Steps Singles - The One Shots

Heartbeat (Part 2)

Lee:
After Lisa moved in she took almost immediately to helping in anything she could; cooking, cleaning, runs to the shops and promised Faye as soon as the winter was over she'd help her with the garden (Faye took great pride in her growing of fruits and vegetables in our little garden, though since I'd confessed to having a nasty habit of killing plants when I touched them she'd virtually banned me from it). It was great, I could get away with not cooking and know that there was a good chance dinner would be edible, which outweighed her talent for leaving the place as untidy as Ian still did. At least Faye was somewhat tidy, the other two were like small children leaving all their belongings everywhere but where they should be. The day Lisa'd moved in she'd changed her registered address at BP so her mail could still reach her, and had then anxiously awaited a letter. She'd had one from her mother assuring her her brothers were all okay, though she still seemed desperate to get something else. Mostly she was very peaceful to have around, spending many evenings sat curled up somewhere reading a book, and would accompany Faye on her weekly trip to the library. But she also matched so well with the chaos we often enjoyed as a group, joining in when we'd all tease each other and play silly games. Both Faye and Lisa's birthdays fell at the start of November and were lightly celebrated, on both occasions by a trip to the social club and with cakes made by Claire that shouldn't work but did, despite the compensation for lacking ingredients.
Just as the three of us had last year, all four of us had been anxiously awaiting any sign of snow, Faye kept saying she wanted there to be a white Christmas and, even though that'd mean we'd all be stuck in Bletchley without means to see our families, it was an exciting idea and one that staved off the thought of the war while we daydreamed about the childish joy of a snowy Christmas morning. There had been no sight of any snowflakes yet, but it was only the end of November, there was still plenty of time. I'd started work on Christmas presents around my shifts, and it was hard work living with four people, especially given the war it was much easier to make something than buy anything much and I had to make sure they were hidden from everyone, which proved difficult given I shared a room with Ian. The lack of privacy did tend to grate on me at times, though at least I enjoyed the company of my housemates. And when we weren't working we did all have a good time together.

One blustery, mizzly Thursday dinnertime, after a day shift, a bedraggled post lady came to visit with some post for us. For a couple of weeks Lisa had been worrying, and every time the post lady knocked on the door Lisa would sprint to get it because she was anxiously anticipating a letter from Johnny. So far she'd had no luck, though it was no surprise to Ian and I when she dashed to the door the second there was a knock. There was the sound of the door opening, muffled conversation, and then the door shutting again, followed a few seconds later by a "Yes!". I breathed a sigh of relief as she ran back into the front room with us, ditching the other letters on the mantelpiece - that was a Faye thing originally, where she'd grown up with dogs and up there they were out of harm's way. She very carefully opened it and took a deep and slightly shaky breath as she took in the fact that the letter itself was written not in Johnny's handwriting but, reportedly, his mum's before reading it. As she started her hand slipped to her locket, fiddling with it as her eyes tracked across the page. Ian headed off to find something to do, he wouldn't want to think about couple smush, but I stayed, something inside me telling me Lisa might well need the company.
"No!" She cried when she got about halfway through it.
"What's up?"
"No no no." She moaned, shaking her head. There were tears were building in her eyes as she just stared at the letter; I presumed it was bad news.
"Lise, what is it?" I asked.
She struggled for a minute to find words. "He's missing." She whispered eventually. "J's missing."
I slipped my arms round her, gently rubbing her arm in reassurance as she cried. I wasn't sure what best to do beyond that, but it was something.
"What if... if the... if they find him?" Lisa choked out eventually. "What if they... they come to find me as well if they have? Then they'd know!"
"Oh you didn't tell him did you?" I asked. Of course the Germans finding her wasn't entirely a worry because it was very unlikely they'd try, but if they found out about the Park...
"N...no I didn't. Of course I didn't! I told his mum the address and she sends his letters on to me. Neither of them know what I do obviously." Lisa mused.
"Then you're safe. They're not gonna come looking for you because there are so many British men the Germans have caught they don't need more people to worry about." I assured her, before realising that wasn't the best thing I could have said. "Anyway the Germans having him is preferable to... I don't know him being dead."
Lisa sobbed and cuddled closer for comfort.
I bit my lip. "Sorry. I can't believe that one helped either."
"I suppose you're right... At least... well there's a chance he'll come back if they have..."
"I'm sure he'll end up alright Lise." I told her softly.
Lisa struggled to find anything to reply with and nodded before cuddling up closer still to hide her tears in my top.