Page 8 of The London Girls
‘Did you find the other Wren?’
‘Ava?’ Olivia asked. ‘Yes, although she said she might be late.’
They chatted a while, about work and how sore their wrists and hands became from all the typing and shorthand they had to do, and as they were running out of small talk, the building almost empty of workers, Ava appeared. And just like that, Olivia knew she’d done the right thing in asking her to join them.
Ava might have been petite, but her presence was anything but small.
‘Sorry girls, you must be so bored, waiting for me all this time.’
Olivia shook her head and Florence did the same. ‘Not at all,’ Olivia replied.
‘Come on, I have a car for us!’ Ava said, beckoning for them to follow.
‘She has acarfor us?’ Florence said.
Olivia was about to answer when Ava called out, waving her arms to get them through the door.
‘The generalalwayshas a car waiting for me,’ Ava said. ‘It’s his way of making up for all the late nights.’
Florence wondered for a fleeting moment whether perhaps there was another reason the general always made a car available for her, but when the black car pulled up at the kerb and the driver got out to open the door for them, the thought slipped entirely from her mind. She’d never had such a luxury before, and the driver was frightfully comical, with his bushy eyebrows arrowed in surprise, likely at the sight of three women instead of his usual single passenger.
‘Freddy, can you take me somewhere different tonight?’ Ava purred, batting her eyelashes at the older driver. ‘We need to let our hair down, so I was thinking the French House, in Soho?’
She turned to look at them, and Olivia nodded. She wasn’t exactly up to date with the best places in London to go for drinks – she’d been expecting they’d find their way to a local pub – but she was happy with Ava taking the lead.
‘I just don’t want to be out too late,’ Florence said. ‘I know we’ve had two nights now without a bomb, but ...’
‘Me too,’ Olivia quickly agreed. ‘I’d hate to be caught out in it.’ The thought of a bomb falling when she was on an open street put the fear of God into her.
Ava nodded. ‘Of course. Freddy, would you be able to come back for us? Perhaps in an hour? The general won’t need you until midnight, of that I’m almost certain!’
Freddy grumbled something as he started the engine, and Ava sat back with a satisfied-sounding sigh.
‘So, tell me everything,’ she said, then laughed. ‘Sorry, where are my manners! I’m Ava.’ She held out her hand.
‘Florence.’ Olivia sat back as the two of them shook hands across her.
‘How long have you been two been Wrens?’ Ava asked.
‘Six months,’ Olivia said. ‘Although I’ve only been at Norfolk House for a couple of months.’
‘I’m quite new to all this,’ Florence said. ‘It’s one of the reasons I wasn’t sure about applying for the role so quickly.’
Ava waved her hand in the air. ‘The Navy aredesperatelylooking for plucky girls to become riders, and I’ll bet there aren’t many of us.’
‘The girls in the tea room looked at me like I was stark raving mad when I told them,’ Olivia shared.
‘I know, they thought I was crazy when I told them, too,’ Ava said. ‘But it’ll be an absolute adventure, don’t you think?’
Olivia looked out of the window, pleased that it wasn’t dark yet as she listened to the other two talk. She’d never been scared of the dark as a child, but now, with the Luftwaffe targeting them night after night and destroying so much of the city she loved, the dark terrified her. It was almost a relief when dawn broke each day, even if it did mean viewing the carnage from the evening before.
It didn’t take long for them to reach the French House, and they all bundled out of the car as Ava called out her thanks to the driver. Seconds later they were through the doors and inside a room panelled in dark wood, the air hazy with smoke and the bar propped up by men in uniform.
‘How about I find us a seat, and you order the drinks?’ Ava said.
Olivia nodded. ‘What do you girls feel like? Gin and tonic?’
‘How about champagne?’ Ava suggested. ‘We are celebrating after all, aren’t we?’
