Encounters with John Wayne Ch. 29

Part 3—He tries to help her move on...

The next several weeks were a little difficult for Diana Maitland and John Wayne because he was at the studio off and on going to various pre-production meetings, and they would occasionally run into each other, always when other people were around as well, and they had to act as nothing more than acquaintances. They would greet each other formally as Mr. Wayne and Miss Maitland, but if they thought no one was watching, they'd stare for several seconds as their eyes conveyed everything they couldn't say..."I love you; I miss you; I want you..."

A few people noticed their stares, but since no one ever saw them alone together anywhere, they just chalked it up to a mutual attraction that they were not going to act on. One person commented to Diana's boss that they'd noticed the way Diana and Wayne had looked at each other, and her boss told them, "Oh, you know how it is...he's a big star and she's a big fan of his so naturally she's infatuated with him. But, even if Mr. Wayne is attracted to her, I'm sure he has no intention of getting involved with her just to end up breaking her heart...he's not that kind of man...you should know that!"

Wayne almost blew things wide open one day just over 2 months after their weekend. Diana was at lunch in the studio commissary and was seated alone at a table in the corner going over some work she had brought with her while she ate. Two men had come over to her a few minutes apart to ask if they could join her for lunch, but she turned them both away politely, saying that she really needed to get her work done and she was afraid their company would distract her. They seemed disappointed but said they understood and left her alone. When she saw a third man walk up to her table out of the corner of her eye, she started talking before she looked up, saying, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but I need to get this work done so..."

She froze in mid-sentence when she looked up and saw Wayne looking down at her with his eyebrows raised and he said, "Could I please join you for lunch, Miss Maitland. You're the only one in here at the moment that I know and I really don't like to eat alone. Would you mind?" as his eyes smoldered at her.

She swallowed hard and said, "Of course not, Mr. Wayne. Please...have a seat."

As he sat across from her and lit a cigarette, she cleared away the papers that were strewn over the table. After she put them back in the folder she'd brought them in, she looked at him and he asked her how she was doing, how work was going, and they tried to pretend like they were just chatting about movie production schedules and upcoming meetings.

Then he asked quietly, "How are you really doing? Please tell me the truth."

She looked at him sincerely and said softly, "I'm doing fine. I'm keeping busy and I'm eating and sleeping a little better each week. I'll survive...don't worry about me."

Wayne raised his eyebrows skeptically and said, "I've been watching you since you came in here. Two nice looking young men asked to join you and you turned them away. Why?"

"Why are you even asking me that? You should know why!" she whispered with a frown on her face.

He closed his eyes for a couple seconds and frowned, then he stared into hers again and kept his voice quiet as he said, "I've been seeing Pilar again." He saw her blink a few times and take a couple deep breaths as her jaw clenched; she didn't like hearing that. Well that was too bad—he would risk pissing her off if it would get her to stop living like a nun and give herself a chance at happiness. He continued, "I remember now why I thought about marrying her—she's a very warm and caring young woman and I think she would be a very loving wife—what more could I ask for?"

Diana gritted her teeth and spoke through them, "How nice for you, Mr. Wayne. I hope you two will be very happy together. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to get back to work. Good day, Mr. Wayne." She grabbed her folder and her purse and got up and abruptly walked away from the table. As she was headed for the door, she saw one of the men who she had turned away earlier sitting near the door, and the hurt and jealousy she was feeling made her do something foolish and reckless.

She stopped in front of the man's table and asked him to stand up, and when he did, she noticed that he was a rather nice looking man. He had blonde hair a little lighter than hers, large dark brown eyes and classic features—almost the exact opposite of Wayne's chiseled, tough-looking, manly face with his dark hair and heavy-lidded, deep blue eyes.

She said quietly with a smile, "Would you do me a favor? I'm trying to get an old boyfriend to stop hounding me, so...would you kiss me?"

"What?" the man asked quietly as surprise and confusion registered on his face.

"Kiss me! And try to make it look like you mean it...please? I'm desperate!"

"Well...OK!" So he moved right in front of her, put his right arm around her lower back and his left arm around her shoulders, pressed her against him, bent his head down and kissed her, softly at first and then very passionately. When he felt her body molded against his, especially the way her large breasts felt crushed against his chest, and the softness of her lips, it wasn't hard at all for him to make it look like he meant it, especially when he felt himself getting a hard-on. When he raised his head slowly, staring at her face, she had a look of desire like he'd never seen on a woman before, and he asked her eagerly, "I've been dying to ask you out—will you go out with me?"

Diana was a little surprised at her reaction to this man's kiss—he was quite good at kissing and she felt a slight tingling in her lower abdomen. She hadn't been touched by a man for almost two months now, nor had she been able to bring herself to seek sexual release on her own, and her body was feeling neglected at having been cut off so abruptly after having so much sex in one weekend. She felt a slight stirring of desire, and she could tell he was enjoying kissing her even more as she felt his hips press against her slightly and she could feel his hard cock pressed near her crotch. It made her neglected pussy start to tingle and increased her desire alarmingly.

