A girl is headed for Camden Town.

Caterina
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It took nearly two hours to drive into Camden Town, but when Thomas drove, it was only one and a half.

So naturally, I scolded him the entire way into Alfred's bakery, despite the lingering stares of the people who passed us by. They probably thought we were having a lover's quarrel, but after Thomas technically declared his love for me earlier today, I didn't blame them.

The second we stepped foot past the bakery's threshold, however, all verbal sparring ceased. For I knew better than to add to the already lengthy list of rumors that surrounded us both, and especially not under the presence of Alfred. For I had still to clear things up between Alfred and I, which I planned to do after todays meeting with Thomas's men. So instead, I sat with my legs crossed at one of the tables directly in front of the tough-looking 'bakers' that stood at attention before their leader. I only watched in silence as Thomas addressed the crowd.

"All right boys, you've now all been enrolled as bakers in the Aerated Bread Company of Camden Town." He said, "If anyone asks, that's what you do. You're bakers."

Some of the men nodded their heads along as Thomas spoke, others didn't dare move an inch. Witnessing this exchange between the classes made me wonder exactly what Thomas had to accomplish in order to earn this much respect from men twice his size. I nearly shivered at the thought.

"The coppers in Camden Town are on our side, but north or south, you show them that piece of paper. Tell them you've come down from the north to find work, to break the strikes. Tell them you're fascists if you have to."

I nearly huffed at the last part, but I quickly remembered where I was, and with whom. Not far to my right stood Ollie, who kept an eerily expressionless face throughout the meeting, despite my previous attempts at conversation. Which led me to believe that Alfred must've told him about our troubles. And speaking of which, Alfred wasn't speaking to me either despite him standing alongside me with his arms crossed, and face blank. The only words he managed to mutter at me weren't even words at all, but grunts in various tones and volumes.

Still, after everything, Alfred continued to steal glances over his shoulder at me and would occasionally shoot daggers at the men who's stares lingered in my direction far too long for his liking. And knowing that even though we weren't exactly on speaking terms, that Alfred continued to show his affections for me led me to believe that with a little bit of rum, we'd clear up this mess in no time.

As my mind wandered, however, Thomas remained pacing along the floorboards and addressing his men with a cigarette pinched between his fingers.

In a steady voice, he said, "we're finding lodgings for you, but for now, you'll sleep here in the bakery." Thomas paused to take a quick drag of his smoke and warned, "don't touch any of the bread, it'll most likely explode. Any questions?"

Thomas stopped pacing to asses the room, and I couldn't help but shrink from the last part. I didn't realize the barrels were explosive, let alone in arms reach for that matter. This time, I did shiver.

As Alfred stole a quick glance in my direction from the sudden movement, a man in the front of the group raised a hand in question. It was only when Thomas allowed for him to speak that he did.

The older man took a quick look around the room at his fellow bakers before joking, "I haven't even seen any bread."

As a response, all the other men laughed along with him, despite the glare they received from Ollie. Thomas, however, only cleared his throat and looked over his shoulder at us, motioning for Alfred to step in whenever. I gulped.

I watched carefully as Alfred calmly walked over to stand before the man with his head down and arms still crossed; showing off how the fabric of his shirt struggled to expand around the sheer strength of his arms. My breath caught in my throat as Alfred slowly raised his head to finally look the man in the eye, who was well over terrified by now. For a while he just stood there with a scowl on his face before Alfred struck the man beside the perpetrator so fast, I almost missed it.

A gasp left my parted lips as the man dropped like a rag doll upon impact against Alfred's blow. Every man in the room suddenly straightened as Alfred turned back to the man with the big mouth and pressed the handle of his cane into the man's chest. I almost left the room then, not wanting to witness anymore violence between gangsters and be reminded of how it felt like to be on the receiving end of a blow of that measure. But when a familiar hand gently gave mine a squeeze, I was able to endure Alfred's unorthodox disciplinary methods for a little while longer.

"He'll wake up." Alfred began, "granted he won't have any teeth left. But he will be a wiser man for it. And the last thing he will remember is your funny little joke. Won't he?"

There was an uncomfortable pause as the man's faced paled in response to Alfred's words of wisdom, before Alfred turned around and yelled at the group as a whole.

"Right! There are fucking rules here, yeah? There are fucking rules for a fucking reason. Quite simply they have to be obeyed. All right?" I watched after Alfred as he paced around the room with his cane still in his grasp, as a painful reminder of what could happen, no doubt.

"Rule number one. The distinction between bread and rum, is not discussed! Rule number two. Anything, right, that your superior officer says to you-" he motioned to both Thomas and Ollie, "-or any of your other fucking superior officers say to you, yeah? Not discussed!"
It took all my inner strength not to flinch at Alfred's booming voice as he skimmed over the crowd with hard eyes. He continued shortly after.

