All anyone seemed to be talking about for the next few days was the dance. Whenever Charlie walked past any local girls in the village on her way to and from the bus stop she heard excited discussions about things like dates and dresses and different ways to style hair, and whenever she and the other nurses ran into any of the paratroopers it seemed to be all that was on their minds, too. Her only reprieve, surprisingly enough, was when she was at home, for the nurses had very quickly exhausted all possible talking points about the event; living together and working together would have that effect, they'd all discovered shortly after first moving in together.
It was a Tuesday afternoon, three days before the dance on Saturday, and all four of the nurses were on shift together. Though usually they steered clear of the subject, bored of it by now, they found themselves discussing the social event on Saturday, if only because the jobs they were being given of late were mind-numbingly dull.
"How many date proposals have you had so far, Mabs?" Autumn asked a ways into their mindless chatter about how long the dance itself might last. She was taking inventory of each of the cupboards in the ward, even though no one had actually needed anything from any of them in the entire time they'd been working there, and shot a grin over at Mabel before turning back to her work.
Mabel laughed. "A few."
"How many?" Charlie prompted. As she changed the sheets on each of the beds - again, even though no one had actually occupied them in the past few weeks - she laughed quietly to herself, making mental guesses about the number Mabs would give. Her best guess was ten, give or take a couple.
"And we want names!" Violet added while she washed the floors.
No matter how seemingly inconsequential the jobs they were doing were, Lieutenant Maddox had insisted they do them, for they were jobs they'd be expected to do when they were eventually deployed overseas. Charlie supposed making the beds, as she was doing, taking inventory, as Autumn was doing, and cleaning medical equipment, as Mabs was doing, seemed plausible enough as chores they'd have to do in a field hospital, but she couldn't for the life of her work out why Violet had been tasked with mopping the floors. They'd be setting up hospitals in tents!
Violet seemed happy enough with her task, though, so Charlie kept her thoughts to herself and continued to put fresh pillowcases on the pillows of the bed she currently sat on.
"Let me think," Mabs said, in answer to Charlie's question and Violet's request. She laid down the scalpel she'd been cleaning in order to count on her fingers which made Charlie laugh, if not because that meant a fair few boys must have asked her then because of the fact that, even though Mabs was a certified mathematical genius, she still needed to use her fingers to count.
"Eleven," came Mabs' eventual reply.
Charlie cheered. "I guessed ten!"
Mabel mock frowned. "You think so little of me, Charlie."
Charlie laughed and rolled her eyes before turning to fluff the pillow she'd finally put the case on.
"Who are they?" Violet wondered.
Charlie glanced up at the sound of her voice, closer than it had been when she'd last spoken, and found Violet beginning to mop the walkway at the foot of the bed she was sitting on. When the two of them locked eyes, Violet widened hers comically large and pulled a face that showed the full magnitude of her disbelief that Mabs had been asked out that many times. Charlie giggled but she didn't honestly know why Violet was so surprised; if the paratroopers had one thing in common, other than the fact that they were all paratroopers, of course, then it was that they all loved Mabs.
"Floyd Talbert," she began, putting a finger down as she ticked him off. "Obviously."
Charlie grinned. She'd expected him to be the first and, if the order Mabs was using was anything to go by, he'd been straight in there to ask her out.
"Wow, I'm shocked," Autumn commented drily.
Mabs smirked, going on, "Bill Guarnere, Joe Liebgott, uh, Skinny Sisk, Pat Christenson, um, Moe Alley..."
It was at this point that Charlie started laughing; even though she'd guessed that close to eleven boys would ask Mabs to the dance, hearing their names, and in some cases being able to put faces to them, made it all the more baffling that one girl would be able to attract so many boys. Mabs was beautiful, though. Blonde and curvy with deceptively sweet brown eyes and a smile that spelled mischief. Charlie could easily see why all the boys were after her, why someone like Floyd Talbert, who usually got girls easily by himself, would go to the trouble of asking Charlie for help. Mabs was a catch and a half, and if Charlie didn't adore her so much she knew she'd envy her terribly.
