Work Text:
You were in the library of Arrow House when your head maid, Frances, knocked on, then opened the door. “You have a visitor Mrs. Shelby,” she announced.
You weren’t expecting anyone, things had been rather quiet at the house ever since Tommy had sent half of his family to jail. The rest of the family wasn’t exactly on speaking terms with him. Still, you had gone and visited everyone, taking Charlie so that they could still be involved in his life and to serve as a link between Tommy and the rest of his family. You had been trying to encourage Tommy to take up John’s invitation for the New Years Party but he had refused every time that you brought it up.
“Who is it Frances?” you asked.
“Jessie Eden, Ma’am. Would you like me to send her away?” Frances replied.
Jessie Eden…you knew that name. After a couple seconds you were able to place her, she was the one that organized the women’s march that you had attended with the other women in the betting shop after the boys had gone out hunting together.
“No, no send her in,” you told Frances, following her downstairs and going to the sitting room, not even having the time to sit before Jessie entered.
“Thank you for seeing me on such short notice Mrs. Shelby, my name is Jessie Eden,” Jessie introduced herself.
“It’s no problem, I attended one of your strikes for women workers a year ago, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you, please sit,” you told her.
You gestured towards the couch and sat down.
“What can I do for you?” you asked, clasping your hands in your lap primly.
She took a breath, “Well, I’ve been looking into Shelby Company Limited and Arrow House Holdings and to be frank with you ma’am I that the women are being underpaid.”
You were…confused. That couldn't be right, Tommy had always told you and the other women how he values your input in the company. Then again, who really ever knew what Tommy was thinking?
“Unfortunately I’m not involved in running the company but I could give you my husband’s card and help you set up a meeting with him,” you told her.
She didn’t falter. “That’s the thing Mrs. Shelby, I’ve already been in to see him but he refused to compromise with me.”
You awkwardly laughed. “Sorry, I’m a bit confused. What exactly was discussed in this meeting?”
Jessie gave you a quick rundown of how the women wire cutters were getting paid ten shillings less a week than the men, and how Tommy only agreed to make the pay equal by cutting the men’s pay in hopes that Jessie would back down.
You narrowed your eyes at this revelation. You didn’t interfere in Tommy’s business because you trusted him to run it. He could be a bit of a controlling boss but you hadn’t thought that he would intentionally cut women’s pay, especially given how he knew you were an advocate for women’s rights. Apparently, he didn’t care. This wasn’t a mistake, this was a deliberate underpaying.
You pressed your lips together. “Thank you for letting me know Ms. Eden. This has been a very…” you paused, trying to think of the right word, “Enlightening afternoon.”
You both said your goodbyes and as soon as Jessie left you called for your driver to bring the car around.
~~~~
Your heels clicked as you walked through the doors of Tommy’s main office. A man you hadn’t seen before tried to stop you as you were walking down the hallway of the ground floor.
“Ma’am?” he called. But you kept walking, ignoring him.
“Ma’am, excuse me!” he called as he caught up to you. “Ma’am what is your business here?” he questioned as you reached the staircase that would take you up to the offices. “Appointments are required to speak to the bosses and I don’t have any women on the schedule for today.”
“Of course you don't,” you muttered to yourself, stopping as he stood in front of you on the staircase, blocking your way.
You decided to attempt to shoulder past him, but he easily blocked you. “Ma’am this is a place of business and you are out of line! If you do not leave this instant I will be forced to call security.”
Part of you actually wished he would call security, which you knew was comprised of Peaky boys who were all loyal to you, but you instead decided to just finish this conversation the easy way.
“A place of business you say? What business would that be?” you played dumb.
“Shelby Company Limited, Ma’am, now if you please-”
“Shelby Company Limited,” you mused. “Now given that my name is Y/N Shelby I think I should be able to enter where I like, yes?”
The man paled. “Mrs. Shelby, I’m so sorry…I’m new…and…,” he stuttered.
A voice from upstairs cut him off, “Mrs. Shelby!”
You looked up to see Peter, one of Tommy’s assistants, come running towards you. Apparently your scene on the stairs had gathered some attention. The other man who had stopped you took this opportunity to quickly walk away and out of sight.
You continued up the stairs, meeting Peter in the middle. “I’m here to see Tommy, is he available?” you asked.
Peter nodded, “Well yes, but-”
You cut him off. “Perfect, thank you Peter.”
Peter nodded once more at the dismissal and made himself scarce. You arrived at Tommy’s office and opened the door without knocking, something that had always driven him crazy.
