Conversations With Jack & Diane
Possible Split
Jack stroked smoothly through the cool crystal waters. He
loved doing laps along the two hundred yard cresent that made up
“4-Mile” lagoon. Which was what the locals called the small
inland bay. It was actually a County park named Carlsmith
Lagoon. And Jack tried his best to do twenty laps of it’s hugging
cool length each morning.
The sun was already bright in the sky, and it’s warmth
lightly kissed Jack’s back as he glided along the sparkling surface.
Diane watched him swim, sitting high atop the orange
lifeguard tower, which at this early morning hour, was not yet
manned by a water safety officer. Although Diane cast quite a
striking figure in her yellow one piece Pierre Kuomo swimsuit.
She smiled as she sipped on a cool can of fruit juice, her cerulean
eyes never once leaving the cutting form of the lone swimmer she
awaited with breathless anticipation. Ok, ok so she might not have
been breathless....geeeeez.
Anyway, Jack finally counted twenty laps and waded
toward the rocky promenade that led to the woodland shore, his
gaze instantly finding the exquisitely suited yellow glow of Diane.
Even from this distance her beauty captured the senses, and
inspired a smile upon the face of a man.
“Hey you,” he called out. “Impersonating a lifeguard is a
felony in this county. Punishable by a five hundred dollar fine or
one year imprisonment within the warm grasp of my arms...”
“Hmmmm,” Diane cooed playfully. “I’ll just pay the fine,”
she laughed, descending the tower with undulating grace.
Jack watched her move, the smile on his face growing
wider.
“What?” Diane inquired coyly.
“You take my breath away,” he assured her, moving up
close and kissing her lightly on the cheek. “Aloha kakaiaka
sweeti.”
“And good morning to you to,” she replied, pulling the soft
white towel from over the side bar of the lifeguard stand and
wrapping it around her waist, covering her sensual hips and sinewy
thighs.
“Awww,” Jack pouted. “Why’d you go and do that?” he
protested, eyes blinking sympathetically, a certain melancholy in
his expression.
“Put your libido away Jack,” she instructed, snaking her
arm around his salt water sprinkled waist as she guided him toward
a nearby picnic table, an unusual tenseness in his step.
Jack looked down. “My libido is right where it belongs,”
he chuckled.
Diane followed his gaze. “Oh Jack!,” she scolded.”Be nice
will you. You said you had something you wanted to discuss with
me. So, here I am.”
“I know love. And thank you for coming,” he smiled,
touching his hand to the small of her back as he gestured her onto
the wooden bench of the dark green picnic table.
He sat himself opposite his beautiful friend so he could
look at her straight on, the warm morning glow soft upon her
flawless face. He loved the bright blue of her eyes in the early sun
of a new day.
“So what is it love?” she asked, her gaze narrowing as she
sensed a real sadness about him. He turned away from her as he
spoke.
“Jan’s asked me for a divorce,” he admitted softly, his
voice raspy, suddenly lost to the jovial levity it held just moments
before.
“But why...” Diane frowned, reaching across the table and
touching her fingertips to Jack’s folded forearm.
“Guess...” he whispered, the words still choking in his
throat.
Diane wrinkled her brow in thought, her eyes flashing as
she figured it out. “Lori...” she echoed, her voice melting in the
breeze.
Jack nodded. “Yes,” he assured her. “I told her about Lori
and she freaked out on me.” He chuckled heavily, no merriment in
the effort.
“I thought she’d understand,” Diane said absently, her gaze
drifting out to sea. “I’m so sorry Jack,” she whispered.
“For what love?” he frowned.
“For giving you such terrible advise. It was, after all, my
very strong opinion that you should tell Jan about Lori. And now
look what it’s gotten you.”
“Don’t be a martyr love,” Jack chuckled. “It was
ultimately my decision to tell her. And if I’d of told her from the
start perhaps I could have avoided all of this. Not to mention the
guilt I’ve carried around all these years.” He shrugged. “Oh well,
at least I had her for a while. I guess I won’t try and stop her from
leaving.”
“Don’t be stupid Jack,” Diane chided. “You have to try
and stop her. You can’t just let all the years of marriage desolve
away because of something that happened before the two of you
even met.”
“I don’t know Di. Jan’s pretty upset over all of this. She
said I was a deceiver.” He chuckled sardonically. “She’s right you
know. I am.”
“You aren’t really a deceiver Jack. You’re just a big
chicken is all.” She touched his arm again. “I’m just trying to
make you smile sweetheart.”
“I know,” he nodded, smiling weakly. He stared at the
stand of windblown pines that bordered the small park. “What am
I going to do?” he murmurred softly. “I don’t know if I could
survive without her...”
“I can’t beleive Jan won’t discuss this whole issue with you
further. And that she’s willing to throw away the love of your
relationship without first trying to work it out.”
