I had just arrived at the gas station in order to fill up the tank of my old 1970 Mini Morris. As I unscrewed the cap of the tank, through my sunglasses I could see as in the next pump, a guy in bathing suit, white cotton T-shirt under an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt, and flip-flops, was about to take down the hose to feed a classic blue 1955 Ford Thunderbird. Turning around, on his way to his four-wheeled gem, I realized that his face was not only familiar, but extremely familiar. I had a whole Travolta just five meters away from me, fueling his rolling beauty. And, indeed, it was not just any Travolta, but John Travolta. Instinctively, I released the trigger of the hose and, like an exhalation, I approached the once authentic sex symbol of adolescents -and not so adolescents- in the late 1970s. The conversation had to be started as it was, and what better way to resort to the topic of weather to break the ice.
— Hey John, ¿a grease gray day today, don't you think?
— I hope it doesn't end up raining and ruining my toupee... with the grease I put on it... almost an hour in front of the mirror...
— Hey, now that no one is listening to us, and although the first time in our lives that we met, tell me... did Olivia really turn you on when filmed together that successful musical about four decades ago?
— The truth is that, if you look closely, for almost the entire movie she seemed like a nun, she was very demure, and of course... what a shameless guy like me wanted to be... it was everything but demure ... -laughs-. However, the director had reserved a surprise for me for the final scene. When I saw that babe dressed in black, red high-heeled mules, his blonde hair in the wind, cigarette in her mouth and her face of a naughty girl... I swallowed more saliva than in those moments when, in ancient Rome, the defeated gladiator did not know if finally the thumb of the emperor would be up or down...
— Hers were true apples, right?
— What?
— The Newton's ones, I mean, not like the ones that fell on the Newton's head when he was sitting under a tree...
— Oh, I get it... as you can imagine...
— By the way, your name is John, and her last name is Newton-John, curious, right?
— I don't know, what I can assure you is that this Olivia has nothing to do with that of Popeye...
— ¿The Sailor Man?
— No, Gene Hackman, the detective...
— Ah, okay... Hey, what about those crazy Saturday nights of endless sprees, dancing from dusk till dawn? High fever?
— Really high. We used to catch some f*cking colds. Of course, on filming I got into some sweat dancing that you can't even imagine; later, when the director reviewed the take to see how it had gone, which took time, I got cold... and you can imagine when you had to repeat a dance scene a thousand times... sweat and cold, sweat and cold... I ended up catching some hellish flu that had me with high fever, not only on Saturday night, but all week... awful...
— Hey, and talking about wearing jeans, at that time to show bulge was not something metaphorical, but literally part of the moment and, surely, it was also in the script, right?
— I remember that throughout the filming I had to put up with... yes, put up with jeans that were two or three sizes smaller than what I used to wear back then. So you can already imagine; either you had more or less stuff, even the logo of the underpants was marked there. That's where you ended up every day, let's say, with a kind of lower abdominal pain... and not precisely because I was in need of... as you can imagine, at that time of my life... I had lots of beauties around me...
— And after staying so alive, suddenly, there was a blackout... and you nearly went off the grid until Tarantino returns you to stardom...
— I know it sounds like a cliché, but life is like a roller coaster, or like a Russian roulette, but never like Russian salad...
— What happens to you with so many Russian things? Perhaps you and Rene Russo... uh rascal...?
— No, seriously now. I wanted to say that in the movies as in life, today you're on top and tomorrow you're several meters underground...
— Damn, tell it to Ryan Reynolds in Buried...
— Well, in a certain way, I was buried for a period of my career, without seeing the light... until one fine day I saw myself there, with a few extra pounds, dancing with Uma Thurman in socks and doing that movement passing the index and the heart fingers, shaping a horizontal 'V', in front of the eyes, which ended up captivating the audience... a real box office success... Quentin, to celebrate it, invited us all to taste some Spanish octopus, pulp-o they called it, and although what I am telling you may sound like fiction, of course it is not; real pulpo á feira, with boiled potatoes and Albariño white wine which, I don't know how, but Mr. Wolf managed to get it; Mr. Wolf, you know, the one who solved problems... all kinds of problems, from cleaning the upholstery of a car with scattered brains to getting a bottle of the best Albariño... a real phenomenon...
— And from then on, everything was hit after hit... that other movie you starred with Nicholas Cage comes to my mind, the one in which he ends up being you and you end up being him, in which he, when he pretends to be you, ends up getting into bed with your wife, who thinks it's you, but in reality it's him but with your face... damn, what a mess... right?
— So true... I remember when technicians were already with the final montage, editing the credits, and someone noticed a small detail. It may be read: Starring by Nicholas Travolta and John Cage. This is no joke.
— Incredible John, incredible. Oh, by the way, before I forget. You should know that on this website you appear in an animated gif when you use the search engine and nothing related to the search terms is found. For example, if you previously typed 'Travolta' in the search engine, curiously, no related content was listed, but instead your gif was there. From now on, if we repeat the operation, the gif will no longer make an appearance, as this entry will take its place. Of course, for the rest of the 'not found' searches, Vincent will be there, not knowing what to do, not knowing where to go...
The trigger of the hoses, both his and mine -please, don't take it in the wrong way-, had been released a long time ago, but the fact of there were no customers waiting, had made us forget for a few minutes the real reason to be there.
— It was a pleasure, John. Thank you for your patience and good humor remembering part of your successful career. I wish you the best and that you continue to be successful, whether you're playing good or bad role, you're a very versatile actor......
— Thank you for your compliments. Truly versatile are De Niro o Pacino... By the way, you haven't told me your name...
— Vega, Daniel Vega, Dany for friends, Vega for enemies... and Vega Sicilia for celebrations. But you can call me Tony, in your own manner, as you prefer.
— Ok, phenomenon, I hope that on some other occasion we meet face to face to refuel... but our own tanks, sitting at a bar counter...
— In company of the general's daughter...
— As three lonely hearts...
P.S. This story is a product of imagination. Imagination, that indispensable element in any film script. That inseparable companion in our lives.
