Bitter Pill to Swallow

Chapter 3

"Currahee!"

Valerie grinned as she cheered along with her fellow paratroopers. Liebgott managed to slosh some of his drink onto her boots but she couldn't bring herself to get mad about it. After the thrill of completing the five qualifying jumps and managing not to vomit during any of them, Valerie and the rest of Easy felt like they were on top of the world.

She spotted Roe getting a drink at the bar and wandered over to him. He jumped when she clapped him on the shoulder, whacking her in the arm good naturedly for frightening him. Valerie grinned before turning to Luz, who had just popped up with a drink for Roe.

"Hey, Georgie, you got another one of those beers under there for me?" She asked.

"That depends," Luzresponded cheekily. "You gonna tell me the magic word of the night?"

"The magic word of the night," Valerie teased, "is kiss my ass and gimme a beer, Luz."

Luz smirked and reached under the counter, pulling out a full glass and planting it firmly on the counter in front of her. He got a mischievous twinkle in his eye then and reached under to grab a glass for himself.

"Now in response to your cheek," stated Luz, in a scarily accurate impersonation of Sink, "I'll have to challenge you to a contest. Whoever downs their drink the quickest, gets a full pack of Lucky Strikes."

"Well, how could I back down from a challenge like that," smirked Valerie. "You wanna get in on the fun, Gene?" She asked, laughing when Roe vehemently shook his head.

"Oh no, I'm quite happy to drink my beer and watch you two act the fool," he retorted, sipping his drink and leaning against the counter. Luz and Valerie shared a look and, with a nod, they raced to down their drinks. Clearly they'd drawn a crowd, because she could hear the guys shouting out a countdown around her. With a gasp, she slammed her glass on the counter and cried out in dismay when she realised Luz had just beat her.

"C'mon Val, hand 'em over," he teased, holding out his hand and fluttering his fingers. She grumbled something about him obviously cheating before pressing her precious box of Lucky Strikes into his palm. He opened them gleefully and plucked one out for himself before holding out the box to her.

"Aw c'mon, Val, you didn't think I'd take em and not offer you one as a peace offering, did ya?"

She rolled her eyes but took one gratefully, nodding her thanks to him when he lit it for her. He placed another drink on the counter for her and she took a sip, content to enjoy this glass.

Toye and the mortar gang had decided to stick around at the bar, and she laughed with them as they challenged each other to drinking games. She almost choked on her drink when Skip spilled beer all down his shirt in his eagerness to beat Penkala, who was surprisingly good at downing drinks.

"Hate to interrupt your fun, fellas, but I was wondering if I could have a word with Lieutenant Landry."

She went stiff in her seat, cigarette in hand suspended right in front of her lips. She glanced to her right and met Roe's eyes, and he was giving her a very pointed look. She glared back at him before turning around and facing her fellow Lieutenant Winters. He gestured towards a quieter corner and she nodded, following him without a word. She smoked her cigarette harshly, wondering what he could possibly want with her tonight of all nights.

"So," he started cautiously, "the battalion officers are drinking in another room to let the enlisted men enjoy themselves here. Nix, Welsh and I were wondering if you'd like to join us?"

She stared back at him sceptically. Outside of the necessary consultations on exercises they hadn't spoken since their argument, and she wasn't quite sure what to say now that he was.