Chatting With Ondine on the Leumeah Train (Part 2)

Breaking The Ice

Far from picking up women, I knew that sitting myself next to this woman was going to be a bonus and just sitting down and taking a load off my tired feet would have been all the better. Looking over at this woman who was sitting on the outside of the three seater in the middle of the carriage and being the last seat facing the direction of the train’s travel, we embraced together in an appeasing smile. Breaking down her smile, I could see that she was a touch bothered that I was going to take up some of her space but at the same time, our eye contact and our pleasant beam of lips did lure me closer to her.

Pulling back her bag that was on the ground and giving me way into the middle seat, I could sense that ‘National Kindness Week’ vibe in my veins. Feeling no threat to starting a conversation with her as she looked a couple of years older than me and therefore, just out of my reach, I didn’t hesitate too much to speak with her. However, I needed a conversation opener, and as she took off her wool jacket, standing up and then sitting down, I found my answer.

This lady sitting next to me had a pinstripe lady’s work jacket and a coat on top of that in the train and thinking this was a fair lot of warmth for what turned out to be another glowing day rearing for spring. Hesitating for a couple of seconds upon the repercussions, I repeated what I wanted to say once or twice in my head and then just came out with it.

I figured that I didn’t want to wait until it was too late to spark conversation as I do with many other people. There is a time frame in which if you exceed, you will look like a tardy idiot for starting a conversation, not to mention, weird, desperate and not to mention self-conscious. I didn’t want to be that man nor the man that usually procrastinates until it’s too late so I uttered “That’s a bit much to be wearing, you don’t see that very often” to which she agreed.

Sounding as blasé with her as if she was a friend of many years, I remarked “Watch out for me later, I’ll probably be taking off my jacket too if it gets stuffy in here”. Hence, a conversation originated and far from my test of interest and self-conscious fears emerged a manly stubble of words.

Testing The Silence

Being playful with words with her at first but never really straying from my one tone of voice, I wasn’t bothered by anyone around me hearing our conversation and therefore, didn’t appear to be anxious. Rather nonchalant to our surroundings, we chatted away for mostly the whole duration of our trip to where we only paused once for a couple of minutes to which I tested her desire to continue the chat.

Pausing through our emerging conversation, I thought in my head “If she really enjoys this conversation then she’ll ask me the next question” so there I sat, anticipating that very move. However, I should learn with women that they tender to men’s masculinity, knowing that men like to be in control. Closing my eyes for two minutes, I could feel her presence and her head shifting towards my direction a couple of times.

Opening my eyes slowly, I would shift my eyes a couple of centimeters towards her direction and from the corner of my eye, her curiosity and yearning to speak a few more words. It looked as if hesitancy was now in her veins and that opening to shed some words was trying to be found by our eyes meeting or my beginning conversation. Seeing that a few words on the way home were well her intentions, I decided to break the ice again.

Turning my head to glance upon her laggard eyes I asked “Are you tired too are you”. to which she slowly turned with a grin and nodded her head. Conversation was once again born and I felt in this conversation that she gave much more effort to speak. Feeling like I had fed our first conversation a lifeline, she didn’t intend to let our interesting chat go and therefore, asked questions, answered mine and enjoyed the pleonastic length of the conversation.

Meet Ondine

Late in the conversation when we starting asking the basic questions, I found out that her name was Ondine to which I yielded my name upon her request. “My husband’s name is Tony” she replied to which I then commented of the irony in our pleasant conversation. I’m as good with descriptive images of people as I am remembering names so to describe what she looked like, I’ll use the usual measures I care to take.

Having long brown to black hair heading down to her back, she was a young 30 years old, was Italian, had clear skin, nicely dressed in pinstripe, well spoken and with a hint of marvel that my questions would soon unfold. I didn’t pay too much attention to her measurements but rather, in my new frame of thought I noticed her temperate attitude and her congruous smile. The reason why she is so befitting of a classy woman will be unfolded in later paragraphs to which I will digress from the ballistic flow of the conversation I so remember.