Jack shrugged sadly, his gaze still on the trees. “It seems
she’s already made up her mind to leave me.”
Diane shook her head. “I’d never leave you Jack...” she
offered softly, her gaze falling to the tabletop. “I’m sorry. I
shouldn’t have said that.”
“It’s ok love,” Jack smiled, his fingers touching her folded
arm this time. “And I know that you wouldn’t. But my problem
isn’t you, is it? It’s Jan. And she is leaving me. Or at least thats
what she announced.”
“What exactly did she say Jack? When you told her that
Lori was your daughter?”
“She just sat on the bed in stunned silence.” He shook his
head painfully. “Then she started to cry.” He leaned forward and
exhaled heavily. “It tears me apart to see her cry. It makes me
wanna cry too, you know? And aah...” He took a deep breath,
rubbing his flushing face with the palm of his hand. “And then she
looked at me. God, there was so much hurt in her eyes. I’ve never
seen her that sad before. And I don’t think I can ever do enough to
make that pain go away. No matter how hard I tried.” He
chuckled haplessly. “Fact is...” he assured. “If the tables were
turned, I don’t think I could forgive her either.” He fell silent as he
placed his elbows on the table and entwined his fingers, his lips
soft against his crossing thumbs.
“Do you think she’ll go through with it?” Diane posed, her
own lips against entwined fingers. She and Jack looking like a
pair of twin statues as they sat silent in their collective gloom.
“Yes,” Jack finally responded, his voice fading in the
blowing wind that was beginning to strengthen it’s resolve.
“I’ll be here for you, you know?” she offered, her gaze
rising to his. “I’ll be here for you in anyway that you need.” She
blinked her blue eyes with deep sincerity.
“Thank you love,” Jack smiled, his emotions roiling as he
fought against the thrilling prospect of being free to actually
pursue Diane. He shook away the betraying urges. He was still
Jan’s husband after all.
“What are you thinking Jack?” Diane inquired, her
expression hot with anticipation.
“I think you know what I’m thinking Di.” He held her
gaze. Her perfect blue gaze.
“Yes...” she whispered. “The prospect thrills me as well.
The thought that you’d be a free man for the taking.”
Jack chuckled sincerely for the first time in the heavy
conversation. “And exactly where would you take me?” he smiled,
the words uttered through his entwined fingers, his grin partially
hidden and extremely sexy to Diane’s feasting eyes.
“I’d take you places I’m sure Diane never has. Places so
filled with pleasure that you’d never want to leave.”
“Mmmmm,” Jack breathed. “Sounds like a place a man
would truely love to be.” He stared at her for a moment. “But
aren’t you forgetting something?”
She frowned. “What?”
“Fred silly,” he enlightened. “Remember him? Your
husband?” His smile widened behind his fingers. “Another
fantasy bites the dust.”
“I’d leave him for you Jack,” she uttered softly, her
expression dead serious.
“Would you?” he probed.
“Yes...” she assured him.
“I’d never ask you to do that love.”
“I know that Jack. Which is one of the two reasons I’m
willing to make the admission. The other being that sometimes, I
wish you would...”
“No you don’t,” he shook his head. “You love Fred too
much to ever leave him.” He smiled. “And thats a good thing
love. Don’t you think?”
“Yes,” she agreed. “It is a good thing. And the love you
have for Jan is a good thing as well Jack. You need to fight to
keep it.”
“I don’t think I could win the battle,” he sighed. “Much
less the war.”
“Well perhaps you’ll get another chance to try,” she
offered, gesturing with a toss of her golden head.
Jack followed her gaze. It was Jan, coming toward them.
He swallowed hard as her determined steps drew her close. She
stopped just to the side of the green picnic table, her gaze on Jack
then on his companion.
“Diane,” she greeted coolly.
“Jan,” came the equally cool response.
Jan’s gaze returned to Jack. “We need to talk...” she
announced, her hazel eyes glinting in the glare of the aging day.
“Yes,” Jack agreed. “About a lot of things.”
Diane stood up. “Well,” she offered. “I’ll leave you two
alone.”
“Yes, I wish you would,” Jan stated flatly, the obvious
reference extending far beyond the immediate situation.
Diane smiled, her eyes revealing something other than
affection as she held Jan’s glare.
“Goodbye Jack,” she uttered softly, her tone turning warm
as she smiled down at him.
“Goodbye love...” he shot a glance up at Jan. “I mean
Diane,” he corrected cowardly. “Thanks for coming,” he offered
sheepishly.
“Anytime love,” she replied, turning away from the table,
her yellow clad form quickly swallowed up by the dim treelined
path that meandered back toward the parking lot.
Jan watched until Diane had disappeared completely before
she sat down opposite Jack, ready for a good long talk. It would be
their first one in years...
The End
Unpublished Works © 1997 GJB
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