“We could afford it if I got a job.”
“You’re not—”
“I’m not a cripple. I can work and I will find a job.”
“Who said anything about you being a cripple? You’ve come a long way in three years and you are stronger but—”
“No, Zo, I have to do this. You left your home for me and you have a dream.”
Zoe stared up into Eva’s face. “I love you for wanting to give me my dream, but why don’t you wait until summer is over?”
“I want you to stop working and go to school. I’m going to make that happen.”
“You are determined, aren’t you?”
Eva nodded. “I have a dream too. I want you to be the great artist I know you will be.”
“Can we discuss this later?”
Eva glanced at the front door for a moment before she turned to Zoe. “Alright, we will discuss this later. So what do we do about the apartment? I like the idea of this balcony.” She took Zoe’s hand and led her through the open door and onto the balcony.
“Do you like the view?”
Eva nodded. She gently squeezed Zoe’s hand. “I can see the ocean from here.”
“Let’s do it.”
Eva closed her eyes for a second. “I like the silence and being with you without censoring myself.” She opened her eyes and met Zoe’s gaze. “Any place with you is good. Any place I can see the sea is good even if it’s a little far away.”
Zoe leaned over the balcony for a moment and nodded enthusiastically. She took Eva’s hand and led her back inside. They separated and went into different rooms.
Eva wandered off into an empty bedroom closest to the balcony and had a quick look. She walked out and glanced at Zoe and grinned. She was going to get her way about Zoe going to art school because it was the right thing to do. She owed Zoe that much, if not more. Zoe was talking to herself as she entered one of the empty rooms and twirled around, making Eva smile at her theatrics. Eva walked over and leaned against the doorjamb. “You like it?”
“It’s perfect, Evy. Just perfect.”
Two medium-sized bedrooms flanked the French doors. Each bedroom was devoid of furniture and so was the living room.
“We’re going to need some furniture, but the Refugee Center will give us dockets for us to buy some.”
Eva nodded as she looked around the empty rooms and went into the kitchen. The kitchen had a stove, a small bench top and a table. Not a place Eva usually spent a lot of time in but she knew Zoe loved to cook. The checkered linoleum floor made Eva think of a chessboard.
Next to the largest bedroom was a small hallway that led to the bathroom. Occupying a place of pride was a huge antique bathtub. Eva stood just inside the bathroom and nodded. The ornate bathtub was an unusual length which could accommodate her six-foot-plus height, and that pleased her more than anything else in the apartment.
“I like it,” Zoe said when she came out of the bedroom. “What do you think?”
“We will be alone and have privacy. I like it.” Eva replied. “Did you see the bathtub?”
“It’s a little large,” Zoe noted. “I’ve never met anyone who was so happy about a large bathtub.”
“It’s big enough for both of us.” Eva waggled her eyebrows knowing it was just flirting at this stage and nothing more than that. “You, me and some bubbles,” she added, making Zoe laugh. “One day I’m going to make that happen.”
“I know you will, and when that day comes, we have a bathtub big enough for both of us to play in.”
“One day…” Eva replied wistfully. She shook herself out of the moment and turned to Zoe, who was gazing up at her.
“We will use this tub together. It’s just a matter of time.”
“Hm.” Eva put her arm around Zoe and looked down. “I think we have a home,” she said as she brought Zoe’s hand up to her lips and kissed it tenderly. “I’m going to love living here with you.”
“Let’s go tell Mrs. Jenkins she has some new tenants.” Zoe turned and, while still holding Eva’s hand, led her back inside.
“We now have to come up with a story as to how we are sisters.”
“No, we don’t.”
Eva stopped and gazed down at the mischievous green eyes that looked back at her. “We don’t?”
“No, none of their business,” Zoe replied with a wide smile. Eva didn’t have the chance to respond when the door opened and Mrs. Jenkins entered the flat. She just shook her head slightly at the matter-of-fact way Zoe was going to deal with their now implausible story.
