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“Shit, shit, shit”, Liz muttered to herself as she jogged quickly over to Command. She was not going to be late to a stupid intelligence briefing because of the insufferable Captain Sobel.
What was supposed to be a calm afternoon of translation and studying had turned into a shit show rather quickly. It started innocently with a dare between her and the boys of Easy Company that spiraled out of control. As the intelligence officer newly assigned to the company, and a woman to boot, the boys were rather mistrustful of her. Already prepared by the treatment she received in Camp Ritchie in Maryland for her intelligence training; she knew it was going to take some time for them to warm up to her. Say nothing about Captain Sobel who made it quite clear that she wasn’t and will never be welcome in the company.
Slowing down as she reached Command, she methodically checked her hair and smoothed out her uniform to make sure her hustle to Command was not apparent. Walking into the building she was greeted by Betty, Colonel Sink’s secretary who threw her a knowing glance before turning back to the paperwork neatly organized on her desk.
Liz glanced through the windows of the doors that opened into the meeting rooms and felt her heart give a jump when she saw Lt. Winters sitting against the back wall talking to Lt. Nixon. She inwardly cursed herself for this stupid crush that had developed on Winters ever since she arrived at Camp Toccoa. With a frown, she also noticed that Captain Sobel had noticed her approach to the doors and was staring daggers at her through the window. Steeling herself against the scolding she was going to get because of her lateness, Liz let herself into the room, drawing the room’s attention. She nodded at the room’s occupants picked up the folder present on the front table and made her way quickly to the back. Finding an open seat next to the other intelligence officer assigned to Dog Company, Corporal Carlton she smiled at him as she settled down next to him.
“Good of you to show up” he muttered as Liz opened up the folder and started reading the contents of the folder.
“Shut it Carlton, not my fault” she replied, frowning as she read through the file noticing just how much material was going to be covered in this briefing.
“I heard, good on you for sticking it to that asshole”.
“I didn’t mean for it to get so out of hand, much less getting almost caught for it”.
“Oh I know, Leibgott told me all about it and Luz did a great impression of Sobel”.
“They did not,” said Liz as she turned to him horrified, the contents of the file forgotten.
Carlton merely chuckled at her and gazed around the room, taking count of the people present in the meeting. “Where do you suppose Colonel Sink is at?” he mused noticing his absence among the 15 or so officers present.
“Wait, so I’m not actually late am I,” said Liz as she glanced up from her speed reading.
“It appears not,” said Carlton with a smile.
“Attention!”
And with the scape of chairs, Colonel Sink entered the room of officers at attention.
“At ease,” said Sink as he made his way to the front of the room and took a seat next to the ranking intelligence officers at the front; Captain Wright and First Lieutenant Scott.
“Here we go” sighed Carlton as the Colonel and the intelligence officers launched into their review of Axis movement in the Eastern theater and their plans for the 506thst.
“Here we go” echoed Liz, pleased that her lateness had not been noted by Sink, or commented on by the other officers.
An hour or so later, with the meeting coming to an end. Carlton bumped Liz’s shoulder and whispered his plans for an evening spent at the bar located in town. Liz sighed and disclosed that Sobel had ordered Easy Company to march twelve miles tonight in full gear and in addition, had canceled their weekend passes. Carlton offered to come back early and pass some time with her at Camp Tocca’s bar. Liz agreed to this plan but warned him that she might be too exhausted to be any fun.
“All right, so after boring you with all this I wish you all a great weekend and hope to see you next week, dismissed” and with that last note by Sink, the room was a flurry of activity as the officers made their way towards the exit, excited to begin their weekend.
Carlton and Liz remained seated, waiting for the group to leave so they could continue their meeting with their superiors. Leaning back on her seat and kicking her feet out, Liz lounged in her seat waiting for the room to clear. Her peace, however, was interrupted by the approach of Winters and Nixon.
“Hello sirs,” said Carlton smiling at the approaching Lieutenant.
“Hi, there Corporals,” replied Nixon with a smirk and taking a seat in front of them along with Winters.
Liz felt her heart rate increase with Winter’s approach and dug her nails in her palms to provide some sort of distraction.
Turning themselves around so they were facing Carlton and Liz, Nixon said “So, I heard someone got on Captain Sobel’s bad side this afternoon” giving Liz a knowing look.
“In all honesty sirs, Captain Sobel has just one side and that is his bad side” replied Liz. That awarded her with a small smile from both Winters and Nixon.
“Nevertheless, Liz that was quite a stunt you pulled,” said Winters.
“I know, I know, that won’t happen again” sighed Liz.
“Oh, we’re not saying never again, just maybe don’t draw Sobel’s attention next time” smiled Nixon, sharing a look with Winters.
Liz felt her eyebrows raise as she stared at the Lieutenants in astonishment. Carlton began chuckling as he noticed just how surprised Liz looked.
“You know, you are supposed to be an intelligence officer, and I don’t think being caught is what is supposed to happen,” said Nixon.
“He’s just suspicious, I’m not caught,” said Liz good naturally, crossing her arms across her chest. “Plus, think of this as practice”.
That earned a laugh from the Lieutenants who weren’t surprised to hear something like this from Liz. Arriving only a week ago, both Winters and Nixon had quickly realized that Liz was not a normal intelligence officer if there were such a thing. She shocked them on the first day by keeping pace with the men in their run-up Currahee and even returning the sarcastic jabs made about her by the men. Their experience with intelligence officers had proven that they were rather uptight and rather unpleasant to be around. Liz proved to be the exception and both men were happy that Liz was assigned to their company.
“Anyways, what are your plans this weekend?” asked Nixon.
“Well, Carlton is heading off to a bar tonight and Easy has another march tonight, again. And our weekend passes are canceled, so Carlton and I might spend some time at the Camp’s bar. Other than that, it’s another fun weekend at the base” Said Liz sarcastically.
“Did all of Easy get their weekend pass rejected?” asked Nixon, posing the question at Winters.
With a nod, Winters replied, “Sure did”.
“That’s why we plan to drink away our sorrows tonight”, said Carlton clapping a hand on Liz’s shoulder, causing her to wince as her aching shoulders protested the sudden action. “You both should join us”, continued Carlton.
“Oh, you bet that we’ll be there” replied Nixon, “I’m not one to turn down an invitation that includes a beautiful woman”.
This earned a laugh from Liz as Nixon wiggled his eyebrows at her. “You better be careful; I got a wicked left hook” chortled Liz.
Their discussion was cut short as the room finally emptied and Captain Wright cleared his throat, indicating that he wished to continue the intelligence briefing with just the intelligence officers.
“Well boys, it looks like we’ll see you after dinner. What should we plan for, 10, 11 o’clock tonight?” said Liz as she began to stand up.
“11 should work,” said Winters, as he and Nixon also rose to their feet.
“Wonderful, see you then,” said Liz as she and Carlton made their way to the front.
“Winters at a bar, what a strange occurrence for a rumored Quaker,” said Carlton, “Could it be because of the ambiance or maybe it’s the company”. He gave Liz a knowing smirk.
“Shut it,” said Liz, trying desperately to stop the silly smile creeping across her face.