poison • thomas shelby

three.

THAILIANA WILKINSON

"I won't ask again, Ms. Wilkinson." Thomas Shelby insisted on getting an answer, his mind couldn't process the image of the young brunette sitting in the small room reserved for his family.

"How do you know my last name?" Thailiana furrowed her brows, she'd never told him her full name.

"Harry told me." He sat down in the leather armchair he always sat in. "But that doesn't answer my question, Ms. Wilkinson."

"Well if you insist on knowing, Harry told me to come in here for a break." She eyed each move he made, watching him take off his hat and he slowly met her eyes. Thailiana was once again, blown away by the brightness of them, his dark soul contrasting with the beautiful colour.

"Trust Harry to tell you shit like that, eh?" Tommy said, making the brunette think he was simply joking but judging by the expression on his face, she guessed not.

"Would you rather I leave, Mr. Shelby?"

"Not much point as you're already here, eh." He shrugged his shoulders, pulling out a cigarette and offering one to the young woman.

She gladly took the cigarette, letting him light it with his match. She'd smoked one less than ten minutes ago but, what harm would it do if she hadn't smoked for at least 5 months?

"So, Ms. Wilkinson, where are you from?"

Thailiana was slightly shocked at the fact he was making conversation, expecting him to prefer the silence over the talking.

"Small town beside London." She kept her answer short and without details, not one to share her information to strangers that could potentially kill her in the blink of an eye.

"Why'd you come to Small Heath?" He asked yet another question, Tommy couldn't help himself, he wanted to know the beautiful woman. 

"I came back to Small Heath so that I didn't have to deal with stuck up men and women all the time." Thailiana smiled to herself, taking a drag from the cigarette between her fingers. "I came back to give my little sister a peaceful life."

"And you think this is where she'd get one?" He scoffed, their little town was not the place you should come to have a nice life. Thomas Shelby would be the proof of that.

"It's where I grew up and I insist that she gets an even better childhood than I had, Mr. Shelby." The brunette crossed one leg over the over before fixing her hair and exhaling yet another puff of smoke.

"Tell me, how come I've never heard of you if you lived here before?"

"I went by a different name, back then." She smiled teasingly at him, standing up and making her way to the door of the snug. "I best get back to work."

Thomas gaped after her, thinking of all the possibilities of names she could've gone by once upon a time. He'd expected her to be a shy woman but she seemed to be as confident as she could get. And for Tommy, that just made her even more seducing. The confidence that radiated off of her as she spoke made him forget who he was for a small second.

As for Thailiana, she couldn't believe how well she got through that conversation. It seemed like she was finally over her sudden timidity around the man, which she wasn't capable of the first time she saw him. His deep voice and blinding blue eyes made her tremble, she'd truly never seen a man as strikingly handsome as Thomas Shelby.

Looking past his job, he'd be the perfect man. He looked like he could easily please a woman and Thailiana imagined she wasn't the only one to think so. His sharp jawline must make the ladies run wild and that's without taking a look into his attractive eyes.

Thinking back to what her sister had said to her earlier that day, she realised how right she had been. Although she wouldn't qualify it as the best or even a good conversation, it was simply a pleasant one. But the barmaid couldn't help but hope that they'd have more and that they'd only get better with time.