Sonate Au Clair De Lune (Richard Dick Winters X OC)

Sonate au Clair de Lune (Richard “Dick” Winters x OC) - Chap. 2

Drumrolls ... I’m finally back after a while of absence. I’m taking back things where I left them, sorry for the wait! Hope you’ll enjoy it !

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Sonate Au Clair De Lune (Richard Dick Winters X OC) - Chap. 2

Leaving the room, Jeanne rushed down the stairs to the ground floor as if to escape her own ridicule. Once in the linen room she sat down on the wooden bench along the wall, the pile of towels she had kept against her resting on her lap, and put her hands on her burning cheeks. Her heart was pounding and she felt like an idiot. She was trying to regain her composure when the hotel manager entered and was surprised to see Jeanne there rather than on duty.

Mrs Evelyne was a woman in her fifties, of medium height and heavy build, with short, curly brown hair that reached up to her cheeks. Very friendly but also sometimes very authoritarian, she had inherited the management of the hotel after the death of her husband during the Battle of France in 1940.

"But finally, Miss Lemoine, shouldn't you be somewhere else now? " Implicitly, in a room doing housework.

Jeanne got up confused and passed in front of her, apologizing "Yes, Madame Evelyne, forgive me, I wasn't feeling very well."

"Indeed, my dear, you are all red." She passed her hand over the young woman's forehead and nodded her head in silent affirmation. "You have a hot forehead. This is no time to get sick! I'm already down one person today, how am I going to run the place if I lose my employees one after another! "

"Everything is fine, I assure you. I'm going to continue to prepare the rooms." She quickly excused herself once more and left the room to take back the stairs she had been rushing down a few minutes before. Sick? If only Mrs. Evelyn knew, if only she knew that the warmth radiating from her face was only due to her interview with this complete stranger.

She had not had the opportunity to see her colleagues and really talk to them and tell them about her encounter the day before and the embarrassing situation she had caused that day. It had to wait until the end of the day when they met up for a drink.

"Wait, didn't you realise the door wasn't locked when you opened it?" Solange teased gently as Jeanne buried her face in her hands in a fit of embarrassment. A muffled "No." was heard from between her hands which made her two friends laugh.

A cigarette in one hand, her glass in the other, Gisèle, sunken in her chair, laughed out loud, which did not fail to attract the looks of those around her.

"Stop it!" Jeanne waved her hand in her friend's direction, beckoning her to lower her voice, while Solange gave an apologetic look to the people around them. Despite her modest condition, Gisele looked very well-to-do when you saw her, always with her hair done as if she had just come from the hairdresser's, her lipstick perfectly applied, her appearance neat. Jeanne envied her friend and was amazed that she managed to look so chic, when their condition did not really allow it. She perfectly embodied the image of the chic Parisian woman of the 1940s, the perfect brunette with her intense red lipstick. Solange, on the other hand, was a blonde with brown eyes, and wore more provincial clothes, which suited her perfectly, she constantly wore flowery dresses that would have made anyone but her look old-fashioned.

"And what was this handsome stranger like?"

"Quite tall, very elegant in his uniform. Red hair, pale skin and eyes halfway between blue and grey, hard to tell. And an awkward air that made him charming. "

"Are we allowed to know his name?" Gisele asked with a snide look on her face, throwing a knowing glance at Solange who did the same.

"Dick. It's probably a nickname." Jeanne shrugged slightly and rolled her eyes as her two friends exchanged knowing looks.

"Very American.” commented Solange before raising her glass to her lips.

Jeanne glanced around and her mind wandered elsewhere, disconnecting from the conversation her two friends were having next to her. Her gaze swept over the crowd around them and as she saw all the American soldiers on leave in town, she thought back to her encounter the day before. She blushed once more and shook her head gently as if to push those thoughts out of her mind. She thought it was ridiculous to dwell on it when he probably didn't and had, for all intents and purposes, forgotten what had happened, to whom she must have seemed a fool. She had no idea that she was not the only one to think about it.

~

After Jeanne had left the room, Dick had packed his things in preparation for his departure from Paris and his return to Mourmelon where the company was stationed. He had hoped to see her again when he left the hotel, but it was not to be, and a slight hint of disappointment was felt as he left. Even on the way by metro to the station where the train was to take him back to Mourmelon, he had hoped to see her again, since she had obviously fallen, literally, on him when he was not expecting it.

