that doesn’t sound too scandalous,’ she giggled.
Surreptitiously Lizzie stole a glance and as if drawn by her gaze, he suddenly turned and noticed Diana, and his eyes lit up.
‘Oh no, please don’t come over. I’m so embarrassed,’ Diana hissed again.
‘What’s wrong?’ Lizzie was intrigued by her friend’s reaction.
‘You should have seen the way I looked the other night, I was a mess; surely he wouldn’t recognize me.’
But apparently, he did, as, stabbing out his cigarette in an ashtray, he leant across and said something to his friend, which made the man look over at Diana, and smile. Then the corporal made his way across the dance floor towards their table.
Lizzie watched him approach as Diana squirmed by her side. He was about six foot tall, with thick brown wavy hair and brown eyes that looked kind. Arriving at their table, he smiled down at her friend. ‘Aircraftwoman Downes, isn’t it?’
‘I don’t have to salute you if I’m not in uniform, do I, Corporal Shelley?’ Diana asked nervously.
He shook his head and stretched out his hand. ‘No, and you can call me Len off duty.’
‘I’m Diana,’ she responded, taking it gingerly.
‘Diana,’ he said, rolling her name across his tongue. ‘That’s a beautiful name.’
‘And this is my friend Lizzy,’ she said quickly, apparently desperate to get the attention off herself.
Lizzy shook his hand and was thoroughly enjoying this. ‘Would you like to join us?’ she enquired, being mischievous.
Diana shot her friend a look.
‘Thank you, I would love to,’ he said, sitting down next to Diana. ‘I was hoping I would see you again, Diana, just to make sure you didn’t catch a cold.’
Diana shook her head. ‘I’m amazed you even remember me.’
‘You’re very memorable; it’s not often I get to meet a member of the fighting service in a nightie and curlers,’ he quipped back with a cheeky grin.
Diana glowed as she attempted to laugh off her embarrassment.
Jack arrived back with the drinks and Lizzie seized her chance; she wanted to get Jack on the dance floor before the sirens sounded. Besides, she wanted to give Diana and Len a chance to get to know each other better.
‘Come on, Jack, ask me to dance,’ she said, jumping to her feet. Another big band number was in full swing, and he seemed more than happy to oblige. He was a good dancer, and as they circled the dance floor, she liked the feel of being in his arms. They chatted easily about everything, just as they had in the theatre, and whenever Lizzie looked over at Diana, she too seemed to be getting on quite well with her new acquaintance.
After they’d been around the floor a couple of times, and after a particularly fast quickstep, they decided to sit back down with Len and Diana. Len decided to buy them all a round and disappeared off to the bar. When he arrived back, Jack and Len got into a lively debate about the war and Lizzie grabbed Diana by the hand and whispered, ‘I think we need to go to the toilet, don’t you?’
Both girls got up. ‘We’re just going to powder our noses,’ announced Lizzie with a smile, and they disappeared to the cloakroom.
Once they were inside, she turned to her friend in the mirror. ‘Well, Diana, you are a sly fox. Who’s that good-looking fellow?’
‘Believe it or not, he’s one of my superior officers. I can’t believe that he even remembers me, let alone wants to sit and talk to me.’
The girls stared in the mirror as they reapplied their lipstick.
‘He seems nice, a lot of fun.’
‘So does Jack,’ said Diana.
‘At least this war is giving us the chance to meet people we’d have never met before,’ said Lizzie, pressing her lips together.
Diana laughed. ‘I’m definitely warming up to that part of it.’
Both the girls made their way back outside to enjoy their evening. They all danced till their feet hurt and were glad that Jerry came late that night. In fact, Lizzie and Jack made it all the way back to Julia’s before the bombing started. Jack had borrowed a car from the base to drop Lizzie home.
As they drove through the dark streets together with just the pinhole of light the headlights projected with the blinds on, Lizzie couldn’t help but stare at him. He was so good-looking it made her stomach cramp. But it wasn’t just his looks that she found attractive, it was the way he treated her, the way he talked to her, as if she