A vintage touch (pb) : "Shenanigans"
// After the earful Lizzie got, she had to come and confront Mary, giving her a fair warning that things were not over.
xx
Mary was playing with Charles in the garden. She was looking beautiful in a yellow summer dress, light enough to endure the uncanny heat of the day. She ran with the boy who was chasing after her and pretended to be a monster. They both giggled while he tried to catch the woman, running as fast as he could with his little legs. Of course, Mary pretended he was faster and sometimes slowed down so he could grab the skirt of her dress. Those giggles could be heard from a long distance and each time Lizzie Stark heard them, she felt her heart sink a little further. A few days earlier, Tommy gave Lizzie an earful. He didn't let her speak to him and a Tommy who left no room for discussion was a Tommy that scared the woman. He was seething with rage, frothing at the mouth because he learned the little discussion she had with Mary a while ago and warned her to stop trying to make Mary go or else, his wrath would be one for the book. You didn't fuck with Thomas Shelby, you didn't try to cross him. Lizzie knew and chose to remain silent that day. She let him speak and watched as he left the room and drowned her sorrow in alcohol, but that wouldn't be enough. Lizzie Stark wasn't the type of woman to wait and drink herself to sleep without a fight. It was something he liked about her, he told her a while ago. She had some spunk, she had some nerves and she could stand up to any of the Shelbys. Well, maybe he had forgotten that about Lizzie, but she was about to remind him, why Jon wanted to be with her.
She couldn't understand why he chose to stay with Mary nor why he thought it was fitting for this newcomer to raising his son. Lizzie had been loyal. She had been there from the very beginning, from before Grace, to after her death. She had been there, comforting the Shelby, giving him her support, and devoting herself to his happiness and she had dreamed of being in Mary's shoes. She had dreamed to be the mother of Tommy's children and wished she was the one who birthed Charles. She had dreamed to be his wife, taking his name, and having a beautiful wedding like Grace had. She wanted to see him smile. She wanted to have Tommy run his fingers through her black hair and look at her tenderly. Yet, she was denied all of it, especially since Mary came into Tommy's life. Her rage didn't even begin to explain what Lizzie was feeling. She deserved to be with Tommy because of all the women he had in his life, she was the one who understood him the most. He trusted her with his secrets, with his business, with everything that Mary wasn't even aware of, so why? Why did he choose this woman? Why did he accept to keep her in his home? It should have been her. She thought about it but it always led to the same conclusion. She was the one he should have chosen. She was the one who should have shared his bed.
Did he fuck Mary? That, she couldn't know. Tommy was hard to read and even her experience in the matter couldn't help her find if he had sex with mary or not. Polly knew, but Polly was fond of the young woman and would not tell Lizzie the truth. Perhaps they had not, and perhaps it wasn't too late to plant another seed of doubt in Mary's mind. She took a deep breath as she noticed the voluptuous woman play with the young child and rubbed her arms to give herself some strength. She came to see Tommy and give him her own piece. She had to let him know that she wasn't a pushover and wouldn't take his "orders" really well. He couldn't come and ask her to ignore her very instincts and deny her the right to protect the family. the Shelbys were her family, whether Tommy wanted it or not and she was part of the family. Lizzie's eyes looked at Mary's stupidly beautiful face and she snarled a little bit. She had the face of an angel, her kindness shone through her soft features and that bothered Lizzie. Tommy would be attracted to a face like hers. She was gentle, she was soft and it was easy to read on her face.
"Lizzie!" -Mary stopped playing with Charles, who looked at Lizzie and waved at her- "Hello."
"Hello, Mary." -She replied with a tight smile and a cold voice. Her eyes drifted from Mary's face to her cleavage. Of course, she would have large breasts. Of course, she would look like those ancient greek divinities that were opulence-made flesh. Lizzie couldn't help but sneer at the conclusion that a woman this fat couldn't possibly satisfy Tommy in bed. He wouldn't know how to handle her. She could crush him with those thunder thighs and that big ass. Yes, so there was nothing to be afraid of. Mary wasn't Tommy's taste in women. Yet....she wasn't sure.- "Is Tommy here? I have an urgent matter to talk about with him."
