When you fish for love, bait with your heart, not your brain. Mark Twain
Downstairs Adele emerged back at the bar, and Bill looked her up at down.
"I don't see any tattoo!" He exclaimed as she hit him. "I don't see anything!"
She blushed and lifted a new glass of vodka to her lips. "You can't see it." She told him slyly.
George threw a dart and examined his shot before turning to the conversation.
"You can't see it?" He reiterated, "Is that because it's someplace naughty?"
He winked at Adele, who cheeks were now rosy pink.
Shamelessly, Bill grabbed at the edge of Adele's dress and playfully pretended to lift it up.
"Bill!" She exclaimed accusingly, snatching the hem of her skirts from his as she hit him again.
Bill took the abuse smiling, "Just messing Ed!"
She grinned, "Of course Sergeant Gaurnere, if it makes you feel better."
He shook his head but she kept up the banter, shooting him a pouty look. "I'd still head to confession Sunday morning though!"
He threw his head back laughing, and moved smoothly closer to her.
"Wanna smoke?" He asked carefully, giving her an assuring smile.
She took a quick look around the room.
George was passing out still more beer, and Jackie was descending the staircase, Liebgott on her tail.
Eugene was talking jovially with Buck Compton, and Adele saw Jackie shoot a gaze in Eugene's direction.
Protectively, she looked for Katherine and found that the pretty young brunette was still sitting with Carwood Lipton, laughing and smiling bashfully.
Nixon stood in a corner, taking a secretive sip of his precociously rare Vat 69, while David Webster sat contentedly on a sofa, sipping beer and reading Anna Karina.
Bill looked at her expectantly, and she nodded, flashing him a pearly smile.
He helped her off the bar stool and the two quietly made their way outside.
Noticing, Nixon elbowed Dick in the ribs which prompted an annoyed glare from his redhead friend.
"You've got some lovebirds there Dick!" Nixon noted, tucking his flask protectively back in his jacket.
Dick rolled his eyes, "Nah, Adele isn't Bill's girl, she's more Eugene's."
Hearing his name, Eugene turned from his conversation with Buck who wandered off towards the bar.
"Hmm?" Eugene inquired, lighting a cigarette.
Dick shook his head, "Nothing." He muttered casually, but Nixon didn't get the hint.
"Dick was just telling me about your girl Adele."
Eugene scoffed softly, and a reminiscent smile appeared on his lips. "I thought she was gonna be." He said quietly,
"Would I have been so lucky."
Nixon remembering his encounter with an undressed Adele nodded vigorously.
Dick signaled his approval. "I'm sure she's a fine girl."
Nixon eyes went wide, "Yeah, she's fine alright!"
Eugene chuckled softly to himself.
Bill handed Adele a cigarette and leaned in to light it for her. "So what kind of tattoo did you get?" He asked casually, leaning against the outside stairwell.
She smiled, and giggling she took a dainty drag of her cigarette. "Wouldn't you like to know? I'm guessing you'll have to find out one day."
He chuckled, "That would be a sight wouldn't it?" He let his cigarette hang from the corner of his mouth, as he got up off
the staircase and made his way over to the grass and laid down happily upon it.
She laid down beside him, and ran her hands through the grass, feeling the little blades tickle her fingers.
He motioned up towards the sky. "How do they look tonight?"
She smiled at him, turning her head so that she could see his face.
"They look better." She answered honestly, watching the tiny entities glint in the twilight.
Bill grinned, "Yeah? I think so to."
Smiling, she turned to him again, and pulled her sweater tighter around herself. "Where are you from Bill?"
He took another breath of smoke, "Philly." He told her proudly.
She nodded, knowing Philadelphia was somewhere in New England.
She nudged him in the stomach, signaling she was mimicking his earlier complaints. "How old are you?"
He laughed and tossed the cigarette on the ground. "I'm 22. I hated school and almost didn't graduate."
Adele rolled her eyes when she realized he was now making fun of her earlier monologue.
