Dear Friends.
I have created the story you will read below as a response and homage to one of my best beauty experiences.
With this story I go to @theinkwell's call.
The Ink Well Weekly Fiction Prompt #3: Beauty With a Twist
To Carlos
Own photo
Quetta and Daniel
Daniel looked at his mobile phone every few minutes to check the time. In the meantime he sipped the beer in front of him.
Forty-five minutes after the appointed time, Quetta showed up.
When he saw her arrive, a smile, which did not disappear all afternoon, lit up his face.
He got up to wait for her as he watched her run towards him like a schoolgirl.
When she reached the table she stopped and curtsied. He reciprocated by extending his hand to her, and Quetta stopped as she took it. And he gazed at her at his ease.
"You look beautiful, you look great in that white blouse". She said in reply, "I'm starving". He burst out laughing, Quetta had the virtue of always making him laugh.
Daniel ordered lunch, he didn't ask his companion what she preferred; he ordered for both, albeit different dishes. At each request to the waiter the woman smiled. Daniel knew her like no one else.
They had a hearty lunch, accompanied by a good wine. "It's your turn to pay for everything since you're earning so well," Quetta told him. Daniel laughed again.
"You pay for the cinema tickets," he said, and she laughed back. "Of course I do, you give me the money and I pay at the box office".
In an atmosphere of laughter and joking Queta and Daniel finished their lunch. Daniel put his arm around her shoulders and they walked to the nearby park.
There they sat on a bench to watch the pigeons and the children hanging out on the swings and slides. Little by little they caught up with each other: they hadn't met for three months and each wanted to know everything about the other.
It was half past four in the afternoon when Quetta's phone rang.
She looked at the screen for a moment and decided not to answer.
"Who is it?" without waiting for an answer he himself answered with another question "Is it your husband?"
"Yes, of course! You must want to ask me about anything silly around the house. Queta's voice sounded amused.
You won't answer him?
No. Of course not. He knows I'm with you. I told him I'd be late.
You're terrible, don't you feel sorry for him? Poor guy! With three little kids!
He's their dad. Isn't he? Let him manage!
Daniel laughed again, pulled her to him and kissed her brown hair.
After a while, Daniel wanted to lie down on Quetta's lap. He was like that, looking at the sky, when the incoming call rang.
You will answer, won't you? Quetta said reproachfully.
Of course I will! I'm not crazy, don't talk, don't breathe, she's my girlfriend!
Quetta watched him talk, she could hear the questions the female voice on the phone was asking Daniel. He answered that he was fine, maybe a little bored... that he was accompanying a friend to run some health errands, that he was currently resting in a park while the friend went to his appointment. That he didn't know yet what time he would arrive... that it depended on the doctor.
After hanging up, she saw him take a photograph of the children playing and send it to his girlfriend. He accompanied it with a voice note telling her that he would call her as soon as he was free.
At the end of the call Quetta and Daniel went into the cinema.
Then they went to the boardwalk to watch the sunset.
At times they were silent, watching the beauty of the sun hiding in the intense hues of the trees. They were unable to distract each other with unwelcome words in front of the beautiful sunset.
An hour later Daniel accompanied her to the bus stop that would take her home. They both took the bus. He would drop her off close to home and return in the same vehicle.
During the half hour ride back they talked about the inability of so many people to understand their long friendship. An affection that was born as children and that they swore to defend, before everything and everyone, when, as very young children, they were told ad nauseam that females and males could not be friends.
We'll see you in three months. Take care, my friend! said Daniel.
It's a deal! Quetta said cheerfully.
I hope your husband isn't too jealous," Daniel laughed.
"He knows that I love him, that he is my husband, but you are irreplaceable to me. You've been my best friend all my life.
From his seat Daniel watched her walk away.
He had never felt so comfortable, so happy and so authentic with anyone as he did with his friend Quetta. Their relationship was full of great beauty.
Thank you for reading
Hello @gracielaacevedo,
It is like you to present a story with subtle complexity. You have drawn these characters very well. You have described a beautiful friendship. Of course, the beauty is marred by Daniel's duplicity. We know nothing about his girlfriend, but we do know he is not honest with her. He lies readily, and the suggestion is that she might be jealous.