As he ended the kiss and looked down at her, he seemed surprised to see a look of desire on her face and then he blurted that he'd been dying to ask her out. As he released her, she smiled coyly and said, "I'll think about it. Thanks for helping me out. By the way, my name's Diana. And you're...?"

He was staring at her, breathing heavily, and hesitated before he said, "Steve. Steve Elliott."

"Nice to meet you, Steve. I'm sure I'll see you around. Bye, boys!" she waved at his companions at the table as they all gawked at her before she turned to leave. She put a little more sway to her hips as she walked away, hoping they were all watching her as John Wayne chased her down at the door and grabbed her arm to drag her outside. She'd seen him headed her way out of the corner of her eye as she had said good-bye to them.

Wayne had watched her walking away and he knew she was hurting, but when he saw her stop at the table where one of the young men she had turned away earlier was sitting, he thought maybe his ploy had worked and she was going to introduce herself to him. When he saw the young man stand up, he thought they were introducing themselves, but when the man put his arms around Diana and kissed her like he knew her and it was quite obvious he was enjoying it, Wayne grabbed the edges of the table to keep from pounding his fist on it.

What was she doing? Did she already know this man? Had she already been out with him and fucked him? The man looked to be about her age, and he had classic, handsome features and blonde hair; he was about a head taller than Diana and had a slim, athletic build—his looks were almost exactly the opposite of Wayne's dark, rugged and chiseled features. Was she trying to tell him that she found this man's appearance more appealing? Just what the hell was going on?

When the man slowly released Diana, Wayne started breathing heavier and growled in his throat at the look on Diana's face—he knew her look of desire well. He angrily crushed out his cigarette as he watched them speak further and he saw all the men at the table gawking at her. When she smiled and waved coyly at them before she started to walk away, he launched himself out of his chair and strode quickly and purposefully toward her, throwing an angry glare at the young man as he passed him. He caught her at the door, grabbed her arm and led her outside.

Steve and his friends all gawked again as they saw John Wayne stalk past them as he glared at Steve, catch up with Diana at the door and grab her arm to lead her outside. One of Steve's friends said, "Hey! Wasn't that...?!!

Steve looked concerned as he sank down onto his chair and said worriedly, "John Wayne's her old boyfriend? And she used me to make HIM jealous? Oh shit...I'm a dead man!"

Wayne led Diana to a building housing a currently unused set, swung her around to face him and growled at her, "Just what the hell was that all about?"

"I got your message!" she growled back at him. "You're trying to tell me it's time to get on with my life and stop pining for you, so that's what I'm doing! I'm sorry if you didn't like the way I went about it! But that's none of your goddamn business—it's my life and I'll do what I want! You got that?"

He lowered his voice and asked her furiously, "How the hell are you ever going to find a decent man to love you if you keep acting like that? You were looking at that man like you wanted him to fuck you...or have you let him already? How the hell are you ever going to get a man to marry you if you act like a whore?" He jerked in surprise as her right hand flew up and smacked his left cheek.

"How dare you say that!" she hissed quietly. "I act like more of a whore when I'm with you than what you just saw! I haven't fucked anybody since you treated me like a whore in my boss' office!" She saw him wince in pain when she said that, but she continued angrily, "And besides, I don't want a 'decent man'—I want a man who will love me but still fuck my brains out when I need it and not just treat me like a 'nice, loving little wife' all the time. Some men still think that the woman they marry has to be a pure, chaste little thing that only has sex when her husband wants it and does it only because she wants to have his children. I want a man who enjoys sex as much as I do and who'll be able to keep up with me—I told you that...remember?!!" she exclaimed heatedly.

He closed his eyes for a few seconds and took a deep breath, then said quietly, "I'm sorry... you're right, I shouldn't have said that to you, and I do know what you want in a husband. All I'm saying is that you don't have to make the very first impression you give a man that all you're interested in is sex! There are plenty of decent men who would love to find a wife who enjoys sex as much as they do and wants it as much as they do. But you may not even give them the chance to think of you as a wife if you act overly aggressive! And how the hell did you get that guy to kiss you like that any way?" he questioned angrily.

"I told him that an old boyfriend was hounding me and I needed his help, and he was only too happy to oblige. After he kissed me he told me he'd been dying to ask me out, but now that he thinks you're my 'old boyfriend,' I doubt he's going to follow through on that! And I think I'll be rather disappointed because he's a damn good kisser!" she finished suggestively.

