Purple
twilight had leaked across the horizon by the time Alex left the office. He
hadn’t completed several more reports but Alex had reached his fill for the
week. He strode down the street, dodging enlisted men with
pretty Austrians on their arms. So much for the non-fraternizing policy
that the Army had tried to establish.599Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdF6Y75mZZC
Captain McKay' gaze drifted towards the park at the lakeside. Music and feminine laughter caught on the breeze. It floated towards him in the fragrant, early summer air. Alex couldn't imagine anything he'd rather not do for the evening. Parties had never appealed to him and this one looked no different from any other.
Porter had tried to convince him to attend. He'd said several other officers would be there. Even Item’s new CO, Captain Ralph Burbank, was making an appearance. Alex hoped the surly Captain wouldn't end the night shooting the necks off of beer bottles again. Still Alex had been firm with Port. He was going to take a shower, read and then go to bed early.
He ascended the outdoor staircase leading up into the grand officers' quarters. The soft tones of a woman's voice drifted down towards him. It sounded like she was chiding someone. Alex reached a landing halfway to the front entrance.
"Edith Dixon, you best get down here or we will leave without you!"
Alex shuddered to a stop, his hand falling to the twisting rod iron railing. He recognized the petite, curvaceous figure of Edith's aide. She hooked arms with a serviceman by the door. They descended the stairs. The young man noticed Alex where he stood in the glow of the street lamps. He halted with a salute.
"As you were." Alex replied, the girl's gaze dancing over her shoulder. "Where are you off to tonight, Sergeant?"
"Down in the park, there is an event being held for the men, sir." He answered.
The front door shut at the top of the stairs.
The girl groaned, "Oh thank heaven, finally. Edith, quit your dallying. You look fine." She turned to Alex as though she knew him well, "Can you believe that woman wanted to wear her uniform to the party? I swear they'll bury her in khaki."
Alex managed a faint smile as his gaze lifted towards the top of the staircase. He swallowed. She had been beautiful to him in layer upon layer of wool in the Bois Jacque. But seeing her in that red dress made his heart crash into his breastbone.
Edith noticed him. She hesitated with her hand resting on the railing, focused on him alone. Alex found he couldn't look away as easily as he did in the office. Her cat-like hazel eyes didn't leave his face as she descended towards them.
"Well, so glad Cinderella could grace us with her presence." Samantha chortled.
Edith lifted a dusky eyebrow in the southern belle’s direction, "Watch it, Quincey. I'm still your superior."
"And we are still late."
"You two go on ahead." Edith's smile faded, her lips parting as her eyes lifted up to his face, "I'll be only a moment."
Wind off the lake caught the blonde waves on her shoulders. It brushed them onto her back as smoothly as if he had done so with his hand. The idea made him dizzy. Alex exhaled, realizing he had been holding his breath while he admired her.
"Alright then." The girl conceded, eyeing him with gleeful suspicion.
"Sir." The Sergeant saluted.
Alex gained the presence of mind to return the favor. The two young people scampered down the stairs. Edith’s breathy laugh broke the silence between them, "She's something else, isn't she?"
"Who is the Sergeant she’s with?" Alex asked, drinking in her presence like a man in the desert.
"Eddie Grable, he's been working with us off and on since Bastogne." Edith shifted on her black heels. "So aren’t you going to ask how my meeting the infamous Captain Lane went this afternoon."
Alex scoffed, tucking his hands in his pockets. "How did that go?"
"He asked me if I was going to the party tonight."
He uttered a short, obligatory chuckle, ignoring a prod of jealousy. He had nothing to worry about from Lane stealing Edith's attention. He even had his questions about Port's chances. Alex snapped his thoughts to attention. None of it mattered. Edith was a notion of the past, he reminded himself. Even of difficult it was to remember with her that cherry red dress, her mouth painted in a similar shade.
"Will you be attending? The party, I mean?" Edith blurted as though the question had been buzzing in her head.
Alex paused, unsure of how to answer, "I wasn't planning on it."
Edith’s smile remained on her mouth but fled from her eyes. She nodded, "Of course. I imagine it's been a long week for you."
"It has."
"Well. I suppose I’ll be seeing you around, Captain. Enjoy your weekend." Edith moved past him through the stilted silence.
