𝐇𝐄'𝐒 𝐌𝐘 𝐌𝐀𝐍
-𝟎𝟎𝟐-

The night of the Garrison re-opening, Maria was sure to leave quickly. With her driver on standby and nothing to keep her there, it wasn't a difficult task. It had been all but a week since she had been in Birmingham and she was trying her hardest not to let a thought pass through her mind that related to Thomas Shelby.

As she walked down the main street in London, she found it was quite busy as it was a Friday night. "Evening," a man said as he passed her. She gave him a warm smile and thanked him with a nod as he moved over to let her walk on the path.

She pushed open the club doors and slipped off her coat, handing it to one of the doormen. "Thank you," she said as the warmth consumed her. Maria looked around the room at the crowds that danced and drank. "Maria!" A voice called out. She spun around and saw her energetic and oblivious friend, Margaret, sat in a booth with her husband and his friend.

Margaret had gotten married to a young boy named Alexander when they were both eighteen. They were oh so in love and couldn't care for the words of warning from everybody that they would regret marriage.

"We thought you got lost." Alexander teased her playfully.

"Forgive me, Alexander. Coming to my place of work on my day off isn't necessarily something I get excited over." She smiled, accepting the drink that Margaret had passed her. "I don't believe we have met yet." The unknown male spoke.

She hummed and gave him a once over. "I don't believe we have."

Margaret looked between the pair and had her same playful grin on her pink lips. "Oh, Maria. This is the gentlemen I was telling you about." She explained, a hand on his arm. "This is Lennon." She said.

Maria nodded slowly, recalling the few moments that Margaret had spoke of a boy who both herself and Andrew were familiar with.

Margaret hit Alexander in the shoulder and he looked at her with confusion. "Get up you fool," she laughed, practically shoving him from the seat. Alexander got up and offered her a hand. And only mere seconds later, they disappeared.

Maria looked to Lennon and smiled slightly.

"I've heard very much about you, Maria." Lennon told her, his hand hovering around his whiskey glass. "Margaret speaks very fondly of you." He nodded.

Maria raised her eyebrows. "She does, does she? She's told me very little about you." She said with a certain harshness in her voice.

Lennon hummed and smiled. "She warned me about you. She told me to be careful." Lennon said. Maria waited for him to continue. "She told me that you have eyes like poison." He joked.

"Margaret didn't say that." Maria said. "That's what you're thinking." She corrected.

Lennon looked down to hide his grin. "Maybe." He admitted. "But if Margaret had said that, i'd understand why." He said.

"How so?"

"You have the type of eyes that could kill a man. Has anybody ever told you that?" He asked. She hesitated slightly, her lips parted. Somebody had said that to her before. At least something very similar. "No, I don't believe i've had such a compliment before." She pushed away the thought.

"Then i'm honoured to be the first to have given you it." Lennon said.

"What is it that you want, Lennon?" She sighed, leaning on her fist. He frowned slightly. "Why is it that our friends have left us alone?"

Lennon cleared his throat. "I'm unsure." He admitted. "But, I am not angry that they have.."

"You flatter me." She grinned. Maria sipped her drink and looked around. Her eyes landed on Margaret and Alexander who were stood beside the bar, Margaret watching with excitement as she watched the pair talk. Maria shook her head and looked back at Lennon. "So, what brings you to London." He asked her.

"I've lived here for a little over two years." She breathed out. "I lived in Birmingham my whole life."

"Why did you leave?"

She took a deep breath and stared down at her drink. "Love." She said. "I needed to get out and make a life for myself." She added.

"He didn't want to come with you?" Lennon asked.

She sighed. "He was the one who told me to leave." She said, everything from the day she left replaying in her head. "But i'm glad that I did." She finished.

Lennon pursed his lips together. "I was in love once." He told her. "But she ran off to be with another man. A richer man. And that was the day I said I was going to make a change." He said. She listened intently. "So I did."

There was a slight shift in his eyes. She nodded slightly for him to continue. "Margaret says you almost had a husband."

"Yes. But unfortunately he passed before we could marry," she squinted slightly, getting a strange feeling as he spoke to her. "You ask a lot of questions, Lennon." She observed. He gripped his glass tightly. "I don't like people who ask questions." She hummed.

Lennon cleared his throat. He lifted his arm to scratch the back of his neck and as he did so, Maria spotted the gun that sat in a holster beneath his jacket.

