The battle for love - Friedhelm Winter (UMUF/GW)

Part 2

Emma's POV:

The room went silent. The only noise that could be heard was the record player still belting out songs. Friedhelm swiftly moved to turn it off. I removed his army jacket from my figure, passing it to him before looking in the small mirror, where I patted down my hair, trying to look presentable.

"Hide!" Greta whisper shouted to her boyfriend. "No!" He dismissed back. Her hands started shaking, as she made her way to the front room. Wilhelm, being the oldest and therefore most responsible, slid on his jacket and followed her out.

"If they found out that you, a Jew, are not following curfew then you'll be sent to a camp along with the rest of us!" Charly started lecturing, while tucking in her shirt and taking her apron off. "Same rights for everyone. Selfishness is treason to the fatherland. Isn't it?" Viktor replied, clearly fed up with all the rules and regulations he had to follow just because of his religion. "Yes." Friedhelm agreed, tilting his head back, downing another shot. Viktor matching his actions.

I was just nicking my hat back from Friedhelms head, when Viktor knocked into the table, which much to everyone's dismay, made a considerable amount of noise. That noise however reached the ears of the party in the next room.

Realising our mistake, we heard footsteps approach the back room. We all then scrambled to sit down on the sofa, trying to look as natural as possible. Friedhelms arm held my shoulders close to his as he slouched in his seat, the alcohol removing any anxiety in him.

In then strode this tall man, who didn't look to be wearing any military uniform but a plain pin stipe suit, decorated with a golden swastika on his right breast. Behind him followed Wilhelm and Greta. My heart stopped as I heard Viktors breathing halt for a moment, the reality of our situation dawning on him.

" A farewell party. We are leaving for the east tomorrow." Wilhelm explained, keeping an eye on the strange man, as the man eyed up each occupant of the small sofa. The man then turned to look at him raising an eyebrow in question. "Wilhelm Winter." Wilhelm stated. "This is my brother Friedhelm." to which Friedhelm nodded in recognition. "Miss Emma Müller and Miss Charlotte Weiß will serve as nurses on the front lines." The man's eyes met Charly's as she stood up after her introduction, her polite upbringing shining through as she looked around embarrassed she was the only one and quickly return back to her original position.

His eyes then scanned over me looking me up and down with a creepy smile crawling onto his facial features. Friedhelms grip on my shoulders tightened, as he took off my hat, from his head, shaking it in the air in front of me to catch the man's attention. I could feel the anger radiating off of Friedhelm, as he sat up in his seat, letting his hand drop down to my leg, holding it protectively. He relaxed his grip when he saw the mans eyes leave me. But we all stiffened when we saw who they landed on next.

Viktor's adams apple moved up and down as he silently gulped. The mans expression started to change from creepy to serious, when Wilhelm cut his train of thought. "You stay at the home front?" Wilhelm asks, his question audibly criticising the mysterious man.

Blatantly ignoring Wilhelm's question and remembering what he was there for, the man slowly walked over to our record player. "It seems there has been a call. Apparently someone is listening to swing.......with Jews." The man stated, silently questioning us all with his eyes. " With Jews? No we wouldn't tolerate that." Charly responded quickly, the lie rolling off her tongue as she let out a small chuckle.

There was a moment of silence when the man walked over to the record player, as he inspected it. "Teddy Stauffer." He stated picking up the record and reading the back. Greta seizing her chance, slowly walked over to the man. "I didn't know swing was prohibited" she stated. "Your name?" The man asked, looking her up and down. "Greta Müller." She spoke, batting her eyelashes while looking straight into his eyes, clearly trying to act innocent, all while flirting to keep his attention.

Viktor cocked his head to the side, looking at her suspiciously. "Incitement of hatred, Mrs Müller. Report yourself in Prinz Albrecht Straße 8." He said as he looked her up and down again, slightly suggestively. We all let out an internal sigh of relief, when we saw him making his way towards the door, but then he tuned back raising his arm saying "To the final victory." Then as if it had set off an alarm in our heads, we all stood up from our positions on the sofa, quickly raising our arms."Heil H¡tler" we all chorused back to him.

He then exited with Wilhelm on his tail, as we all slouched back down. My head resting upon Friedhelm shoulder as he went to kiss the top of it, inhaling my scent. "A drink?" Charly offered as she stood up. "Yeah" Friedhelm replied standing up, holding his hands out for me to take, as he pulled me up from the sofa.

As I passed Viktor, I saw him purposely look away from Greta's gaze. "What?" Greta questioned, perching on the arm of the sofa. "You flirted with him." Viktor stated, still not meeting her eyes. Then she turned his face to hers, twisting her body to sit upon his. "I saved you, you schmendrik" she replied pulling his face towards hers. His face smiled apon hearing the Yiddish word as he leaned into her touch, embracing their kiss.

"I have to leave now and everyone should be getting home now, it's way past curfew." Wilhelm announced as he walked back into the room, a solemn expression taking over his features. "Now?! But Charly wanted to tell you something." Greta's smile sunk as she remembered Charly's statement from earlier that night. "That can wait" Charly procrastinated. "The war is over on Christmas" Wilhelm reminded, making eye contact with Charly.

"Yeah! Let's vow" Greta said, as everyone started to join together, shoulder to shoulder, in a small circle. "We will meet again together in this room, when the war is over" she said excitedly and we all grinned at each other. "Alive." Wilhelm added. "Christmas in Berlin." He announced. "Christmas in Berlin." We all repeated, smiles radiating off our faces.

"I'm going to take another photo! Go there. There in front of the shelf," Viktor ordered us, as he started setting up his new camera. "Here?" I asked. "Yes take a chair." Viktor responded looking at our positions. Greta was stood at the back next to Wilhelm and Friedhelm and I was sat on a chair in front next to Charly. "Friedhelm swap with Charly." He ordered again. Friedhelm shrugged and came and sat down next to me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders, pulling me close to him. I responded by leaning back into him. We were six friends. Viktor then set the timer off. We were young and we knew the future belonged to us. Viktor ran to stand next to Greta, she then wrapped her arms around his waist. The whole world lay before us, we just had to grab it. I moved in closer to Friedhelm as our checks squished against eachother. We thought we were immortal. CLICK!We would soon know better.

Author: End of the second part! What do you think!? I know Emma does not have many lines yet but she will get more soon! Don't worry! And as always If your reading this then I love youuuuuuu!!! Xxxx