poison • thomas shelby

five.

THAILIANA WILKINSON

"My name is Thailiana-"

"And your first name?" Thomas interrupted the young woman, his eyes piercing through the surface she'd put up so well.

"I beg your pardon?" Thailiana exclaimed, surprised that he had caught her in her lie.

"I want to know your real name."

"Adeline." She said, in a voice that was merely above a whisper. "Adeline Thailiana Wilkinson , that's my full name."

"No it isn't." The man denied, he knew her full name and she didn't seem to want to tell him the truth. "Your surname is Martinez."

"Why ask if you already knew, Mister Shelby?" Thailiana felt angered at the man, she didn't want people to know who she truly was yet here he was finding out every detail about her past.

"Why lie about your name, Miss Martinez?"

"It's barely a lie. Wilkinson is my mother's maiden name. I don't wish to associate myself with my father so I decided to take her surname." The brunette scowled, the smile that was usually on her face was long gone. She didn't appreciate people meddling into business that had nothing to do with them.

"And your name?" Thomas inquired, curious as to why she felt the need to use her second name instead of her real one.

"My family usually called me Thailiana anyway."

"That doesn't explain anything." He insisted on getting the answer, genuinely interested about her.

"Adeline is buried away along with the terrible burdens she hid." Thailiana smiled softly, glad she'd managed to move on from the girl she once was. She was proud of herself, as she should be and deserved to be.

"And will I ever find out what those burdens were?"

"We'll have to see to that, won't we, Mister Shelby?" The brunette laughed, if they carried on this way she'd probably tell him sooner than she ought to.

"Whenever you're ready, Miss Wilkinson." His lips slightly turned up as he struggled to avoid a smile, the presence of the young barmaid made him want to. He felt calm around her, more so than he ever had, especially since the war.

"We're back to Wilkinson, are we?" Thailiana furrowed her eyebrows, he knew her real surname and she'd expected him to call her so.

"I figured you'd rather I call you that more than Martinez."

"Well, you'd be right." She grinned, appreciating immensely the respect he'd shown. "You know what, Mister Shelby? I'd say we're on first name basis now."

"Alright, Adeline." Tommy teased the young woman, a small smile that was barely noticeable appearing on his usually menacing face. Thailiana still noticed, her heart racing at the sight of the smiling man as she glared at him playfully.

"Say that again and I'll hurt you." She said without a thought, forgetting who she was talking to.

"You'll hurt me, eh?"

Thailiana blushed as she recalled her words, her face turning a light shade of pink.

"If you give me reason to." She went along with it despite her obvious fear he'd take it badly.

"Then I guess I shouldn't give you one, should I, Thailiana?" The fade smile on his face gave her reason to believe that he didn't mean anything bad, and the young woman was relieved as she heard her preferred name.

"No, Thomas, you should not." Calling the gangster by his name felt improper and Thailiana felt unsure if she could do so. Evidently, she'd been the one to suggest it and he had yet to decline it so she imagined he wouldn't mind it. It felt foreign to call him so, she'd gotten so used to saying Mister Shelby when she spoke to him.

The brunette failed to see what people feared in the man. Of course, his job made him quite menacing and so did his past but she couldn't understand how he'd managed to bare such a soft soul underneath his callous exterior. She still hadn't seen him be the cruel criminal every body spoke about in the streets, the gangster every one feared in thetown of Small Heath.

"I ought to return to work, Thomas." She recalled that she'd only asked Harry for a short break and soon the guilt flooded throughout her body as she realised she'd left the poor lad alone serving alcohol craving men. Tommy had a habit of making her forget about her job, their conversations were so enticing and it made her want more. Thailiana enjoyed speaking with the Shelby, driven by the thrill of talking to a criminal in such a peaceful way.

"Of course, I apologise for keeping you." He'd returned to his cold facade, the once smiling face had disappeared in a mere second and made the barmaid wonder if she'd simply imagined it. Though, she knew it had happened because Thomas Shelby didn't apologise to anyone. It made her feel special even if she knew she was putting herself far too high when it came to importance level. What was she thinking, that the relentless gang leader would care even a tad about herself, a barmaid that seemed to do more talking than working?