The Ops Room Girls

by Vicki Beeby

  ‘I know what’s got you looking like a wet weekend,’ Jess said with a scowl. ‘It’s that bloody Kincaith, isn’t it? Well, you’re worth twenty of him, so I say forget him.’

  Evie glanced sideways at Jess. It was on the tip of her tongue to retort that Jess should sort out her feelings for Milan before doling out advice about her love life, but she refrained. Jess’s attitude to men was a mystery to her and she wasn’t going to stir up trouble just when she was about to leave. It was a shame, because she thought Milan was good for Jess: secure enough not to get jealous of the interest other men took in her and appreciative of her bold personality when other, weaker men might strive to tame her. But it wasn’t up to Evie to interfere. She could only hope Jess would come to see Milan’s merits for herself.

  ‘I’ve already put him out of my mind,’ she replied, wishing it were true. But the rigours of her Filterer Officer’s course would surely help drive away all thoughts of Alex.

  May bounded to her feet. ‘I think it’s time for our presents,’ she said.

  Jess snapped her fingers. ‘Yes! Wait here.’ She leapt to her feet and darted out of the room, reappearing a few moments later bearing a small package wrapped in brown paper. She handed it to Evie. ‘Open it!’

  Evie took it. ‘I wasn’t expecting—’

  ‘I know, but I wanted to. Come on, open it!’

  Evie unwrapped the parcel to reveal a beautiful compact case, with an enamelled ‘E’ in deep turquoise upon the lid. ‘Oh, it’s lovely. Thank you.’ She wasn’t normally given to shows of affection, but she kissed Jess on the cheek, overwhelmed with love for her friends.

  ‘And I got you this.’ May handed her a small oblong box.

  Tears sprang into Evie’s eyes when she pulled off the lid to reveal a fountain pen. May must have spent a significant part of her savings to buy her this. For a moment she was too choked to speak.

  ‘It’s so you can write to us.’ May looked suddenly hesitant. ‘You will write, won’t you?’

  Evie hugged May, standing on tiptoe to reach May’s shoulders. ‘Of course I will.’ She had to pull away from May to wipe her eyes before she dripped tears on May’s shoulder. ‘Thank you for the pen. It’s perfect.’ She gave both her friends a watery smile. ‘I’m going to miss you so much. I wish you could come with me.’

  ‘We’ll see you again,’ Jess said with a confidence Evie wished she felt. ‘Ellerby’s been at us both to apply for officer training so who knows? Maybe we’ll end up being posted close to each other again.’

  ‘Oh, you must. You’ll both make wonderful officers.’ Evie gave a wistful glance around the nursery and the schoolroom that could be seen through the open door. ‘Although I doubt we’ll ever find ourselves billeted in a place as good as this again.’

  May gave a sad smile. ‘It has been marvellous, hasn’t it? It won’t be the same without you.’

  ‘You mean it won’t be the same without Peter.’ Evie hadn’t missed how May had become more withdrawn after Peter had left, but she didn’t have any words of comfort. She knew all too well how it felt knowing the man she loved was in danger, waiting anxiously for news that Alex had returned safe from his last sortie of the day. ‘You need to occupy your mind.’

  May flushed. ‘I try, but it’s all too easy to daydream while I’m driving.’

  ‘Then you’ll have to take the plunge and go for officer training. That will keep you busy.’

  ‘Perhaps.’

  Evie was on the point of resuming the argument she’d had with May for the last fortnight when there came a knock on the open door. She glanced up to see a shy WAAF hovering, one hand on the doorknob. She was regarding the three girls with the same awe many of the newer WAAFs had started to display ever since news of their exploits of a fortnight ago had rippled across the base. ‘Please, miss.’

  ‘Call me Evie,’ she said, biting back a laugh. ‘I’m just a plain aircraftwoman, the same as you.’

  The girl’s eyes widened. ‘Thank you, m— ah… Evie. There’s an officer come to see you. In the Rose Room.’

  Evie glanced at Jess and May once the girl had scurried away. ‘Probably Ellerby, come to give me some last-minute instructions.’ The girls laughed. Ellerby had taken Evie aside several times, giving advice on how to comport herself at the course. She evidently believed Evie’s performance would directly reflect on her.

  However, when she strode into the Rose Room a few moments later, it wasn’t Ellerby sitting in a comfy armchair, but Alex.

  Evie exhaled sharply, feeling as though she’d just received a blow to the stomach. ‘Alex. W-what are you doing here?’

