“Sorry, babes.” Shrugging my shoulders, I reach into my pocket, pull out the engagement ring, and exclaim, “Richard has a big weekend planned for us!” Expecting an excited response in return from my friend, my high-pitched pronouncement is met instead with a silent stare at the ring box.
“What is that?” She asks, narrowing her eyes. “Where’s the diamond? And why are you even considering marrying him? Everyone knows you’re only taking him up to your family’s cabin to show Danny that you’re over him. Which in turn makes it quite obvious that you are not over Danny.”
A huff falls from me and I pull the ring away from her viewpoint. “You’re a mean pregnant woman. Did you know that? Anyway, I’m leaving now, and the next time you see me, I will be back as a fiancée! Happy holidays!”
Picking up my paperwork, I turn away from my rude co-worker, and head out of the room, still staring at the diamond ring. It’s gorgeous! It’s pretty. It’s nice. Sigh…it’s decent.
Walking through the agency in my own world, I envision my future wedding—the colors, the flowers, the look of shock on my family’s faces, Danny’s nonexistent body because he’s not invited—and I am shaken from my daydream when my body slams against a wall…a moving wall, with abs? My eyes look up to an outrageously handsome man standing in front of me, who I almost plowed over. My papers go flying everywhere, and the engagement ring lands across the room, yet I have to force myself to break contact with his green eyes, which are firmly locked with mine. I shake my head back and forth, repeating Richard’s name in my mind. Richard, Richard! I’m engaged to Richard!
“Oh no!” I overreact, looking at my papers and the soon-to-be-on-my-finger ring resting on the carpeted floor.
The handsome guy helps me, apologizing for not paying attention; but, now I’m a little worried about my ring that went flying. That’s a five thousand dollar ring! Okay, maybe one thousand. Five hundred? Hell, okay I saw the same one for two hundred and fifty dollars at Walmart during Black Friday, whatever.
Bending down to pick up the ring, handsome guy beats me to it; and I am lost in the moment as he’s down on one knee, holding the ring up to me. My mind melts, forcing me to lose all my common sense. “I do!” I scream. His brows raise, and my hands fly over my lips, “I mean I do need to get going with that.” Awkward laughter starts now, but I don’t know if it’s coming from him or me.
When he hands it to me, he smiles this stunning grin; he must definitely be an actor auditioning for the toothpaste commercial. “Congratulations on your engagement.”
“Oh, I’m not engaged, yet. But he did this really cute thing this morning; it’s a pretty darn adorable story actually...” I laugh, and the stranger stares at me with a blank expression, waiting for me to share. “Okay, well, I woke up, and found out that he left the ring under my bed for me to discover.”
A short laugh escapes his almost closed lips, “You mean he dropped it under your bed?”
“Ugh! What is it with people and all of these stupid technicalities?” I mutter, snatching the ring from his hands. His smile grows bigger, and I would almost hate his smugness if his eyes weren’t all sultry and dreamy.
“Well, good luck with that.” He turns away to walk back over to the lobby and my hands land on my hips.
“I don’t need your luck! I am getting engaged! It’s a done deal pretty much. So screw you, and the old people, and my mother, and my sister, and Danny, and all of your stupid technicalities which have nothing to do with me and my soon-to-be husband!” I shout.
When everyone in the room pauses and stares at me as if I grew another head, I know it’s time to leave. I rush outside toward my 1999 Honda, ready to hit the road to my apartment. “Keys keys…” I jumble my hands through my tiny purse—which I bought because I thought it would keep me from losing crap. What a lie.
The roads are a bit slippery, but the hardcore snow storm isn’t suppose to hit until midnight, which is exactly why I want to jump in the car with my honey, hit the road, and travel down the highway to hell.
I open my apartment door, ready to rub Richard all up in nasty Danny’s and Lisa’s faces. “Babes, I’m back! Stacey tried to get me to stay at the office but I told her how overly nervous I am about taking you back home with me to meet the folks. Did you pack our toothbrushes? That’s okay, I’ll grab them.” I see Richard moving around in the living room, fidgeting back and forth, searching through the sofa cushions. My heart smiles when I see him on the hunt for what I believe is in my coat pocket.