“Doris was taken to the infirmary. That leaves me all by myself on the serving line.”
“So?” Ray said, barely looking up from the fryer he was tending.
“What do you mean, ‘so’? I need help! I can’t serve 400 people all by myself!”
“Okay, okay, keep your breeches on. Um. Take Cathy.”
Cathy looked up, startled. Her eyes darted from Maggie to Ray and back to Maggie again.
“Don’t just stand there like a bump on a log,” Ray shouted. “Get out there and help Maggie.”
Cathy really didn’t want to go out in public. “What? Why me? Take Suze or Millie instead.”
“I’m not asking you, sweetheart. I’m telling you,” Ray barked. “Now go!”
“Come on,” Maggie said, as she clasped a hand around Cathy’s arm and pulled her out of the kitchen and into the mess hall.
Chapter 6
Cathy blew an errant hair out of her eyes and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. She followed Maggie out to the serving area behind the cafeteria counter.
A line had already formed. Soldiers and nurses queueing up for their dinner were waiting to be served and chanting, “We want food! We want food!” Cathy was getting ready to say something snide, when Maggie took control of the situation.
“Okay okay, hold your horses,” Maggie said sternly, but with a smile.
There was something special about Maggie. She had a way about her that was firm, yet kind, and people responded well to her. She was like the mom on base -- a female Mr. Chips. Everyone respected her, perhaps because Maggie had such strong morals. She often talked about her husband back home and her two teenaged daughters.
Cathy had seen the girls on base turn to Maggie for advice, and Maggie always seemed to give them sage counsel. And that was fine for the other girls, but not Cathy. She really didn’t have any dilemmas to work out anyway. Cathy was a watcher, not a joiner, and now, as she watched Maggie dishing out the food, she saw Maggie motion for Cathy to do the same. Cathy nodded, reached for a serving spoon and began dishing out plates of the Tuesday special -- fried fish sticks and mashed potatoes -- and placing them on the countertop for the diners to take.
Colonel Morton was among the first people in line. Cathy noticed the little wink he gave Maggie and the almost-coy way Maggie smiled back. The Colonel was strikingly handsome for a man his age. Cathy figured he must be at least 40. She wasn’t surprised he’d find Maggie attractive. But she was surprised that Maggie would be attracted to him. After all, she was a married woman.
The sound of unbridled laughter came wafting from the end of the line and Cathy assumed it was directed at her. She got used to people laughing at her back in the orphanage, and she learned not to pay them any attention. When she turned her head to follow the sound, she saw two young Privates down the line and was somewhat relieved that they didn’t seem to be laughing at her at all.
The Privates were still talking and laughing when they arrived in front of Cathy’s station and, at this point, they were holding up the rest of the line and trying Cathy’s patience. “Helloooo. Are you here to eat or talk?”
Michael looked at Cathy and smiled. “Hi,” he said. “Sorry. Um ... Could I have some extra mashed potatoes?”
His dimpled smile lit up the entire Commissary and Cathy suddenly became self conscious. She thought about how messy she must look. “You can have anything you want,” Cathy said without thinking. Joe rolled his eyes, and other people in line tittered. Cathy was embarrassed by what she said, but she pretended not to care as she handed Michael his plate. She looked at him a moment too long, and when his hand grazed hers as he took the plate from her, she wondered if he felt the electricity too.
His buddy nudged him. “Come on Mike, let’s eat.” Cathy watched Michael and Joe leave the line and join some other soldiers at a long rectangular table. When he sat down on the bench attached to the table, Cathy saw Michael look over his shoulder at her. She quickly looked away and turned back to the line of diners.
This time, her attention was taken by a pair of hazel brown eyes. Those eyes belonged to Dr. David Mason. Everyone knew Dr. Dave, even Cathy. He was the big man on campus around here, a big flirt who loved to joke around and hit on all the ladies. And even though Cathy wasn’t into boys the way the other girls on base were, she had admit she always had a little crush on the doctor. For a moment, Cathy forgot where she was until the blond lady who was with David -- a woman in a WAC uniform -- shouted at her.
“Hey four eyes. What are you staring at?” The WAC lost her patience at the slowness of service. “How about some gruel here?”
“I’m sorry.” Cathy mumbled as she handed a plate across the counter.
“What’s your name?” David asked Cathy.
He had asked Cathy her name once or twice before today, but she clearly didn’t leave an impression on him. “Me? I’m ... Cathy.”
“That’s a stupid name,” snapped the woman with David.
David spoke quietly in a soothing tone, as if he were sharing a secret with Cathy. “Don’t mind Norma. She gets testy when she’s hungry.” He winked at Cathy and slid his plate off the counter and onto a tray before turning his attention back to Norma. “Calm down Norma. Let’s find a seat so you can eat something before you bite off anyone else’s head.”
Cathy watched David and Norma carry their trays to a table. Maybe working on the front lines wasn’t so bad after all, she decided.
