Chapter 12 Chapter Eleven Catherine
On the morning of May 7, 1945, Nazi Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Allies in Reims, France.The "thousand-year" reign of the Third Reich has finally come to an end.During the Great War, those who knew the inside story of the fatal destruction of Pearl Harbor, those who saw Dunkirk narrowly escaped from being recorded as Britain's Waterloo, and those who commanded the British the Royal Air Force, and knew how helpless London's defenses were under the all-out attack of the Luftwaffe--to these men, they knew perfectly well the chain of miracles by which the Confederates were victorious, and also knew how close the whole The situation did not develop in the opposite direction.There was a time when evil loomed before us almost triumphantly.The idea of the triumph of the devil was so different from the Christian ethic of "good over evil" that the gang fled in horror and disgust.Thank goodness they buried their blunders deep in mountain-high files marked "Top Secret" from future generations to see.
Now the attention of the free world turned to the Far East.The Japanese, those short-sighted buffoons, are fighting bloody battles, clinging to the invaded land, not giving up an inch easily.It seems that the war will continue for a long time.
Then, on August 6, an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, and the devastation it caused was unbelievable.In a matter of minutes, most of the inhabitants of such a major city were dead.More people were killed in this disaster than in all the wars and plagues of the Middle Ages combined.
On August 9, three days later, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, and its devastation was even more horrific.Human civilization has reached its "most magnificent" moment, the number and extent of massacres can be calculated at the rate of six figures of life per second.The Japanese can't stand it. On September 2, 1945, General Douglas MacArthur accepted the Japanese government's unconditional surrender aboard the US battleship USS Missouri.The Second World War is over.
The public around the world listened with bated breath as the news was broadcast.Then bursts of grateful, heartfelt cheers erupted from the crowd.Crazy parades in cities and villages across the globe, celebrating the end of war, and wishing there would be no more war, no more war, no more war...
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The next day, Bill Fraser made a long-distance call to Larry Douglas through some magic he would never tell Catherine.At this time, Larry was on an island in the South Pacific.
Fraser was going to surprise Catherine by telling her to wait for him in her own office.They can go to lunch together.
It was two-thirty in the afternoon, and Catherine pressed the key on the intercom to speak to Bill.
"When will you feed me?" she asked, "I will have dinner after a while."
"Sit still," replied Fraser, "I'll come to you right away."
Five minutes later, his voice came from the intercom: "Your call is on line one."
Catherine picked up the microphone: "Hello?" She heard a crackling sound and a series of sounds from weak to strong, like waves rolling in the distant ocean. "Hello," she repeated.
A man's voice on the microphone asked, "Are you Mrs. Larry Douglas?"
"Yes," said Catherine, perplexed, "who are you?"
"Please wait a moment."
She heard a high-pitched whine coming from the microphone.Then there was another crackling.
Finally the other party asked: "Are you Cathy?"
She was still sitting there, her heart beating, and she couldn't say a word: "Larry? Are you Larry?"
"Not bad, baby."
"Oh, Larry!" she cried, shaking all over.
"how are you dear?"
She pinched the skin of her upper arm with her fingernails, trying to feel as much pain as possible to get rid of the sudden onset of nervousness. "I'm--well," she said. "Whe--where are you?"
"The line will be cut if I tell you," he said. "I'm somewhere in the Pacific."
"That's not far!" She had controlled her voice, "how are you, dear?"
"very good."
"When will you come back?"
"I can't tell, I may leave here at any time." He promised.
Catherine's eyes filled with tears again. "Okay, let's -- check the watch."
"Are you crying?"
"Needless to say, of course I cried. You fool! It's a good thing you can't see the lash oil running down my face. Oh, Larry... Larry..."
"I've been missing you, baby," he said.
Catherine thought of those years, the long, lonely nights that adulthood continued endlessly.Without him, without his arms around her, without his strong body beside her, without his consolation, consolation, protection, and love, in these unforgiving days of unknown years and months."I've always missed you too," she said.
Another man's voice came on the line: "Excuse me, Colonel, it's time to talk."
