1928

A girl sits next to him on the plane. She travels with three friends, all of whom are almost as breathtakingly blonde, strikingly pretty and fashionably well-dressed as she is and they discuss in loud south London voices things of a most intimate nature across the four aisle seats they occupy. She, having never previously given any indication that she has as much as noticed him, turns to him briefly and smiles politely. Their loud conversation had been on the subject of relationships and mishaps. As she turns she wryly mentions that this was one thing that has filled her life.
- Oh I don’t think so, he says. – In fact I doubt that this fills your life at all.
She eyes him suspiciously. - Really? How would you know?
- Oh just by listening to what you’ve been saying loudly. That, plus the way you look, obviously.

Now she is very interested and rotates in her seat to face him completely. - What does that mean?
- That your life is not simply filled with mishaps.
- So what is it filled with, clever man?
- Lies.

She drops her jaw in shock and stares at him for a while. – At the risk of repeating myself to you, what does that mean?
- Well, I suspect your life is filled with lies. Of all kinds, from all kinds of people.
- Explain yourself, she says. Her voice is part mocking, part indignant, part serious, part fascinated. He turns his book over on his tray and focuses on the seat back in front of him. – Come on then. Why do you think my life is filled with lies?
- Well, from the way you look I’d say that men lie to you nearly constantly to get you to be impressed by them.
- Do they? Why?
- So you’ll fall for them and they get ‘a result’.
- Do you think I am that stupid?
- Oh no, I don’t think you are stupid at all. I am amazed at the confident way you and your friends can talk about anything in clear and loud voices in front of a planeload of strangers. Stupid people like me would whisper it. I have no doubt that the men who lie to you are stupid enough to think they can impress you like this. Maybe some do. Those who do then have to lie to their wives and girlfriends about what they were doing last night. More lies.
Her expression does not change. – You are quite brilliant. Go on.
- Women are jealous of your extraordinary looks and lie to you about being your friend, and then lie to each other about how they don’t like you when it’s patently obvious that their problem with you is not simple dislike, but feelings of abject personal inadequacy. Casual male acquaintances or work colleagues might lie to each about how they find you inane or unattractive just because you are neither, whereas they would all crawl over broken wee shards of glass to do it to you. More lies. None of which, you will of course notice, come from you.

There is an awkward pause for a second or two. Her confidence and sharp answers appear to have deserted her for the moment.
- This is amazing. Do you think this is the way my life is? I don’t. In fact, I think what you’ve told me is simply nonsense.
- Well, the question was why I think your life is filled with lies. And I’ve answered it.

She seems to be genuinely taken aback. - This is the longest conversation I’ve had with a man for ages without him trying to seduce me. You’re deep. This is a new and strange experience.
- Well, you asked me a reasonable question and I felt that it deserved a considered answer.
- I didn’t ask you anything. You volunteered this. And you came up with all of it? In the time it took me to sit next to you?
- Yes, pretty much.
- Are you a psychiatrist?
- Certainly not.

He picks up his book again and reads it. She still stares at him.
- You’re an interesting person, but no one else has ever given me any indication that this is the way they treat me. Why not?
Without lifting his eyes from the page he says, - Well, two people cannot see the same rainbow, can they.
She claps her hands together once in open delight and smiles at him broadly. - That's me, is it?
- That’s you.

She fumbles in her bag and produces a piece of paper and a pen. – This is madness but…write down your phone number. You are completely amazing and I don’t want to lose touch with you.

He smiles to himself. – Result, he inwardly mutters.