He was sitting at his desk and glared when you first entered the room but that glare softened into a soft smile as he saw it was you instead of some imbecile worker.
He stood as you approached. “What can I do for you, love?”
You looked at him with a cold expression. “Sit down, Thomas.”
He sat down without argument, knowing that the use of his full name meant that he was in for it. He sighed. “What have I done this time, Y/N?” he asked.
You crossed your arms and then shrugged as you stood in front of his desk. “You tell me.”
He pulled out his cigarettes, sensing that this was going to be a long conversation.
“I’ve done a lot of things, you’re gonna have to tell me,” he said, lighting one, then holding out the case to you in offering. You shook your head in refusal.
“Alright,” you said. “You’ll never guess who came to the house this afternoon.”
He tilted his head slightly to the side, intrigued. “Who?”
“Jessie Eden.”
His expression stayed perfectly still, not giving anything away.
“And why was Jessie Eden at my house, eh?” he asked.
“Our house,” you corrected.
“At our house,” he repeated, conceding.
You sat down in one of the chairs in front of the desk, leaning on it with your forearms and intertwining your hands. “She wanted to fill me in on the meeting that you two had earlier this week.”
Tommy took a drink from the glass of whisky on his desk. “So she decided to tell my wife on me, interesting business strategy,” he said sarcastically.
“No, I’m glad she told me,” you replied. “Tommy I don’t interfere in the business because I have trusted you to run it in both of our interests.”
“It’s my business, Y/N, and I run it as I see fit.”
“That’s my last name on the sign too. I helped you build this company from nothing and I think you need to recognize that,” you told him.
“What are you trying to say, hm?” He leaned back in his chair, folding his hands together and looking entirely at ease, which only infuriated you more.
“Pay the women equally.”
“There aren't any women wire cutters under the employ of Shelby Comp-” he tried the same tactic he had tried on Jessie.
You cut him off, not in the mood for him to try to talk his way out of this. “Try again.”
“It would take a lot of time and a lot of moving money around,” he objected.
“Oh, you’ll have time,” you replied.
“It would impact our earnings,” he tried to protest again.
“I don’t care,” you said. “We have enough money as it is. I would rather miss out on a new dress than have a mother not be able to feed her children simply because her boss won’t pay her equally to the men.”
“My mother couldn't afford to feed me and look where I am now,” he remarked.
“So you would deny other children even though you have the power to change their circumstances?” you questioned.
“Hypothetical children,” he said, taking a drag from his cigarette.
“How could you say that?” you asked him. He had been like this recently, the isolation from his family making him colder than usual. “What if that was Charlie?”
He opened his hands, pursing his lips. “It’s not and you know why?” he leaned forward. “Because I have given everything to make sure that he will never know that life. Charlie is my concern. You are my concern. I don’t give a fuck about anyone else.”
You reached over the desk, grabbing his glass and quickly draining the remnants. “If I’m so much of your concern then you’ll listen to me for once. God Tommy it’s not just about the money it's about respect,” you told him, becoming more and more frustrated that he wasn't listening to you.
“You know I respect you.”
You actually didn’t know. He could say it all he wanted but you wouldn’t believe him until he did something to prove it. “Okay, name another woman that you respect,” you tested.
“I really don’t have time for this,” he argued.
“Name a woman, Thomas,” you pressed.
“Fine,” he snapped. “Polly,” he said plainly.
You nodded your head slowly. “Hm, and look where that got her.”
“You are out of line-” he cut in but you weren’t done.
“You never listened to her even before you threw her in jail,” you argued, your voice raising. “And now she’s all drugged up on tablets and out of her goddamn mind because YOU almost got her killed. Yet another decision that I wasn’t consulted on,” It was a low blow, you knew that, but it had to be said. The two of you had been dancing around the subject for months.
“And what the fuck do you want me to do about that?” he yelled back. “It’s over, it’s done. You know that I had to do it.”
“If you continue on this way,” you warned, standing up. “Prioritizing profits over your family, over your workers’ well-being, over Charlie, over me, then you will lose us all.” With that you walked out, your eyes filling with tears, and as soon as you closed the door, you heard a glass smash against a wall.
~~~~
When you had returned home you went to Charlie’s room, wanting to spend time with him. You took him out to the stables, as the young boy shared his father’s affinity for horses. Luckily he didn’t seem to share his temper, but time would tell. You hoped that he didn’t inherit yours either, seeing as it wasn’t much better.