Colonel!
"You didn't tell me you were promoted."
"I'm afraid you'll be too excited."
"Oh honey, I—"
The roar of the sea grew louder.Suddenly there was no sound from the microphone.The line was cut.
Catherine was still sitting at her desk, staring intently at the phone.After a while, she rested her head on her arms and wept again.
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Ten minutes later, Fraser's voice came over the intercom. "Go to dinner, Cathy," he said.
"I'm ready for anything," she said cheerfully. "Give me five minutes."
She thought that Fraser must have caused him a lot of trouble by doing such a thing for her.She smiled warmly.He was the dearest person she had ever met, but under Larry, of course.
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Catherine had been imagining and picturing Larry's return so long that the very event of her husband's return had become almost mundane.Bill Fraser explained to her that Larry would most likely come back on an Airborne Transportation Command plane or on a Military Airlift Service plane.These planes, unlike airline flights, do not have a fixed departure time.Take whichever plane takes off first—it doesn't matter where it's headed, as long as it's heading in a generally good direction.
That afternoon Catherine stayed at home to wait for Larry.She wanted to read something, but was too emotional to read.She sat listening to the news broadcast, but her mind was thinking that now that Larry was back with her, he couldn't let him go.It was midnight, and Larry hadn't come back.She estimated that he would probably have to wait two days before returning.At two o'clock in the morning, Catherine felt that her eyelids would close involuntarily, and she went to bed.
After a short sleep, she awoke to find a hand on her arm.When she opened her eyes, her Larry had already stood beside her, looking down at her.There was a smile on his thin, dark face.In an instant, Catherine threw herself into his arms.
Four years of worry, loneliness, and pain had been washed away by the fountain of joy, and a warm, euphoric current seemed to fill every cell of her being.She hugged him desperately, whether it would break his bones or not.God, may this moment, this moment, this moment be here forever.
"Don't get too excited, darling," said Larry, finally wrenching himself free from her grip, smiling. "It would be ridiculous to see something like this in the papers." A pilot returns home safely from a battle , but was suffocated to death by his wife'."
Catherine turned on the lights in the room, every one of them, to brighten the room, so that she could have a good look at him and study him.There were new signs of adulthood on his face, and lines around his eyes and mouth that weren't there before.Taken together, these changes made him even more handsome than he had been in the past.
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For a month after Larry came home, Catherine, with Fraser's consent, did not go to work.She spent almost every minute with Larry.She cooks him all kinds of dishes he likes to eat, and when they are not eating, they play music records, or chat, talk about everything, if they can't finish talking, they want to make up for the gap in the four years.In the evening, they went to the ball, went to the theater, and when they got home, they loved each other again.
But as time passed, he didn't return to the old Larry.he's changed.Because of this change, Catherine began to look for other changes in Larry.She tried to watch him unemotionally, trying to forget that this was the husband she adored.In this way, what she saw was a man in his early middle age, tall and strong, with gray hair, deep eyes, and a handsome face that fascinated people.Perhaps it can be said that "handsome" no longer applies.The wrinkles at the corners of his mouth added a certain severity to his features.Whenever Catherine observed this stranger, she would think: here is a man, he may be selfish, and ruthless and cruel.However, in a blink of an eye, she complained to herself that she was too ridiculous.This was her Larry, her sweetheart, kind and caring.
Catherine proudly introduces Larry to all her friends and colleagues, but they seem to bore him.At many dances, he often sneaked into the corner without making a sound, and spent a good night drinking.It seemed to Catherine that he had no desire to make friends at all.
"Why should I make friends?" he yelled at her angrily one evening when she tried to talk to him socially. Where?"
Occasionally, Catherine asked Larry what he was going to do in the future. She thought he would stay in the flight group, but the first thing Larry did when he came home was to resign from the army.
"Being a soldier is a fool's job, and it's useless at all." He once said so.
Larry's words seemed to be an ironic rehash of Catherine's first conversation with him in Hollywood many years ago.At the time, though, he was joking.