Suze emerged from the kitchen and caught the tail-end of the interaction. She whispered in Cathy’s ear, “He’s out of your league, Granny. Don’t even bother.”
Cathy knew Suze was right.
Chapter 7
“During the time I have had WACs under my command, they have met every test and task assigned to them...their contributions in efficiency, skill, spirit, and determination are immeasurable."
-- General Dwight D. Eisenhower
After dinner, Norma and David walked around the base hand in hand enjoying the moonlit evening. It was almost spring, and the fresh air of the great outdoors made them feel free, a welcome change from spending the majority of each day indoors all winter. David was uncharacteristically quiet tonight, and it concerned Norma. She hoped he wasn’t keeping something from her.
Their relationship had been on-and-off ever since Norma arrived on base six months before. Norma noticed David the day she arrived. How could you not notice David? He was tanned and well-built, ruggedly handsome with piercing hazel-colored eyes and a smile that was sexy as hell. Over the months, she watched him put the moves on anything in a skirt -- nurses, WACs, the girls in the mess hall, and even some female patients. But even though he had a reputation for being a Lothario, she couldn’t help falling for him. Any time he flirted with her, she flirted right back. Finally, when David told her to put her money where her mouth is, she went weak in the knees.
Norma was a divorcee, and she learned that men assumed she was a “sure thing” because of that. People tended to think that divorcees had easy virtue just because they were “experienced.” Back home in Denver, she and her ex-husband used to live in a bedroom community of families. Moms, Dads, kids. She was sure they would go the prescribed route and have a family soon too. But the marriage soured quickly. And after her husband left her, she stuck out like a sore thumb there. The married women treated her like a pariah, and the married men assumed she was lonely and would “put out” just because she was newly single.
Her marital status was Norma’s primary motivation for joining the Women’s Army Corps. She told no one that she was divorced, but she figured it must show. She got hit on just as much here as she did back home. Maybe more, thanks to the fact that the men outnumbered the women almost 10 to one.
Ever since the two of them became an item, David told her he was a one-woman man. Sure, he still flirted openly with all the other women -- that was part of his personality -- but Norma hoped he didn’t follow through on it.
Despite David’s fli
rtatious nature, he tended to be introspective and Norma sometimes found it challenging to draw him into conversation. Like tonight.
Norma finally broke the silence. “Penny for your thoughts.”
“What did you say? Sorry, I was in my own world.”
“I know. I can tell. What’s wrong, Dave? Talk to me.”
David backed Norma against a wall. “I don’t feel like talking.” He laid a kiss on Norma’s lips that threatened to knock her socks off. “Let’s go back to my place,” he whispered, blowing in her ear for emphasis.
Norma struggled to catch her breath when David dived in for another kiss. She gently pushed him back. “As tempting as that offer is, I want you to tell me what’s going on.”
“Nothing that a little sex won’t cure.” David pulled Norma close and she broke away.
“Stop it, Dave! I’m not a sex toy. I’m your girlfriend and I want you to talk to me like a grown-up.” David grew silent again, worrying Norma. “I ... I am your girlfriend, aren’t I?” A few more seconds of silence passed and Norma felt her anger brewing. “Answer me! Aren’t I?” When David failed to answer, Norma blew up at him. “Well forget you!”
Norma turned on her heel and left David standing alone in the moonlight. He hung his head and walked slowly around the Quad in circles, wearing a path in the dirt where his bootprints fell.
His mood tonight was hard to explain. ... Or was it? Ever since dinnertime, he felt out of sorts. And it wasn’t because of anything he ate.
David had a reputation on base that he carefully crafted. He was known as a freewheeling ladies man, quick with a joke. As a doctor, he was considered infallible. Hopeless cases were David’s specialty. He could save anyone. Well, almost anyone.
His outward appearance was a cover for pain and loss. And tonight, he didn’t feel like putting on appearances. Tonight, he was haunted by a blue-eyed brunette. So it wasn’t by chance that he meandered into the dark, empty Commissary and took a seat at a table.
Cathy came out from the kitchen after prepping for the next day’s breakfast rush. She started to head out of the mess hall when she saw a figure move out of the corner of her eye. She jumped.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” David’s husky voice echoed in the empty room.
“Um, it’s fine. But ... no one’s supposed to be in here, you know. We’re closed.”
“I won’t tell anyone if you don’t. Is there any coffee?”
Cathy looked over at the clean, empty coffee pot behind the counter. “No. But if you want some ....”
“How about water? Plain water. Could you get me a glass?”
Without answering, Cathy turned on the tap and filled a drinking glass. She set it on the table in front of David and was ready to turn and leave when David reached for her hand.
“Don’t leave. Please. Join me?”
“Um, it’s late,” Cathy replied. Her gut was telling her to leave, but the rest of her body wanted to stay and look into David’s hazel eyes all night.
“I know. But I don’t want to be alone. Please. Have a seat.”
Cathy sat down across the table from David.