  Alex had risen as soon as he saw her. Now he gazed at her, looking uncharacteristically nervous. He held a parcel and he tugged at the string bound around it, pulling the knot so tight she hoped he wouldn’t need to undo it in a hurry.

  ‘I…’ With an awkward movement, he thrust the parcel into her hands. ‘I got you this.’

  She looked at it blankly.

  Alex winced, screwing up his eyes, and muttered something under his breath she couldn’t quite catch. It sounded like, ‘Idiot.’

  He recovered himself. ‘I’m doing this all wrong,’ he said in a more normal voice. ‘I got you a present to wish you well on your course, and…’ He hesitated and looked down at his feet briefly. Then he looked at her square in the eyes and drew a breath. ‘And apologise. I’ve done a lot of thinking in the last fortnight, and realised I’ve been a total fool. You were right. I was using my fear as an excuse to push you away.’ A ghost of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. ‘And I should have known you are always right.’

  Evie felt a fluttering in her chest, and in a voice that sounded oddly breathless said, ‘Why did you wait a whole fortnight?’

  ‘Because I wanted to be prepared.’ He gestured at the parcel. ‘Open it.’

  For the third time in an hour, she found herself opening a parcel. The contents were very different from Jess and May’s presents, though. Inside were two items. One was a slim, black leather case, about the same size as a paperback book, with the initials ‘EB’ embossed in gold in one corner. A gold zip ran along three of the edges. The other item was a long, slender oblong box made from ebony, polished to a glossy sheen. It, too, had her initials engraved. ‘What are they?’

  ‘Open them and see.’

  She pulled the lid off the ebony box first. Inside was a slide rule. Evie pressed her fingers to her lips to stop them quivering.

  Alex was watching her, frowning. ‘Is it not the right kind? I explained to the man in the shop it was for degree-level mathematics but…’ He hesitated. ‘I’m no good at this. Everyone says women prefer jewellery, but—’

  Evie looked up at him through a haze of tears. ‘It’s perfect.’ She could barely manage more than a hoarse whisper through her lips that had become suddenly dry. ‘I’d rather have this than all the jewels in Buckingham Palace.’ It meant so much to know Alex encouraged her aspiration to study maths. Even though they were no longer courting, she would treasure the memory of their time together. She did her best to repress the wave of misery at the thought she might not see him again.

  Alex gave a relieved smile. ‘You haven’t opened the other one yet.’

  She unzipped the case and saw a beautiful geometry set containing compasses, dividers, ruler, protractor and set squares.

  ‘You’ll find it useful on your course,’ Alex told her.

  ‘I don’t know what to say. Thank you.’ For a wild moment she’d thought it might be a piece of jewellery, that Alex was asking to court her again. Now she hated herself for the stab of disappointment she felt.

  Alex picked up one of the propelling pencils that was part of the set and twirled it between his fingers. ‘I hope you’ll think of me when you use them,’ he murmured. ‘I don’t know if you can forgive me, but…’ He paused, and Evie’s heart hammered against her ribs.

  ‘Yes,’ Evie whispered. ‘I forgive you. If you’ll forgive me for l
etting you go without a fight.’

  Alex fumbled the pencil and dropped it on the rug. It rolled beneath the sofa; Evie knew it would be a nightmare to retrieve, but she didn’t care. All she cared about was that Alex’s gaze was fixed on her face, his eyes blazing. ‘Evie, I never blamed you. Do you mean…’ He swallowed and there was another agonising pause, but Evie couldn’t form the words that were in her heart. Alex took a deep breath. ‘I still love you. I’ve never stopped loving you. I just stopped listening to my heart and listened to my fears instead.’

  Evie’s throat swelled, stemming the words she ached to utter. All she could do was return his gaze, every inch of her aching to be in his arms, but unable to quite believe Alex wanted her.

  ‘As I said, I’ve done a lot of thinking these past days,’ Alex said. ‘I realised I’d lost so many loved ones when I was young: my parents; my grandmother; even my friends, when my paternal grandparents took me away from my grandmother’s home. I’d grown to expect loss. You were right when you said I was using my guilt as an excuse to push people away. I didn’t see what I was doing, but now I see I couldn’t bear the pain of losing the one I loved above all – you. So I tried to send you away before I lost you like all the others.’

  He paused. The corner of his mouth twisted in a wry smile, sending delightful shivers down Evie’s spine as she imagined pressing her lips to his. ‘How come you understood me so much better than I understood myself? Are you sure you shouldn’t read psychology instead of maths?’

