Camden, 1925

You'd trusted Alfie for as long as you could remember, his were the eyes through which you saw, so you really had little choice but to take his word as gospel.

He always painted you the most beautiful pictures with his words, and you believed them, for all you knew you could have been sitting in a dark cupboard, believing Alfie's tales. But he always proved himself, because he knew you relied on your other senses. He took you to the seaside at Dover, let you feel the sand and pebbles and seafoam.

He walked you slowly around his distillery, making sure you didn't touch the boiling hot drums of water and alcohol, holding your hand a few inches shy of the hot copper so you could feel the heat.

"There, treacle.. feel'at?" his soft baritone rolled over you from behind.

"Hear the noises around you, know you're close to the drums yeah? Because if I'm not with you one day and something happens, I'm not sure I'd ever stop lashing myself for it."

~

Aside from the front put up to disguise his distillery as a bakery, Alfie was actually quite a talented baker. He let you sit in his kitchen at home with him whole he made various things, letting you smell the ingredients and the finished results.

"These are rugelach, and these are hamantaschen," Alfie said, "I'd never put 'em past anyone else's nose darlin', yours is the best I've ever seen," he chuckled. It was true in a way, Alfie could swear you could smell a change coming in the weather, you were truly an asset to him.

You'd heard him say to Ollie, "never give power to the big man," obviously in metaphor, don't give power to those who might seek to undo you, but when it came to Alfie, you gladly let him hold your safety and security close to his chest. He took it very seriously, having a blind cousin, whose school he donated a generous amount to, while he practiced an hour a day having his eyes closed so he might know the darkness of those he sought to help.

You'd come to know the distillery well enough to make your way around on your own, keeping close to a wall so you'd not be left out on the open warehouse floor in case something was to happen. Alfie would watch you from his office, his heart leaping into his throat whenever he saw a few steps ahead of you but his nerves settled when you manoeuvred the obstacle with practiced ease.

"Treacle!" he called, pricking your ear in the direction of his voice, "you find your way t'me alright?"