The Tea Party
by Rebecca Immich

Disclaimer: All characters except for original ones are copyrighted by Rupert Holmes, AMC, etc. etc. etc. This is only meant to entertain and no infringement intended.

Author's Note: This story wasn't meant to be so much Hilary, but as some other RW writers have noted, she does tend to take over a story. I hope my characterization of her isn't too off; please let me know what you think of it! Others of you might recognize Adrienne from "Romance and Welsh Rarebit;" this part of the promised sequel. My inspiration for writing this story came from this fantastic book called "A Mouthful of Rivets," an oral history all about the working women of WWII. Excellent reading if you can track down a copy of it. And without further ado, the story.

Hilary stopped by the green room door late one night, surprised to hear soft feminine voices coming from within. "I thought everyone had gone home already," she said to herself. It was a Saturday night, about eleven at night and the station had closed fifteen minutes ago. Hilary pushed the door open to see Betty, Maple, Eugenia, Gertie and Adrienne sitting around the table with cups and a pile of sandwiches in the middle. After the group noticed the open door, the animated chatter stopped. Betty stood up. "Hello Hilary," she said cheerfully.

Hilary looked confused. "Why are you all still at the station? And what are you doing?" She looked at the group of women who had obviously made themselves comfortable after hours, removing their shoes and stretching out as comfortably as possible in the chairs around the table.

"Oh," Betty said, noticing Hilary's gaze at her stocking feet. "Well, this is the only time that is good for all the girls to get together. Running WENN takes most of the time from everyone here and Adrienne is busy at the plant any of the other times we were all free. We just get together every couple of weeks to have some tea and talk about how things are going."

Maple, who had a far off expression on her face, broke in. "Would you like to have a sandwich, Hilary?" she asked, her expression changing to be on the alert as she scanned Hilary's face, waiting for a reaction.

"Oh Hilary," Eugenia said, a cheerful grin spreading across her face, "it would be lovely if you would join us. We meant to invite you some weeks ago but--"

"You've been leaving in quite a rush lately," Gertie said matter-of-factly. "We never had an opportunity to talk to you. Have you been expecting a call from Jeff?"

"Yes," Hilary answered honestly. "He wrote me about two weeks ago that he might be able to get a connection out sometime soon. I really should go home just in case."

"If I do my math correctly and the newspapers are right," Adrienne broke in gently, "it's four in the morning there. You'd probably be safe for another hour or so. You look exhausted. Why don't you take my seat and I'll get you a cup of tea."

Hilary sank down into the chair. She propped her elbow on the table and rested her head on her hand as Adrienne bustled over to the hot pot to fix her cup of tea. An uneasy silence fell across the room as everyone sat and stared into their mugs of tea. Hilary rolled her eyes skyward. "Well," she said sharply, "don't let me spoil your get-together. Carry on, carry on!"

Gertie opened her mouth to utter a scathing retort at Hilary when Betty interrupted quickly. "Adrienne--" she began and then looked thoughtful. "You do know Adrienne, don't you? C.J.'s fianc�." After noticing Hilary's nod, Betty continued. "Well, before you walked in, she was just starting to tell us about what happened after they got engaged."

Adrienne came over to the table with the cup of tea and handed it to Hilary. "Thanks," Hilary said. She looked� into the mug. "How did you know that I took milk in my tea?"

"I used to be a waitress at the Buttery. I still fill in every once and a while on weekends there, but now I work at the boatyards at Neville's Island. You were quite the regular customer back when I worked there." She looked at the other girls. "I suppose I should finish the story. I'll have to start over though, alright?"

Eugenia nodded eagerly. "Oh, I know that I love hearing about engagements, especially after Mr. Foley proposed. I'm sure Hilary would like to hear it."

Hilary nodded. Anything to keep everyone from expecting her to talk.

Adrienne settled onto the chair next to Hilary and began her story. "Well, after C.J. proposed to me, we weren't exactly sure what to do next. I wanted to get married right away but?"

- - -

"Here we are," C.J. said as he stopped the car on a rural road just outside of Pittsburgh.

"Where are we?" Adrienne asked. She looked around at the green fields and rutted road. "There isn't anything out here except for a few farms. You had to borrow Tom's car to take me all the way out here to see some farm land?"

"No," C.J. said quietly. "This is where we're going to live once we get married."

"Out here? Where?"

"Well," C.J. said, as he reached over to take her hand, "I thought I'd tell you about my plan now and see what you think of it." She squeezed his hand, encouraging C.J. to continue. "I thought we could buy a plot of land out here, away from the smoke of the city, and build a house. That way our kids would be able to grow up away from the industry of the city and I'd still be close enough to work there."

"Who said anything about having kids?" Adrienne said mock seriously.

C.J. gulped. "I thought you wanted to have kids. But if you don't?"

Adrienne giggled. "I can't believe you fell for that! Of course I want to have kids! Do you think that I want to work at the Buttery for the rest of my life?"

C.J. smiled and said, "Adrienne!" She patted his hand affectionately and said, "Well, how are we going to be able to afford to build a house out here? I can barely afford to pay for half of an apartment and you just manage to pay for yours. We don't have a lot of extra money for houses."

"Now that's another thing. I've found a way for us to be able to afford this, but it'll take some time. I've got a job at a manufacturing plant working first shift. I've talked to Victor and I'd be able to work the night shift and weekends at WENN. After about eighteen months I'd be able to quit at the factory and go back to working full time at WENN. Now," he said, trying to soothe Adrienne's anxious look, "I know you wanted to get married right off, but we'd be able to have a house instead of an apartment if you can only wait an extra year."