So complicated. No easy judgments to be made of these people. It is a lot like life.
A well-told story. Thank you!
Thanks for reading, dear @agmoore. The way I see it, Daniel lies to his girlfriend (here the word girlfriend does not mean engaged to be married, yet), so as not to risk losing her. She still doesn't understand what Quetta means to him. Someday he will tell her the truth. I like that he continues to defend their history of friendship. I also suggest that Quetta's husband does know about Daniel and was once jealous of the rapport between Daniel and his wife.
It's not easy to understand such a friendship.
During the first part you thought it was a meeting between boyfriend and girlfriend?
Hello @gracielaacevedo,
As I say,
It is of course easier, and more forgivable, to judge characters in a story. The characters are symbolic (if a story is well written) of our life experience. That is the highest function of fiction. As such, I find your character Daniel worthy of reproach. This reflects my world view, my values. It is obvious that the friendship is long-standing and platonic. You make this clear (good job!). It is obvious that Quetta has been forthcoming with her husband and has resolved the jealousy issue. However, Daniel is not honest. It doesn't matter (to me, in my value system) whether his mate is a wife, a fiance or a girlfriend. He's lying, in a very complicated, calculated way. So, for me, that character is flawed. For me, the relationship he has with Quetta cannot be beautiful because it is marred by this duplicity. It is a value I would apply in my own life, with my own acquaintances.
Of course, I try not to judge. But in a story, judgement is OK, because it is symbolic. It is a template for how we would like to behave and how we expect others to behave. The skill of your writing invites me to react strongly to this character. Kudos :))
Dear @agmoore .
I understand your reaction to my character Daniel, as it clashes with your value system. Perhaps it may in some ways clash with mine as well. But that's not the important thing, I think.
I think it's more important to make the character believable and the truth is that people lie in different circumstances, sometimes insidious lies, sometimes white lies so as not to cause pain.
I don't know Daniel's girlfriend yet, I don't know how long they've known each other and it's possible that I think she won't put up with this reality ... It is complex ...
I remember the blind seer in Oedipus Rex, Tiresias, when he warns Oedipus not to investigate because discovering the truth could be terrible. Oedipus, King of Thebes, arrogantly decided to discover the truth and plunged himself into such a painful, conflicting and terrible situation.
Sometimes reality is not the same as truth.
Reality, truth and lies ... great topics..
I love your comments. Best regards.
Isn't Hive wonderful? We get to meet and share. Thank you for your nuanced response.
In a pure, unconditional relationship, with subtle traces of selfishness, two friends protect the most important treasure of their lives: their friendship, forged to the test since childhood, has endured prejudices, and malicious insinuations of others, is undoubtedly an enviable and beautiful relationship in all its dimension. Thanks @gracielaacevedo for sharing it
Hi, @pipokur67. I wanted to write about the feat of fighting the taboo, as well as the beauty of feelings towards friends of different sexes.
To have such a friendship is a great richness.
Thank you very much for reading.
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Hello @gracielaacevedo I liked your story of friendship that lasts through the years. The simple pleasure of being in each other's company is nicely portrayed in a somber tone. I feel as though they both know that their relationship is not ordinary.
In their eyes, their relationship is seen as a thing of beauty. Maybe not so much in the other people's feelings.
When the other person in their lives calls them, it should be as natural as reporting an outing with a friend of the same sex. When two people have to be untruthful or defend a relationship, then all is not well. Can it truly be enjoyed otherwise?
I enjoyed reading your story. It was at first for me a personal relationship, then disclosed a possible mid-day clandestine affair, to the final reveal of a long-lasting friendship.
Have a good week ahead.
Thanks for visiting, reading and putting yourself in the place of the characters, dear @justclickindiva
What a charming and wonderful story, @gracielaacevedo. You shared some great details that brought the whole scenario to life. Good friends should always be allowed to flourish, no matter the circumstances.
GThank you for your motivating comment @jayna.
The best thing about literature is that you can put yourself in so many places and situations!