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Catherine had discussed Larry's employment with others, and finally she decided to speak to Bill Fraser.She told him what was bothering her, but of course she didn't reveal some of her personal secrets.
"You'll be relieved just to think about it," Fraser said sympathetically. "There are millions of women all over the world who are going through the same problems you are going through. It's very simple, Catherine, you marry To someone you don't actually know."
Catherine looked at him, but said nothing.
Fraser did not go on, he filled his pipe with tobacco and lit it. "Don't you think you can get back the way you felt and thought when Larry left four years ago, okay? That point in time is gone, gone forever. You've left this place. For one thing, Larry is the same way. He probably also noticed the difference between you and four years ago, but didn't make it clear. The main thing that makes a marriage happy and fruitful is that husband and wife have a common experience. They grow up together, childhood sweethearts, and the idea of a forever partner grows. You have to rediscover the common ground that allows you to connect.”
"Bill, even now that we're talking casually, I think it's disloyal."
Fraser laughed. "I knew you from the first time I saw you," he brought up the past, "remember?"
"Remember."
"I'm sure Larry has his own set of things," continued Fraser. "You know, he's lived with a lot of men for four years, and now he's got to get used to living with a girl."
She couldn't help laughing. "You're always right. I remember hearing that from other people too."
"Everyone has a lot of helpful advice on how to deal with traumatized people," Fraser said solemnly. "The problem is that some of the pain doesn't show up. Sometimes it's buried in the gut." I saw the subtle changes on Catherine's face. "I'm just talking casually," he added quickly. "I was referring to the horrors soldiers see in battle. Unless a man is an absolute fool, war has an immeasurable effect on the mind. .Did you understand what I said?"
Catherine nodded and agreed: "Yes."
The question is: what are the consequences of the impact?
...
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When Catherine returned to work after her vacation, the employees at the company were delighted to see her.In the first three days, she hardly did anything, but just learned about the advertising campaigns and future arrangements for new customers from beginning to end, and also got acquainted with the progress of old customers. She worked from early morning to evening, trying her best to Make up for lost time.From time to time she interrupted the copyists and advertising sketchers, encouraging the timid and restless clerks to do their jobs.She does a great job and she loves it.
Larry was always waiting for Catherine when she came home at night.At first, she asked him what he did when she was away, and his answers were always vague.Later, she simply didn't ask.He seemed to have erected a wall, and Catherine did not know how to dig a breach.Almost everything Catherine said irritated him.The two often quarreled over trivial matters.Occasionally, the couple went out to dinner with Fraser, and Catherine put on a show, making the dinner room congenial and cheerful, so that Fraser would not think there was any problem between them.
But Catherine had to face the reality that one thing was a big problem.She felt, in part, that this was her failure.She still loves Larry.She loved the way he looked, loved the moments when he was by her side, loved the memory of his image.However, she also knew one thing, if he continued as before, he would break up with each other one day.
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One day she had lunch with Fraser.
"How's Larry?" he asked.
Just as the automatic Pavlovian reflex "very good" was on her lips, she stopped. "He's looking for a job," said Catherine irresponsibly.
Fraser leaned back in his chair and nodded. "Is he disturbed by not having a job?"
She hesitated, but didn't want to lie. "He doesn't want to do anything," she said cautiously. "It seems he'd like to be idle."
Fraser studied her, wondering what she meant.
"I wonder what it's like for him to be an airplane pilot?"
"He doesn't want to go back to the army."
"I was thinking about an airline. I have a friend who runs Pan Am. You'd be lucky to find someone with flying experience like Larry."
Catherine sat there, putting herself in Larry's shoes and thinking.He loves flying more than anything in the world.It is also a very meaningful job, which he will enjoy. "That's—that's good," she said cautiously. "Bill, are you sure you can get him the job?"
"Try it," he said. "Why don't you feel his bottom first and see what he thinks?"
"Good!" Catherine held his hand gratefully, "Thank you very much!"
"Thanks for what?" Fraser said briskly.
"Thank you for always being there for me when I need you."