Wayne's jealousy flared again, and he reached out and grabbed her body and pulled her against him as he growled, "Did HE make you feel like THIS?" He crushed his mouth to hers, kissing her hard, and then backed off as his desire took over and he deepened the kiss until they were both clinging to each other desperately and moaning passionately—Diana's purse and the folder of papers dropped and scattered on the floor at their feet. His dick got hard the moment he pulled her against him, and her pussy went from tingles to soaking her panties by the time he finally let go of her because she could feel his big, hard cock pressed against her.

They stepped back from each other dazed and breathing raggedly, as they realized that time and distance had done nothing but increase their desire for one another. She looked at him as she frowned and asked in passionate confusion, "What do you want from me? I've told you over and over that no other man will ever be able to make me feel the way that you do. One minute you're pushing me to find someone else to love me, and the next minute you're jealously reminding me that I'll never find anyone to love me the way that you do!" She had knelt to gather up the papers and put them back in the folder and pick up her purse.

Then she stood and continued angrily, "And for your information, he didn't seem the least put off by my aggressiveness! In fact, I could tell that he enjoyed kissing me as much as you did!" as she arched one her eyebrows, glanced down at his crotch and then back at his face for emphasis, and she saw the anger flare in his eyes again. Then she finished, "If this guy doesn't ask me out, it will be all your fault for acting like a jealous old boyfriend!" She snorted a laugh as the irony of the situation struck her.

He took a deep breath and exhaled heavily as he ran his hand over his forehead and said, frustratedly, "You're right; I'm jealous. But I also want you to find happiness and I can't stand the thought of you getting hurt again. Just promise me that you'll choose a man carefully—based on his basic decency and not by just how good he is at fucking! Do you understand me?" he finished sternly.

She began quietly, then her voice rose in pitch until she was about to cry. "Yes, sir, Mr. Wayne. Do you have any further lectures on how I should get on with my life? Or how about some advice on how to spot a nice, decent man who also happens to enjoy sex and is very good at it. Someone like you, for instance. How do I find someone else like you?!!!" She stood there staring at him with tears in her eyes and she could see the pain in his because he still loved her and cared about her and wanted to try to help her, but he was just making it harder for her.

She started again, quietly, "Look, I know you're only trying to help me, but you're making this harder for me. The more I see you, the harder it is for me to even look at another man, let alone want to meet them. I'll be all right...eventually. I'm not wallowing in pain, I'm keeping busy. I've got studio recording jobs coming up and I've even been asked to sing off and on at a nightclub owned by one of my boss' friends after he raved to his friend about how good he thinks I am.

I know how you feel about me, and it makes me love you more to know how much you care about my future happiness, but the best way you can help me now is to back away. I need more time—I'm younger than you, so I have more time. I don't have to be in a rush to try to find happiness, but if you've already found the someone else who can make you happy, then go be with her and stop worrying about me. Get on with your life and let me get on with mine...please!"

He just looked at her with such sad longing and nodded his head that he understood. She threw herself at him and hugged him tightly for a few seconds as he hugged her back, then she pushed herself out of his embrace and looked at him and smiled sadly as she started to walk backward away from him and said, "Just be happy—and maybe try to dream about me once in a while..." She turned and started to run back out of the building as a soft sob escaped her and the tears started to flow, and she didn't stop running until she got back to her office.

She didn't see the tears that came into his eyes or hear his reply: "Every night, little girl. I dream about you every night." He stayed where he was for a minute, lighting a cigarette and dragging on it until he felt calmer, and then slowly made his way out of the empty set building and started heading toward his next meeting.

Diana ran into Steve Elliott a few days later in the commissary again, and he sheepishly tried to avoid her, but she had come up with an explanation to give him so he and his friends wouldn't spread the story that John Wayne was her old boyfriend. She told him that she had made up the story about the old boyfriend hounding her because she had wanted to meet him and wanted to make a lasting impression on him. She said Mr. Wayne was just a good friend of her family and that when he'd seen her allow Steve to make such a bold move on her, that he'd dragged her outside to give her a fatherly lecture on how that was not the way a young woman should act. She told Steve that she apologized if she gave him the wrong impression and that she'd realized Mr. Wayne was right, that she shouldn't have led him on that way.

Steve told her that he understood and asked her if she would still consider going out with him, and she told him she was still thinking about it and to give her a month or so because she had just broken up with someone and she wasn't quite ready to get back into dating again just yet—so he agreed. He waited a month then asked her out and she agreed, reluctantly, and then knew she'd made a mistake the minute their first date ended and he pounced on her like she was going to let him fuck her after just one date! She smacked him and yelled, "I guess I did give you the wrong impression! Don't bother to ask me out again!" as she slammed her door in his face.

She went and threw herself down on her couch on her stomach and started sobbing as she hated to admit that the big man was right—she would have to start watching the way she conducted herself with men if she wanted to try and find a man who would treat her well. The only problem was, she couldn't figure out which parts of her personality to present to men to attract the type of man she wanted and needed...especially while she was still feeling so much pain and regret over having to give up the one man who knew her and loved her so well.