"He isn't here. He's out of the city, for business purposes." -She narrowed her gaze and grabbed the young Charles she carried in her arms.- "Perhaps, you have a message I can give to him when he comes back?"
"He's not here..." -She didn't know he would be out of town. For a secretary, there were still things he kept from her.- "Fine. I would like to talk to you for a short while." -She glanced at Charles- "Without the boy because our conversation might be too much for his ears." -Mary felt her heart beat faster in her ribcage, but she nodded-
"Alright. Follow me inside then and wait for me in the living room. I will give Charles to Frances and would come back to you." -Lizzie nodded and sat on a comfortable chair in the living room.-
Mary waited a few minutes before she opened the living room door. She could feel her heart beating faster against her ribcage, almost making her nauseous. Lizzie hated her guts, she didn't need to be a genius to notice her jealousy. From the moment she came to live with Tommy and Charles, Miss Stark had always been distant and showed disdain towards the woman. At first, she thought it was hostility because she was a foreigner, then she thought it had something to do with her ancestry, but it quickly became clear, that she hated the fact Tommy gave her some attention. The snide comments, the "Virgin Mary" she said an insane amount of time was enough to indicate her resentment towards the young woman. Polly mentioned that Lizzie had always wanted to become a Shelby and since she couldn't have Jon, she set her eyes on Tommy, hoping he could make her an honest woman someday. Mary always believed that Lizzie idealized Thomas Shelby. She only saw what she wanted to see from him. It was easy to spot the heartbreak she suffered from, the life she lived in shame because of her past job, and the drunken stupors that led to poor decisions.
Lizzie was suffering and she thought that Tommy could save her from her awful past, and make her a new woman. He already did by turning her into a secretary and giving her an honest job. He could do it again by giving her his name, an honest family, and genuine affection. It didn't happen, it couldn't happen since Mary was in the way and ever since she realized that the two of them might come closer, she'd tried to separate the two of them. the sooner, the better. Mary was aware. It nearly worked when she sat with her to tell her that Tommy had sex with her just a week before her birthday and that he didn't remember it. Lizzie almost motivated Mary to leave that house, because of the heartbreak she felt upon learning that information. It nearly worked, but Lizzie didn't know Mary and her stubborn ass. She didn't know the resilience of the young woman. She didn't know it would backfire on her and Tommy's earful was enough for Lizzie to feel truly threatened. Tommy cared about Mary, he made it clear. He cared about that woman and Lizzie realized that she was slowly becoming less of a priority for the Shelby. She had lit a cigarette while waiting for Mary to enter the living room and blew her smoke when Mary entered the room.
"I am all ears, Lizzie."
"Oh, Like you were last time? I am guessing that you ran to Tommy to talk about our little conversation? You damn rat!" -She mumbled the end of her conversation, making Mary furrow her brows. She crossed her arms and walked towards the other chair, sitting and crossing her legs.-
"I'm not responsible for whatever Tommy decides to do." -She shrugged and chewed her bottom lip.Lizzie inhaled some smoke before she blew it away from Mary's face.-
"I don't understand what you are doing here, what you are doing with Tommy. You speak as if you were so close to him" -she snarled-
"And I am close to him, indeed. What are you trying to say here, Lizzie? That I can't be close to him? That he can't be honest with me?" -She lifted an eyebrow.-
"Tommy is a man of many secrets. He is only close to himself." -Lizzie shrugged and puffed some smoke to her face.- "He will never let you in, Mary. He will never let you in..." -She smoked again and blew some smoke up in the air-
"And how can you be so sure of that?" -Mary narrowed her gaze and chewed her inner cheek.-
"I know Tommy. I /fucked/ Tommy. He is a complex man and I am not sure you grasp the entirety of his character." -She sneered before she crossed her arms on her waist.- "Before you know, he's already fucking somebody else. Before you know, you're already attached to him but he can't be attached to you, he never is. I'm sure that even Grace didn't know everything!" -She chuckled- "So, if she couldn't, how could you? Virgin Mary? How could you keep his attention? He'd toy with you, have his fun and when he gets bored of fucking you... if he does fuck you... then he'll just go fuck someone else, perhaps me, since he always comes back to me." -She grinned widely-
"You told me lies, why?" -Lizzie took another puff and shook her head-
"Those weren't /lies/. He didn't know about your birthday. He had sex with me. Grace is the love of his life and, trust me, I know something or two about it." -She said, blowing her smoke to Mary's face.-
"You keep telling me about Grace as if I should feel something about it. Lizzie, you seem to forget that /I/ was there when he married Grace and /I/ was there when she got killed. I knew Grace. She's part of his life, part of his past and she is the mother of his child. I wasn't jealous of Grace when she was alive and I certainly won't be jealous of her memory, now that she's dead!"