Starting the ball rolling with occupations, I noted how I worked at HIH much to her innocence. Unfamiliar with her company, she told me how she worked up in North Sydney as a supervisor for administration in a recruitment agency. Feeling the need to shed a few facts so that I could keep the ball rolling as I being the dominant had to sustain conversation, I mentioned some facts about HIH. My information must have seemed like informative babbling whereas her conversation had a sense of worth and some mystique to which we bonded upon recognition.

For example, when conversation blanked for a second and looking for a new avenue of conversation, I loosely came up with my will to start up in Graphic Design. “Is that what you want to do” she asked as I replied enthusiastically and as she noted she was starting a new job as a Graphic Design coordinator in Camden, it brought new light to our conversation. Another anxious push to keep the ball rolling was my asking “Have you ever handled shares in the share market before”.

Figuring that her expressed background equaled to wealth well worth the stock-market, she again dazzled me with the knowledge that she held shares in BHP. Noting how my work was going to grant us shares within a couple of years working in the company, the well informed Ondine noted that it would probably be a loan of money for the shares which would be paid off with the accumulated interest. Sounding very structured and undistorted, I held great esteem for this woman who sounded not only outspoken but intellectually eloquent.

Forty Acres In Appin

Our first conversation of basic conversation stemmed for five minutes and after my little test of silence of five minutes to which I finally succumbed to the need of boosted confidence, we chatted for the rest of the trip home. Speaking in regards to where we lived, Ondine revealed that she lived in Appin as I was trying to come to terms with where exactly that was. “I’ll be moving to Camden within a couple of months” she subtly noted, “We’re just waiting for the builders to build the house”.

“How big is your property” I asked, figuring it had to be a fair stretch of land but I wasn’t prepared for her replying “It’s a forty acre block of land”. Sitting aghast as I looked in her verily taut eyes, she explained how there were also two dams on her property. Explaining how I knew of Tamsen’s house which was overlooking the George’s river, I embarked upon some telltale facts that added variety to the already insightful conversation.

Ondine sounded wealthy to the knowledge that she owned quite a large chunk of Camden. “I’ll know to look for two dams close together if I’m ever to find you in Camden” I noted, how hard could that be. Anyway, you’re probably wondering where all this possible wealth could be stemming from and as I didn’t find out if she was wealthy or middle classed, I allowed my presumption to take precedent.

Having had a Barina for the last ten years to which she bought the car when she was 20, I figure that they must be middle class. Nevertheless, forty acres is plenty of land which would have cost them a heap of money. Whatever the juice was, she sounded very stable in her life, with a husband, a weekend packed with three new babies born to visit and a promising life of work.

Smashed Windows At Leumeah

Shedding some more wisdom upon each other, Ondine on the train advised me of her forbearing story upon her vandalized car. “I park my car at Leumeah all the time and each time I walk to my car I would see another car or two with a window broken” she noted. “Therefore, I didn’t think too much when I noticed one day that my car window was broken” she continued, deluding well her spite.

“One window broken was bearable” she explained to change her expression upon saying “However, when I walked around the car, I noticed all four windows smashed and the back parcel tray of the Barina missing” which is literally the whole back of the car. Adding the bonus that it was raining that given day, her car was flooded and that didn’t add in any beneficial term to her woes. Luckily Ondine only had to pay $400 to her insurance company but because of the extent of damage, they were thinking of just writing off her car.

Flowers And Macedonians

With people jumping off the train nearing Padstow, I noted how I once wanted to work in Padstow, rambling about how Fairfield also had nice people. This spurred on my thought of always wanting to have traveled from Station to Station just to see what each town had to offer, making her seem like I’d already done it. With space freeing up for the man in front of us, he shoved himself into the middle of the seat and revealed a bouquet of flowers. Ondine brought on a topic thereof to how receiving flowers sporadically was much better than the expectancy of receiving them every so often.

