The Conversation

It is 5:45 pm on Saturday, April 21, 2012, as Diane drives her ’98 blue Ford Taurus towards the seaside town of Bethany Beach, Delaware, via DE-26 East. Like many seaside towns, it offers lovely beaches, fancy restaurants, clubs, movie theatres, mini-golf courses, and a boardwalk to attract amusement-starved tourists and their dollars. At the same time, it maintains a very relaxed and quiet atmosphere by having strict limits on business and housing sprawl. It’s not an entertainment giant, or nightlife madhouse; only a simple, beautiful place with just enough excitement and energy to allow folks a brief escape from the dreariness of their everyday lives.

She lives only about fifty-five miles away in Dover, but has already been driving nearly eighty minutes. She could have arrived already had she taken DE-1, but decided instead to take a longer, slower route as she is a leisurely driver who wants to relish every minute of the driving experience. The setting sun behind her has created a glorious display of purple, pink, red, and peach on an electric blue canvas that fills her vision as she cruise-controls through the open countryside while listening to a classical piano tape. A few minutes ago she had pulled off to the side of the road to snap a few shots of the sunset with her tiny camera. She has taken numerous photos of evening skies throughout the years, each one distinctive and beautiful. None must ever be lost.

Approaching the ocean, she reaches the end of DE-26 and turns into the northbound lane of Coastal Highway. This is where the town's nightlife is located, and the heaviest traffic is found.

Driving down the strip, bright signs of a few dance clubs enter her vision and quickly her mind becomes flooded with many memories of an era of her life that existed just over a decade ago. She happily reflects on those times and the joy they gave her.

Back then, from every April through every November, Diane and her two best friends, Cori and Dawn, would get together most weekends and head to whatever club they had chosen to liberate themselves. They were always in perfect synergy and they fed off each other.

They would arrive at one of those hotspots with the tensions and frustrations of life built up inside them, like their hearts and souls were imprisoned in brick and aching to be free. After taking a few minutes to absorb the energy from the music, lights, and other patrons, they would quickly hit the floor to begin the liberation. Over the next several hours the movement of their bodies driven by the energy of the music pulsating through their systems would dissolve the bricks of their inner bondages and purge them through every exhalation and drop of sweat, leaving behind only euphoria. Yes, those were indeed great times; still, she can’t help but laugh at her immaturity in those earlier years. What a meaningless existence that was. Thankfully, as she’s matured, she’s been able to put away childish behaviors and philosophies.

At 6:08 pm, she slowly veers into the left-turn lane at a traffic light before coming to a stop. After a minute, the turn signal changes, and she crosses the south-bound lane to approach a 24-hour convenience store where she, again, turns left into the parking lot and drives into a space on the side of the building. Through her windshield, she sees the sign saying: CUSTOMER PARKING ONLY: all other vehicles will be towed at owner’s expense. Diane quickly switches off her engine, exits the car, locks the door, and closes it behind her. Having been seated for almost two hours she takes a few moments to loosen herself up. Grabbing her left wrist in her right hand and slowly breathing inward she raises her arms straight up overhead while tensing all her muscles. Holding this position, she squeezes her hazel eyes shut and clenches her teeth. A few seconds later she quickly drops her hands to her knees, takes a few deep breaths, and relaxes before standing again to her full 5’7”.

She’s dressed in a purple T-shirt and black jeans and is barefoot. The 100% cotton shirt fits tautly over her frame; accentuating her broad shoulders, thick upper-arms, V-shaped back and flat stomach. Her bare forearms are well developed and the fabric of her jeans comfortably envelops her muscular legs. A silver ID bracelet hangs on her right wrist. Her dark brown hair, with several gray strands as decorative as tinsel on a Christmas tree, is tightly pulled back in a lengthy ponytail making her strong trapezius more apparent. Soon after shaking the stiffness out of her legs, she heads inside. This particular store is modernized, with lots of space, soft lighting and wall-to-wall carpeting. It also serves things like lattes, made-to-order sandwiches and fresh desserts. The presence of tables and chairs by the magazine rack clearly suggest this is meant to be a place not just of mere convenience, but also one of social lingering. However, the comfortable atmosphere and tasty food choices don’t tempt Diane; all she wants is a single roll of spearmint Certs. She quickly walks to the candy aisle and picks up one.

Walking to the cash register, she immediately notices the cashier’s profile: a lovely young woman, black, probably around twenty years old. Her complexion is nearly flawless and her long dark hair is pinned back with a decorative clip and runs down the middle of her shoulders. Diane has never seen a convenience store clerk look so chic and is quite impressed, but when the clerk turns to face her, Diane finds herself staring into the kindest eyes she has ever seen. Some people would describe them as 'doe eyes,' but while a doe's eyes may be adorable, none could melt a human heart at first sight like the deep brown ones Diane now sees. For a moment she can't move; then she quickly looks down, places the Certs on the counter, and sees the tag on the cashier's black polo shirt: "Lori".

"Will that be all for you?” asks Lori with a voice that matches her eyes.

Diane just grins and nods.

"Alright then."

As her order is rung up, Diane thinks of the sea-green eyes of National Geographic's Afghan Girl and finds that Lori's are just as equally mesmerizing. Yet instead of the sadness and desperation in the Afghan Girl's, she sees grace and compassion and is astounded that she has found this treasure in such surroundings; much like finding the pearl in the oyster.

"One dollar is your total," Lori says so sweetly.

Diane reaches into her hip pocket for her money clip, pulls out a dollar bill, and hands it to Lori. After depositing the dollar, Lori hands back the Certs. "Thank you, and have a great evening,” Lori says.

Normally Diane would just walk out without saying anything more, but not this time. It's been said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. If that really is true, Diane wasn't about to leave without at least learning a little about who was behind those eyes. "Thank you for being so kind," she replies.

Lori smiles softly and says, "Not a problem. It’s my pleasure," with a tenderness that amazes Diane. She returns the smile with a slight nod of her head. Diane wants to hear Lori’s voice again.

“You working much longer tonight?” Diane asks.

“Until eleven,” Lori graciously replies, again with that amazing tenderness. “I’ll survive, though.”

Diane wants to continue the conversation, but quickly senses there’s someone else behind her, so she quietly turns and walks toward the exit.