Lisa

                                                                                            Introduction

There she was, sitting in the south east corner of the library.  I was too far away to attempt smell but as my guideline of character ideas states “use your imagination to answer certain questions provided” As for smell I imagined vanilla mixed with a secondary hint of strawberries.  As a man sitting in the library in his mid twenties who has not answered the identical questions when he was her age, roughly 18 years of age, one starts to consciously ponder on what exciting and educational experiences she has in the next few years of her life. 

I am then told from this guideline to fabricate a random person’s reality through my imagination.  From what I can observe she, who I just named Lisa, is in her last year of high school and though naturally beautiful; if one carefully observes they can see the stress and mild affect that it has on her facial skin.  Lisa is a very intelligent young lady who has a gift that most people envy.  Her intelligence has actually brought attention to American Ivy league schools such as Harvard, MIT, Yale and Princeton.  The stress of a young lady having to keep up her superb grades, extracurricular activities such as Class President, Drama and Debate Clubs and her most time consuming activity which has also brought attention to division one colleges such as LSU, North Carolina, Florida, UCLA etc is Tennis. 

Lisa is a prodigy for Canadian Woman’s Tennis and is actually the new breed of the older breed.  She is slim, small and quick.  In the last decade it has been all about big, tuff, muscular women with a big service game.  Lisa’s parents are well educated and a wealthy family.  Her dad named Michael is a tax lawyer and her mom is a stay at home mother with a masters degree in physiology.  Lisa has two younger siblings; a younger sister named Hayley aged 13 and a younger brother named Jack aged 10.  Both of her parents are Canadian born Italian Catholics.  The Canadian Culture has made a tangible affect on both generations even though they live in a highly populated Italian town near Toronto.  It is now time to determine the main character conflict in this story or if the main character doesn’t have a conflict there is no story.  Lisa’s main conflict is the man she meets on her flight to Boston for Harvard and MIT interviews.  Her inner voice is similar to her parent’s voices combined, stressing that ivy league education is a necessity and that Tennis is entertainment and shouldn’t impact her decision at all.  Lisa although very confused knows in her heart that education and even a pro tennis career are both important steps in her life but she feels alienated from most people and even the joy obtained by tennis and her intelligence is not enough to sooth the emptiness feeling she has.  Lisa is only 18 and does not yet understand that living a life for others is not a life. 


Maybe the man least expected will persuade her into making a decision based strictly on her own preference.


                                                                                            Lisa


Lisa first noticed him on her way to board the plane as her row was called before his.  As she walked by him their eyes lock for a long second feeling the effects of relative time, powerful enough for her to feel her pupils dilate with excitement.  As she walked by he inhaled a smell combined mostly of vanilla and a touch of strawberry perhaps one of the smells seeped from her grande latte cup. Three minutes later his row was called which aided him to wake up from his temporary day dream of Lisa.  Walking through the tunnel to the plane with his IPod volume lowered just in case of a random encounter, he still smells that vanilla and strawberry mixture but not in a grotesque strong scent but a very mild and dilated scent. 

18 C is where he was appointed to sit and when he walked by Lisa, he saw she was sitting in aisle 4 and in first class.  We are currently in a time where class matters but not like it did prior, like in the “jazz age”.  If you were a witness when their eyes locked like positive and negative ions you would concur with my previous statement.  He sat down and pulled out his novel which was 70 percent read and was a 1930s classic, Tender is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald.  Although reading he did not register one full sentence as his inner voice was focused on a girl he would soon find out to be named Lisa.  After the seat belt light was flicked off the stewardess crew was walking up the aisle or down the aisle depending how you observe it.  The stewardess who served 18 C was named Diane.  A mid 40s pleasant lady with dyed brown hair and a close to modernized hairstyle, parted hair to shoulders with less then straight bangs, Diane’s eyes were a light brown but hard to tell as her pupils were bigger than most at the time being.  Diane seemed to like him as most people did, both when meeting him and even once his personality was established.

