Disclaimer: I don't own any of this and mean no disrespect to the veterans the miniseries was based on. I was merely inspired by the era and the story as told by HBO.


Summer 1944
Aldbourne, England

With a deep breath, Edith grasped the door handle and gathered herself. Her ears were still burning. She closed her eyes and focused on the familiar hum of a plane engine overhead. The tingling at the back of her neck muted and her heart regained its former, rhythmic thrum.

Straightening her shoulders, Edith pushed the door open into the temporary office space. Miss Samantha Quincey, her assistant, peered over a pile of brown personnel folders in her arms. She stopped in the middle of the room and smiled broadly. Edith gave a curt nod, unpinning her hat with calm fingers.

"How was your lunch?" Samantha chirped pleasantly.

"Good." Edith straightened her uniform khaki suit jacket with a quick jerk.

"The Colonel called while you were out."

"What did my father want?"

"Not that Colonel…" The girl gave her boss a tight lipped grin, her olive green eyes dancing knowingly, "It was the British one, Dobey."

Edith's empty stomach lurched. Her face soured as she swiftly marched to her small, private office, "What did he want?"

"He wanted to confirm your plans for later."

"If he calls back tell him I cannot-" Edith paused as she struggled to regain her composure, she sat at her desk as Samantha hesitated by her door, "I am unable to keep our plans."

The last word nearly got stuck behind the growing lump in her throat. She couldn't remember the last time she had cried. After a moment of stilted silence, Samantha nodded.

"Will you please close the door behind you, Miss Quincy?" Edith coolly requested, shuffling blindly through a random folder she plucked off her desk.

Samantha did as she was asked, leaving Edith to the boxed solitude of her windowless office. Once safely alone, Edith leaned back in her chair. She held her palms against her burning forehead, taking deep breaths through her nose and out of her mouth evenly.

It was doubtful that her father had gotten wind of this debacle. The only one who had an inkling was Samantha. Though the young brunette from Kentucky could be vague at times, Edith had every confidence that she was the soul of discretion.

She firmly decided the best way to deal with the situation was to ignore Colonel Dobey's messages. He wasn't the type of man to seek out a woman who was obviously avoiding him. He had too much ego for those kinds of the games. He rang back later that afternoon to inquire about rescheduling their plans. Edith had Samantha tell him the week looked too busy to confirm anything. He tried two more times the next week. After those rejections, he seemed to get the picture.

For nearly a month, every time her father called to speak with her or requested her presence, Edith felt her stomach drop. However, he remained ignorant to the entire affair.

Edith welcomed the loneliness. She snuggled down deep into its comfortable folds like an expensive fur, guarding it viciously as though it was in danger of being stolen. Samantha stopped trying to make conversation about anything but work.

The world made sense again.

That was until the day Captain Richard Winters walked into her office.