Firstly, thank you for all the positive comments about Part 1. Also sorry for the long wait for part 2. When I posted part1, i mentioned I was between jobs and was very touched by several messages of ‘sorry to hear that’ and best wishes. A few months later I did get another job,. That didn’t work out but fortune smiled on me at my great age and I soon got another in my field. Those comments meant a lot to me. Some, possibly many, of those messages came from old ’eyesceners’ , now 20 years ago. Now, the social isolation of Covid 19 give me the impetus to resume writing. This is Part 2, there is a part 3 conclusion already in outline.
Part 2.
Jane’s bespectacled appearance in the family lounge did not get the reaction she expected. Her mother’s response was “Oh Jane, why have you come home wearing glasses? They don’t suit you at all.” “ Well I had an eye test and ………Her mother interrupted her, “Hmm, you’ve never needed glasses before, I think they are just trying to take money off you, I told you that job was a poor choice” Turning to Jane’s father, she said. “First she starts going about looking like a tart, now glasses, shes never going to get a husband like this. “ She turned to Jane’s father, “Daddy, why don’t take Jane to the next the golf club dinner? There’s sure to be a nice young man there who might ask her out” and then turning to Jane.- “of course, as long as she’s presentable”
At this point, Jane stormed back upstairs and threw herself on the bed. “Oh I wish i was back at college and away from those two. I feel I am reliving Romeo & Juliet with those two as Capulets. [Author’s note] As we know, Jane studied English. On Jane’s behalf, here is a precis of a radical analysis of Romeo and Juliet. She has similar radical reworkings of most of the other plays. The standard interpretation of Romeo & Juliet is one of adolescent romantic love thwarted by interfering adults. The real story is quite different. The play shows us that Lord Capulet has little time for his daughter and is wrapped up in commercial matters. Some productions place emphasis on Juliet’s realisation that her parents would be rather pleased to see the back of her - referencing the modern day angst of leaving home for Uni. However it’s the Nurse who is the key. She’s portrayed as a nosey busybody and has obviously been around since Juliet’s birth. With her husband away, the presence of the Nurse in the household is an obstacle to Lady Capulet’s MILF ambitions. In short she’s having an illicit affair with cousin Tybalt. Juliet has some inkling of this and despite the Masked ball, knows all along that Romeo is a Montague and takes up with him to spite her parents. [End of Authors note]
The next day Jane left the house early. Unseen by her parents, she slipped out, wearing a lot of makeup but without the glasses. She was early as she’d booked had a driving lesson before work. Learning to drive was her first positive action in breaking away from her parent’s grip. The driving school was a few doors down from the Practice and the instructor was waiting by the car. The instructor knew Jane was not a novice as she’d had a few lessons while at Uni. However, before she got in he said to her” Jane, before we start, you see that Red Audi, tell me the numbers on registration plate? Jane looked over fully expecting to be able to read them back to him, but was stunned when she realised all she could see was a blur. “Err ‘E’ ‘A’, “ she stuttered. “Ah I can tell you’re guessing, I quite often get you young women who are too vain to wear their glasses. I really can’t take you on the road ……… “ Jane was shocked, she’d apparently ruined her eyesight even though the optician and Sally had said wearing the contacts and glasses it was OK.
Thinking quickly Jane said, “guilty, my glasses are in my bag” Phil, the driving instructor said “Gotcha”. “I can’t understand you girls, do you not know the statistics? Without waiting for an answer, he went on to say “51% of men prefer women with Glasses – and most of the remaining 49% are gay”.
Jane laughed “wow, I will remember that and never go out without them again”.
Despite this lighthearted beginning, the driving lesson was a disaster as Jane could not escape the worry that she’ ruined her eyesight by wearing the contact lenses in the office.
As soon as she got to her desk, Jane phoned Sally, and was almost crying on the phone. “The opthalmist said my eyes would not be affected, but I could not read a number plate across the road” Sally calmed her down and said, “I think I know what’s happened and it’s nothing to worry about but I will ask the Opthalmist to come down and talk to you as soon as she’s free”
For the rest of the morning Jane left the contacts and glasses and the hearing aids in her draw. Eventually, the opthalmist came down and Sally took over reception. “Come up to the consulting room Jane and I will explain. “
The opthalmist took Jane through a simple examination with the phrorpter and wrote down some numbers.
