A delicious whiff of freshly brewed coffee found its way into the bathroom as Hilda was putting finishing touches on her make up.
Helga stood in the hallway, leaning on the wall opposite the door leading to the bathroom. Her hands gripped the coffee mug tight, absorbing the warmth it provided – a warmth that was sorely needed on this cold winter's day. She took a sip of the hot beverage and smiled lovingly at Hilda, who was just putting down her mascara brush and checking her look in the tiny mirror above the wash bowl in their tiny apartment on the edge of town.
"Come on, the coffee's getting cold, but make sure not to trip over our little queen over here", Helga teased Hilda as she went to the kitchen to eat breakfast.
Their orange tabby cat – aptly named Tiger – was lying on the wooden floor of the narrow hallway, just where the morning light shone through the window at the end of the corridor, warming the wood of the floor as to make sure that Tiger had something to warm her too.
Hilda carefully stepped over Tiger and followed Helga to the kitchen. By the time Hilda got to the kitchen, Helga was already sitting on the kitchen table, biting into her slice of morning bread with some butter and some honey on it. On the opposite side of the table Helga had prepared a little plate and a mug of coffee for Hilda, who couldn't help but smile at the thoughtfulness. She sat down, grabbed a knife, and buttered a slice of dark bread she grabbed from a little basket on the counter right next to the kitchen table.
"You nervous?", Helga asked in between bites, like someone who had been doing this her whole life without ever choking on a single bite of food.
Hilda stopped buttering her bread for a second, eyes fixated on the coffee mug in front of her, fixed a non-existent loose strand of hair behind her right ear, fixed her posture, picked up the knife again, and put on the fake smile she had precautiously prepared for her first day at work.
"You don't have to worry about anything", Helga said, finishing her breakfast.
"I will be with you every step of the way today", she said, putting everything in the kitchen sink and making her way over to Hilda. With a reassuring smile, she looked at Hilda and continued in a soothing tone,
"The Kommandant will love you – well, not as much as I do, obviously ", she laughed a heart-warming little laugh, and Hilda's tense shoulders visibly relaxed a little
"– but he will be thrilled to have you there – as will I, just in case you were wondering"
Helga's arms were now hugging Hilda from behind and her chin was rested on Hilda's right shoulder.
Hilda sighed and Helga nestled her head up to Hilda's neck, her breath made Hilda's hairs stand on end and Helga saw her smile ingeniously, close her eyes, and lean into their embrace.
They stayed like this for a little eternity, soaking up all the affection and gathering strength for the day before the harsh reality was bound to kick in eventually.
Helga was the first to loosen the embrace. She straightened her blouse and tapped Hilda slightly on her shoulder.
"Come now, wouldn't want to be late on your first day, would you?", Helga teased as she made her way out of the kitchen and to the apartment door, past the still fast asleep Tiger.
Hilda shook her head as to get out of a daydream that she had to stop herself from getting lost in, got up from the old chair as the wooden kitchen floor creaked beneath her bare feet. She meticulously placed the rest of the breakfast dishes in the sink, straightened her back and went to follow Helga to the apartment door.
As she saw Helga put on her coat and scarf, another genuine smile flashed over her face, followed by an anxious feeling in her stomach. She walked over to Helga and stood in front of her, looking her dead in the eyes, and asking her with a little more than a whisper and an insecure look on her face.
"You're really sure about this?"
Helga seemingly grew a few centimetres as she straightened her back, put both of her hands on Hilda's shoulders and said, with the sincerest tone she could muster at this time of day,
"I most certainly am! What could be better, than sharing my living space AND my working space with my most favourite person in the whole world!"
Helga gave Hilda another one of her loving smiles and once again Hilda's shoulders relaxed. To close off her pep talk Helga gave Hilda a little peck on the lips and said,
"Now let's go, work awaits"
The walk to work was shorter than usual, or at least it seamed to go by faster, Helga thought as they entered the main gate to Stalag 13.
The route Helga usually took to work was quite boring, not a lot of friendly people greeting her, just the odd farmer or lumberjack crossing her way or the one or two soldiers crossing her path. There were occasional vehicles driving a general to the camp, that saw her walk in the dead of winter, who took pity on her and offered to drive her to camp. Most days though she was alone with her thoughts on her walks to and from work.
Not on this day.
Hilda made note of every turn they took, so she could remember it for the future when she would have to walk the whole way all by herself. Helga explained and told her all the mnemonic devices she used to not get lost in the woods between the town and the camp. Hilda was almost too cheery, and Helga was so grateful that Hilda's nerves had finally seemed to have calmed down.
When they were at spots in the woods where Helga was sure no one would see them, she held Hilda's hands. She told herself it was to calm Hilda's nerves, but it was also to calm her nerves. Besides, she wanted to use this rare opportunity to hold her girlfriend's hands somewhere that wasn't their apartment, or a safe underground meeting spot, or a dark alley in a semi-secure part of town.
For a little moment Helga let herself get lost in the fantasy of them being just another regular happy couple going for a walk.
But the illusion only could last so long.
Once they entered the camp, they were just roommates again.
And a long day of work laid ahead of them.