"... and George Luz," Mabs declared, finishing her list. She curled her left index finger in, having had to use a second lot of hands to list all eleven boys off, and then picked up the scalpel she'd been cleaning before. "Number eleven, chronologically, 'cause he only asked me yesterday, but number one for enthusiasm."
Charlie laughed. She'd only come across George Luz a few times since he'd first approached her outside of the pub a few weeks ago, but even so she felt that she knew him reasonably well if only on account of how spirited he was with everything he said.
"The only man I know of on that whole list is Floyd Talbert," Violet said, standing still and leaning against her mop for a moment, "and that's only because he's Charlie's friend."
"And Mabs' most passionate suitor," Charlie piped up, nodding as though to back up her statement. Then she turned to Mabs. "Who do you think you'll say yes to?"
Mabs avoided this question by looking to Violet in surprise. "How many of the paratroops have you met then, Vi?"
Violet shrugged. She rested her hands one over the other on the top of her mop and then her chin atop her hands. "I think only three. Talbert I met when he came over to see Charlie a few days ago when we were coming home from work. Then there was also Joe Lesniewski, who didn't want to take no for an answer when he offered to buy me a drink the first night we got here. Then also Don Malarkey, who talked to me on the first day also, when we were all walking over to the pub."
"That seems a very unfortunate selection of men you've come into contact with," said Autumn with a grin in her voice. Like Mabs, she'd already met the vast majority of them, probably on their trips into Swindon with some of the boys or else when they went to the pub without either Charlie or Violet in tow.
Violet laughed softly. "I guess I wouldn't know. I haven't met any others."
"So who do you think you'll say yes to, Mabs?" Charlie asked again. She wasn't letting Mabs escape the question that easily, not after she'd pried and pried about Charlie's now not-so-secret crush on Eugene Roe ever since finding out about it almost a week ago.
Mabs shot a glare at her which had no real fire behind it before letting out a small laugh. "I ain't decided yet," she said. "I'm keepin' my options open 'til closer to the time."
"We've only got three days!" Charlie laughed. "You're certainly keeping them on their toes."
"Who are you going with, Charlie?" Violet asked her. She was still mopping the floor but she'd already gone over all of it once, so Charlie figured she was just doing it now to give herself something to do - and probably to appear busy in the event Lieutenant Maddox suddenly made a reappearance.
Charlie forced a smile she hoped no one would notice was strained. "No one's asked me," she confessed. When she locked eyes with Mabel she saw the older girl wearing a sad smile and had to look away before she started feeling too sorry for herself. "So I figure I'll just go by myself."
"No one's asked you yet," Mabs corrected her gently. "I have faith Chuck Grant'll still pull through. He seemed pretty sweet on ya before."
"Yeah, before I told him I wanted to slow things down." Charlie shook her head at her own foolishness.
"Slowing things down doesn't mean putting a stop to them altogether," Violet pointed out. "I bet he's still interested."
"You're a total catch," Mabs added encouragingly. "He'd be a damn fool not to ask ya."
"I'll threaten him for you, if you like," offered Autumn.
Charlie couldn't help but smile as she shook her head at the antics of these three girls who she'd not even known two months ago and who were now some of the most important people in her life. She'd do anything for them was reassured to know that they'd do the same for her.
"Thanks, guys." Charlie sighed. "We'll see."
"I could hook ya up with one of the guys, if you want," Mabel said. When Charlie looked over at her she was sitting up straighter, excited at the prospect. "I know just who to ask."
"No!" Charlie exclaimed. "Thank you. No thank you. That would be more embarrassing than I have the capacity to deal with right now. I'm still recovering from falling flat on my face in front of all of them the first time we met."
