Page 24 of The London Girls
Ava’s mouth kicked up at the corners into a grin, but her smile quickly fell away when she saw how cross Olivia was. ‘Sorry. It felt good at the time.’
‘You’re infuriating, you know that?’How has she gotten away with behaving like such a child all her life!
‘So I’m told.’
Ava suddenly threw her arms around her and gave her a hug, which Olivia reluctantly returned. She was easy to be cross with, but somehow impossible not to love at the same time.
‘I care about you, that’s all. And I don’t want you to be reckless and get yourself killed,’ Olivia murmured. ‘I want to see you taking this seriously.’
‘Apology accepted,’ Ava said, hugging her again.
Olivia pulled away. ‘I wasn’t apologising!’
Ava ran the last few steps back to her motorcycle, leaping on to the seat and expertly kicking it into life, sending fumes billowing into the air. ‘Last one back to base is a rotten egg!’
Olivia wanted so badly not to take the bait, but as Ava accelerated off in a cloud of dust, she found herself getting caught up in the chase and revving her own engine, driving fast to catch up with her, although she did feel slightly guilty as she sped past the volunteer fire service women, who were making their way to the speedway on their second-hand, rusty-looking motorcycles that couldn’t have been more different from the brand-new bikes the Wrens had been given.
Olivia flashed them a smile, knowing they’d probably think she and Ava were terrible show-offs.
It wasn’t often she broke the rules, but Ava was right about one thing: going fast did make a girl feel kind of invincible, and right now, that was exactly the sort of feeling she needed.
‘Flo!’ Olivia cried as she saw Florence sitting at the bar, alone, though there was a man nearby clearly trying to catch her eye.
‘Girls!’ Flo’s arms were wide as they approached her, all hugging and kissing cheeks after not seeing one another since before their training had begun almost a month ago.
‘How did it all go? Are you a fully fledged ambulance driver now?’ Olivia asked.
‘Apparently, although all the other drivers said that I had to give my ambulance a name before it was official,’ Flo said. ‘I’ve been trying to think of something for days, but nothing sounds quite right.’
‘Well, you could always call her Ava.’
They all laughed, including Ava as she shrugged and smiled, leaning across the bar and getting the bartender’s attention. She ordered champagne, and before Olivia could protest Ava was sliding cash across the bar, not seeming to care about the high price tag.
‘And you two?’ Flo asked. ‘I heard you’re being called the Flying Wrens now?’
Olivia saw how Flo’s face fell a little, and she resisted the urge to reach out a hand, wondering if she was still upset that she’d had to give up her WRN uniform to become a volunteer driver. But bless her, her smile barely wavered as she studied them.
‘Apparently we go so fast we may as well be flying,’ Olivia said. ‘Although whoever came up with the title may have just seen Ava at the speedway. The rest of us travel at a more sedate pace.’
Ava snorted with laughter as she passed them their glasses of champagne, holding hers high and then gently clinking her glass against first Olivia’s and then Flo’s.
‘To us,’ Ava announced.
‘To us,’ Olivia repeated, chiming in at the exact same time as Florence.
‘So, any ideas on what I can call her?’ Flo asked. ‘My ambulance?’
‘Gertrude? Matilda?’ Olivia suggested.
‘Betsy?’ Ava said. ‘Ooh, what about Wendy?’
‘She was a flower delivery van in her former life, would you believe? And now instead of brightly coloured petals being sent to brighten someone’s day, she’s being used to save lives.’
‘How about Rose then?’ Olivia said. ‘Or Petal?’
‘Petal!’ Flo grinned. ‘Thanks, Olivia, that’s perfect.’
Olivia beamed, happy to have helped.