Late in the night after you had already gone to bed, you were woken up to movement around your room. Instead of raising your head and greeting Tommy as you usually did when he came home late, you just stayed still, choosing to fall back asleep, facing away from him.
You felt the bed dip as he slid in and you heard him sigh softly, breaking the silence of the night before you fell back asleep.
By the time you woke up he was already gone.
That was how your nights, and by extension, days proceeded for a considerable amount of time. This wasn’t the first time you and Tommy had gone without speaking to each other and you doubted it would be the last, but it certainly was the longest.
In the past, a middle ground (usually Polly) had gotten fed up with the both of you and forced you to communicate. This time there was no middle ground. Both of you were stubborn and persistent. Those traits worked well when you were working together for something, but against each other…not so much.
One night, about five days after your fight in Tommy’s company’s office, you walked into Tommy’s home office to get Charlie. He had started spending more time there recently, drawing on some paper while Tommy looked over important forms. He really enjoyed getting to spend time with his father, as he was usually at the office.
“Come on Charlie,” you called. “It’s bedtime.”
He looked up at you with pleading eyes. “But Mummy,” he whined.
“Listen to your mother, Charlie,” Tommy added, looking up from his work at his son.
Charlie huffed, “Goodnight Daddy,” he relented, standing up and going behind Tommy’s desk to give him a hug.
“Goodnight,” Tommy replied, hugging him tight and ruffling his hair. He absolutely adored Charlie, no one could deny it.
Charlie then turned back towards you and the door and you turned to follow him out. But then Tommy called your name for the first time in days, which caused you to stop dead in your tracks.
“Yes?” you turned back to Tommy. He was looking at you intently, blue eyes staring into yours.
“Could you stay in here for a moment, I have something I’d like to discuss with you.”
You turned to Charlie, who had stopped when you did. You kneeled down to his height, “Charlie can you be a big boy and get ready for bed by yourself? I promise I’ll come in a bit to tuck you in.” The boy nodded before saying goodnight and hugging you.
You closed the door behind him, then walked back to Tommy’s desk, taking the seat that your son had recently vacated. As soon as you sat down Tommy began, “I’ve finalized the paperwork to increase the women’s wages in the wire cutting factory. I thought you might want to look it over.”
He slid the documents over to you. “Yes, thank you,” you responded, a bit breathlessly. You honestly didn't think that Tommy would actually go through with it. You looked over the documents, everything was in order. You still felt awkward and didn’t know what to say. “Good,” you settled on, sliding the papers back to him.
“Look, Y/N, it was never my intention to upset you,”
“But-” you attempted to interject.
“Let me finish,” he said calmly. “With the women in the factory I saw a chance to make easy money and I took it. It was wrong and I apologize.”
An apology from Tommy Shelby, now that was almost unheard of. Slowly you felt the ice around your heart starting to thaw.
“Apology accepted,” you told him truthfully.
“It’s just,” he faltered, taking a deep breath. “Everything had just gone to shit this year. I can’t lose you too.”
And with that your heart broke. You got up from where you were sitting, moving around the desk to stand behind Tommy, leaning down to wrap your arms around him, resting your forehead on his shoulder.
“You aren’t losing me Tommy. I was upset and I was out of line making comments about the family. I’m sorry,” you said, trying to soothe him.
He broke from your hold, turning around in his chair so that he was facing you. “But you were right,” he spoke softly, leaning forward and turning his head so that his cheek was nuzzled into your stomach and you wrapped one arm around him, the other stroking the back of his head like how you did for Charlie when he got upset.
“Everyone still loves you Tommy, they want to see you,” you murmured.
“I don’t know if I can face them,” he said, uncharacteristically vulnerable for just a moment.
“You can,” you told him confidently. “They wouldn’t reach out if they didn’t want to meet. I’m sure they miss you Tommy. Hell, I even missed you the last couple days and you were right there the whole time.”
He bit back a small laugh and you both were silent for a moment, just soaking up each other’s company. You then kneeled down so that you were eye to eye.
“I’ve already talked to everyone, told them why you did it,” you told him. “They understand.” you leaned forward so that your foreheads were touching.
“Okay,” he said. “I’ll tell Lizzie to accept John’s invitation for the New Years party.”
You smiled, leaning in to kiss him and he met you halfway eagerly. “I love you,” he said.
“And I love you,” you replied. “No matter what happens, I will always be by your side. Now come on,” you got up, grabbing his hand and pulling him up with you. “Let’s go put Charlie to bed."