"I've got ten brothers and sisters, out of which I'm the youngest. I enjoy women you can cook, especially Italian food. I find Marlene Dietrich beautiful, and I find you the most beautiful girl I've seen since I've been inm Europe." He touched the silky material of her one shouldered rusty red dress. "By the way you look amazing tonight."
She blushed and smiled her thanks.
"So what about your family?" He asked.
She shrugged, "I had three siblings, one brother and two sisters, a mom and a dad, and my boyfriend."
Bill looked curious, "What's he doing?"
Adele scoffed bitterly, tossing her cigarette onto the concrete. "I dunno, either rotting in hell or singing in heaven."
Bill's eyes grew wide in surprise, "He's dead?"
Adele nodded, seemingly indifferent. "Yeah he's dead."
Bill patted her on the shoulder but was surprised to find her flinch at his touch. "I'm sorry."
She shook her head, "Don't be. He did it to himself."
Bill coughed on the beer he had been sipping and began pounding his fist to his chest. "Are you serious?"
She nodded impartially again, "Yeah, he killed himself."
Bill's eyes begged for more, and Adele found herself keep talking. "I told him I didn't love him and that you can't love in war. A day later he was lying in the street, luger by his side."
Bill shook his head, "I'm sorry Eddie!"
"I'm not!" She interjected ruthlessly, her stony blue eyes cold. "He was stupid enough to kill himself, and stupid enough to think that Adele, logical and rational Adele, could love during a season war. He was an idiot. Societies probably benefited now that he's gone."
Bill put an arm around her, and was confounded to find that her small figure was shaking.
He rubbed her shoulder in a soothing way and for the first time in years she felt the words pouring out of her mouth, and felt that she had no power to stop them.
"That night I came out and saw you-"
"And kissed me."
"Yes, and kissed you. I couldn't sleep because I dreamed about him, and dreamed about killing him."
Bill gave a heavy sigh, and rubbed his forehead. "Damn Eddie, I don't feel have as drunk as I did."
Adele laughed, and held out her glass of vodka to him, offering him a sip.
He shook his head, and sat up suddenly. "So have you found those words yet?" He asked, serious.
She tossed the vodka into the grass, suddenly feeling sickened by the sight of more alcohol. "What words?"
He eyed her, "What we talked about that night?"
She scoffed and sat up beside her, the moonlight illuminating the pale flesh of her breast. "All you really want to know is how I feel about you Bill. That's all you're asking. That's all men are ever asking."
He gave her a surprised look as he held up his hands in protest.
She went on, her blue eyes catching his dark stare. "And you should already know how I feel about you Sergeant Gaurnere." She chided stridently. "I've told you on two occasions now."
He opened his mouth to object, but still she continued, her voice breathless. "And I'm going to tell you again…"
She threw her arms around his neck, and surprised, he tumbled back to the ground, she partially on top of him.
She forcefully pressed her mouth to his, and his quickly parted in surprise.
She found herself pushing her tongue inside his mouth, and once the initial shock was overcome, he relaxed, and welcomed the sensation.
His hands grabbed fistfuls of her luscious blonde hair, and he pulled at the savagely, as she moaned into the wet heat of his mouth.
Suddenly, she pulled away, leaving his gasping for more.
"And that's what I think of you Bill Gaurnere." She breathed, kissing him softly on the cheek, her plump lips soft against his rough skin.
He smiled dazedly at her, blinking. "Thanks for telling me Ed." He exclaimed.
She coughed, and then stood up. "I've been telling you since I met you." She whispered, beginning to walk away.
"I didn't know it Ed!" He called.
She turned back to face him, her hair being tousled softly by the gentle wind that blew, and her face bright in the starlight.
"I didn't know either." She admitted. "But I know now."
He smiled at her, and tipped his hat.
There, he stood and watched Adele Elise Roux walk back to her room.
Her blonde hair fluttered in the gentle night breeze, and her silhouette was outlined by the glowing moonlight.
He could see her stormy blue eyes, and her candy pink lips if he closed his eyes.
He could see her pearly smile and contagious grin.
For the first time since he'd left Bastogne Bill Gaurnere could feel his heart warming.