“Jane, I can see in my colleague’s notes that when he measured your sight he diagnosed you were long sighted, more so in your right eye. This is not unusual in people of your age. That prescription was used to make up your real glasses but Sally tells me you’ve not really worn them? Jane nodded. “When my colleague then wrote up your contacts prescription he made two separate entries. The first balanced out the office glasses completely but the second prescription was slightly weaker because it allowed for your real prescription. If you like, You’ve been wearing the wrong contacts. Although your real glasses have remained in your bag all this time, you’ve been using that very prescription every day. The measurements I have just taken suggest you need a slight increase in both eyes, because your eyes have relaxed your accommodative power has naturally reduced. Again, this is something we often see with people your age.
He went on to say, “really, my colleague should have strongly advised you to wear the real glasses from day one” but in fact that’s exactly what you have been doing.
Jane was about to burst into tears, taking on board that she could well now be a full time glasses wearer ‘by accident’. The she remembered the strained conversation with her parents. “Dr, I know this is embarrassing to ask but please could you write a note for my parents, explaining that glasses are really necessary for me, as you said, many young people at my age unexpectedly find they need glasses, fashion accessory or not.
“Well Fuck you Mrs Capulet,’ said Jane under her breath.
Although Jane was now coming to work in her first prescription glasses she still sometimes wore the he contact lenses and faux glasses. The opthalmist had revised the contacts to take account of the change in her eyesight. But Jane kept putting off ordering new glasses with the stronger prescription saying she could not afford them.
Jane always felt people expected her to be a like her name, a ‘Plain Jane’. She rarely looked at herself in the mirror before leaving the house. But ever since she’d started wearing her glasses and more makeup she took much more care with her appearance. It seemed to be paying off too, it was noticeable how much more male I contact she got on her way to work and during those lunch time shopping trips.
A couple of weeks later Jane was sat having a cup of coffee in her break and the opthalmist came by. “Hi Jim, if you have a moment would you mind explaining my prescription? I know you went through the numbers at the time but I think it’s about time I started to learn some of the science” Jane thought to herself. “And… you all think I am a dumb receptionist but I did get a ‘B’ in A level physics.”
“Sure’ said Jim and Jane pulled out her prescriptions and laid them on the table. “Also,” she said, “I can-t understand when I had regular eyetests as a child, I was always OK”
“OK, the glasses that Sally asked me to give you were simply +4.0 diopters in each eye, we right that as sph OS sph 4.0 dpt OD sph 4.0dpt. The original contacts were therefore OS -4.0 dpt OD sph -4.0dpt, to achieve emmetropia.” Jim went on, “while I am about it should I explain ‘Diopters’? “No, it’s ok I googled it and I remembered from my Science A levels, that a zero diopter lens would have a focal length of infinity”
“Ok then, when we first measured your eyes, we saw left and right OS +0.75dpt and OD +1.5dpt. So the negative power of the contact lenses were reduced accordingly.” Last week, you recall I put some drops in your eye to do what we call a Cycloplegic refraction. This eliminates the tendency of your eye muscles to artificially adjust your focus. In fact, I measured your right eye to be +2.5 dpt but that would have been a big jump. Gradually, that focusing ‘accommodative’ power will relax, which I why some people say that glasses make their eyesight worse. You also have some Astigmatism but not enough to make a difference. “why was I not diagnosed at School - did they make a mistake?” “The answer is a bit complicated but I will try. In general, school eye tests are perfectly OK. However, upto about aged 16 they make allowance for changes that may occur naturally. Studies show that about 40% of school eyetests don’t result in prescription glasses even though the subject could benefit. There are two factors at play. Young children are naturally long sighted, but statistically, by 9 years old most children lose this. However in some children the change is delayed. Unless the hyperopia is severe, it was thought that prescribing glasses would impede that natural corrective process. However, modern practice tends to suggest intervention at an earlier age. I can send you a link to the research papers if you wish.