  It was a feeble joke, but enough to burst the bubble of pressure building up in her throat. She gave a breathy laugh and said, ‘I’ll save it for my PhD.’

  Alex’s eyes remained grave. ‘I don’t want to tie you down to any promises. Not when we’ve no idea how long we’re going to be apart.’

  Evie couldn’t stop herself from smiling, a smile so wide her cheeks ached. ‘I still love you, Alex. I’ll wait for you, however long.’

  Alex relieved her of the gifts and flung them on the sofa then took Evie’s hands in his. Evie squeezed his hands back, joy surging through her veins. ‘Then, Evie Bishop, we don’t know what the war holds for us, but if I come through the war in one piece, will you consent to be my wife?’ He smiled into her eyes, making her stomach swoop. ‘I think Oxford would make the perfect home. Maybe I should study for a degree, too.’

  ‘Too? You mean you’d support me through a degree?’

  ‘I want you to follow your heart’s desire. The war has already put an end to too many dreams. If we survive, I’ll do all in my power to make your dreams come true.’

  ‘Oh, Alex.’ Evie flung her arms around him. She had the answer to Cornelia’s question. She had found the man who would encourage her to become the best version of herself. ‘Yes. I will marry you. The moment we’re both released from duty and not a day later.’

  Then Alex kissed her. As she clung to him, relishing the feel of his strong arms around her, she prayed he would be kept safe through whatever the war might throw at them.

  By the time they broke the kiss, her hair was thoroughly mussed, and her uniform needed straightening. Alex smiled at her with a shade of pain in his expression. ‘Now go and dazzle everyone at Bawdsey the same way you dazzled us all here. Do us proud.’

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  ‘There’s the train!’ May pointed at the puff of steam that billowed some way up the track. Both May and Jess had mysteriously found themselves off duty all morning – Evie suspected Jean Ellerby’s intervention – which meant they’d been able to accompany Evie to the station to wave her off on her next big adventure.

  Evie swallowed and picked up her kit bag and gas mask, blinking back the tears as she looked at her two friends and seeing tears shimmer in their eyes too. She gave each of them an awkward hug. ‘I don’t know what I’ll do without the two of you. Promise you’ll write often.’

  ‘So often we’ll both be cautioned for wasting paper,’ Jess said. For once she seemed uncaring that the tears trickling down her cheeks were smudging her otherwise immaculate make-up. ‘Just don’t you go forgetting us.’

  ‘Never. You’re the best friends a girl could hope for. Anyway, I’m determined that we’ll all end up posted close together again, once you’ve both come to your senses and applied for officer training yourselves. Nothing can keep us apart for long. Not even the war.’

  May gave her one last hug. ‘You’re right. We’re WAAF girls through and through. We’ll always find a way.’

  Their last frantic goodbyes were drowned by the train screeching to a standstill. Hefting her bags, she scrambled into a carriage. As the train rolled out of the station, Evie leaned out of the window and waved and waved until her friends disappeared into the haze of smoke. The train puffed out into open fields, and Evie looked at the road that wound out of the small town and led back to Amberton. She swallowed against the lump that rose in her throat. She felt she had come of age at Amberton. She’d proved she could do a demanding job, had faced difficulty and danger and won through. Most importantly she had found love and friendship. Whatever happened in the next stage of her career as a WAAF, she doubted anything could compare to her time here. She breathed a soft but heartfelt prayer for protection over May, Jess and Alex.

  Just as she was about to sink into her seat, movement in the sky caught her eye. Three Hurricanes were flying in a V formation, heading for Amberton. It had just crossed her mind that one of them might be Alex when the lead machine broke formation and swooped low over the train. It performed a barrel roll before zooming back towards Amberton. Evie sat down, unable to hold back a broad smile. It had been Alex, she was sure. Letting her know he’d returned safely yet again. It gave her hope for the future, and she hugged that hope to her. Yes, she had hope for the future, but for now she was happy with the WAAF. She couldn’t wait to see what adventures lay ahead.

  First published in the United Kingdom in 2020 by Canelo

  Canelo Digital Publishing Limited

  31 Helen Road

  Oxford OX2 0DF

  United Kingdom

  Copyright © Victoria Beeby, 2020

  The moral right of Victoria Beeby writing as Vicki Beeby to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  Ebook ISBN 9781800320888

  Print ISBN 978 1 80032 091 8

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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