Georgina had planned to return to work today. Thanks to Roger, the trauma of Richard's death was no longer debilitating. She was able to remember Rick without the clumsy rape fueled by the, probably fictitious, stories of his fellow pilots. Roger had given her the priceless gift of being able to think of him without rancor.
There was a loud knock on her door, someone had obviously by-passed the security of the main entrance, she slipped on a robe and answered the door.
She saw Roger, "Come in," her voice displaying her pleasure. "You look like you could do with bed."
She covered her mouth and blushed, "Sorry, I mean sleep."
He stepped in and was followed by a bedraggled robed figure. Georgina stepped around Roger and embraced her.
"Are you OK?" she said.
Reggie nodded, but she would not let Georgina go, she felt safe, a feeling she had forgotten.
"Could you make a cup of tea, Roger, please."
He nodded, his task was quickly completed, slowed only by the time for the water to boil. Even though he had only been in her kitchen once before, it was familiar. Georgina seemed to apply the same logic to her kitchen as he did his. He puzzled at Georgina's reaction, it was almost as if she'd immediately known that Reggie was in pain, he also pondered why women always seemed to hug. His pondering had obviously taken longer than he thought when he returned to the living room the tableau was entirely different. Reggie was wrapped in a pretty robe that would have fitted perfectly had she not been starved but more surprising she was wearing a smile, it was almost as beguiling as Georgina's.
"You two seem to be getting on, Chars up."
Georgina poured, quiet reined until their first sip, it was as if all had been waiting in anticipation of the tea.
"Why did you abduct Reggie?" Georgina asked.
Roger smiled, the statement was accusatory but it was delivered with no barbs as if Georgina knew that if it was true it would only be for the best reasons.
"I was searching for girls and was on my way home, I tripped over her this side of St James Park she was hiding in an alcove. She asked if my place was warm. So I took her there."
"You stripped her naked and took her to bed?" This was delivered with a wicked grin.
"She had hypothermia, I thought it was the only way to warm her up slowly. Her appendages were frozen, I was afraid that if that blood reached her core she would die."
"How many orgasms did you give her?" Now a raised eyebrow.
"Fucking hell... oops sorry, how quickly did you two talk?"
"Fast enough... well?"
"Three."
"It looks like I have much to look forward to -"
Reggie interrupted, Roger would have preferred Georgina had completed her thoughts.
"I'm sorry I was mean, Roger. I didn't understand how I ended up naked in your bed... thank you for saving my life."
Reggie pulled herself out of the chair and kissed Roger's cheek.
"I agree with you, most men are poisonous."
Roger held her hand and kissed it, it wasn't much of an apology, but it would do.
The tea took their tongues again, Roger chuckled to himself. He had been concerned about sharing the evening's work with Georgina but she had made sharing very easy. For someone so sexually naive she was very broad-minded.
"Roger, can you arrange for a ration book for Reggie?"
Reggie interrupted, "No, you can't have my details, I killed my husband!"
Reggie had shrunk, she had drawn into herself. Roger knew from experience that there was no information coming from that source. Georgina pulled her out of her chair and into a hug.
"I'll call you Roger."
Roger was summarily dismissed. Feeling a bit miffed, he said, "Don't open your door like that again, you could have been in danger."
"Oh... I didn't realize you were dangerous," her eyes directed him to go.
—<~>—
Georgina was pleased that she still had Fiona's clothes, it was a rare case where sloth had been rewarded. Reggie was slowly drawn from her introspection by Georgina's impromptu fashion show.
"... but they're too big."
Were the first welcome words uttered by Reggie since Roger had departed.
Georgina just grabbed her hand and pulled her into the third bedroom, it looked like a couturiers inner sanctum, well almost. The space was certainly busy, there were two mannequins with part completed gowns. The back wall had two machines and clothes in various states of repair or disrepair were spread around a central worktable. Reggie picked at her gown.
"Did you make this?"
"What is a girl to do, there is no way you can dress properly with rationing.
"Are you a seamstress?"
"No, I work at Scotland Yard."
Reggie was about to withdraw again but Georgina pulled her to the second mannequin pulled off the part completed dress and threw Reggie a tape measure.
"Come on we'll set this up for you, then you don't have to keep stripping for a fitting and you can get the drape of the fabric right."
Georgina's ploy stopped Reggie from withdrawing. She was excited to be in a women's world,
"What do I do?"
"OK, first your bust measurement."
The girls adjusted the model to emulate the shape they expected Reggie to be when she regained her condition. It was half an hour of fun and giggles. Georgina also took other vital statistics like arm measurements which couldn't be set on the mannequin.
"Tea, and a chat," Georgina said when they had finished.
When they sat with tea in hand Georgina in her typical fashion went straight to the issue.
"How did you kill your husband?"
It looked as if Reggie was going to close up again but a smile played with her frown and won.
"Fuck it... you are the first friend I've had. Do you really want to know?"
Georgina nodded.
"The house was bombed. He was too tough to go to a shelter so we'd stay in the cellar. Him safe under the chimney base and me by the door so I could run and get him a beer or whatever else he demanded. The bomb must have hit the house next door, it blew out the connecting wall he was trapped beneath the rubble. My tenuous position turned out to be the safest, many of these bruises are from the flying masonry..."