"Rule number three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. I don't care... For the rest of your fucking miserable, measly lives, yeah? Because I, like you, am also a complete fucking sodomite."

He paused for a moment, and I knew then that he could feel my eyes on him.

"Jewish women," Alfred finally decided, "you do not go anywhere near them because Jewish women for you are off the fucking menu. I think that's fair."

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms in annoyance. If Alfred could have all the women he wanted, then why was he so angry over one Shelby man?

After a while, Alfred locked eyes with Billy Kitchen, or as I mentally referred to him as- Billy the Ginger Giant. That man was huge and unafraid, which in turn frightened me. He often reminded me as the spitting image of the men who almost drowned me in the fountain that dreadful night.

I forced myself to look away.

"Hmm..." Alfred inquired, taking a moment to tear his eyes away from Kitchen and look over the man who lay crumpled on the floor from his previous assault. He turned to Thomas and nodded, "all right, that's it then. Oh...forgive me. I interrupted you."

And with that Alfred turned and started off in my direction, leaving Thomas to take care of the fallen man.

"Pick him up." Thomas ordered, his voice calm.

The men quickly reacted by moving to their comrade and helped him to his feet by supporting him on either side. Thomas then shared a brief word with his chosen officer, Billy Kitchen.

"Get them out of here and make this fucking work."

Billy Kitchen nodded in complete understanding and turned to yell at his men.

"Don't fucking wait!" He harassed, pushing them along. "You better be fucking soldiers! You're a fucking disgrace! Go!"

And with that, the remaining men dispersed the second the bakers were out the door. I watched as Thomas pulled out a smoke, deliberately ignoring Alfred's subtle stare. I needed a moment alone with Thomas to compose myself after witnessing the horrible exchange that had just occurred before my eyes.

After realizing this, Alfred grunted softly and turned on his heel, with Ollie close behind. I let myself slump into my chair when they turned the corner and were out of sight.

"You handled that well."

I shook my head, rubbing circles around my temples.

"I wish I didn't have to see that side of you both." I sighed, looking up into the empty room, mentally replaying how a crack sounded whenever Alfred struck the man cold.

Thomas exhaled and offered me a drag, to which I accepted. His blue eyes stayed on me as I welcomed the tobacco in my lungs and out my nose.

"It's a part of this life, Rina. Don't think for a second these men don't know what we do and what they're getting themselves into, eh?"

I nodded, he was right. It took two to tango, after all.

"Yeah," I breathed, taking my time to finally stand up from my chair.

With the room now silent, I took the opportunity to smooth over my hair and pinch my cheeks for some color. I had an eerie feeling my face was as pale as the man who earned the verbal beating from Alfred.

"I see you."

My eyebrows furrowed as I turned to Thomas, "what?"

The corner of his mouth curled slightly, "I said I see you. I see how much this life affects you and yet you remain. Only I know why."

I shook my head, "oh yeah?"

"Yeah." He blinked.

We stood still for a while, staring unblinkingly at one another. I always knew Thomas was observant, but I never would have guessed him to actually notice me that way he does. Not even Alfred could, for we found each other, Alfred and I. But Thomas, he saw me, and I him.

"Fine," I straightened, "tell me why I remain."

Thomas flicked the butt of his cigarette onto the ground, and grounded his heel into it before meeting my gaze to respond.

"You remain because you love him. You love Alfie Solomons."

I opened my mouth to protest, but he held up a steady hand. "Allow me to finish, please." He said, so I did.

"But you love me too, and that is what's stopping you from being his happy little wife."

Thomas took a few steps closer until his face was inches from mine. It was only when he gently closed my mouth that I realized it was hanging open in shock.

"That's not true." I lied.

He raised his brows, "Oh?" Thomas cocked his head, "then tell me you don't plan to meet up with him in that private office of his after we're done here? Tell me you don't plan to clear the bad blood with a glass of rum and promise him there's nothing going on between us, only we both know that's a lie. Go on, tell me."

My words caught in my throat, for that was exactly what I had planned.

Thomas nodded knowingly, "Exactly my point."

Without another word, he turned on his heel and left, but before his foot was out the door, Thomas looked back and called my name. I lifted my head wearily.

"I'll be in the car waiting. Don't take too long, Rina."

And with that, he was gone. Leaving me to stand alone and disoriented; deciding on whether to apologize to Alfred in twenty minutes, or spend ten of those minutes bent over Alfred's desk instead.

I decided on the latter.

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[ A.N. seriously guys, i need feedback! please and enjoy this lil snippet of 'oh shit' moments :))) ]