For two months, Gladys and Betty combed the city, the seedy outskirts, the farms and small towns beyond, and on the weekends, they took trains to the smaller communities that were further in distance than Betty could stomach to ride in Gladys's boyfriend's soon-to-be-ruined car. She could only scream "BRAKE!" a few times before her throat became too raw.
In this time, Gladys had been fired and narrowly rehired. She spent nearly three weeks sharing Betty's room in the boarding house for fear that should she have gone home, the door would have been locked. Or, worse yet, she wouldn't have been allowed to leave again. Of course, following recent circumstances, Gladys's sudden movement into Betty's room raised more than eyebrows- namely men's trousers and women's suspicions. But it was not as bad as it could have been, no, not at all. The gossip was light and remained behind closed doors. Betty was too well-like and respected to discuss things of that nature, even if they could be true- and besides, that just seems so unrealistic. Two women together? Ha!
It was the first occasion in which Betty and Gladys were spending time together outside of the factory and boarding house since the Princess made her leap of faith back into the austere Witham residence, and Betty was tugging her by the arm to a dimly lit lounge in an area of town unfamiliar to them both. The two stepped in time together, walking briskly out of both excitement and underlying fear, their heels making a sharp clack to break their companionable silence.
"How did you hear about this place?" Gladys ventured. She released a warm puff of breath into the cold air.
Betty, hands in her pockets, shrugged. "I really didn't, and I guess that's the point." She shot the brunette a toothy grin and reached for Gladys's hand as they neared the entrance.
Well, this doesn't look too bad, she thought. Boys in uniform and girls trying their damnedest with pencil-drawn "stockings" and hand-me-down wool coats littered the sidewalk in from of the club, same as any other place in all of Toronto. The same could be said for the inside, where all of the tables were crammed to the walls and a decent band was playing Sing Sing Sing, one of Gladys's personal favorites. She turned to voice her satisfaction with her environment to discover that Betty had left her side, and was strut-…sauntering toward a group of soldiers.
What on Earth is she doing? Gladys wondered and she, too, crossed the dance floor.
"You, uh, you boys having a good time ashore?" Betty flicked the ashes of her cigarette in the direction of an ash tray and missed. She stood there awkwardly in a beautiful dress and-
A beautiful dress and willingly talking to soldiers.
Betty was flirting. Or trying to.
Gladys rushed up beside her and slipped and arm around Betty's. "Who are your dashing friends, Betts?" She delivered a charming smile to the drink-blushed boys and then turned her smile to Betty, raising an eyebrow.
Betty tried her best to grin coyly. "They're uh. They're some of this country's finest, right, boys?"
They all three nodded in agreement and a few edged eagerly closer to the women.
Gladys playfully touched the shoulder of the man standing closest to her. "Well, I already knew that much, Betty darling. But my dear gentlemen, if you'll please excuse my lovely friend and me, we-"
"Hey, not so fast Prin-" Betty cleared her throat. "I'll join you in a minute, Gladie. I'd hate to be so rude."
"Well," Gladys said, inching away, "I'll be back with your drink-"
"Oh, no, Miss! I'll go!" said at least two of the scrambling boys.
"Oh, well..." Gladys began, but each member of her audience had disappeared to the bar. She abruptly turned her attention to Betty.
"What are you doing?" She hissed.
Betty raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, 'what am I doing?'"
Gladys leaned close to her. "The soldiers, the dress!" She gestured emphatically with her hands.
Betty whistled in exasperation and eyed her suspiciously. "A girl can't look pretty?"
The brunette looked her in the eyes. "I'm talking about the whole... whole thing. The… sauntering and simpering. The boys. What are you doing?"
Betty straightened her shoulders. "Well, what do you think? It's about time I find a man and live my life, right?"
Gladys didn't have the moment to answer before the over-grown scouts returned with garnished drinks. Betty started to scowl in distaste but caught herself and instead, accepted hers as graciously as she could muster.
Gladys seated herself in a vacant chair near the small group to sip her drink quietly while watching Betty's efforts. Had it been any other time but war time, she would have floundered unbelievably. But boys were boys and Betty was girl- a damn beautiful girl, in the midst of a world gone to hell. The whole display was too much.
Without excusing herself, Gladys left her perch and her third empty glass. The abruptness of it must have startled Betty enough to follow her.
"Gladys! Where are you going?"
But she didn't turn around, and continued toward the door, knowing Betty would follow.
The freezing night air hit them like a bag of bricks, but, teeth chattering, they convened at the side of the building facing a silent street.
"What's twisting your stockings, Princess?" She leaned against the wall next to Gladys.
A whirlwind if snarky answers collided in Gladys's head. What's twisting my stockings? More like, what are you trying to get to twist yours? But she pursed her lips and turned to her friend.