Diane finished serving her drinks and he asked with a minimal but flirty smile “can you do me one favour?”  Diane replied by nodding with a Mona Lisa smile or maybe it was a smirk? The favour was acknowledged and accepted.  Diane went back to first class and looked for aisle 4 seat B.  She tapped Lisa to attain her attention because her headphones were on,  Diane gave the note to Lisa and left with a smile that looked like it could not be held in.  The note read:

Dear seat 4B,


                      Hello I am seat 18 C and there is an empty seat 18 B.  Your seat looks too big for you and therefore being uncomfortable.  Feel free to join aisle 18 as the seats are smaller.


Sincerely, Andrew Gold (my friends call me Andy)


Lisa is not used to randomness in her lifestyle and realized for the first time in 2 weeks she was not allocating her mind to University interviews with Harvard and MIT but to the mid twenties man she hoped was named Andrew.  Feeling unstressed but more nervous Lisa took off her seatbelt and left her headphones behind as well.  Her conscious repeating “why not? Its still another 4 hour flight.”  Lisa departed first class to go to coach and realized it only as she moved aside the drapes to get to 18 C.

Lisa being beautiful, intelligent and athletic was only used to superficial and shallow relationships and conversations.  When Lisa arrived to seat 18 C she was relieved to find out who she hoped him to be.  There was a quick contact of the eyes but both Andrew and Lisa felt the power of attraction and were emotionally overpowered to look at each other longer. 

Lisa began by saying “Hello Andrew, I enjoyed your note and appreciate the invite” 

Andrew replied “no worries, feel free to sit down” 

That’s the first time Lisa realized she was still standing and instantaneously blushed making her cheeks look like ripe peaches.  Andrew had a presence that people were attracted to, it was very Zen like.

After buckling up her seatbelt, even though the seatbelt signs were off, one could think it was because she was nervous about Andrew but that’s the type of person she was, one that always follows rules and regulations. 

Smoothly but delaying she said “my name is Lisa Tucci” 

Andrew put out his hand and said “nice to meet you! The reason for my invitation was that I could see that your alone and maybe you would like someone to converse with.”

Lisa slowly lowered her head so her eyes were hidden, consciously realizing that someone sees her for the first time without judgement.  Her parents were loving ones but very strict and unconsciously putting tremendous pressure on Lisa to become a powerful intellect with high stature.  Even though she has all the tools to become free and independent is currently on the other side of the spectrum controlled and micromanaged.  Lisa still shocked because she hasn’t answered a question involving her feelings in a painfully long time.  Even after just meeting they both knew that something naturally was taking place, some type of chemical bonding was occurring.  Lisa of course knew exactly what hormones were being released into both bodies but was firstly experiencing the feeling. 

“I have two big interviews for my entrance into either Harvard or MIT and am very nervous as it will be a long a gruelling interview process” and then silently said “along with my confusion of what exactly I want to do with my life.” 

Andrew turned slowly on an angle towards her and looked into her winter sky blue eyes and said “At least I now know you’re an intellect but is there something bothering you at a deeper level?”

Lisa looked right at him and quietly said “Yes, There is a lot of pressure on me from my parents, to my teachers, to my guidance councillor, to my coaches, and even my friends.” 

“Pressure to be what?”

“Pressure to be someone successful and I recently realized that my definition varies from everyone else I know.  I understand the pressure to get an Ivy league degree over a median one from somewhere like Miami.  However, I am both competitive and passionate in playing tennis and the interview was dated for tomorrow but” and then raised her index and middle fingers up “I need to be in Boston for Harvard and MIT.””

Andrew slowly, powerfully and simply said “So why are we even having this discussion?”

Lisa was stunned at the simplicity of his question but realized that it came from wisdom.  She gave a smile of appreciation and said “Thank you” 

Andrew said “The humorous thing is this flight is also an indirect flight to Miami, Would you like me to reserve this seat for you?”

Without Lisa analyzing and over thinking this major decision, she fluently said “yes”