Enemies in Love by Alexis Clark

Author:Alexis Clark
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781620971871
Publisher: The New Press
Published: 2018-03-06T00:00:00+00:00

7.

End of War

AFTER FREDERICK AND ELINOR BEGAN SLEEPING together the days of rational thinking disintegrated. Every minute of their existence rested on being together. Frederick split his time volunteering in the hospital and working in the kitchen, and somehow his schedule never sounded any alarms. He had established himself as a trusted hospital volunteer in addition to being a much relied-upon and valued cook in the officers’ mess. The guards weren’t suspicious of him at all.

Whether he was translating or working as an orderly mopping floors and cleaning rooms, Frederick familiarized himself with every inch of the hospital to find safe places to be alone with Elinor. She helped plot their escapades as well, since she had access to the staff’s schedules, which meant she knew exactly when the surgery rooms would be vacant. After the war, in a rare admission, Frederick revealed to his sister, Charlotte, that he and Elinor would make love whenever possible.

The circumstances surrounding Elinor and Frederick’s relationship were fitting for a passionate affair. There was absolutely nothing to do in Florence; it was a remote town and they were young, full of sexual desire, and seeking release from their own personal troubles. They were each other’s forbidden fruit, and anything that brought them happiness during the war was worth the risk. And the two never seemed to fear getting caught. But Gwyneth was worried for them.

“Since Frederick was in the kitchen as a baker, he was permitted out of his compound at night. So he was over in the areas for the officers doing the cooking and whatnot. And then Elinor would sneak out. I was nervous about the whole situation, but they weren’t,” Gwyneth said. She admired Elinor for being bold, but began to think she was foolish too. “She knew what could have happened to her,” said Gwyneth of the consequences Elinor would have faced had she been caught. She understood, however, the feelings her friend had for Frederick. “They had the greatest love story.”

Frederick and Elinor refused to spoil their love affair by worrying about getting exposed. Their youth, coupled with their intense urge for each other, made the risk worth it. And the alternative—to not have each other as lovers and confidants during the war—was unthinkable.

Elinor’s initial attraction may have been a subconscious way of telling the U.S. military, Jim Crow, and Nazism to go to hell, but she had since found true love and respect for Frederick, a German POW who happened to be in Hitler’s army by circumstance, not choice. Frederick may have been considered a Nazi by people who automatically associated German soldiers with Nazi ideology, but she knew he wasn’t. He didn’t harbor feelings of racial superiority. Every thing about him was gentle and kind. And Elinor didn’t care about the laws she was breaking to be with him.

The idea of loving a woman who was the embodiment of everything he was supposed to loathe excited Frederick. He felt loved and accepted in Elinor’s presence, and he subconsciously tied her race to those feelings.

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