"Well," she said slowly, debating the possibilities, "this does seem to make the most sense. I won't get to see much of you though if you are going to be working both first and second shift."

"Adrienne, honey, we'll make time for each other. I won't be working too many hours during the weekends any way."

Adrienne smiled wistfully. She realized that it was going to be a long year and a half but if that was what C.J. wanted to do, she wasn't going to stand in his way. "Okay. I can wait." The couple shared a kiss and then went to planning what the house would eventually look like.

- - -

"That was the past spring," Adrienne continued, "but after war broke out and C.J. was drafted, our plans have changed slightly. I think I'm still earning enough to pay for the house when we can finally get it built."

Hilary nodded sleepily. "How interesting. Well, thank you for the tea and sandwich, but I really should be going. It's a long walk back to my apartment."

Maple stretched out and replied, "Yeah, Betty, if we want to catch the trolley back to the Barbican, we'd better get going soon." She sneaked a glance at Hilary, who looked about ready to fall asleep on the table. "Will you be able to make it to your apartment, Hilary?"

"Of course," she snapped back. At once Hilary regretted her sharp retort. Acting like the diva that she had once been was a habit for her and it had caused many women to envy her and snub her behind her back. It hadn't bothered Hilary before, but now that she was settled in one place, she was beginning to feel lonely. It was a feeling that she hadn't often experienced. Adoring fans had always surrounded her and even when the numbers had dwindled, there had always been Jeffrey. But now he was gone and Hilary was making a mess of her first opportunity to have some women friends. "I'm sorry, Maple," she said softly. "I'll be fine once I get moving. I'm just worried about Jeff. I don't understand why he hasn't called yet."

"You seem awful anxious to get this call from him," Gertie shrewdly observed. "Anything you'd like to talk to us about?"

Hilary hesitated a moment, debating between finally being able to share her secret and the pull of keeping her life private. She decided that she would confide in them. "Well, I wanted to tell Jeff first which is why I was so anxious for his phone call, but I guess he just hasn't been able to get a line out. I'll just have to write a letter instead. It's about his going away present."

Eugenia looked confused. "What did he give you that would be that urgent?" she asked.

"I didn't find out about it for another month or so. I'm pregnant," Hilary said.

"Oh my goodness Hilary!" Betty exclaimed. "Congratulations!" The other women reacted with squeals of delight and rushed to give Hilary hugs of congratulations.

Hilary smiled and accepted their congratulations graciously. After the hubbub settled down, she said, "It would be so much better if I could talk to him in person, but since he's in France right now, I think that's a little impossible."

Gertie smiled and said, "Hilary, the letter that you will write him will be just as good as telling him in person. I know that when my younger sister was in the same position that you are now - this was during the Great War - she wrote her husband a letter telling him about their child and he carried it with him on the battlefields. You should have seen the condition of the letter when he got home! All creased and worn from the numerous times that he'd read and reread it. Trust me Hilary, Jeff will appreciate a letter just as much as if he were here."

Hilary frowned. This had to be the first time that Gertie wasn't baiting her; in fact she was being down right nice! "I'll keep that in mind when I write him," she said. "Well, thank you for the sandwich and tea."

Maple smiled and replied, "It's our pleasure, Hilary. We try to get together at least once a month after work and you're welcome to come."

"I guess I'll have to now," Hilary said. "You all know my secret."

"That's right," Adrienne said. "And now you have to keep us posted on what is going on with you and the new little Singer."

"And in return," Betty added laughingly, "you'll get to hear all about our trials and tribulations. Well, Maple, it is getting late. The last trolley leaves in," she said, glancing down at her watch, "five minutes! I hate to leave in such a rush, but we've got to get going!" Maple and Betty quickly grabbed their coats, waved a frantic good-bye, and rushed out the door to the trolley stop down the street.

"Well, Eugenia," Adrienne added, "I suppose we'd better get going." They both lived on the same apartment building and since Adrienne had C.J.'s old Ford while he was gone, she drove a large group of women to work and when she had enough gasoline rations, WENN. "Goodnight, Hilary and Gertie!" Eugenia bubbled as she left the room with Adrienne.

"I guess it's just you and me," Gertie said as she piled the dirty dishes in the sink of the green room. "Oh, I'm not going to do the dishes now," she said as Hilary started to get up. "We'll save them for tomorrow."

"Great," Hilary said. "I'm just too tired right now to do much of anything. I don't even know if I'll make the walk home."

"We live in the same direction, don't we?" Gertie asked. She named the street that she lived on and Hilary nodded in agreement. "Then we're not too far apart. Why don't we share a cab tonight? I know I don't feel like walking either."

"All right," Hilary agreed slowly. "Gertie, I hate to spoil this, but why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden? Earlier this evening you looked like you wanted to throttle me."

"Well I did!" Gertie announced. "When you get in those diva moods, well, I just think that I'm the best person to try to deflate your ego. But after you shared your news with us tonight, I was reminded of my sister Peg. She's the one who went through the same thing you will, only twenty years ago. I know how tough it was for her to have a child without her husband and I just want you to know that you have all of our support."

"Thank you Gertie," Hilary said slowly. "You don't know how much that means to me."

Gertie smiled and reached for her coat. "Just remember that when you start to act all high and mighty again. C'mon, let's go call for that cab."

The End.

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