Converstaions With Jack & Diane
What’s It Like
The Hawaiian Airlines Boeing 707 lifted off the tarmac
with it’s usual smooth efficiency, taking to the tropical sky like a
giant winged warrior. The trip from the Big Island to it’s most
northernly sibling, Kauai, would take approximately eighty-five
minutes. Just enough time for a couple of drinks and a good
conversation in the first class section of the spacious aircraft.
Diane sat by herself for the moment as Jack traipsed about
in search of his cousin, a flight attendant. He returned after only a
few minutes.
“Sorry,” he smiled, taking his seat next to Diane. “Just
wanted to say hello to cousin Sue. I haven’t seen her in a while.”
“She’s very beautiful,” Diane offered, sipping on the
complimentary champagne.
“As are you,” Jack added smoothly. “And as I promised.
On this trip, which we both so richly deserve." He winked. "We shall be
exclusive to our own needs from this moment on. I shall not
divide my time again. You have me to yourself until we land back
in Hilo four days from today.” He smiled and hoisted his own
plastic cup of champagne.
“But what if I meet some gorgeous man that wants me
more than life itself?” she teased, the fine wine making her feel
warm and happy. She would allow them this small pleasure
without comment.
“Well than,” Jack replied. “We’d have to do a
change-order on our contract that would allow such an
extravagance.” He winked over the brim of the cheap plastic cup.
Diane smiled. “The only gorgeous man I want is you
Jack.” She frowned for a second. “Well you know what I mean...”
He propped his elbow on the arm of the seat that separated
them, his chin settling onto his upturned palm, brown eyes dancing
as he stared at his lovely friend.
“You are a very charming woman, you know that?”
“I do have my moments,” Diane assured him, her full lips
parting to reveal the seductive gleam of perfect teeth.
“Tell me something Diane?” Jack asked, his eyes still fixed
on her.
“Anything...” she assured him.
“I would like to know what it’s like to go through life as a
beautiful woman?”
“That is such a silly question Jack,” she smiled shyly.
“And what makes you think that I would know anything about
such a way of life?”
Jack grinned, his chin still planted on his palm. “Come on
Diane. I’m serious. I’ve often wondered what goes on in the mind
of a beautiful woman. I mean, in respect to her own knowledge of
her physical attributes.”
“Well,” Diane replied. “I don’t know if I should say. You
might think me conceited.”
“You!” Jack responded instantly. “Conceited?” He waved
his hand dismissively. “Perish the thought.” He winked at her as
he continued to stare from his vantage point atop his upturned
palm.
“I am beautiful, aren’t I...”
“Yes Diane,” he nodded appreciatively. “You are a very
beautiful woman. And I really do want to know what it feels like
to be so.”
“I don’t know if I can put it into words,” she frowned. “It’s
not something one likes to think about in a conscious way. You
know...”
“Please try,” Jack urged softly, his voice low and attentive.
“I’ll give it a go,” she smiled. “But only if you promise not
to hold it against me.”
“There is one thing I’d like to hold against you,” he winked
playfully.
“Oh stop it Jack. Do you want to hear or not?”
“Yes I want to hear sweeti. I’m sorry. Please continue.”
“Ok then,” she nodded, finishing her champagne before
proceeding. Jack waited patiently, glad for this quiet time they
were sharing together.
“Hmmm,” she pondered. “Let me see. Ummm...” She
was having trouble getting started.
“Just start by telling me what you feel when you see
yourself in a mirror,” Jack assisted. “I know how it makes me feel
when I see you. But I want to know how you feel when you see
yourself.” He smiled. She smiled back, still tentative.
She gently brushed back a strand of hair from her blazing
blue eyes, her lips parting slowly as she searched for the right
words.
“It’s funny you should ask that,” she informed. “Because I
have a very strange relationship with mirrors.”
“How so?” Jack probed.
“Be still and I’ll tell you, Mr. Patience...” She touched his
face lightly and continued. “Mirrors show me a face I like when I
look into them. But I despise them for not offering more than just
the surface of who I am, you know?”
“Your gonna have to explain that one,” Jack chuckled,
draining the rest of his champagne.
“Well,” Diane offered. “When I see myself in that mirror, I
know it’s the face that everyone else sees as well. So in a way, we
are all mirrors to one another. And like a mirror, we only reflect
but one dimension of ourselves.” She frowned for a moment.
Even in this pose, she was beautiful. “Am I making any sense?”
she asked.
“Perfect sense,” Jack assured her. “Like mirrors we project
only one aspect of ourselves, which is the physical presence. It is
not the whole of who we are that people recieve when they merely
look upon us.”
“Exactly,” Diane agreed. “And when you’re beautiful, that
beauty becomes a shield that separates you from others.”
“How do you mean?” Jack probed.
“Well let me restate that,’ Diane edited. She just loved to
edit... “It isn’t really the beauty that erects the wall. But instead
those who look upon the beautiful. They erect the walls.”
“Go on...” Jack nodded. “Please go on love.”
Diane smiled. “When people see me. Men especially.