Jim was impressed that Jane understood his explanation but he saw she was about to point to her hearing aids. “Before you ask, yes I could probably explain your hearing test but I think I would only confuse you, better to ask Dave.”
The patients booking in to the Audiology clinic were, on the whole, elderly or middle aged. Some had worn hearing aids since childhood and wanted to catch up with improvements in technology. There was a young mum who had realised she was deaf in her 30’s and having been prescribed aids through Jane’s practice, had a Youtube channel describing her experience. Very occasionally, children came along, usually when their parents were well off enough to ‘go private’.
‘Lucy’ came in with her mum after school one day. She was 12 and had been prescribed hearing aids when she was eight but would not wear them. However now she was at ‘big school’ her parents were pressing her. Lucy’s mum was delighted when she saw Jane was apparently a hearing aid wearer. On their second visit Lucy’s mum asked Jane to lift her hair so Lucy could be be persuaded that you could wear hearing aids and still be pretty,The next time they came in it was Lucy who wanted to show Jane her new behind the ear aids. Jane looked at Lucy’s mum and was about to praise Lucy, when her mum said. “I had to bribe her, we are off to John Lewis this afternoon.”
Later that afternoon, Jane got a text from one of her Uni friends,Cathy with an invitation to her wedding in Scotland. guests were to travel up the day before and stay at a Hotel close to the wedding venue.
Although Cathy had been a close friend, Jane’s first instinct was to say ‘no’ but her new spirit of adventurousness took hold. The idea of meeting up with her old uni friends was appealing.
In the two weeks before the wedding trip Jane bought a new outfit, well actually several new outfits and decided to fund that new glasses prescription with her credit card. She chose the round, wire frame style, just becoming popular. Her mother was again critical, complaining the frames did nothing to disguise the thicker lenses. Jane loved them and after a few days, found she only took the glasses off at bed time.
A couple of days before the wedding Jane and Sally spent the lunchtime together in one of the consulting rooms -under Sally’s guidance, Jane tried various makeup ‘looks’ she might adopt for the journey. Although Jane tried various ways of tying up her long hair, eventually she said. “I need a different hairstyle, don’t I?”
The wedding was on a Saturday and Jane caught the train from King’s Cross at 13.00. Walking through the concourse among crowds of travellers Jane again noticed how much eye contact she was getting from passing males, some even showed the flicker of a smile.
By the time the train made it’s first stop at Stevenage Jane was immersed in her book. The beaker of coffee she’d carried onto the train was empty and pushed to the back of the table. As a woman and a teenage girl pushed past the table a brief exchange between them caused jane to lift her eyes from the book. There was something familiar in the girl’s voice. At that moment the woman turned slightly and Jane recognised them from the clinic. The girl was wearing her hearing aids. Jane hoped they might not recognise her. The new glasses and haircut might be sufficient disguise. Involuntarily, Jane took her hands from the book and placed them over her ears. This went unseen by the girl. The mother motioned her towards empty seats two rows away.
Jane was in a real quandary She was sure the girl had recognised her. Should she go and say hello? Remembering their conversations in the clinic it would be a betrayal of trust after encouraging the girl to be proud of her new hearing aids. They were going to be on this train for at least three hours, it would be even more embarrassing if the girl, who’s name she now remembered was ‘xxx came upto her. Jane searched her handbag, hoping that the plastic capsule was still in her desk draw. No, there it was, safely stored in a side pocket. Oblivious to glances from the woman sitting opposite her, Jane deftly inserted the aids and turned them on. The noise in the carriage hit her like a wall and she adjusted the volume to its lowest setting. Jane of course did not know that Dave had just completed the process of gradually increasing the gain settings to match her real hearing loss. It;s normal however to allow the user to attenuate the sound a little. Taking out her phone she tried to arrange her hair to cover the aids but soon realised it was now too short. She shook her head and the hair fell back into the shape the stylist had created. The possibility that her new stylish haircut would make it impossible to hide the hearing aids had never occurred to her.
The journey continued and Jane gradually got used to her new aural environment. The background noise had almost disappeared because the intelligence in the hearing aids had begun to filter it out. At Peterborough more passengers joined and sat in the row behind her. Hearing people speaking nearby she again looked up from her book and realised it was the couple in the seat behind her. The refreshment trolley came by. Jane said “Coffee please” and was stunned by the clarity of her own voice. I was like someone else was talking. In front, she could see that Lucy and her mother were heading for the buffet car and would walk straight past her. As they passed, Lucy looked directly at Jane, prompting her to say “hello Lucy and Lucy’s mum, what a surprise” Lucy’s mum was the first to reply “Oh it’s Jane from the clinic, I almost didn’t recognise you.” Lucy chipped in ‘Jane, look I am wearing my new hearing aids and we are going to a wedding and I’m going to be a bridesmaid.” “Oh my goodness” said Jane, “I am going to a wedding too, maybe it’s the same one?”
When Lucy and her mum came back from the Buffet car they all sat together and chatted away for much of the journey. Jane was gradually getting used to hearing her own voice in a completely new way, even over the increased noise from the train. Lucy’s mum asked Jane when she first got hearing aids, had she worn them as a child. “Not not at all, after I’d just started at the Clinic I took a hearing test and they found my hearing was quite impaired. When you came in for Lucy’s appointment I’d only just started wearing them.” Jane hesitated, “I am not sure I could manage without them now”.
It turned out they were attending different weddings but staying at the same Hotel and just before the train got to the end of its journey, Jane went and retrieved her luggage and they all filed off the train together to look for a Taxi. As is so often the case in the North of England it was raining. Although the taxi rank was covered the rain was still blowing into the waiting area. Jane was the last to get into the cab but just as she was about to close the door a young guy ran up and spoke to the driver. He was soaking wet (the guy not the driver) and Jane heard him ask if he could share their cab to the hotel. All agreed and Jane squeezed onto the back seat and he took the Dickie seat. (the one that faces backwards, that’s what it’s called.) He introduced himself as Jim Carnew, and explained he’d started to walk to the hotel just before it started to rain. Jane noticed he didn’t have a lot of luggage.
Before they’d gone very far, Jim made a point of saying he would insist on paying half of the cab fare. Lucy’s mum, said “actually, we are two separate parties, so we should split it in three.” Lucy then piped in, “I am Lucy, and this is my mom Emma. I’ve just got my new hearing aids, and this lady got them for me” pointing to Jane. Jim smiled at them all and said, “Hello, Emma, Lucy and Jane. “ Jane noticed that as he turned to her, his gaze lingered. Jane suddenly remembered the wind had brought down her hair down and the hearing aids might no longer be visible. Relieved, Jane relaxed and returned the smile. Lucy announced. “We are all going to weddings.” . Jim said, slightly teasing her “what three weddings ?” Jane said. “Actually Jim, it’s two separate weddings. We happened to meet a few weeks ago but today I bumped into to Emma and Lucy the train and discovered we were attending different weddings but staying at the same Hotel.
“Oh, grand, I bet that was a nice surprise,” said Jim,. “Myself, I’m staying at the hotel, but not as a wedding guest. I’m an ‘emcee’ (M.C) for a band and we have a wedding gig. Part of the deal is the hotel puts us up in staff accommodation, but that really means just a pokey little room in the basement. We get one or two weddings a month here.
Lucy piped up again, still wanting to lead the conversation. Emma thought, ‘this is quite unusual, Lucy rarely comes out of her shell. She’s normally so shy, particularly with strangers’. “ What’s an emcee?” said Lucy, to no-one in particular. “Lucy, that’s a good question” replied Jim. “oh an emcee is really a job for doing not very much, I get to stand in front of the musicians, talk about the songs and sometimes introduce the musicians by name. Occasionally, they also let me sing a bit as long as the words are nice and simple.” Jim then said, “My Band is playing for Luke and Teresa’s wedding - is that your one?” Lucy looked puzzled and shook her head. Jane piped up. “Oh those are my friends, I was at College with Teresa” “Well that’s fantastic Jane, it means you are going to see a bit more of me. I’ll find a song and announce it as dedicated to you. Jane realised she’d been returning Jim’s gaze for several minutes and wondered why she wasn’t embarrassed and blushing. Jim continued, “and those are lovely glasses you’re wearing.” Jane smiled and tried to say thankyou but could only manage a whisper.
Lucy said: Jim, Will your band come and play at our wedding too? Throughout all this, Lucy’s mum Emma had been marveling at her daughter’s sudden confidence. She was usually so reticent, particularly around strangers.Then it dawned on her. It was the hearing aids. Lucy had been wearing them for three days now and in that short timespan, she’d learned the world was there to be listened to and talked to.
To Lucy’s question, Jim said. “ I’m afraid it doesn’t work like that. We can only play in one room. But, tell you what, in the interval I will ask the organisers if I can invite you in as my guests. But don’t tell anyone else.
Jane was silent, but in her head was wondering why she was finding Jim so charming and appealing. Uncertain about what message she was giving, or wanted to give, Jane kept glancing at Jim but avoided prolonged eye contact. Had she been able to read Emma’s mind, she would have realised that like Lucy, her own improved and hearing was changing her engagement with the world.
========== Another Digression or two. Shakespeare’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing,’ portrays the relationship between a girl and a boy Beatrice and Benedict, who, although they are old friends, take great pains not to disclose their mutual attraction. Particularly Beatrice. As the plot moves on, the other main characters, frustrated by Benedict and Beatrice’s reticence, arrange a small party. Of course everyone must wear a mask - it’s ‘the mask trick’. When played out on stage, Beatrice and Benedict quickly reveal their mutual attraction. But the audience is never sure if they do really know who is behind the mask. Critics often regard this as one of the most facile devices in any of the plays. Your author is no academic, but one of the precepts of Shakespeare study is that he’s often telling us truths or making acute observations we don’t always recognise. I can offer two possible interpretations to rationalise the ‘mask trick’ and rescue it from it’s status as a facile device and show what Shakespeare was pointing out.
Over the years, several GWG’s have said to me they feel more confident and find it easier to hold eye contact when wearing their glasses, not just because of the better vision but because they feel much more outgoing when to be slightly hidden behind their ‘cristal veil’. Spectacles were in use during Shakespeare’s time. There are numerous references to eyes and eyesight in the plays, but I’m not suggesting he observed their psychological impact. However he might have recognised the change of behavior when his actors when masked.
The supplementary part of the answer is worth adding but only as a humorous afterthought - the pinhole effect. Light that passes through the centre of the eye is received by the brain with reduced blurring compared to the light coming from the periphery of the eye. Perhaps, the tunnelling effect of the mask’s eyes was just enough to improve Beatrice’s vision.
The final part of the digression to explain the above. Some of my colleagues work with young people on the Autistic spectrum. One of the well known autistic behaviours is avoidance of eye contact. Young adults on the autistic spectrum have reported that getting their first glasses has improved their ability to hold eye contact and reduced their social anxiety. Theorists in the field of Autism consider that many of the behaviours identified as the ‘spectrum’ are also present in the general population. But of course at reduced levels. Sometimes the behaviour is still recognizable but the individual has developed a coping strategy. Or the individual’s social environment is such that the problem has no impact.
Back to the story.
It was still raining when they got to the Hotel, but the Taxi pulled in under a canopy. Jim had to get out first but stood back and waited. Emma insisted on paying for the Taxi herself. As they reached the Hotel reception area, Emma and Lucy were a few steps ahead. Touching Jane on the arm, Jim put his finger to his lips. They both stood there looking at each other. Jim said. I suppose you’ll be meeting up with your friends tonight?” Jane shook her head, still not sure she was allowed to speak, “No, not really, my friends from Uni don’t arrive until tomorrow” Jim said “oh in that case, would you like to meet up in the bar at about nine for a drink, my treat? I cant make it until then as I have a few things to sort out for the Band.That’s not too late for you? Jane smiled. “That would be lovely, Nine-o-clock is fine. I need a bath and I should really Iron my dress ready for Tomorrow.
They parted, Jim swinging his bag a little too much as he crossed the Lobby leaving Jane to register at the reception desk.
An hour or so late, Jane sat looking at herself in the Vanity mirror in her room. The bathroom was full of steam. Spread out across the desk, all the makeup she’d bought during her lunchtime shopping expeditions. Her hearing aids in their little shell. Two pairs of glasses and a small pack of contact lenses.
Four words came into her mind. “Fuck you Mrs Capulet”.
Jane applied her makeup just as she’d been taught by the girl in the Mall. She put in the hearing aids and turned them on. The change in the sound from the room still surprised her. She picked up her normal glasses and then discarded them. Reaching for the contacts she selected the ones used in combination with the strong glasses. Jane then put her hair up -put on the glasses and stared at herself carefully in the mirror. Pulling on her black jeans and work shoes, she was ready. But it was still only eight thirty. She walked round the room catching sight of herself in the mirror. She even video’d herself and sent the recording to Sally back at the office.
Going down in the lift, Jane took another closer look at herself in the mirror. “Had she overdone it?” But as the lift doors opened, with a swift brush of her hand she pulled down her hair.
Jim was at the bar and his immediate response was “wow you brush up well”. “Thankyou!” said Jane.
Jane asked for a glass of white wine and they went and found a table. The bar was noisy and unconsciously Jane started to focus on Jim’s lips - she wasn’t aware of it but she was lip reading him. They started talking about music. After exchanging names of a few bands and gigs (Jim had attended), he reached down into his bag and pulled out the list of songs the band were going to play tomorrow. After a few moments, it suddenly dawned on Jane that although Jim was looking down at the sheet, she could hear him perfectly. Involuntarily, she pushed back her hair and touched the left hearing aid, pushing the earpiece deeper into her ear.
Talking about their respective time at Uni. Like Jane, Jim had studied English literature, and of course this led on to a discussion about shakespeare. “Did you do any acting? Asked Jim. He was aware that Jane was becoming more relaxed. She’d lost the slightly distant look he’d noticed at the outset. Initially, this had left him concerned she was just being polite, accepting his invitation and would wrap things up after the first drink. Jim described his course as a mix of Literature, Drama and performance, singing and the like. Jane was entranced to hear his experience of scenes in the plays where he’d performed small parts (but for those who new the plays, like Jane, nevertheless important parts. Jane said her course modules were rather dry by comparison. “But you have done some acting? said Jim, “I can tell by the way you carry yourself”. “Jane demured, “not much,but although i wasn’t on the Drama course I did help out with some of their productions” “And singing?” prompted Jim. “Oh that goes back to School when I sang in the choir and acted in school productions - but when I was about 15 I had a bad summer cold, and when I went back the next term, I lost my confidence and couldn’t get my voice back.”
Jim felt he was now on safe ground to proffer compliments. “Well, speaking as a professional, I think your voice is lovely. And, of course, he said with a slight smirk, “so are your Glasses.” Pausing, he added. “ they are a different pair to yesterday’s ?” “Oh Jim, that’s so lovely of you to say so.” I’ve only been wearing glasses for a few months. People say they make me look dorky (meaning her parents), but I feel comfortable wearing them. These are my original pair, which I prefer. The ones I wore yesterday have different lenses I’m just getting used to” Jim said, I’ve never spent the evening with a girl with glasses before. It’s a treat. But a girl with two pairs of glasses, wow, that’s something! Jane could tell he was slightly teasing her in an affectionate sort of way. She replied in kind. “I can’t really help it. I work as a receptionist at an optician. Having bad eyes is almost a qualification for the job, along with my First in English,” she added wryly. “And,The one perk of the job is a massive discount on frames which is also an inducement” to treat myself.
Felling this was a good moment to pause. Jim said, “I’m busting for a pee, would you excuse me a moment?” “Of course said Jane, I’ll get us another drink if you’d like one? What would you like? Jim thought for a moment, “Is the white OK, if so I’ll have the same, any more beer and I’ll be peeing all night.” Jane nodded and waved him in the direction of the loo.
When Jim got back from the Loo, Jane was at the bar and he saw she’d bought a bottle. Just as he reached her side, instead of picking up the bottle and glasses, Jane turned and embraced him and they kissed. To return the kiss, Jim put his hands to the side of her face and felt something hard behind her left hear. Jane giggled - “oh I must be a bit tipsy’ but before she could go further. Jim diffused her concern by saying. “No, it must be the magic of the evening, you beat me to it. It was in my mind to offer you a kiss if the opportunity arose, like when you might have returned from the loo.”
As they sat down again, Jims inner voice said, “Well if this was to be played upon a stage, I would have written my trip to the loo as a device to break the tension in the scene. An audience would think this, now, “an improbable fiction” ( sorry, could not resist it, a broken quote from 12th Night)
They sat, leaning back in their chairs and didn’t speak for a while but just sipped their drinks. “Jim” said Jane, attempting a serious, but slightly drunk tone, “I think there’s something else you should know about me, I have a confession…” ‘What?” asked Jim a bit too loudly. He was, with rising horror, suddenly thinking she was going to say she was married. Taking a sip of her drink, Jane fortunately missed the look on his face and continued. “When we were at the bar, that hard object you touched in my hair was a hearing aid. I’ve got one in the other ear too.
In that spontaneous and unflappable way of speaking, that Jane found so attractive, Jim said, “No need, I caught sight of one earier when you moved your hair.” Jane blushed, and mimicked “oh Ive been found out, damn, no point in wearing my hair down at all”
Continuing the banter Jim said, “As Taming of the Shrew is my favourite play, I’m just going deny my own principles and say, “Jane-Kate, get you to you chamber, and don’t come back until you hair is up, as I instructed” Jane, taking up her part, said “Why but of course my lord, I am yours to command”
Jim was laughing so much, Jane was on her feet and heading to the loo before he could plead that instructing a woman what to wear was such an anathema to him.
Jane came back waving her hairbrush, but with her hair up and the hearing aids exposed. “Is that more to your liking my lord?”
“Oh my Jane-Kate, my lovely Jane-Kate” At this point they fell laughing into each other’s arms l and kissed.
As they both sat down again still laughing Jane removed her glasses and put her hands over her eyes. Waiting for her to recover Jim said, now it’s my turn for confession. Would you be ok if go out for a cigarette? I know it’s a filthy habit but someone has to do it”
From behind her hands, Jane, was just able to say ‘Of course, you go’. But before Jim had taken more than three steps, Jane jumped up, grabbed her glass and called out. “Wait, I am coming with you - just for the fresh air. “
Jim’s long stride had taken him some distance when he then heard a noise behind him. “Waaah Jim, please wait”, I’ve left my glasses on the table and can’t see a thing.”
Instantly Jim took two strides back and took Jane by the arm. She clung to him for a moment and then relaxed as he put his arm in hers. “Do you want to go back… “ “No no” said Jane, lets keep going, I can see you now, that’s all that matters.
Jane was apologetic. “I’ve never felt so stupid, I must be more drunk than I thought. I am usually ok to go without my glasses when I know where I am but not here. Jane was of course thinking, “how could I forget I was wearing the contacts and would not be able to see more than a yard.”
Cigarette over, Jim put his arm round Jane’s waist and guided her back to their table.
Although they;d touched on it earlier, Jane asked more about Jim’s band and the music they played. “Well, we prefer to do our own stuff, which is a bit difficult to describe without hearing it. But for Tomorrow’s gig, it’s mainly covers.” “Covers of what? Jim reached into his bag, “this is our set list, I can never remember what we are playing until I get in front of the mic with this in my hand.
Jane pointed to one song, “I’d love to hear you sing this one. Please…” Jim took a deep breath, “You might have to wait for the set tomorrow, you’ll get us thrown out, this bar is not licenced for singing and dancing.” (note for non UK readers. Jim is here referring to historic licencing laws, pre 2005.) In the momentary pause before Jim started, Jane was just on the point of believing him. Although the bar was nearly empty, Jim’s training as a singer allowed him to sing very softly but still maintain the melody. At the start of the second verse he heard another voice joining him. When they reached the end of the song there was silence. They both pushed their hands together in mid air.
Neither felt the need to announce the end of the evening and while jim went to the loo again Jane sat reflecting on the evening. On his return, they kissed again and parted.
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