Before he could wish her good evening, she trotted down the steps. Her hair bounced on her shoulders as she moved. A trio of soldiers let her pass on the sidewalk below but turned back to watch her walk away. Alex sighed, looking towards the darkened balcony of his quarters.
A book followed by bed wasn't as appealing as it had been earlier.
#
Edith gave a compulsory dance to Captain Lane.
She admit to admit though, the man was light on his feet. But she had the nagging feeling that he was swinging her towards the group of Item Company men on purpose. As though he was parading a conquest. From the begrudging smirk on Captain Porter's face, she guessed her suspicions were correct.
Towards the end of the dance, Porter didn't look like he could take it anymore. He finished a last swallow of beer then strode towards them with his determined march. He tapped Lane on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, Captain, but I believe the Lieutenant here owes me a dance." He gave his fellow officer a chilly smile.
Lane blustered for a moment before looking at Edith. She shrugged with a half grin, "Thank you, Captain Lane. You are quite a dancer. This has been a genuine pleasure."
Despite having gotten his rankles up, Lane bowed out with his pride intact. Edith breathed a sigh of relief as Porter wrapped an arm around her waist.
"I don't believe I owe you anything, Captain Porter." Edith’s tone crinkled with sarcasm.
"Oh but now you do. I was just getting my payment in advance." He winked.
She rolled her eyes. Her gaze shifted towards Samantha wrapped around Sergeant Grable as they danced. The girl shot her a clandestine grin. Ignoring her, Edith returned her attention to the Captain. Porter entwined his fingers with hers as he rested their mated hands on his shoulder.
Edith tried not to think of Alex on the stairs. For a breathless second, she could have sworn he had looked at her the same way he had before the Battle of the Bulge. Yet the moment had been brief and his reserved coolness cloaked him once more. Edith was beginning to accept their strict formal relationship.
"So Edith, what d'yah say?"
Edith jolted, remembering that she was swaying on the wide green with Michael Porter. He had been talking to her but she hadn't realized.
"What?" She choked, emerging from her stupor.
He studied her with eyebrows raised, "Were you listening?"
Edith turned red, "I'm sorry, Michael. What were you saying?"
As she said his first name, his faced loosened into a smile, "I was asking if you had plans for after this shindig?"
"After?"
"Yes, some of the other officers were planning on making a night of it. What d'yah say?"
"When you say 'make a night of it', what kind of night are you implying?"
Porter shrugged with a wry smirk, "I guess we'd just have to see how things transpired. It'd be up to you, Edith."
As he pulled her body against his own, Edith got a pretty clear picture of his meaning. Her eyes cut to the side.
"Captain Porter-"
"Michael."
They swept past the small band under a string of electric lights, "Michael. I feel like I should be frank with you."
"That wouldn't be unusual."
"Let me see if I can put this gracefully." She murmured, feeling a prickle at the base of her skull, "I have never had to say anything like this to anyone. Michael, I don't believe anything between us beyond friendship would be healthy-"
"Edith please." He stopped her, leveling her with a startling look of soulful understanding. "I have a feeling I know where you are going with this speech. You don't need to explain. We'll call it good between us, okay?"
Edith's lips parted as she studied his denim gaze, "So, you wouldn't be upset?"
Michael quirked a heavy brow, "Well I may cry into my pillow for a couple nights but I think I'll get over you some day, Edith Dixon."
He spun her out in a twirl, a playful grin erupting across his square face. Edith couldn't help but laugh in relief. Michael Porter was a complicated man, she surmised, but not a bad one. She kindled the sincere hope that he would find his way some day.
As Michael pulled her back into his arms, she scanned the crowd bordering the dance floor. Beside a few of the other officers from Item, she noticed a tall figure leaning up against a table. Captain McKay was watching her with a quiet expression. His jet eyes were as fathomless as areas of Lake Zell behind them.
He met her eyes. Edith’s heart jumped up to her throat. That same heat lingering in his gaze that had been present on the hard fought line in the Ardennes. His eyes flickered towards Porter's hand wrapped around the small of her back. His mouth pulled tight and he gave her a sharp nod of acknowledgement. He ducked out into the darkness.
Edith slowed her steps. Porter's brow furrowed as he noticed her distraction.