He took out his hand and put it on her hand: "Of course I will follow you."
When Catherine told Larry Bill Fraser's advice that night, he said, "That's the best thing I've ever heard since I came home."
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Two days later he got an appointment to see Carl Eastman, the general manager of Pan Am in Manhattan.
Catherine ironed Larry's suit, picked out a shirt and tie, and polished his shoes so they could be seen.
"I'll call you as soon as I can and let you know what's going on."
He kissed her, grinned like a child out of habit, and left.
In many ways, Catherine thought to herself, Larry was like a boy.He is angry, easy to play with his temper, and has a stubbornness. However, he is so cute, so free and easy and open-minded.
"Oh, bad luck," Catherine sighed deeply, "I shall be the most virtuous wife in the world."
The work in front of her is full.However, she couldn't concentrate and kept thinking about Larry.It's more than just finding a job.She realized that their union and their future depended entirely on what was to come.
It appears that this day will be the longest day of her life.
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Pan Am is based in a modern building at 53rd Street, Fifth Avenue, New York.Carl Eastman's office is spacious and comfortably furnished.Obviously, his position is relatively high.
"Come in, take your seat," he greeted Larry as he walked into his office.
Eastman was about thirty-five, neatly dressed, with a slightly protruding chin, and deep hazel eyes that couldn't escape anything he saw.He held out his hand for Larry to sit on a couch, and he sat himself in the chair opposite Larry.
"Have a cup of coffee?"
"No thanks," Larry said.
"I heard you'd like to do something for us."
"If there is space."
"There's a vacancy," Eastman said, "and there are thousands of brilliant pilots applying for it." He sighed and shook his head. "It's unthinkable. The Air Group trains thousands of bright young men, Come and fly the most complicated mechanical thing in the world so far. When they can do it, and do it beautifully, the flight group will not want them again, and there is nothing for them to do." He sighed again: "Here People come from morning to night. You won't believe it until you see them. They are first class pilots, ace pilots like you. Only one in a thousand applicants is lucky enough to get this Absent — as for the other airlines, it's exactly the same."
Larry was disappointed. "Then why are you still asking me out?" he asked dryly.
"There are two reasons. First, the people upstairs told me to do this, and there is a 'back door' if you can't get in through the front door."
Larry felt a surge of anger rising in his heart.
"I do not need--"
Eastman leaned forward. "Second, your flying record is very good."
"Thanks," Larry said, his face still tensed.
Eastman observed him: "You have to undergo a training program here. I think you know it. It's a bit like school."
Larry hesitated, not sure what the other party was going to say next.
"That's all right," he said cautiously.
"You have to be trained in New York, which is based on the relevant regulations of China."
Larry nodded, waiting for Eastman to continue. "Four weeks of ground instructional training, followed by a month of civil aircraft piloting training."
"Do you use DC-4s on your routes?" Larry asked.
"Yes. After the training, we will let you be the navigator. The basic salary during the training is 150 yuan per month."
He has a job!The son of a bitch, tease him about a thousand pilots applying for the vacancy.Anyway, he has a job!What else had he to worry about?There's no one else in the whole bloody flying group with a better flying record than him.
Larry grinned. "I'm fine with being the navigator first, Eastman, but I'm the pilot. When can I do my job?"
Eastman sighed, "This airline is unionized. The only way anyone gets promoted is through seniority. There are plenty of people ahead of you! Want to give it a shot?"
Larry nodded: "Is there any procedure?"
"By the way," Eastman said, "I'll go through all the routine. You're going to have a medical. Any injuries?"
Larry laughed: "The Japanese tried to hurt me but failed."
"When will you be available for work?"
"Will this afternoon be too early?"
"Monday." Eastman scribbled a name on a card and handed it to Larry. "Here's to you. They'll be waiting for you at nine o'clock Monday morning."
When Larry called to tell Catherine the news, his tone was full of excitement, a tone of joy that Catherine hadn't heard in a long time.At this time, a stone in Catherine's heart fell, and she thought that everything would be fine in the future.
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