the Shelby brothers emerged from their private room, pushing each other about jokingly and joining everybody else.

"Harry!" John pointed to him, "another whiskey, eh?!" He grinned, taking his flat cap off and placing it beside Valerie on the bar. She looked over her shoulder at him and grinned slightly as he tried to discretely catch a glance at her.

"There you go, Mr Shelby." Harry spoke up.

John put his attention back on his drink and nodded at Harry, taking the glass and returning to his brothers. Valerie looked over to Tommy who just looked at her with reassuring eyes.

Valerie noticed the flat cap that John had left beside her and took it in her hand, getting up and walking to the table John had sat at. "I believe this is yours," she said politely. John looked up at her and then down at the hat she held out to him.

"Er.. yeah it is. Thank you." He tried to bite back his smile when taking it from her hands.

Tommy watched carefully at the interaction. "Why don't ya sit with us." John suggested, "i'll get ya a drink— here, sit." John said, standing and pulling a chair for her. Tommy grinned proudly at his brothers confidence and nodded for Valerie to take a seat.

She did so and let her fur coat fall to the back of the chair, revealing the forest green dress that clung to her body.

John dismissed himself but soon returned with a glass of gin and tonic. "Here you are," he said, his words blending together slightly due to the amount of alcohol he himself had drank.

"Thank you.." She waited for him to give her his name, pretending as though she had no clue who he was. "John." He said. "Thank you, John." Valerie smiled.

"What's ya name?" He shouted over the loud chatter. Tommy tapped Arthur and implied that they should both leave. And they did.

"Florence," Valerie said. John hummed and sipped his drink. "I don't recognise you.. have you always lived here?" He asked. She shrugged. "Moved here last year." She explained. John nodded along and leaned closer in attempts to hear her better. "And what's a girl like you doin' here by herself? Were ya waiting on someone?"

She shook her head and laughed slightly. "If I tell you, I might scare you off." She joked.

"Go on," John urged, expecting her to say she was some sort of copper or something. "I work in the whore house by the Golden Bells," Valerie said. John expected a lot worse. "You're a prostitute?" John was surprised. She nodded. "Well I didn't expect that."

"Well, we don't expect a lot of things in life." She looked away, feeling embarrassed.

"I'd expect a girl as pretty as you to be married and have a kid, y'know?" John tried to start up the conversation again. Valerie looked at him. "I've always wanted to be a mother." She stared at the table. "But I think i'm too young for all that stuff."

"Well, my sister is twenty and is pregnant." He shrugged. Valerie moved her gaze to him once more. "That's still older than me," she informed him. John raised a brow. "I'm only eighteen." Valerie added.

"Eighteen— how long have you been working for?" He asked, slight concern lacing his voice.

"For legal reasons, I started when I was eighteen and magically stayed eighteen for basically two years. But if I'm telling you the truth, I started at sixteen.. basically seventeen." She said, not realising how easily she was telling him things due to the strong gin she was drinking.

"Fucking hell," John shook his head. He chose not to comment on it due to not knowing her background or reasoning behind why she began working like that in the first place.

"Do you want to fuck me, Mr Shelby?" Valerie suddenly asked. John snapped his head toward her and softened his gaze. His mouth went dry and he found himself unable to talk. "Well— er.."

She grinned and looked over her shoulder before slipping her coat over her shoulders and standing. "You know where to find me," she grinned, knowing she'd gotten him all flustered.

John watched her walk away, walking in between drunken men and not looking back at him once. John looked around the room and pulled his cap over his head, letting out a big sigh. "Fucking hell."

-

Valerie sat in her bedroom and as expected, there was a knock on her door. "Come in," she called out, the exact face she thought it would be appeared. John Shelby. "Thank god, I thought they'd sent me to the wrong bloody room." He said nervously with his suit jacket in hand.

Valerie smiled softly at him and tucked her hair behind her ears. John stepped inside and closed the door over and for a mere few seconds, a silence stood between them until Valerie decided to stand and kiss him. He kissed her back straight away and held onto her waist.

John dropped his jacket to the floor and he held her as they moved to the bed, falling backward.

Valerie tugged at John's buttons on his shirt and unbuttoned them as if it were nothing. His hands were warm against her skin when they travelled up and down the sides of her legs.

He was gentle. A lot more gentle than a few of her other customers.

John's hand cupped the side of her jaw whilst they kissed, keeping her close. He was infatuated with her perfume. Finally, Valerie had managed to remove his white dress shirt, leaving him in just his suit pants and under shirt.

John pulled back for a moment to pull the under shirt from above his head and unbutton his pants.

He was quick to return to her lips. She held onto his arms. "Are you sure?" He asked. Valerie was slightly taken aback by his question. Nobody ever asked her if she was sure.. but nevertheless she nodded, her hand snaking around the back of his neck.

Closing her eyes, she leaned her forehead on his shoulder and their bodies began moving perfectly in sync with each other.

Their hands were intertwined and John held them above her head whilst her other hand still held onto him. Although it went on longer than she'd have expected, she didn't find herself hoping it would be over sooner rather than later. John wasn't like the other men she'd dealt with before. He wasn't panting down her ear or bending her over the table. It didn't seem like he was using her just for the purpose of her job.

"John.." the words fell from her mouth effortlessly and he smashed his lips onto hers again. She squeezed his hand and for a second their lips separated, the pair of them attempting to gain their breath.

John placed his head beside her shoulder, their hands still intertwined. Valeria looked up at the ceiling and for the first time in forever, she didn't feel disgusted by what she'd done.

"Are you alright?" He muttered, falling beside her on the bed. Valerie nodded and pulled the thin white sheet up to her chest, feeling exposed. John rested his hand under the back of his neck and turned his head to her.

"Are you sure?"

Valerie met his eyes. "I'm sure."

After a few minutes, John climbed from the bed and pulled his clothes on, not bothering to button up his shirt again. He reached into his pocket and placed money onto the desk without looking at how much he'd pulled out.

Valerie watched him and part of her wanted to ask him to stay but knew how ridiculous she'd feel if he'd have said no. She knew it was her job to please him, nothing more.

But little did she know, John had hoped she had offered him to stay. Even if it was just for a little while.

"Look after yourself, yeah?" John said to her, holding onto the door. Valerie sat up. The words were on the tip of her tongue but she just couldn't bring herself to say them. "Goodnight, Mr Shelby."

John swallowed hard, hating the fact people called him 'Mr Shelby' but he didn't argue with her. "Goodnight, Florence."

And with that he left, a slight guilt gathering inside him. He'd fucked her and left. But that was what usually happened when people fucked prostitutes. They fucked them, payed and went home.

He didn't have much experience with whores. The first time John had shagged one was on his eighteenth birthday when Arthur had took him down to the brothel. Just before the war it was. And even then, he didn't enjoy the feeling that loomed over him after leaving the woman he'd just shared an intimate moment with.

Although he knew it meant nothing to them. Nothing at all. Majority of those women would see many men a day. He was just one of them.

He wasn't one for that kind of stuff. John had thought Lizzie was different so when he found out she was still seeing regulars despite his proposal, he felt somewhat betrayed. He'd put his trust in a woman and she didn't care.

But Valerie, or Florence as he knew her, was doing this job in order
to survive.

©-shelbysecret-

tiktok: shelbysecret.wp

Authors Note:

- If you haven't noticed, i've altered John's age to twenty-two which makes Ada twenty as they are two years apart (i think — not that her age matters much but yeah)

- Also if you think the age gap with John and Valerie is bad, it's only three/four years as due to the timing of the prologue, she'll turn nineteen in Act 1.

Any opinions leave here: