Joe and Dianne: Life away from you

Shortened conversations

Narrator's POV:

As promised by Joe earlier that morning, Joe and Dianne took advantage of the glorious British weather and went for a walk along the river, in towards Battersea park; taking in every sight that this part of London had to offer them. The gentle swish of the Thames in the background, as its waves launched themselves at the concrete barricades protecting the thousands of tourists, commuters and home owners of the English capitol, walking along its banks. The delicate buds on the trees that slowly began to open up as the idea of spring made all walks of life smile. The old buildings with so much historical premise, combined with the new architectural masterpieces of the 21st century right next door to each other. The soft breeze carrying a surprising warmness, resulting in almost every other person to carry their jumpers, coats and jackets in there arms, rather than wear them to keep out the formidable cold. 

But more importantly, and most prominently, Joe and Dianne took in the feeling of each others fingers intertwined with their own. Joe noticing the softness of his girlfriends fingertips as she smoothed gentle circles with her thumb, onto the back of his hand. In return Dianne noticed the stillness of her Boyfriends hands - the lack of nervous shaking in his palms, the direct antithesis of what Dianne had witness holding Joe's hands last night. 

They didn't speak to each other all that much - nothing was needing to be said. Anything that was said was the odd bit of chit chat, a whistle or line of a song being sung randomly, and at one particular interval, Joe saying to the love of his life, "Oi, Di look at that shitting dog!" So y'know.... normal stuff. But overall, the pair enjoyed the serenity of the situation along with each others company until eventually they found themselves in the picturesque restaurant next to the lake, absentmindedly looking out onto the smiling faces of people pedalowing in the afternoon sun.

Joe's POV:

As I sat down next to Dianne, I couldn't help but once again smile at her. Her eyes were off of mine, and were instead focused on the people on the water. The crisp blue of her background contrasting her bright red locks perfectly. The sun to the side of us, perfectly illuminating her features - her soft skin, bronzing in the sun - her hazel eyes looking as if they were cast from the purist gold as they reflected the light - and her cute little smile, accentuated by the dark red lipstick she used today; making her lips a rather stand out feature compared to the rest of her features that were covered by the slightest layering of makeup. Not that she ever needed it of course. 

"Joe we should do that later on." Dianne said quietly - taking my attention back to the reality of our situation as she gestured towards the small building next to the lake that was hiring out the pedalos.

"I wish that we could Di, but I've got no cash on me." I said pointing to the large 'CASH ONLY' sign plastered onto the side of the stand. "Maybe, next weekend when you have a day off we could come down, with cash in hand and get a go on them." I said in a lowered voice, matching her hushed tone - as if I was talking to a young child who was desperate to go and play. Dianne nodded gently, her eyes still off of mine and once again ending our conversation, plunging us into the icy chill of silence.I sat for a moment pondering on that very silence, finally noting that it had been almost an accustom since Di had gotten back from tour. Still, despite what I had said to her in the early hours of this morning, I knew something wasn't right, and she at least deserved the opportunity to discuss whatever is on her mind. 

"Di?" I questioned in an attempt to get her attention.

"uh-huh" she replied bluntly, still refusing to look me in the eye.

"Dianne, would you look at me for a moment please?" I asked firmly - my voice clearly much sterner than she was expecting, causing her gaze to fall onto mine, even if it was somewhat begrudgingly. "Is everything okay? you've been really quiet these past 24 hours and i'm getting concerned." My voice now much softer and more empathetic.

"Yeah I'm okay." I waited for a moment, staring deeply into her eyes, as if I was almost interrogating her. Her answer to my question seemed sincere, and was met with a sweet smile. But I still knew she was lying. Having spent so much time with Dianne in a training room for up to 10 hours a day, I learnt very quickly what her tell signs were. And whenever Dianne Buswell was lying to me, she smiled sweetly and tilted her head ever so slightly to the left, causing a few strands of hair to roll onto her face. And as I looked at that girl with the sweet smile, I noticed the slight tilt of her head, and the few strands of red cascading across her forehead, covering her right eye. But still... This was neither the time or place to bring it up. So deciding to humour her, I ignored her tell signs and replied either way.

"Okay." I paused slightly for a moment, taking her hand that laid on the table top into my own and smiled at her. "But if you feel like you want to tell me something you can okay. Just because of what I said last night about you being perfectly allowed to keep things to yourself, don't feel like you can't tell me things because I will always be there for you, come rain or shine."

Dianne allowed her smile to drop for a moment. Her eye line following suit. "Yeah I know that Joe." Her hushed tone returning, making her iconic Australian accent fade and be replaced by what could only be described as a monotonous whisper.

"Because you know that I love you." Dianne's eyes returned to mine as my honest words sunk into her head.

"I know that too." And with that her eye line returned to the people splashing about in the water, across from us. Our conversation dying out once more and a silence taking control. And finally for some bizarre reason, as I fiddled gently with the rings that were placed on Dianne's delicate fingers, I couldn't help but hold onto one thing in my mind.

Despite my honest words about how I feel for Dianne, I couldn't help but notice that this time, she didn't say it back.