"Peggy... I'm gonna need a rain check on that date."

"Alright... a week, next Saturday... The Stork Club... don't you dare be late."

Peggy sat quietly in the car. Her driver, thankfully, didn't speak to her. The car moved slowly, as people were still celebrating the end of the war. But her heart was too full to celebrate. She could only sit. Too tired to cry, too numb to speak. At last they were there. The car rolled to a stop, and her driver turned around.

"Shall I go in with you, Miss?"

"No, that won't be necessary," she replied. "I'll call you when I'm ready."

"Very good, Miss."

She climbed out of the car and stood before the door. The Stork Club, read the sign above. Peggy stared at it. It seemed jaunty, disrespectful, even. It didn't care that with the end of the war came the end of her world. Slowly, she inhaled. Just open the door, find a corner, and sit. With her exhale, she pushed open the door. As her eyes grew accustomed to the dim light, she noticed something. The lack of noise. She stepped in, and the door closed behind her. Then she saw. She didn't know what she had been expecting, but it wasn't this. In the shadows, the Colonel and Howard stood with their hats in their hands, heads bowed. Every man from his team was there. They stood around a table. There was a place for each of them, but 3 extra. One for her, she assumed, and 2 for...

"Miss Carter, would you like to dine or dance?" one asked.

"D-dance," she replied, shaken. She hadn't eaten much since... anyway. He swept her onto the cleared floor, and Howard sat at the piano. He played a slow waltz, and one by one, each of the men from his team danced with her. As she was dancing with the last one, she finally found her voice through her constricted throat.

"W-why are you boys doing this?"

"Why, because that's what he'd have wanted," the man answered simply. That reply was all it took. As she dissolved in tears, finally allowing herself to grieve, he pulled her against him and let her cry into his shoulder.

"He'd have wanted this, too," he whispered, and she knew what he meant.