A New Woman: Chapter 4
An Agent Carter Fanfic
“Good morning,” Peggy called when Edith came downstairs the next day. “Tea?”
“If you don’t mind.” Peggy handed her a cup, and the two women sat across from each other at the large table. They sat for a while in silence and Edith discovered she rather liked the large windows when she wasn’t trying to sleep.
“I heard you had a stressful day yesterday,” Peggy began carefully.
Edith looked away. As soon as she had gotten off work the day before, she had disappeared into the room Peggy was lending her and hadn’t come out, even to answer the knock on her door.
“Who told you that?” she asked.
“Chief Cooper. And Jack. Well, they didn’t use those exact words, but . . .”
Edith winced and ducked her head over the steaming cup.
Correctly interpreting her discomfort, Peggy chuckled. “Oh, don’t worry. He needs to be yelled at on occasion.” Edith laughed.
“I’m sorry about yesterday,” Peggy said. “That should have been . . . handled better.”
Edith shrugged. “It’s not your fault.”
“That may not be entirely true.” Edith raised her eyebrows and Peggy sighed. “Daniel, Jack and I were brought to Chicago because we’ve had dealings with Dottie before. I’m afraid our arrival might have disrupted the delicate balance at this branch at the SSR, and so proper procedure isn’t entirely being followed.”
“It still isn’t your fault that Chief Cooper is so sensitive.”
Peggy laughed, took both now-empty mugs, and deposited them in the sink. “That may be, but I’m afraid it is my fault Dottie is out this time.”
Edith opened her mouth, closed it, and shook her head. “I’m not sure I want to ask.”
“Probably not.” Peggy turned back to face Edith, and her tight smile made it clear she had bad news. “I have a favor to ask.”
A favor? After she had agreed to let Edith stay at the mansion indefinitely?
“Of course!”
“Would you come down to the office again today?”
Edith wrinkled her nose. “Is that really necessary? I don’t think anyone wants me there.”
“I do. I don’t mean to be insensitive, but you’ve lived with Dottie–sorry, Thea–for how long? A few months?”
“A year,” Edith corrected automatically.
“Exactly. You could have information on what she’s been doing here and if she’s been planning anything.”
“I don’t know anything,” Edith said quickly. “If I did, I would tell you, believe me.”
“I do, but I think you know more than you think. There might be details you know that don’t seem important, but could make a big difference to us.”
Edith hated the idea of going back there, but how could she say no? “Can I come during my lunch break?”
Peggy smiled. “That would be perfect.”
Edith touched Peggy’s arm before she could leave the room. “I’m sorry I don’t know very much. I feel like such an idiot for not knowing something was wrong.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Peggy said. “Dottie is a highly-trained spy, who’s learned exactly how to make people trust her. I lived with her for months before I realized who she was.”
“But did you share everything with her, become her best friend, and–” she stopped.
“I’m sorry,” Peggy said, laying her hand on Edith’s arm. “I don’t really know how you feel, but you shouldn’t feel like you have done something wrong by wanting to see the best in people.”
“I should get to work,” Edith murmured, slipping out of the room.
She was already regretting her promise when she arrived at the bookstore a few hours later.
“Back so soon?” the shopkeeper asked. “After you left last time, I didn’t think you’d come back.”
Edith cleared her throat and glanced at her shoes. “Yes, I was asked to come.”
The woman looked suspicious, but waved her on.
Once again, she could feel the stares as the elevator doors opened. She wished she hadn’t embarrassed herself so much last time.
“What are you doing here?” Chief Cooper asked, appearing suddenly.
All thoughts fled at the sight of his glare. “I, um.”
“I asked her to come,” Peggy said, stepping forward. “Hello, Edith.”
“You asked her? And what made you think you had–”
Edith stepped forward to interrupt. “She said you wanted to interview me about Thea, uh, I mean Dottie, in case I happen to know anything about what she was doing here in Chicago. Did I show up at the wrong time?”
Chief Cooper was staring at her now, so he didn’t notice Peggy’s amused smile. “Oh, no,” he replied quickly. “This is the right time.” He paused, then crossed his arms. “But you are a couple minutes late.”
Edith smiled. “I apologize. I do hope this won’t take too long, though. I have to be back at the office at one. I hope that’s alright.”
“Fine,” he said with a nod, then gestured to his office.
By the time she headed back to work, she felt like the entire excursion had been a waste of time. Having realized she wasn’t a Russian spy, the chief seemed to have determined she was an idiot. Oh well, at least he was being more (outwardly) polite. He spent more time explaining his questions than actually asking them, and she had to clench her hands in her skirts to keep the smile plastered to her face and the polite tone in her voice.
For the second time in as many days, she came into work exhausted after her lunch break. She collapsed at her desk and buried her head in her hands, sighing deeply.
“Are you alright?” her boss asked, coming into the room.
She sat up, plastering the smile across her face again. “I’ve just had an exhausting couple of days and I’m beat, but it’ll cool down soon.”
“That’s good,” he said. “I hope you get some rest tonight, but for now I’ve a letter I need you to take down.”
Forcing all thoughts of falling into bed away, she pulled out her stenography pad and a pen.
When she finally arrived at Peggy’s house that night, she breathed a sigh of relief. The bed looked so inviting, but she forced herself to the desk. It was only suppertime, and, if she fell asleep now, she wouldn’t sleep well later that night.
The corner of her scrapbook peeked out from the pile of clothes she’d purposely dumped over it. She turned away. She didn’t want to see it, didn’t want to think about it. She’d only brought it with her because she didn’t want anyone snooping through it. It had been an impulsive decision to grab it, and she worried she would regret it.
She thought about Thompson’s insinuation about the switchblade. She thought about Peggy believing Thea had been her friend too. Had it all been fake? Everything they had done together?
Against her better judgement, she grabbed the scrapbook and opened it to a random page. It was a drawing of Thea doing a silly impression of Ingrid Bergman after the two girls had snuck into a picture for the first time. They had taken turns doing dramatic impressions of the actors until Thea had struck that absurd pose and Edith had collapsed on the bed from laughter and begged Thea to let her sketch it.
She remembered how they had spent the night giggling like teenagers and quoting lines back and forth until long past when they should have been asleep. She had used extra makeup the next day to cover the shadows under her eyes, but she had told herself it was worth it.
She flipped to the front of the book and found another sketch of Thea. She had purchased the book a year after she had moved to Chicago, but couldn’t find anything to put in it. There didn’t seem to be much of a point. She had been alone and never did anything exciting.
Then Thea moved in.
It had taken a few days to get comfortable with her new roommate, but when Thea sat down with a book two weeks after moving in, Edith had realized that maybe she wasn’t so alone anymore. For the first time in two years, she had picked up her scrapbook and a pencil to sketch.
She slammed the book shut now and dropped her head in her hands. The tears she had been holding back slipped down her cheeks.
She had known she would regret bringing the scrapbook.