Chapter One
October 1947
“The Emerald City” or “The Land of Milk and Honey,” nicknames that the city of Sydney, Australia, had collected over the years, evoked images of tranquility and of opportunity. However, tranquility was nowhere to be found as the traffic slowly made its way across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The sun beat down upon the city, casting a golden shimmer over the waves. Beneath the large grey bridge, sailboats scudded back and forth or bobbed in the calm waters.
Sydney’s nickname “The Emerald City” originated from the deep green sparkling waters that surrounded it. To many people, the city was their haven from war-torn Europe and all other places in between. The label “The Land of Milk and Honey” was given to the great southern land by the refugees and immigrants because Australia offered her new citizens a chance for a new life and hope for the future. It was a place to forget and to rebuild.
Eva rested her head against the window and shut her eyes, already feeling claustrophobic on the crowded bus. The sounds of chattering voices, the blaring horns of nearby cars, and the whining of a child who had obviously also had enough of the noise, were fraying her patience. She was tired, hot, and annoyed. Australia might have been the Land of Milk and Honey, but it was not her land of opportunity at that particular moment.
It had been eight months since Eva announced she wanted Zoe to stop working and go to college to study art. Eight months of searching for a job. It had been very demoralizing and she felt humiliated after each interview when it was obvious prospective employers turned her down.
Eva captivated almost anyone who met her. She was quiet, unassuming, and polite, with a reasonable grasp of English. It wasn’t her language skills that caused her grief. As soon as she spoke, her accent made many interviewers decide instantly that they had no positions available.
Eva found the Australians difficult to comprehend, and their racist taunts made her uneasy. She found Zoe was often called either a “wog” or a “dago” — derogatory terms used for Greek and Italian immigrants by the Australian natives. When Eva opened her mouth and they heard her accent, the word ‘kraut’ was used. At first they thought she was Greek or Italian with her dark hair and blue eyes but that quickly changed.
Just one job. How hard is that? It can’t be that hard for everyone, Eva thought, grateful for the coolness of the window glass against her forehead. She thought of her youth in Germany. She came from a wealthy and powerful family in Berlin before the war. The Mullers owned one of the largest steel and iron factories in Germany, AEMullerStahl and everyone respected the family.
The fateful night on November 9, 1938 changed her life forever. The life that she knew came to a shattering end after her mother was killed during Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass). She was beaten half to death by her father when he found out his daughter was a lesbian and on the same day as his wife was murdered. Eva was sent to the small town of Aiden in Austria to recover from her mother’s death or so everyone was told. In reality she was there to recover from her father’s beating. It was also there that she was also tortured for being a lesbian by her own uncle, Doctor Dieter Muller. His cruel but effective aversive treatments took their toll on her mind and body. Their brutal methods worked leaving Eva a broken woman living in a world of pain.
To add to Eva’s misery, her father took her with him to Paris in 1941 after her husband Erik was killed in action. It was in Paris that Eva
found a way to rebel against her father and all that he stood for. She found a way to help the French Resistance but that was short lived. Eva found herself being part of a bigger plot by the Resistance when a bomb exploded in their residence. This bombing brought Eva no escape from her father but more pain as the ceiling of the room she was in collapsed.
Whilst recovering from her injuries, Muller was sent to Larissa, a small Greek town, to replace the commander in charge of the garrison who was killed by the Greek Resistance. It was 1942 and once again her life was about to change. Little did she know that the feisty Greek teenager Zoe Lambros, who made no secret of her hatred for Eva, would be the person to bring her out of the abyss her life had descended into.
The thought of Zoe put a soft smile on her face. The Greeks were a proud people. Their land had been overrun by the might of the German army, but their will had never been subjugated. Eva smiled as the image of Zoe, the woman who was her best friend and her savior all rolled into one petite package, came to mind.
The bus slowly made its way across the Harbour Bridge, and an unobstructed panorama of the harbor came into view. The emerald-colored waters reminded Eva of Zoe’s eyes. Every time Zoe smiled, her smile lit up her eyes and made Eva’s heart melt. Despite being only fifteen at the time of their meeting, Zoe had been a courageous member of the Greek Resistance. She was fearless, brave, and determined.
