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Eight o'clock. The day passed so quickly, Elizabeth almost missed it, but here she was, walking to the docks. It felt like the docks were miles away, but she knew they were only a block up from her house.
As she rounded the corner, she saw Alex sitting on one of the dock's boxes, a cigarette hanging from his fingers, as he looked out to the channel. Elizabeth, taking a deep breath, walked over to Alex, sitting down next to him.
"Fuck, you scared the shit out of me." Elizabeth just smiled slightly. "Hi."
"I've not got long, I got a letter from Damien waiting for me back at home." Alex scoffed. "Stop it. He loves me. I love him. Just because it isn't what you wanted, doesn't mean you get to laugh."
"Please, if you truly loved him, you wouldn't be here, Betty. Stop lying to yourself." Elizabeth frowned. "Can we talk about us? I just, I can't live without you, Betty, you're the one thing that keeps me sane in all this. You're the one I want to hear from while I'm in France. You can't just leave."
"I'm still your friend, Alex. If you want to write to me, you're allowed to. But you must write to Grace too. She'll have my head. I've already agreed to write to Tommy when he's gone. I can add you to the list as well."
"Fuck that. I want a letter from you saying that you'll be waiting for me at the docks when I come home. I want a letter saying that you can't sleep because my warmth isn't there."
"Alex, stop. This is inappropriate." Alex stood up, looking out at the dark ocean.
"Fuck appropriate! I want you, Betty!" He turned to Elizabeth, his hands on his head.
"Then leave Grace! Leave her and tell her that you've been seeing me!" Elizabeth stood up, stepping close to Alex. He stayed silent. "Exactly. One glance at me and you want to have me, but you lie and you lie to me. I lie to you too. I would never leave Damien for you. No matter how much I want to believe I would, I wouldn't because I love him, Alex. You love Grace, that's why you can't leave her. That's why you can't even say you will leave her because you love her as much as I love Damien. You don't love me."
"Betty-"
"It's alright. I've always known that you would never leave Grace. You two are perfect for each other. Truly. I'll see you tomorrow, Alex. Grace has the cake testing set for us."
"If you change your mind, you know where I live." Elizabeth nodded, knowing that the temptation will be going on all night, so she would have to ask Grace to stay. "Betty, I want you to know, you mean the world to me. You really are one of a kind. I'm happy that we got to know each other, even for a little bit." Elizabeth sighed, not turning back to face him.
"Goodbye, Alex." The only sound that was heard after that was her high heels on the cobblestoned walk.
"You're boring tonight, Lizzie, what's wrong?" Elizabeth sighed, picking at the food she made for her and Grace. "Is it Tommy because Alex said something about him today too. He said he didn't want Tommy around you anymore. Apparently he made you cry at the dance." Elizabeth scoffed.
"He didn't make me cry. I realized that I hadn't said a proper goodbye to Damien. If he dies in France, I'll have to live with the fact I just hugged him and told him I would see him soon. I don't want to remember that."
"Oh, Lizzie, he'll come home to you. He's got you to motivate him to stay alive, doesn't he. A woman is the best motivation, Alex says. He says he'll be thinking of me when he's in France." Elizabeth sighed, thinking back to when Alex told her the same thing. "Oh no, I've said something wrong."
"No, it's alright. I'm thinking about Damien's letter. He said he and his regiment were being moved to the front lines and that he didn't know when he would receive any letters or send any. I'm just terrified one day I'll get a telegraph from my family and it'll say Damien was killed."
"Oh, you mustn't think like that, Lizzie, it'll worry you so much you'll be sick. Come on, we'll have fun tonight and tomorrow, you and I will go get our photos taken so you can send one to Damien and I'll give one to Alex to bring with him across the channel. Now, let's play a game, yes?" Elizabeth smiled, nodding, but couldn't bring herself to stop thinking about Damien and the British man who flipped her world upside down.
