The Spitfire Girls(42)
May watched as Lizzie gulped down her champagne.
‘It seems she wants to see exactly what women are doing here in Britain,’ Jackson carried on. ‘From the Women’s Land Army to the ATA and the women ferry pilots and everything in between.’
‘Captain Montgomery!’ Lizzie demanded, looking furious. ‘Exactly how long have you known this information? You shouldn’t be keeping secrets like that from me about our own country!’
Jackson raised an eyebrow. ‘Perhaps I should have shared this with your British sisters only? They seem far more grateful for confidential information I pass to them.’
‘Honestly, Montgomery, you’re such a bore sometimes.’
May followed the exchange, feeling sorry for Jackson. His behaviour tonight had shown that he was firmly on their side; what’s more, he had freely shared his knowledge of flying large aircraft and she respected him for that.
‘Perhaps I didn’t want to share classified information with the biggest loudmouth around?’ he said. ‘You haven’t exactly given me reason to confide in you, Elizabeth.’
‘The fact that Eleanor Roosevelt is coming here and no one told me about it until now is criminal!’ Lizzie hissed. ‘And I’m not a loudmouth!’
‘Perhaps if you were more of a team player you’d have been given that information before now,’ he replied, clearly unconcerned by how riled up she was.
May could see where this was going. She was about to intervene when Lizzie stepped right up to the captain, her chest puffed out.
‘There is no team to rely on when I’m in the sky, only me. So don’t go telling me that I need to be a team player! It’s getting tiresome, all of you!’
May watched as Jackson stopped a waiter and took a champagne bottle from him, then attentively topped up everyone’s glass except for Lizzie’s. He placed it back on the waiter’s silver tray and held his glass up before taking a slow sip and winking at Lizzie, and May had to bite her lip to stop herself smiling.
‘Lovely to see you all, but I have a colleague I’d like to speak with. I trust you’ll all have a wonderful night.’
And with that he spun around and walked away, leaving Lizzie visibly seething. Ruby put a hand to her shoulder, only to be shrugged away as Lizzie muttered under her breath.
Then May was distracted by a light touch to her back. When she turned and came face to face with Winston Churchill, a sense of calm settled over her that she’d never experienced before.
‘Prime Minister Churchill, what an honour to be here tonight in such esteemed company,’ she said quickly.
‘Senior Commander Jones, the pleasure is all mine,’ he said. May was used to hearing his voice on the wireless, and in person he was as authoritative and appealing as he sounded there. ‘We are immensely proud of all you’re doing for the war effort. The assistance has been well received and greatly appreciated.’
‘Thank you, sir.’
‘If there’s anything we can do to assist you further . . .’
‘Well, actually, sir, there is one thing,’ May said, lowering her voice.
‘Yes?’ he asked, a frown puckering his forehead. She was certain he’d expected her to merely nod and not ask for anything.
‘I’m rather appalled to learn that we’re being paid twenty per cent less than our male colleagues, and it’s something I’d like to see remedied immediately,’ she told him. She’d missed one opportunity, and she was darn sure she wasn’t going to miss another; she saw no point in waiting until the morning, when the decision-maker himself was standing in front of her. ‘Obviously I’ll go down the appropriate channels to ensure this is fixed, but with my pilots on the cusp of ferrying much-needed four-engine bombers to our boys at the front . . .’ She purposely left her sentence dangling, glancing down at her drink for a moment before looking up again and smiling. ‘In fact, our first and best bomber pilots are here with me tonight.’
Churchill’s stare was impossible to decipher.
‘It was lovely to make your acquaintance, Senior Commander,’ he said, abruptly ending their conversation. ‘Thank you for your service, and I trust you’ll enjoy a rare evening off.’
May nodded and watched him go, her heart beating wildly. Then a hand touched her shoulder, and she looked straight into the eyes of Ben.
‘Have this,’ he whispered, passing her a fresh glass of champagne. ‘I think you deserve it. Bravo.’
Her hand was shaking as she reached for it, but when Ruby and Lizzie started to clap, a slow smile spread across her lips as she realised they’d overheard the conversation. Ben joined in, doing a dainty little clap and making her laugh. She still couldn’t get over how clean his hands were.
‘First of all, let me say that your little speech there has made me actually appreciate the concept of teamwork,’ Lizzie said, slinging an arm around her. ‘And second of all, we’re getting twenty per cent less pay?’
May blew out a breath. ‘Yes, Lizzie, we are. I just found out tonight.’
‘Well then, bravo, Commander. We’ll know who to thank if we get a pay rise.’
Ruby cleared her throat and pointed to the front of the room as Churchill appeared, ready to address the crowd. ‘Here goes.’
May glanced sideways at Ben, and her heart raced as his eyes met hers again. Churchill should have been the most interesting man in the room, but it was Ben who claimed her full attention. He’s a friend, she reminded herself. A friend and nothing more. She couldn’t survive another broken heart, that was for sure. After tonight, he was just her flight mechanic, nothing more, nothing less.