Just Human (32 page)

"Sure, Mom can cover."

I look back to the table. "There's only one problem."

"What?"

"I don't know her size."

"Oh, that's no problem." Jen says and grabs two of the drinks from the bar and marches back to the table, like a woman possessed. Holy shit, what's she going to do? I follow her as she sits down, trying to catch her eye. Terrified, I have no choice but to spectate, as she refuses to meet my stare.

Jen hands Liv her drink and as she takes it, Jen smoothly says, "Wow, I love your ring."

As I’m having a mini-heart attack, Liv casually replies, "Thanks, it was made by a friend of mine." She offers her hand forward for Jen to have a closer look.

Jen takes Liv's hand and turns it gently, inspecting the ring. "It's so unusual, why is the metal black?"

"It's oxidised silver, you can have it this way or shiny. I liked it this way, it's more unusual."

"Does your friend do this for a living?"

"Yes, she sells them on Etsy," replies Liv.

"I LOVE Etsy!"

"Me too."

"Are they expensive?"

"No, they're about..." Liv thinks for a moment as she does the conversion, "$45."

"Seriously?"

Liv nods enthusiastically. "And you can have any stone you like."

"Wow!" She turns to Scott. "Can I ask Santa for one of these please?" Scott rolls his eyes.

"I can get you one, no problem," offers Liv. "Don't bother waiting for Santa," she adds with a wink at Scott,

"I'd love it if you could. What other stones?" enquires Jen.

"Amethyst, Peridot, Topaz, Moonstone like this..."

"Is that moonstone?"

"Yes, but it's faceted, you don't normally see it like this."

"It's so beautiful, but I'll have to go with Amethyst, it's my birth stone."

"Okay. So do you want it black like this, or shiny silver?"

"Definitely black, I've never seen anything like that."

"And what size?"

"Oooh," says Jen with uncertainty. "I don't know."

"Here," says Liv, passing her ring to Jen. I’d almost forgotten what the purpose of the elaborate ruse was, so my heart stops briefly as I watch the exchange take place. Jen casually slips the ring onto the ring finger of her right hand, the same finger Liv wears it on.

"It fits!" she exclaims triumphantly. "That's the size I need." She hands the ring back to Liv and I watch as she replaces it on her hand.

"So, can you get me one made?" asks Jen enthusiastically. "Exactly like that but with Amethyst."

"Sure. I'll text her tomorrow, she'll be thrilled."

"Do you want me to pay you now?" asks Jen reaching for her purse.

"Oh, no," says Liv, "we'll sort it out once it's made. She'll probably send you a PayPal bill or something."

"Yay!" says Jen clapping her hands together. She casually picks up her drink and takes a sip, glancing at me for a nano-second with a look of total satisfaction. I have to hand it to her, that was smooth. Elaborate, but smooth. I need to lie down.

Later, after we’ve eaten and a few other friends have shown up, I leave Liv deep in conversation about her tattoos with a couple of the guys and find Jen at the bar. I slide my arms around her from behind and kiss her cheek.

"I love you," I tell her.

"I know," she says, patting my face and turning. "I am very wonderful,” she adds sarcastically. I laugh at her typical humour.

"I nearly died," I laugh. "I didn't know what the hell you we're going to do. But I have to admit, that was the work of a true pro."

“I’m glad you enjoyed the show. Now, you'd better move some money around, because tomorrow, we shop!" she giggles. We turn and watch Liv, showing some of her arm to our friend Jim.

"Do they go all the way up?" asks Jen, watching.

"All the way up and all the way down," I tell her with a huge grin.

"Wow!"

"Uh huh."

"I still can't believe this," she says, running he fingers up my left arm.

I shrug then I notice someone new has joined our group.

"Shit! Brooke. What's she doing here?"

“Causing trouble no doubt,” says Jen under her breath.

I don’t wait for the ‘I told you so’ conversation; I weave my way back to the group and sit protectively beside Liv. Jen rejoins us and I try to relax. She’s still talking to some other people and I don’t even know if she has seen us. I want to leave, but Liv is having a good time and I may not see a lot of these friends again for a long time. For a while, Brooke disappears and I breathe easy, then out of the corner of my eye, I see her passing us to go to the restroom. I inadvertently look up and she glares at me. It’s a stony look that leaves a nasty feeling in the pit of my stomach. The girl is unhinged. I instantly regret sitting right by Liv, now she knows her adversary’s face. It worries me.