Zoe had tragically lost her entire family. First, her brothers were killed defending Greece from the invading Italians, and then her father died trying to save two Australians during the battle to save Larissa from the Germans. After the Germans captured the city, Zoe’s mother was murdered by the German military leader in charge of Larissa, Eva’s stepfather, leaving Zoe an angry young woman with nothing more than hatred to fuel her day life. While Zoe held her dead mother in her arms, she made a promise that her death would be avenged. Zoe had set her sights on Eva, determined that Eva was going to pay for the sins of her father, even knowing that killing Eva would have condemned a hundred Greeks to their deaths.
Zoe never made good on that promise, even though she had the opportunity. Instead of killing Eva as she had planned, Zoe formed an unlikely friendship over the course their working together in the Resistance. They were both surprised, none more than Zoe, to discover that Zoe’s reluctance to for the village matchmaker to find her a husband wasn’t because of their height, their age, their eye colour or their accent. It had more to do with them being male. Zoe fell in love for the first time in her life and it was to a woman. Now there’s something I didn’t count on. She got under my defenses. I still don’t know how she did that. It had been as much of a shock to Zoe as it had been to Eva.
Despite Eva’s vow that she would not allow herself to fall in love with a woman again because of the agonizing pain in would bring her, she had found herself totally lost when it came to Zoe. Despite the aversion treatments and the drugs that she was forced to take, Eva lost her heart to the diminutive Greek.
No matter how many times she thought about the way they formed a friendship out of the hatred, she was always amazed. They passionately hated each other and were constantly bickering. Eva was certain Zoe would have killed her had she not been working with the Greek Resistance. She felt awkward, shy, and unsure of herself around Zoe which was unnerving. The teenager managed to unsettle her until Eva had to admit to herself that she was falling in love with her maid. Despite everything that was done to her to ‘cure’ her of her mental ‘disease’, her heart won out. When she did let herself fantasize about Zoe, she endured hours of pain as her reward while Zoe was oblivious to the torment she was causing her.
What started off as a necessary evil for both women turned into neither expected. They worked together to help Jews escape from Larissa and their hatred for each other turned to friendship and then love. Eva, despite all that she had endured, finally chose to ignore the conditioning and made the first move. She could still remember her heart beating so loudly she had thought Zoe could hear it. She kissed Zoe for the first time and it was exhilarating. To her absolute amazement, Zoe kissed her back. The euphoria of their first kiss was short lived when her conditioning assaulted her mind and body. She collapsed to the floor in agony as if her mind and body were consumed by a raging fire.
The damage done to her mind was not as easy to heal with just a kiss. With the help of Doctor Hannah Koch, she had started on the road to healing from her mental wounds but it would take time. She was now able to kiss Zoe without causing her to collapse but that was all that she could do. She wanted more, but she wasn’t able to take the next step. Doubt about her recovery and Zoe’s patience in having to wait were a constant worry.
Zoe made her feel alive again, gave her hope, and made her laugh. She opened up a part of Eva that lay dormant, a part Eva had thought long dead. Eva began to dream of a world where she wasn’t going to feel the wrath of her father, her uncle, or their machinations. The world held new possibilities and maybe, just maybe, there would be a little bit of happiness for her.
Eva gazed out at the passing traffic, and her mind went to the previous evening. She had wanted to walk into Zoe’s bedroom and cuddle with her for months but found she lost her nerve. The pain that such a move would bring prevented her from acting on her desire. Last night was going to be different. She wanted it to be different. Eva walked into Zoe’s bedroom and found herself staring down at her sleeping partner. Her anxiety increased as she walked to the bed. Zoe wasn’t aware of the battle that was raging inside Eva’s mind. Eva stood there unable to move forward so she sat on the nearby chair and waited. Doctor Hannah told her to visualize it in her mind and she tried to do that. There was no pain when she did that, but when the time came she couldn’t bring herself to the point of getting into bed.
