Only a Paper Moon [ Band of Brothers ] 3

Chapter Seventeen

February 23, 1946
Nixon, New Jersey

The honeymoon passed in a whirlwind. They spent some time with Millie and her sisters, taking a few days in Aldbourne just relaxing. Going back to reality had taken significant effort. But they'd boarded the plane all the same. They'd said farewell to England and waltzed back into the lives of the East Coast socialites.

Only now, as Alice messed with her hair for a fourth time in front of the mirror, Alice would have to navigate the working class. She was no stranger to work. In Paris, they'd been well off but not wealthy, and she couldn't remember too much of being among the elite in Germany. Then she'd fought a war for four years.

"Stop messing with it!"

She glanced towards the open door of their bedroom. Lewis stood with a tiny smirk on his face, hair well groomed and eyes shining with mirth. Arietta tried to nudge past him. Alice sighed. But she put the brush back on the vanity and stepped back.

"You're worrying for nothing," Lewis added. "Come on."

Alice glanced up at him. She'd sunk to her knees and started petting Aria between the ears. But at his light teasing, she narrowed her eyes. "You can't understand."

"What?" He took a small drink from his flask. He continued on with his joke. "Alice, your my wife. They legally can't hate you."

She just scoffed, trying and failing to suppress a grin at his naivety. "It's because I'm your wife that they might. They look at me and they're going to see the foreign girl who got a job by being the wife of the Nixon heir." Standing up, she shook her head. "Come on. Let's go. We're going to be late."

"Woah, hold on." Lewis grabbed her arm as she marched passed, smile faltering. When she turned his way, he just shook his head. "I thought you wanted the secretary job?"

"I do, I do." She sighed. "Never mind. Come on."

He didn't seem satisfied. But she left no room for argument, hurrying out the door and down towards the stairs. When her heels clicked against the bottom step, Alice just grabbed her coat and took a deep breath. Day one of working at the Nixon Nitration Works. She hoped it went well.

When they pulled up to the headquarters, Alice had to calm her nerves. She had to stop her leg from shaking. She had to make her breathing slow. On her left, Lewis just looked a bit annoyed about having to go to work. But before either of them opened the doors, he turned to her.

"You've got Ruth to show you around," he said. "She knows I'll pay her extra if she keeps you happy."

Alice couldn't help the smile that cracked through her nervousness. Of course he'd said that. "Bribery, Lewis Nixon?"

"Of course," he told her. As they both opened the doors and straightened themselves, he just joked, "That's how the Nixons got rich."

With a light laugh, Alice closed her door. "That wouldn't surprise me at all."

The chilly walk to the front of the office buildings didn't take very long at all. Lewis opened the door for her, and she stepped inside. A couple of women sat at desks at the front, their eyes immediately turning upwards at the opening of the door. One blonde, one brunette, both couldn't have been too much older than Alice.

"Good morning, Mr. Nixon, Mrs. Nixon!"

They turned left and found Ruth hurrying towards them, coffee cup in her hand. Under her arm was her clipboard and she had a pencil behind her ear. Alice smiled and said good morning.

"Thanks Ruth." Lewis took the coffee. "What's the word around the office?"

"The usual, sir," was all she said. But her tiny smirk said otherwise, and as Nixon gestured for her to walk so they could join. As they moved down the hallway, her grin widened. "Lewis, your father went absolutely bonkers after that letter you left."