"Edith?" He questioned, letting her loose.
She tried to see past the sea of bodies on the dance floor. Alex's lanky frame strode towards the abandoned water's edge.
"Porter, if you'll excuse me," she murmured, brushing past him.
She cut a swift path through the crowd. Beyond the half light of the nearby party, half a moon hung above the jagged mountain peaks. The light reflecting off the black water reminded her of that December night by the Seine.
She paused. Strands of hair trembled loose from the victory rolls Samantha had fashioned on her head. She peered down the sharp border between green grasses and rippling lake. Alex stopped and shifted his gaze up to the moon. His hands shoved in his pockets and expression dour. Edith felt the intense need to wrap her arms around his long torso.
Padding down the dry grass, she didn't speak until she was nearly upon him.
"So you decided to come anyway?" She said the only thing that came to her mind.
Alex turned, his eyes widening in the shadows, "Well, Port had mentioned the party-"
"He mentioned it to me too." She interjected with a nervous giggle.
"He is always one for a good time." Alex glanced towards the park, "I saw where you were enjoying yourself."
"I don't dance often."
The corner of his mouth lifted, "You should. You do it well."
"Thank you."
Edith edged closer till she stopped a handbreadth from him. She studied the charcoal line of mountains rising against the dove grey sky. She could feel Alex's eyes shift over her as keenly as if he was touching her face.
"You left the party early," she observed, her hands tingling as she played with the seam of her skirt.
"I felt like a walk."
"You could have asked me to dance, you know."
She tilted her head towards him, thankful for the faint bars of music breaking up the quiet. Dread rose in her chest that he would ignore her hint and leave her mortified. He reached out for her. Running his thumb and forefinger down her forearm, he grasped her hand.
"I could ask you now." His midnight eyes flickered over her face.
Edith mustered a nod, her jaw slackening as he wrapped an arm around her back. His palm was warm where it rested between her shoulder blades. Lifting their arms, he moved her body forward with the same confidence he displayed on a field of battle. As he took the lead, she realized that Alex McKay was the best dancer partner she’d had all night.
His Adam’s apple jumped as he swallowed, leaning the side of his face against hers. The tip of his nose brushed against her temple and the feathery strands of hair there. In his arms, Edith felt as though she'd come apart and stitched back together at the same time. It was all she could do to keep breathing. His hold on her tightened.
"You should be the one dancing more often," she whispered, not daring to look into his face.
Alex let out his breath, "You'd be the first to say it."
The song came to an end. They stopped moving but Alex didn't let her go. It was the last thing Edith wanted at that moment. His hand lifted, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek with his worn thumb.
A gunshot cracked across the lake.
The two of them jolted. The wobbling figure of a man wavered against the shadows. He threw a bottle in the air in front of the water. Lifting a pistol, he shot it out of the sky, shattering it in two.
"What on earth-"
Alex groaned, dropping his arms, "Burbank."
Another shot rang out.
"He's shooting the necks off of beer bottles."
Despite herself, Edith barked out a laugh. Captain McKay ran a hand over his face. He took a step towards the man.
"I'd better get him home before he kills someone." McKay grumbled, glancing at Edith.
Edith's stomach dropped, her body feeling chilled without his arms around her. She managed a smile.
"I'm tired anyway. I think I will head home in a minute." She crossed her arms over her chest with a shrug, "I should be getting Samantha back to her room as well. After all the schnapps she's had, I don't trust her with Grable. I don't think the man knows what he's in for."
Alex's closed mouth tugged up at the corners, "Good night then."
His tone sounded so final. As though things would go back to exactly the way they had been on Monday. Edith knew she wouldn't be able to stand it if that occurred. It would hurt too much to pretend her heart wasn't his if he'd only ask.
She swallowed back the lump in her throat, "Good night, Alex."
Another gun shot as glass shattered, followed by raucous laughter. Alex jogged towards Burbank.
Edith whipped away from the water's edge. The thought of standing alone in the moonlight was unbearable. After finding Samantha, she led the babbling and giddy girl back to her quarters.
In her room, Edith stood in her dressing gown by the window listening to the lake surf below. Edith sank to her knees, asking for a candle on the path. Peace filled her heart. She decided she'd had enough of war and enough of the Army.
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