With my knowledge now that her husband’s name was Tony, I made the joke that I would nick the guy’s flowers and hand them to her. However, as with most of our conversation, I was well aware of the age difference, both in our presence and in our conversation. Here I was talking about friends losing their cars, nightclubs and anarchy at a young age and here was Ondine talking about baby showers, building a house and her heading out to Restaurants. Although we were of different generations, our interest in each other was blooming.

Intrigued as to what nationality I was, to my answer, she mentioned that she went out with a Macedonian. Hopeful to my race I asked “Was he a good man” to which she replied “Nope, he done a very bad thing” Finding out that the both of them went out for one and a half years, in that whole time he’d never taught her a Macedonian word.

However, as I said ‘Ciao’ and one or two others words she jokingly noted “So is that the extent of your knowledge” to which I laughed and noted I could count to ten in Italian. Not all Macedonians are bad and as I figure he cheated on her after one and a half years to get chucked on the street, I’m starting to believe that Macedonians have arrogance and adultery in their veins.

Memoirs On The Train

During our conversation and trying to find another angle, I mentioned how when home, I was going to type in my computer for a little while. Showing some intrigue as to how I could spend three hours upon these pages a night, I slowly brought out the seclusion of my writing memoirs, explaining the inauguration of such a tremendous pact on my life. “What we’re talking about now” I uttered looking at her intrigued eyes and gentle smile, “I’ll be writing tonight”.

Ondine didn’t seem to get too phased or swept up by much that I said. Rather, like my voice dominantly being a constant hum, a touch higher than the train’s traveling, her interest had very close highs and lows. Ondine’s worked in the television field for fives years to which she managed some department for late news so I don’t think my memoirs is going to phase her that much as she’s seen much success stories. Asking what it was like to work for television, Ondine had one continuant answer, “They were all bastards”.

Birthday Strippers

Nearing Leumeah Station to which she wanted to jump off, I was trying to give subtle hints of her opting to give me a lift home by noting how my bus would take twenty minutes to arrive but I wasn’t expecting her to read into my story too much. Our last portion of conversation would have been when I asked her what she had done for her 21st birthday party as mine was coming up soon. This begs me now to note that if I really want to have a great night, then I’d better start planning soon, maybe after I buy the laptop from Binh.

Anyway, Ondine shared her 21st birthday party, how she had 60 guests at her house and how her mum was cooking for everyone as well as hiring the black stripper. “He was ugly” Ondine noted as she informed me her mum had said something about a guy being at the door. Asking for her brother to answer the door, her cheeky mother then noted that he was in the bedroom taking his clothes off and as Ondine made her way in, she loathed every minute of it.

Much from this tale, Ondine also pointed out that her brother who is 34 also had a stripper for his birthday. Being a decent girl who had stars on her nipples when all clothes but her underwear was taken off, she noted how her brother took off all his clothes except for his underwear. Of course, she took pictures for both occasions but I feel that our chance meeting on the train again will be just that, a chance meeting.

Leumeah Goodbye

Unsure as to where we were, she asked my opinion to which I noted we could be arriving at Minto. However, as we could see the bustling lights of Macdonald’s in Leumeah, she playfully looked at me and uttered “We’re not stopping at Minto, we’re headed to Leumeah”. The reason why I thought she was being playful was because she was taking after my example.

Amidst our chatting I pointed forward to some guy with the paper in the distance and commented about the story therein of the last eclipse this millennium. Inadvertently leaning in her direction, my arm lent against hers and my pointing arm across her body, invading her benevolent space. Feeling a couple of years younger, she thought to be playful as she was jumping up to head off the train at Leumeah and as she did, I strayed away from my characteristic frankness.

Instead of rushing the situation or my words out of fear, I smoothed her departure with words of farewell. “Maybe I’ll see you on the train again someday” she responded as she jumped up slowly. I believe that she had some contemplation on her mind but I could be just dreaming. Nevertheless, it doesn’t pay to be optimistic once in a while and to the fact that I’ll one day get onto some older lady, I am eagerly optimistic.