“What’s your name?” David asked.
Was he senile, Cathy wondered? He wasn’t old enough to have such a poor memory. Cathy just figured that a girl as average-looking as she, wasn’t very memorable to a man like David. “My name is Cathy.”
“Cathy. Hmmm. You’ve told me your name before, haven’t you?”
“Yes. Today, on the dinner line.”
“Ah yes. My apologies. I won’t forget it again. It’s too pretty a name to forget. And you’re too pretty a girl.”
Cathy stiffened. She knew she wasn’t pretty and she felt insulted by Dr. Mason’s obviously-rehearsed dialogue. His reputation preceded him and Cathy told herself he was just flirting out of habit.
When she didn’t answer, David tried a different tactic. “You’re not much of a conversationalist, are you?”
Cathy had plenty to say, and she usually had no trouble talking to boys, but David wasn’t a boy. He was an extraordinarily handsome man. A man she happened to have a crush on, and she wasn’t used to the feelings that were stirring inside. “Yes, I am. Just ... not now.”
“My charm often leaves women speechless,” David joked.
A small smile crossed Cathy’s lips. She felt pleased that David put her in the same category with other women, despite the fact that his statement was egotistical.
“And she even smiles,” David said, giving her a smile in return. “You have a beautiful smile.”
“So do you.” Suddenly, Cathy began to feel uncomfortable and she rose from her chair. “I’d better go.”
“Wait. I ... I lost a patient today.”
Looking at David, Cathy saw the sorrow in his eyes and automatically sat back down. “I’m sorry.”
“Me too,” David said. “You never get used to it, you know? And it always feels personal. I mean, he was somebody’s father or son, or husband or boyfriend.”
“That’s really sad,” Cathy said sympathetically.
“Losing a patient ... always reminds me ... of someone ... I lost.”
“Who?” Cathy asked, getting sucked into the conversation.
“Judith ... my wife.”
Cathy gasped. She was shocked to find out that the playboy of the western world ever committed himself to anyone. “You were married? What happened to her?”
“She had leukemia.”
“I’ve read about that. It’s a type of cancer, isn’t it?”
“That’s right. Incurable.”
“I can’t imagine what that must be like ... to lose someone you love like that,” Cathy said. “I can’t even imagine loving someone ....” Cathy’s words trailed off before she revealed more about herself than she wanted to.
David sighed heavily. “I’m a doctor, and I couldn’t do a damn thing to help her. I just watched her get sicker and sicker and weaker and weaker until ... she ... died.”
Cathy was so moved by David’s sadness that she almost reached for his hand, but she held herself back.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“I don’t know. I just needed to talk to -- someone who won’t judge me. I just needed to connect with someone tonight.”
Chapter 8
After her breakup with David, Norma was badly in need of a drink. So she headed over to the Officer’s Club.The Officer’s Club was a pub-style bar-restaurant on base that opened at 8:00 p.m. every night after the Commissary closed for the day. And it quickly filled up.
Suze, Millie, and Doris from the Commissary were on rotation as bartenders andNorma was really hoping that Suze wasn’t the one tending bar tonight. Suze really had no authority anywhere over anything. But when it came to the O Club, she sure acted like she did.
The Club was for officer’s only, but everyone was pretty cool and even enlisted men and women could usually get a drink here if they didn’t abuse the privilege. But not if Suze was on duty.
If you were an enlisted man and Suze was in a good mood, she might allow you to break the rules and have a drink. And if you were a good-looking enlisted man, then you were in like Flynn. But if you were an enlisted woman, Suze would view you as competition and have you thrown out on your little derriere. Norma’s only hope was that Suze was too busy to notice her. And Norma was in luck. There were a couple of RAF officers at the bar and they were commanding all of Suze’s flirtatious attention.
Norma snuck in and found a table that was somewhat obstructed by the juke box -- that blasted juke box played the same dozen songs over and over.
Now ... how to procure a glass of something?
~~~~~~~~~~
Tonight, the Officer’s Club was even more crowded than usual because of the allied military guests who were brought in to train the American troops over the next couple of days. Two Royal Air Force Group Captains sat at the bar downing English gin. “Time to call it a night, mate,” Thomas told Edward.
/> “Don’t be such a lightweight, Hudson,” Edward chided. “Night is young. And we just might get lucky,” Edward winked.
“Not many girls ‘ere.” Thomas retorted.
“Don’t know about you, Hudson, but I only need one. And very soon.” Edward looked around the room. “Look at all these blasted Yanks. They come to England and now they think they own the kingdom.” Edward downed a shot of gin and poured another glass from the bottle of Beefeater. “Time to take something back from them, something like their women. Don’t you think?” He elbowed Thomas. “See that luscious blonde sitting all alone at that table by the music player? I could have her eating out of my lap in 30 minutes. And this voluptuous brunette behind the bar here. Mmmm, look at that tight little bum. I’d say it’s going to be a very good night indeed.”
In Love and War Page 3