"I own this club. Did you know that?" She asked.

Lennon nodded once. "Margaret told me."

Maria cut him off with a shake of her head. "Margaret isn't aware of my ownership." She stopped him. His face fell. "I own another down by the Eden Club." She said. Lennon glared at her. "So tell me, Lennon. What do you really want?"

He shook his head. "I don't understand."

"Do you know who I am- apart from what Margaret has told you?" She asked genuinely, not in a threatening way. "I do not." He said honestly. She hummed. "Good."

She looked over to Margaret and Margaret frowned at her, unsure if something had happened.

"Asking questions will land you in trouble, Lennon." She whispered. "So I suggest that the next time we meet, if that happens, you refrain from being so curious. And you also refrain from lying about the things you do know. It makes you look like a fool." She said with a patronising tone.

Lennon bit down on his tongue and she got up. Alexander and Margaret began walking back to the table. Margaret stopped to speak to Maria whilst Alexander sat down. "Didn't hit it off then?" He teased his friend.

"Don't think she's interested in men like me." Lennon said, his eyes glued to Maria as she walked over to the bar.

Maria shook her head and leaned her elbows on the counter. "Maria? Why are you in tonight, you aren't working." Jackson, a man who she worked with, said to her. She nodded. "I know." Was all she said.

"What can I get you?"

"A gin." She said whilst looking back over her shoulder to see Lennon still looking at her as if he was trying to figure her out.

The doors to the club opened and she turned her head, standing up straight when seeing the three men she could've done without seeing. They wore their flat caps confidently and held their hands in their pockets.

"For crying out loud." She groaned to herself. She stepped away from the bar. "Gentlemen, I wasn't expecting you tonight." She announced, stopping them in their tracks.

Tommy was the first to look up, of course, and he remained tight lipped. John wore a smile and he took his cap off. "Didn't know you worked here." he told her. She smiled. "John, I own this place." She told them. He raised his eyebrows in surprise and looked around the room. "Ay, this is impressive Maria. Really impressive, yeah." Arthur complimented.

"Thank you, Arthur. I do try." She said with a sigh. She looked at Tommy. "I assume you're wanting a table."

"It would be appreciated." Tommy grumbled. Maria hummed and began walking. They followed close behind her and Tommy was quick to catch on to the man who seemed to keep his eyes on Maria. He sent him a glare but yet he still didn't take his eyes off the girl. Tommy looked forward at the table they had stopped at. "Can we get a bottle of whiskey?" He asked her gently, wishing she would drop the act she had put up.

She raised her eyebrows and waited for a moment. This was something she used to find herself doing often when being in his company.

"Please can we have a bottle of whiskey." He asked again, emphasising the please.

She smiled slightly with satisfaction. "You can." She then spun on her heels to retrieve the bottle whilst they got comfortable. She had sat them in one of the best tables in the club. It had a clear view of every corner.

"Can ya believe it, Tom?" Arthur nudged him. "Maria Atkinson owns a club." He said. Tommy lit a cigarette. "She owns two clubs, Arthur." He corrected his brother. John frowned slightly. "Done your research have you?" He asked with slight annoyance.

"What I do when it comes to our expansion in London is none of your concern." Tommy cleared his throat, discreetly watching Maria walk back to the table.

She placed the bottle before them along with three glasses. Before they could thank her, she had disappeared again. This time she stood behind the bar, watchful eyes on Margaret's table as she tried to figure out who Lennon actually was and what business he had in her club.

Jackson gently touched her arm and leaned down to whisper to her. "Those are the bastards that took over the Eden Club." He said to her, referring to the three brothers.

She hummed in amusement. "Them?" She asked. He nodded. "Keep a close eye on them." He told her. She laughed slightly. "Oh, they're only little. Nothing I can't handle." She assured him.

Jackson was confused. She didn't seem phased by their appearance.

"They won't cause trouble. No, not here at least. They'd be fools to do such a thing." She assured him again. He nodded slowly as he tried to understand. But with lack of detail or context, it was hard to understand any word that left her mouth.

©-shelbysecret-

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Authors Note:
-Not proof read.
-Updates will probably be slow.

ALSO: in future chapters it is not "moving too quick" i need you to remember that Tommy and Maria have known each other for YEARSSSS like since they were children and had a romance since before the war.
Thank you.
[leaving this bit here]

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