“Danny,” Liv gets my attention. “You have to take me to Jen’s shop. It sounds great.”

“Yeah,” I say a little absently. Liv looks at me concerned, but quickly resumes her conversation.

When she extracts herself a little while later, she turns to me and puts her hand on my knee.

“What’s wrong?” she asks lovingly. “Something’s been bothering you tonight and I’m not sure if it’s me.”

I take her hand.

“Oh God no.” I tell her, giving her my full attention.

“Well what is it then?”

I take a deep breath.

“It’s that girl, Brooke,” I say, glancing at the bar. “She’s here.”

“Oh.” Liv looks around. “Are you worried I’ll be jealous?” she giggles.

“No, I’m worried she’ll cause a scene.”

“Well don’t worry about it. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

I cringe at the thought of Brooke crying on my doorstep the other night. I didn’t tell Liv because I thought it wasn’t important, but now if it comes out, it might look like I have something to hide.

“No, I know.”

Jen and Scott interrupt us. “We’re leaving,” says Jen.

“Sorry, I have an early meeting,” adds Scott.

I laugh and say to Liv, “Scott here loves the rat race. We do the same job, but he wears a suit and has breakfast meetings.”

“At least I get dressed in the morning, man!” he ribs. “Anyway, Liv, it was great to finally meet you,” he says giving her a hug.

I look to Liv. “I think we’ll follow you out.” Liv nods.

We say goodbye to a few of the others and find our way outside. Brooke deliberately ignores us as we walk by, which is fine with me. On the sidewalk, we finish saying goodnight to Scott and Jen.

“I’ll pick you up from the store tomorrow,” I say to Jen. “Say 1pm?”

“Great and Liv, you’ll join us for breakfast on Saturday won’t you? It’s tradition.”

“Thanks,” Liv says. “I’d love to.”

“Maybe we could hit the beach after?” suggests Jen.

We hug and kiss and walk away in opposite directions. Liv hooks her arm through mine and we walk the couple of blocks to my apartment.

“I enjoyed tonight,” she says. “Jen is exactly how I expected. You’re exactly like me and Max.” She gives my arm a squeeze. “I’m so glad you get it, I’m sick of defending our friendship to guys.”

“I know what you mean.”

“So what are you and Jen up to tomorrow?”

“Just lunch, then shopping. I promised I’d help her pick out a new purse,” I joke. There’s no way she’d guess what we’re really doing.

“You’re such a girl,,” she laughs digging me in the ribs with her elbow.

“Guilty as charged,” I admit, holding up my hands. I’m relaxed now that we’re away from Brooke and I stop in the street and take Liv into my arms. I love this girl so much and soon I’ll be able to make her mine forever.

Twenty-one.

Danny.

You’re such a guy!

“Okay, so I’ve done some research,” Jen begins, all business-like, producing wads of paper from her purse.

“Whoa! What’s all that for?” I recoil, glancing between Jen’s notes and the road.

“Well, I figured you’d just be thinking we’d go to ‘the ring store’ and pick out something that is just Liv’s kind of thing.”

I wince, “Is that not what we’re doing?”

She scoffs and shakes her head disapprovingly. “Danny, you’re such a guy!”

I laugh. “Last night Liv said I was such a girl. I told her I was picking you out a new purse today.”

“Okay, well try to keep that frame of mind.”

I pull into a parking lot and we find an outside table for lunch. Jen spreads her pages out and begins her eliminations.

“Now, first of all, these aren’t actual rings for you to choose from, I just need an idea of what you mean by unconventional so I know where to take you.”

“Yes sir!”

“Okay, so, first we have unconventional materials.” Holding out a sheet with rings made from Perspex, teeth (yes
teeth
), wood and a whole host of things I can’t identify at a glance. I pull a face and shake my head, shuddering at the thought of a tooth ring.

“Right, not
that
unconventional. Good!” she says balling up the sheet and tossing it onto the table.

“Next, we have an unconventional style of ring, not usually associated with engagements.” She holds out a sheet with skull rings, fingerprint rings, huge knuckle covering, biker chic type rings.