I’m going to do it. I will. Tonight, I’m going to do it, Eva thought as she took out a photograph she carried in her purse and looked at it. Zoe was sprawled on the grass, her arms high above her head, laughing. Her red hair fanned out against the green grass. It was Eva’s favorite photo of Zoe. She traced Zoe’s smiling face with her fingertip and sighed pensively. I’m going to do it. Tonight. She shook her head and sighed.
Eva gazed at the photo and a smile creased her face. An indomitable spirit was one of the things she loved about Zoe. She looked at the photo again before putting it back in her purse. Signaling to the driver to stop at the next turn, she untangled her long frame from the tiny space it had been crammed into for the trip into the central business district.
Her mind went from Zoe to her upcoming interview. This would be her last interview of the day. Eva had stopped into The Immigrants’ Job Network after her previously unsuccessful interview for a job as a filing clerk, one employment opportunity she was glad she did not get. The Job Network had given her the address of a factory where a secretary was needed.
Eva didn’t know how to be a secretary but that didn’t stop her from trying. Clutching the paper with the address in her hand, she found herself outside the Johnson Brothers’ Biscuit Factory. A smile creased her lips as the aroma of freshly baked cookies seeped into the air. She took a deep breath, opened the door, and entered the building.
The cacophony of sounds inside the factory was deafening. Machines whirred and a giant fan tried valiantly to cool the place down. Women in white uniforms with little white hats, similar to nursing uniforms, stood at a conveyor belt, placing packets of cookies into boxes. Eva stood and watched them for a long moment. Men in white pants and shirts or overalls picked the boxes up and carried them away. Eva was used to factory floors. She never worked in one before, but she would often visit her grandfather, Alexander Muller, at his factory.
“Can I help you?”
Startled, Eva turned to find a scowling woman standing next to her. The woman wore a white uniform like the others, but her hat had a pink band across the top.
“I’m looking for Mr. Peabody,” Eva explained, and quickly looked at her note to make sure she had remembere
d the right name.
“Why?” the woman asked. She took out a cigarette and lit it while waiting for Eva’s reply.
“I am here for the secretary position.”
“That way,” the woman said, jabbing her cigarette to the left, and walked away, leaving a very bemused Eva in her wake.
Eva shook her head and went to the door marked “Office.” She passed through the doorway and was grateful to find that the noise subsided dramatically when she closed the door behind her. A young woman sat at a desk.
“Yes?”
“My name is Eva Muller, and I have an appointment to see Mr. Peabody.”
“For the secretary position?” the young woman asked.
“Yes.”
“I’m so sorry, but Mr. Peabody has already hired someone.”
“Oh.” Eva sighed. She stood there for a moment, not knowing what to do. “All right, thank you,” she said and began to walk out of the office.
She had gotten as far as the door when a voice behind her asked, “Do you want a job?”
Eva turned and saw a short, balding man wearing large round spectacles that seemed to take over his entire face. He wore a three-piece suit that looked a size too small.
“Yes, but the young woman said that the position was filled,” Eva replied.
The man nodded, took out a white handkerchief, and brushed it over his bald head. “I’m Mr. Peabody, the factory manager,” he said. “It’s not the office job. I’m looking for process workers.”
“Oh,” Eva said, nonplussed.
“You look like a strong girl. What’s your name?”
“Eva.”
“Eva, do you have a Christian name?”
“Muller,” Eva said, holding her breath as she awaited his reaction.
“That’s German, isn’t it?”
“Yes, sir, it is.”
“So you are a kraut?” Peabody took off his glasses and cleaned them with his handkerchief.
“Yes, sir, I am German,” Eva replied. She knew how the rest of the script would play out and was resigned to the inevitable response. She swallowed her disappointment as she realized that yet another job had been lost to her.
Where Shadows Linger (Intertwined Souls Series Book 2) Page 2