"I don't know. I guess I think you're trying to forget about Kate and going about it the wrong way."
"Her name is Marion," Betty spat. "Kate is gone. This has nothing to do with Marion. I'm just sick of being lonely. It's time I settle down and get a life going. This war won't last forever."
But yours will, Gladys thought.
"Betty," she began, unsure of how to continue. "I hardly think a man is what you need."
The blonde stared stonily at her. "I can't keep living in a corrupt fantasy. I'm not getting any younger, Gladys. People are already talking-"
"Who gives a damn about people! Do you want to be miserable the rest of your life-"
"I NEED TO DO THIS."
Gladys stiffened and her voice became steely.
"I thought you were stronger than this."
Betty's voice cracked. "Strength has nothing to do with it."
"I've seen you care a lot less about more important things."
"What coals have you got in this fire, anyway?" Betty muttered.
Gladys turned her entire body sharply to face her. "I've invested a lot of time and energy into caring about you. Do you know how hard I worked just to get you to speak to me without vicious comment? I could't let the strongest and boldest person I'd ever seen march on around me and not invest my adoration in Her. If I love someone, I can't let them go ruining their lives and crumbling every beautiful thing they've ever built up to make them happy! I've been on a wild goose chase for months to find a woman who broke your heart because I can't stand to see you so miserable and I cannot bear to know that she threw away so much hard work and courage because of someone else's opinion!" Here, tears stung her eyes.
"People don't always need what you want for them! Not everyone has magic moneybags to pave their way to happiness even when the path they want is wrong!"
"You-'
"Kate didn't want this life, and Marion certainly doesn't want me! I don't want to live the rest of my life miserable and alone and probably end up killed for what I want! Just let me be, Gladys. Can't you just be happy for me, and someday when I'm married and normal, be happy with me?" Her voice was pleading but her face was red with anger and embarrassment.
"If I thought it would make you happy, Betty, I would." She raised up from the wall and took a slow step toward the door.
"Gladys, you've understood everything about me and been so good to me, please don't walk away from me now."
Gladys stopped and went back to face her.
"You want men? You want some fumbling boy to take you home and touch you with his dirty hands and whiskered-face to make you feel like a girl?"
"Yes."
"You want his p-"
"Gladys, please!" Betty cried. "I need this!"
Gladys slowly backed her to the wall and with tender fingers, wiped the beginnings of tears from her eyes. "The Betty I know doesn't cry this much, either."
"See, it's working already," she grumbled.
Gladys petted her curled, golden hair for a moment. Betty closed her eyes and leaned her head into Gladys's hand. She was greatly surprised a moment later when Gladys's lips fell not once, nor twice, but several times to the cold skin of her face.
"What's the big-"
But Gladys's lips were now on hers and they were so gentle and tasted sweet from fruit drinks. She couldn't help but to kiss her back.
The brunette persisted, coaxing her lips apart with a finesse that Betty had never experienced, and she wondered for a fleeting moment if it came automatically with wealth.
She started to attempt to say, "Stop before someone sees you," but instead gasped when her bottom lip was caught so, so softly between perfect teeth. The real surprise, though, came when Gladys took Betty's hand into her own and slipped it through the buttons of her dress directly to her breast, covered barely by a slip.
Lost in the moment and mouths clashing furiously, Betty unthinkingly responded by pushing aside the cotton barrier and kneading gently, eliciting a quiet but very startled, "Oh!" from Gladys directly against her lips.
With alarming speed, Betty withdrew her hand and tears began to openly spill from her cheeks as she broke away from the kiss. "Oh, God, you're soft," she moaned sadly.
"You can't tell me you didn't like that," Gladys said. "You cannot tell me you're suddenly throwing yourself at men and expect me to think you're telling the truth."
Betty's hands covered her face and her chest heaved with tears. "I can't do it, Gladys. I can't do it!" She shook her head and tried to swallow the growing knots in her throat.
"That's my girl," Gladys whispered, drawing her close. "You don't need to lie to me, and certainly not to yourself. If gossip's what you're worried about, we can take care of that. But-"
Betty sniffled and wiped across her face with the sleeve of her dress. "I just don't want to be alone," she whispered.
Gladys tilted her chin up to look her in the eyes. "I'm sure there's another Kate out there. Or someone even better, who feels the same way you do."
"Anyone worth a damn's repulsed by me."
Gladys pulled away. "Hey! I just had a very heavy moment with you to prove a point," she said.
Despite her drying tears, Betty chuckled. "Hey, Sugar. Are you rationed?" She said hoarsely with a grin.
Gladys held a hand to her cheek. "Yes, so cherish that moment always."
"Does that mean I owe you a coupon?"
"No, in times of war, a girl steals a kiss from wherever she can get one." She winked playfully and moved her hand into Betty's. "Come on, I'm freezing. Let's get inside and dance with each other."