War Girls Complete Collection Chapter 292

Chapter 11: Anna

Berlin, August 1945

A

nna and Peter watched his brother Stan hug his nephew Jan, and then it was their turn to say goodbye.

“Are you sure this is what you want to do?” Peter asked one last time.

Stan nodded. “This is what I need to do. I don’t belong in Berlin. At home in Lodz I’ll figure out a life for myself.”

“We’ll miss you,” Anna said, hugging him tight and whispering in his ear. “Thanks for saving my life.”

Stan nodded and squeezed her one last time before releasing her. Anna stepped back, proud of the fact that she’d been able to hug Stan without having a panic attack.

All three of them stayed on the platform and watched Stan climb into the train. The train set into motion and slowly drove out of the station, leaving many waving friends and relatives behind.

“He’ll be fine,” Anna said when they left the remains of the Anhalter Bahnhof. “He’s a grown man and can take care of himself.”

“I know that, but he’s still my younger brother. I’ll always worry about him.”

Anna smiled and then she glanced at the clock adorning the station, “If you don’t hurry, you’re going to be late for your job interview with the British administration.”

Peter squeezed her hand and then left for the British sector. He’d applied to work for the newly installed British administration a week earlier. Since he’d been a combatant with the Polish Home Army before becoming a POW, he was granted an interview without problems. Several hours later, he strode into the apartment with a huge grin upon his face.

Anna had never doubted he’d get the job. “You got the job.”

“I did.” He picked her up and twirled her around the living room. “And you know what’s the best?”

“What?”

He set her down again. “I can eat at their canteen on workdays.”

“Wow!” That was a huge benefit. A job that would not only bring in money but also much needed food was akin to winning the lottery, since food was almost impossible to get in occupied Berlin. The rations were notoriously low, because the Allies simply couldn’t bring in enough supplies to feed the population. Not with the devastated infrastructure and the reluctance of the Soviets to allow free transit through their zone.

“I’ll still get my ration cards… and I want you to use my rations from now on.”

“We can’t possibly…” Anna started, but Peter stopped her with a shake of his head.

“I know that you’ve been lying to me all this time when you claimed you had already eaten at the hospital.”

Anna’s eyes widened. “Not always, sometimes we really got something to eat. If you knew, why didn’t you say so?”

He smiled. “Would it have changed anything?”

She felt herself blush. “Probably not.”

“Certainly not. You’d have fought me tooth and nail and not eaten anyway. So I decided to keep quiet. But I have noticed… and before you argue with me, this time I’m digging in my heels. You, Jan and your mother will eat my rations and that’s my last word about it.”

She bit her lip, a warm feeling spreading through her. “How have I deserved such a wonderful man like you?”

Peter’s face lit up with raw joy at her words. “I love you, sweetie. And I wish I could bring some food home to you. But my new boss already warned me that anyone caught smuggling food will immediately be fired and sent to prison.”

“Just having your rations is more than enough,” she quickly said, intent on wiping away the guilt clouding his beautiful ice-blue eyes. The situation in Berlin had been going downhill for many months prior to the end of the war. But since the Soviets had arrived, things had gone from bad to dire.

Apart from the lack of food – unarguably the biggest problem for all Berliners – the telephone service still hadn’t been repaired, mail wasn’t being sent or received and even the electricity only worked intermittently.

Sometimes it felt like living on a remote island, cut off from the rest of the world. Anna thought of her sisters. Lotte was somewhere in Norway with the Wehrmacht and Ursula with Aunt Lydia in Lower Bavaria. She hoped both of them lived in better conditions than hers. Still, she worried about them and she knew that both of them would be frantic with worry about her and Mutter.

Over the next days she rarely ever saw Peter, since she worked night shifts and he during the day. As much as she missed seeing him, it also relieved her, because it gave her time to come to terms with her fear of being intimate with him.

After what had happened while he was imprisoned, she still shrunk away from him every time he wanted more than a casual kiss on the cheek. They’d finally gotten legally married and they slept in the same bed since his return, but that was it. She loved him with all her heart, but she simply couldn’t.

But while he never complained she knew he was getting weary of her minimal responses, up to the point that he was blaming himself for not having been there to protect her. The lack of a physical relationship was hard not only on him, but also on her. She missed the closeness of lying in his arms and making love. Anna wanted that again.

Sighing, she made a deliberate decision. She couldn’t let what had happened define her future. She couldn’t risk losing the most wonderful man in the world – and his son – just because she wasn’t able to overcome her fears.

Several days later she started working dayshifts again and in the evening she took the initiative. After putting Jan to bed – he slept with Mutter in the other bedroom – they retreated to their bedroom. Peter looked at her longingly, but didn’t make a move. He was waiting for her to come to him in her own time.

Anna almost choked on her own courage, but she opened the buttons of her blouse with deliberate intent, watching him watching her. His eyes became big and dark, but he still didn’t move. Only the twitching of his Adam’s apple betrayed his emotions. Not giving in to the slight panic creeping up her back, she opened her skirt and let it drop to the floor.

“Anna, darling,” he groaned. “Are you sure?”

She met his gaze and nodded shyly. “As sure as I can be. I miss you so much.”

“I miss you too.” He closed the distance and wrapped his arms around her.

A slight shudder ran through her, but she decided to ignore it and whispered in his ear, “Make love to me.”

Peter blew out the breath he’d been holding and swooped her into his arms, carrying her over to the bed, where he carefully set her down. Then he shed his own clothes and crawled in beside her, pulling her atop of him. She appreciated the fact that he didn’t attempt to roll her beneath him, and decided to focus entirely on the love she felt for him. Nothing else.