"But you're trying to replace her! Do you think I don't see you? You live here! You raise his son! It's unbelievable! He lets you stay here and act as a surrogate mother for his child!" -She said, shrugging at her own words and speaking with a high-pitched tone before she took another puff of her cigarette.-Mary closed her eyes, feeling her cold anger slowly rise. Tommy promised he would handle it, and he did. He spoke to Lizzie and she was supposed to stop trying to come after Mary, yet here they were. nothing had changed and she even attacked her with her venomous words. Mary remained calm but looked at Lizzie with a frown on her face. She rubbed her palms against the soft fabric of her dress and tilted her head to the side.- "Don't look at me like that. I hate when you're looking at me with those eyes full of judgment.-
"I am not judging you. However, I do not like the idea of you coming to my house, spitting your venom in my face, or disobeying Tommy's orders. He asked you to stop coming at me and stop your shenanigans. Yet, here you are, in my house, spitting venom at me." -That shocked Lizzie.-
She did not expect Mary to have such a strong comeback. She hoped that the young woman would react like she did the first time they talked together. With panic overwhelming her and tears at ready to fall. This Mary was different, more assertive, more confident. Mary's face was hard to read this time, stern, calm, yet hard to decipher. Lizzie didn't know if the young woman was upset, or if she was actually not taking her seriously. Her hand shook, and she emptied the ash at the tip of her cigarette into the ashtray that was in front of her, on the small table of the living room.
" /your/ house?" -She lifted a brow in disbelief. Mary didn't react to her and simply stared at the woman. "/Your house? How dare you?! This is /not/ your house. It's Tommy's and it was Grace's. This house, isn't yours and will never be."
"Lizzie.." -She took a deep breath again, rubbing her palms against the fabric of her dress.- "What exactly is it that you want to tell me? Surely, you're not just here to quip about my situation. You're here because you have grievances."
"Ah.." -Lizzie inhaled some smoke, her eyes shooting silver bullets at the woman in front of her. SHe spoke with such a soft voice that it irritated Lizzie to no end. SHe hated Mary, that was plain for everyone to see, but she was upset about Tommy's choice to keep that woman next to him. Her eyes filled with unshed tears and she looked away from Mary.- "How rich! Really... You're going to lecture me, /Me/! Lizzie fucking Stark? Mary, I don't know what they taught you at that orphanage of yours, but you shouldn't mess with people like me. You came to my territory, you settled in that house, pretending to be perfect, to be a saint when you and I both know that you are nothing but a slut. You don't care about Tommy. you only care about his fame, his money, his power. You don't care about him, like I cared about him. Like I still care about him. You don't! And he will see it soon enough." -She took another puff of her cigarette.-
Mary was hurt but she tried her best not to show it. Lizzie had a knack at finding the words that would always end up hurting the most. She knew that this situation was quickly getting out of hand and that Lizzie threw her frustration at her face because it was the easiest thing to do. Tommy was an adult and he made his choice. He chose to keep Mary around, to scold Lizzie for trying to make her leave and while that wasn't explicit, Mary knew that he did it because he wanted her near him. He couldn't bear the idea of seeing her leave his house and the life they've been making there. They had an obvious connection, one that was noticed by every member of the Shelby family. Lizzie might have been in love with Tommy -and again, everyone knew-, He didn't share her feelings and she couldn't make him fall in love with her. It was cruel, and Mary could understand Lizzie's despair, but she couldn't allow the woman to disrespect her, or hurt her feelings like she did the first time. Her green eyes set upon the slender woman and she gave her a condescending smile, this time, on purpose.