“Not special enough to say how I feel,” I say politely.

“Great,” she says, screwing up the page. “Correct answer. Next we have more conventional engagement-type rings in unusual cuts.” She shows me pointy diamonds and square diamonds and just about every shape you can think of. I nod slowly, considering this option. She lays this sheet on the table.

“These are rings where the traditional diamond is replaced with a coloured stone.” I nod a bit more enthusiastically at this idea. She sets this sheet beside the other one.

“So, now all I have left is vintage or super-conventional,” she says adding these sheets to the table in front of me.

I blow out. “Are you sure there’s not just one store?” I tease. She responds with stony silence. Okay, we’re not kidding about this, fair enough. I keep my head down and pour over the pictures.

“Well I think the vintage is out, they all look a bit fiddly, not really her style,” I say removing the sheet. “And there’s no way any of these are her thing.” I pull out the boring conventional page. “So this is what I think we should look at.”

“Alright, we’re getting somewhere. I know a couple of places to start.”

We eat a quick lunch and we are back on the road. My stomach is in knots as we pull into the parking garage; I can’t help remembering the feeling of doing this before. Back then I was nervous about getting laughed out of the store, now I’m just worried about finding her the perfect ring and actually getting to give it to her this time around.

After striking out in two places, we enter a third and are greeted by a friendly woman named Victoria. She sits us down in the plush surroundings, and offers us champagne, Jen accepts and I have a coffee. While we wait, I realise I feel slightly more at ease in this place, than the last two. She begins by discussing our requirements. Jen explains that we are buying for a very alternative girl.

After asking a few more questions, Victoria sums up her interpretation of what we are looking for.

“So you want to get her something really different, but without cheating her out of the engagement ring experience?”

“That’s it!” I’m excited that this girl really gets it.

“Okay, so give me a few minutes and I’ll bring you a selection of cuts and colours so that we can start to discuss ideas.” Before she leaves she says, “Don’t forget, we can make virtually anything for you. Don’t worry, we’ll find you the perfect ring.” She touches my arm warmly and then scurries away, pulling keys from her waist. I turn to Jen, she looks excited and at last, that’s how I feel too.

Victoria returns with two trays, one with an array of rings of all different colours and the other with plain-coloured rings in all shapes and sizes. I quickly rule out all the bright colours and anything pinkish and turn my attention to the shapes. I pull out a long pointy one, a square and one that is like a rounded square.

“Alright,” says Victoria enthusiastically. “That was easy, most of my clients have a much harder time narrowing it down.” She shuffles the rings around so that we are left with a tray with the three shapes I like and the colours I didn’t object to. “So you like the greys and violets, but nothing too strong, or pink, and these are the cuts you would consider.” She slips her hand under the table and brings out an iPad. “Give me a moment to check our inventory and I’ll have someone refresh your drinks.” Then she collects the trays and disappears again.

“What do you think?” whispers Jen.

“I think we are getting somewhere, don’t you?”

“Absolutely!”

Our drinks are replaced and Victoria returns with a new tray and her iPad. This tray is covered, I assume to add suspense. It works!

“So I’ve pulled out a few rings I think you might like,” she says, pulling back the cover. Jen and I lean in. Victoria continues, “Now it’s a case of budget. I have a selection of options for you, but they range hugely in price.”

She explains in great detail why one costs more than another, even though it’s smaller and why some colours are more expensive than others. Then she suggests Jen try a few on. Interestingly, our opinions change once we see the rings on her finger. My first thought is, they are all a little small and plain. I express this and Victoria obligingly changes the selection, this time some are significantly bigger and some have stones around the band of the ring. I like this tray better.

We discuss the details of these rings and Victoria quietly lists the prices we have jumped to. I glance at Jen and she giggles.

“Don’t look at me, it’s your money.”

“How much are you supposed to spend on these things?” I ask, openly to both women.

“Well there are no rules you must obey, obviously it’s a personal choice,” replies Victoria. “But some people adhere to the salary rule.”

“Go on,” I urge, dreading her answer.

“Well some say, you should spend a month’s salary, some say three months. Then there is the car rule.”

“The car rule?” asks Jen.

“Yes, some say you should spend what you spent on your car.”