They can’t seem to take their eyes off of me.” She paused. “God
Jack, I feel like such a conceited ass speaking in this manner. Do I
really have to go on with this?”
“Of course not,” Jack shrugged. “But I’ve already
promised not to hold your conceit against you.” He winked
mischievously.
“Ok than,” she relented. “Anyway. Like I was saying. Men
stare at me because of the way I look. But let me give you an
example of how those walls get erected.”
They both thanked the flight attendant for the offer, but
turned down a second drink. Diane continued as Jack’s cousin
went about her business.
“When I’m walking down the street, and feeling good you
know? And I’m radiating this aura. I can almost feel it pick me up
off my feet. It’s a wonderful feeling because I look good and I
know it. But than it happens.”
“What?” Jack probed, leaning a little closer to Diane,
enjoying her scent. Today it was violets. He loved the scent of
violets.
“I become the opposing side of a magnet,” Diane offered.
“What?” Jack chuckled. “Please Diane,” he pleaded.
“Don’t start getting trippy on me, okay.”
She smiled, nodding her gorgeous head. “Sorry,” she
apologized. “But that’s what I feel like. Like an opposing
magnet.”
“Why?” Jack asked, his expression narrowing with
concentration, and a considerable amount of confusion.
“Well, you remember don’t ya?” she continued. “In fifth
grade science class. When the teacher, usually a man, showed you
that experiment with two magnets of opposing fields. And how
they moved away from each other when brought together. Than
he’d let you try for yourself and you could actually feel the
magnets opposing one another. Like there was an invicible wall
separating them.”
“Sure,” Jack shrugged. “I remember.”
“Well that’s how I feel when I’m walking down some
sidewalk and I spot a guy coming toward me. I see that he’s
looking at me. And sometimes he even smiles. But as he gets
closer he begins to drift away from me. And I begin to feel like
Moses, parting the Red Sea. I guess these guys figure that because
of the beauty I possess, I would somehow take offense to them
passing close to me. And at moments like those, however
paranoid that conclusion might be on my part, I feel so lonely.
And I silently resent the way I look. And I wish that I could just
smash the mirror, and let people see inside me. Let them see that I
enjoy the closeness of others. The warmth of friends.” She shook
her head. “I’m being silly. I’m sorry.”
“No Diane,” Jack whispered, the solemness of her honesty
taking his voice for a moment. “One’s feelings are never silly.
And certainly never reason for an apology. You feel what you feel.
And you shouldn’t shy away from what those feelings could teach
you.”
“And what exactly could I learn from those feelings of
lonely beauty?”
“It’s obvious,” Jack responded.
“Oh really?” Diane queried.
“Indeed,” Jack nodded. “You are a compassionate woman
who wishes to share in the compassion of others. You seek to
touch and be touched.” He nodded again. “And now I understand
something I’ve always wondered about.”
“And what’s that Jack?” Diane asked expectantly.
“Why it is that almost every beautiful woman that I see
seems, by her expression, to be so sad. Try taking notice the next
time you see a beautiful woman. Besides yourself that is,” he
smiled. “Look at her eyes. They are filled with sadness. And now
I understand the look. It is loneliness.”
“Well I can’t speak for all beautiful women,” Diane
confessed. “I can only tell you how I feel.”
“Yes...” Jack agreed. “But I think we can safely make the
assumption based on your own experiences. And as usual, I have
the answer to your problem.”
“Here it comes!” Diane quipped, smiling at her friend. “Mr
Know-It-All strikes again.”
“It’s really quite simple,” he assured her.
“Oh I’m sure it is,” Diane acknowledged, smiling grandly.
“That’s it right there,” Jack pointed.
“What is?” Diane probed.
“That smile love,” he announced.
“But I always smile at you Jack,” she shrugged.
“Yeah,” he echoed. “But what about those people that
seem to drift away from you?”
“What about them?” Diane frowned.
“Try smiling for them...” Jack shook his finger.
“You mean walk around with a goofy smile on my face?”
She chuckled. “Geeez Jack, people would think me a silly little
twit.”
“Better silly than stuck-up,” he pointed out. “And I’m not
suggesting that you walk around with a goofy smile pasted to your
face. What I’m saying is. The next time you spot that guy coming
at you down the sidewalk. Just look him straight in the eye as he
approaches. And smile. I guarantee you sweeti, he’ll not drift
away. A smile is the attracting field of life’s magnetic force.”
“I’ll try it as soon as we land,” Diane agreed. “The simple
purity of the act just might work.”
Jack leaned close to Diane, breathing violets again. “Try it
next week, okay. For the next few days I want you for myself.”
He leaned a bit further, closing the distance between the middle
seat, and kissed Diane tenderly.
As they pulled away from one another, they were both
smiling.
“Anything you say Jack,” she whispered. “But I do think
you may be right on this one.”
He winked knowingly. “Aren’t I always...”
They laughed happily as the plane began it’s descent
toward the Kauai International Airport.
The End
Unpublished Works © 1997 GJB
Get your own Free Home Page