"You think you love him? You think, you want him to be happy? you think... you want to make sure that when he has a nightmare, you can soothe him? I don't think you do. What I think is that when you look at Tommy, you see a way out. You see, a man who could make you proper. You see, his power. You see his fame. You see his wealth. All of this, is appealing to you. But if you truly loved him, you would have respected his choice. He didn't choose /you/ Lizzie. He doesn't love /you/, Lizzie. If you truly loved him, you would have let him try to have his happy ending instead of tyring to force destiny."
That earned her a slap. Lizzie stood up swiftly, outraged by Mary's words. It felt like a stab in her heart, a truth she refused to see. A truth that tore her soul apart. Mary was right, at least, about the fact Tommy didn't love her and that was unfair, that was so fucking unfair. she couldn't help herself, but since she felt humiliated, she slapped the woman's face, harder than she intended. The slap was so hard, it threw Mary on her side and onto the couch. it made her nose bleed and marked her light black skin. That was something that felt both satisfying, and curious as Lizzie had never seen a black woman mark that much, and she didn't expect to see the red print of her hand across Mary's face. Her chest was heaving up and down at a faster pace, her eyes were staring at Mary with fire in them and her hand was shaking. Mary took her time to sit better on the couch. She was shocked that Lizzie went as far as hitting her. She put her hand under her face, just so she could watch her blood drip onto her palms.
"..." -Lizzie looked at her, still breathing hard and worried about Mary.
"I hope it was worth it, Lizzie." -Mary's voice which was usually calm and sweet, became colder. Her soft gaze had turned colder and Lizzie swallowed a lump.- "I hope it quenched your thirst and gave you what you wanted. This slap would be the first and the last you will ever give me." -She said, standing up and walking towaards the bar, to grab a piece of dry and clean cloth she'd use to wipe the blood off of her nose. I understand that you hate me. I understand why you're afraid of me and you should be."She then pointed at the door. "Tommy won't come back until later today. Perhaps you'd want to wait for him?"
"N.. No. I have nothing to say to him anymore. I- I will leave." -She was flustered, confused, and now worried about Tommy's reaction but was too proud to ask Mary to keep it between the two of them. Tommy would be made aware that she didn't obey his orders and he would be upset -rightfully so-. "I apologize for the slap. I shouldn't have done that." -She acknowledged as she walked back and grabbed her bag- "I will.. I'm going." -She said, running away from the living room and outside of the property.-
Mary took a deep breath and rushed to close the doors behind her. She then put her hand on her lips, choking on the tears she held back from the slap she'd just gotten. Her cheek was still burning from the slap and the tears kept rolling down her cheeks. She would get through this, she wasn't afraid of Lizzie, however, the brunette wasn't always in the wrong. Tommy Shelby was a very complex man, one who might never love her the way she wished to be. Tommy did go back to her and other hookers after Grace died, and nothing could stop him from doing it again. Nothing could stop him from getting bored of her and finding comfort in someone else. Mary didn't need Lizzie to remind her of her fears. She was wary ever since her first marriage was a disaster. She was wary about finding out the many secrets Tommy kept from her, secrets which could involve seeing May, or fucking Lizzie. Secrets, which could involve him seeking comfort and company in her, but nothing deeper.
Perhaps what she felt that night was nothing but projections, perhaps, he didn't really mean it when he said she was his or when he let her claim him as hers. Perhaps she was wrong in loving him but she didn't care much. She loved Tommy and if his happiness didn't lie within her, then she would accept it. She would accept it.. but that slap was still hurting and the words Lizzie said still hurt her and it wouldn't be until her tears had dried that the young woman would stand back up and would keep a strong facade. Loving Tommy wasn't easy, and she knew there would be some heart aches... there would be some heartbreaks, but she loved him. what could she do about it?