He had been intrigued by this young woman whom he had not stopped thinking about since he had resumed his duties. This mysterious young woman whose clumsiness made her charming and who had been put in his path, twice in a row.

He was still lost in thought when a hand snapped its fingers in front of his eyes to bring him back to the present. He looked up and saw Harry in front of him, who must have been talking to him for a few minutes already without him noticing. Dick lifted his chin, his eyes widening as he silently urged his friend to repeat.

"Are these reports that make you sleepy?" The redhead joked.

Dick looked down at the documents scattered on the desk, a pencil in one hand, his steaming cup of coffee in the other. He shook his head gently and turned his attention back to Harry.

"What were you saying?"

"Sink asks after you."

Richard put down his pencil and sighed before standing up and putting on his jacket. Since he'd been promoted Sink hadn't let go of his boots, surely that came with his new job. He walked down the steps of the small house where his room and office were located and headed for the command post to join Robert Sink who was waiting for him.

"Dick, old boy, there you are." Sink quickly raised his head to address him and turned his attention back to the documents on the table. Nixon, who was also there, came and stood next to Winters, bringing his coffee to his lips and addressing his friend.

"How was Paris?"

At this question the only interesting thing he remembered from his short stay, the young linen maid, crossed his mind and he held back a smile that would have caused Nix to ask him far too many awkward questions. He merely nodded and shrugged.

"That was good."

Nixon looked surprised and made a face of incomprehension.

"Just fine? You've got to be kidding me, Paris, man, Parisians women can't just be 'fine'."

Dick rolled his eyes and turned his attention to the maps spread out on the large wooden table.

"I'd forgotten who I was talking to. I should be asking you which museum you liked best." Nix continued, laughing at his friend before turning his head in the direction of Strayer, who had just called out to him and whom he joined.

During the time at Mourmelon, other officers had been able to go on leave to Paris after him. He had once wondered if these officers had stayed at the same hotel as him and if they had seen the young woman.

One lunchtime while sitting in the mess with Nixon he heard one of the officers of the 3rd Battalion at the table behind them talking about his leave in Paris.

"One thing is certain, and you can believe me, the French women are very different from the English women we have seen." He laughed and his comrades joined in, which encouraged him to continue.

"You can't imagine the happiness of being able to enjoy the comfort of the hotel, to sleep in a real bed with clean sheets, and to enjoy a hot bath. And all the better in charming company!"

The men who were sitting at his table and listening to him tapped on it to encourage him to continue and get more details. Dick, with his back to them, was staring at his plate, unconsciously playing his fork with the contents of the plate, listening to what was being said behind him.

"It's a real joy to be surrounded only by women! The hotel employees, each one as delicious as the next, but then again, it's their job to take care of that sort of thing!" His fat laughter echoed through the room, always accompanied by the other men, his words making Dick roll his eyes.

"Lovely young women. You can say what you like about French women, they're very welcoming!"

Dick's jaw clenched, not really sure if it was because there was a tiny part of him that feared that the sweet person Jeanne appeared to be dealing with a jerk like him or just his image of women, or both.

"Where the hell are you?"

He lifted his head and looked at Nix in front of him who had been talking into the wind for several minutes.

"Excuse me?"

"You're not with us, what was keeping you so busy?"

He looked at his friend blankly and blinked before returning his gaze to his plate.

"I was thinking about the information Sink gave us this morning." He lied, which was enough of an explanation for Lewis to pick up where he had left off a few seconds earlier. Dick felt a stir at his back and the men who had been seated at the table behind him walked past to get rid of their trays and leave the canteen. Dick followed them with his eyes and then turned his attention back to his friend, not knowing what he was talking about.

As they left, Nix was still talking, either too engrossed in his speech to pay any attention to his friend's reaction, or accommodated it. Dick, on the other hand, had only one thing on his mind, and it had been the same ever since he had returned from the capital. He considered it stupid to keep going over what had happened, she was a complete stranger he would never see again, and she had probably even forgotten him the second she left the room. On the other hand he had much more important and topical things to think about, the company was being sent to the Ardennes where the German army was striking hard.

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band of brothers dick winters hbo war band of brothers fanfic