Come Back To Me

Brian didn't know how to react to Hollis' confession as he drove back to his house. He was confused and conflicted. He knew that he loved Norelle but his mind kept pestering him over and over.

Do you love Norelle more than you loved Hollis?

Brian knew that he had no answer to that question, and yet, he couldn't shake it from his mind. He gripped the wheel tighter as he tried to straighten out his thoughts.

"No." He said firmly to himself, "Elle is the one. I love her. I'm going to marry her."

He thought for a moment, not realizing what he said until a second later. I'm going to marry her. The words floated in his head, pushing all previous thoughts from his brain. He had said it to get rid of nagging thoughts of Hollis, but now that he had said it out loud...he knew that he meant it.

"I'm going to marry her" He repeated, just to see how the words felt on his tongue again, realizing that they felt right this time, not surprising or unwanted. Now his mind was empty of any thoughts of Hollis and began teeming with ideas of marrying Norelle - how he would propose, where they would get married, how beautiful she would look, the honeymoon, kids...everything. He wanted everything and more. He wanted to be with her forever.

He made a quick U-Turn and began to head back into town, towards a jewelry store that was located in the heart of downtown - a small family owned place that Brian knew had the most gorgeous pieces.

"Am I really doing this?" He asked himself as he parked on the side of the road, walking towards the store. He thought of Norelle again and knew for sure he was doing the right thing, that it wasn't just something rash that he was only doing because of Hollis. He knew Elle was the one, and he knew that he was eventually going to marry her, but it was Hollis who gave him the push to ask. He had no doubt in his mind that Elle was perfect for him in every way, and although he was once very in love with Hollis, he didn't feel that way around her anymore. He entered the store to be greeted by an older man, who Brian knew was the owner.

"Good afternoon" He said cheerfully, walking around the counter to greet him, "How can I help you?"

"Hi" Brian replied with a smile, "I'm going to propose to my girlfriend. I need the perfect ring."

The man clapped his hands together happily, "Wonderful! Congratulations! Let's come over here and take a look at some rings!" He said, walking behind the glass counters until he reached one in the far corner of the store. Brian walked over standing on the opposite side of the case, looking down at the sparkling rings inside.

"How about this one?" The man asked, pulling a ring with a large diamond out of the case and placing it on the counter.

Brian quickly shook his head, "It's too big. She won't like it."

Many rings were shot down in the same manner...

"Too busy"

"Too simple"

"Bad setting"

"No. It needs to be perfect."

Never losing faith, the man closed the case and leaned on top of it, meeting eyes with Brian.

"Tell me about her. Maybe then I can help you find the perfect one."

Brian thought for a moment, his eyes lighting up at the thought of her as he searched for things that would help pick the right ring.

"She's a doctor. A psychical therapist. She's very classic, everything about her is. She's somewhat minimalistic, at least when it comes to jewelery. I want her to have a nice ring but I know she won't like something that's huge."

The man thought for a moment before smiling widely, "I think I just may have the perfect ring. We just got it in, let me go get it from the back."

He came back a few moments later with a small velvet box in his hand, placing it on the counter and slowly opening the box.

As soon as Brian saw the ring he knew it was the one. "It's perfect. I'll take it."

"This ring is as close as you can get to one of a kind without having something custom made. Having said that, it's the most expensive piece I currently have here in the store."

"I don't care. I'll take it." He said, knowing that Norelle needed that ring, that is was meant for her to own.

"Very well then. Would you like to set up a payment plan for it? A significant down payment would be due now, but we can set up a plan for the rest of the bill."

"Yes, that's fine." He said, not really paying attention to anything other than the fact that he was going to propose. He wasn't sure when or how but he knew he was doing it. The man boxed up the ring and Brian took care of all the financial aspects of it before slipping the box into his jacket pocket and walking back to his car.

He sat down in the drivers seat and turned the car on pulled his phone from his pocket before driving away. He smiled as he typed a quick text to Zacky.

You'll never guess what I just bought.