Violet laughed loudly at this but Mabel just rolled her eyes. "Charlie, darlin', I promise ya you're the only one who thinks that was as embarrassin' as you do."
Charlie's gaze instantly shot over to Autumn, who was snickering to herself where she stood by one of the cabinets.
"Autumn!" Mabs cried.
"It was pretty embarrassing," Autumn said.
Charlie laughed and clapped a hand over her mouth, remembering the entire affair with a mix of unbridled horror and amusement, now that she had some separation from it.
"Anyway." Charlie shook her head. "If no one asks me then I'll just go by myself. I would really rather not having to get my friend to ask someone for me. I'm not that desperate."
"Suit yourself, honey," Mabel said with a shrug. "But if you change your mind I have the perfect guy."
"Who?"
"I won't tell until you want my help."
"Boo," Charlie complained, and promptly moved on to replacing the sheets on the next bed over.
The conversation turned away from the dance after a while - indeed, there wasn't very much to talk about with Charlie, Autumn, and Violet all not having dates, and Mabel not yet having decided who she was going to pick out of her selection of hopefuls. None of them had yet decided what to wear, either, or how they'd be doing their hair, so all chatter about the dance dried up very quickly.
Eventually, Lieutenant Maddox returned from wherever it was she went when she left them to their chores and dismissed them ten minutes ahead of their normal time. While this was a small victory, they all still had to wait for the same bus they normally got, so they got back to Aldbourne at the same time they always did.
"If she really wanted to treat us she could'a let us go at lunch," Mabs complained. "It's not like we been doin' anythin' useful since then."
Charlie didn't mind so much either way. She was off for the next three days, anyway, so she was just happy to be getting a break from the monotony of mindless chores.
When the four of them got off the bus each of them thanked the bus driver as they went - an older British woman who always drove this route at this time, so they saw her every evening. It was the war, of course, which had allowed a woman to drive the bus. Would it ever not be strange to see women doing men's jobs?
Stepping out onto the sidewalk, the four nurses found, curiously, someone waiting for them.
Charlie was last off the bus, still facing behind her after saying thank you to the driver, when she heard her name.
Her head whipped around so fast she had to hold onto the stair railing to steady herself before dismounting the final step.
"Chuck," she said, equal parts excited and wary.
"Tab said you were working today so I thought I'd meet you here," he explained, wringing his hands together in front of him.
Charlie nodded, at a loss for what to reply. She glanced to her side, looking to the other girls for help, and saw them already a ways away from her by now, having set off on their way home without her.
Traitors.
"So, uh, I wanted to ask you something."
Charlie felt her stomach flip as she hoped desperately he was about to ask what she hoped he was. She clasped her hands behind her back and rocked back and forth on her feet without realising she was doing it. She glanced away from his piercing blue eyes only once, when she heard the bus pull away behind her.
"I wanted to ask," he went on, drawing her attention back to him, "if you already had a date to the dance on Saturday?"
Charlie smiled tight-lipped, desperately wanting to grin at him now that the conversation seemed to be heading where she wanted it to but knowing Mabs would wring her neck if she did.
"No," she replied, shaking her head slowly. "I don't."
His smile brightened up his entire face as he registered her answer. "Really? You don't?"
"No," she confirmed, smiling wider now that he was.
"Well, I'm glad," he said, his hands now stuck deep in his pockets. "I mean, shocked. But glad."
Charlie laughed a little bit. "Why's that?"
"Well," he said, seeming more at ease now, "Charlie." He paused and just looked at her for a beat, still smiling widely, before going on, "I - well, it'd just really make me happy if - well, I mean, would you like to..." He laughed at himself before sighing and starting again. "Would you go to the dance with me?"
Charlie finally allowed herself a real smile and watched as it made his brighter in turn. "Yes," she said, giggling like a schoolgirl all the while. "Yes, I would love to go to the dance with you."
So she disregarded Mabs' advice entirely. How was she supposed to say no when the first boy who asked her was as sweet as that?