Such a Surreal Place

“What do you think of this one?” Zacky asked me, holding out a gorgeous ring with an orange stone on it.

“Very pretty...” I answered but he put it back.

“You’ve said that for the last 20 rings,” he said, sounding bored.

“I know, sorry...”

“What about this one?” Matt asked, pointing through the glass to yet another wedding ring.

“Let me guess, it’s pretty too?” Syn teased me and I poked my tongue out at him. I walked over to Matt and looked at the red stone embedded in the ring. And then said the same thing I’d been saying for the last 21 rings. I sighed.

“Zacky, you’re gonna know when you see it. You’ll just have that gut feeling. So why get me to say every ring is pretty?” I asked as the owner of the shop walked over to us.

“Can I help you?” he asked us and Zacky nodded.

“Yes. Definitely. I need a wedding ring right now,” Zacky replied very seriously.

“Do you see something you like?”

“Not yet. Just ‘pretty’ rings,” he said, exaggerating the word pretty while glancing back at me.

“For the lady? What size finger do you have?” the owner asked from behind the counter.

“Uh, ‘scuse me?” I stuttered. Syn put his gloved hand around my waist, showing possession.

“No, not her. It’s a surprise for my girl – I just brought my friends with me so I don’t buy the wrong ring,” Zacky told the owner and he apologized to me and Syn (who was getting pretty protective of me now).

“Well how about you come take a seat and we’ll find the perfect one for your lady?” he suggested and we all followed him to a row of four seats in front of the counter. Then we went through every single possible wedding ring in his shop.

“Ash? What do you think?” Zacky asked me about 20 minutes later. He was holding (and staring at) a golden ring with a diamond stone set into it. He seemed to like it.

“I think it’s pretty...-” Matt and Syn laughed “-But I also think she’d really like that one,” I said.

“Bri?”

“Your choice, dude. But I like it too,” he said.

“Well here you go, you buy it,” he said and he handed it over to Syn.

“Uh, why?” Syn asked, completely puzzled.

“Well, I don’t like it. You go get married,” Zacky said, then turned back to the owner. “Next?”

“Aw come on Zack! How long can it possibly take... Pick that one!” Matt suddenly said as the owner pulled out another ring.

“Wow...” Syn gently put the ring back down on the bench and stared at the ring. His hand was still around my waist and he used it to pull me closer to him. “Do you wanna get married babe?” Holy shit. My heart literally stopped and fell into my stomach.

“Are you serious?” I hissed, but he wasn’t even looking at me. He was too busy staring at that ring. I followed his eye line and realised the ring was beautiful. But was he serious?

“Ash, can I borrow your ring finger for a sec?” Zacky asked as he took the ring in his hand. Everyone was mesmerized by this ring.

“Sure,” I answered. This must be the one for him and Mel. He obviously had a feeling about it. I held my hand out to him.

“Get lost!” Syn said, quickly grabbing my left hand and pulling it away towards his body protectively. “You want her to try it on?”

“Yeah. Her hands are exactly the same as Mel’s,” Zacky explained with a frown.

“Well the only person who’s putting a ring on her finger is me! So give it here!” Syn exclaimed and I felt those typical butterflies flying around in my stomach again. Zacky passed over the ring to him. Syn moved my left hand around in his hand while he flipped the wedding ring around in his other hand. Oh. My. God. We both looked up at each other at the same time, making eye contact. His beautiful brown eyes quickly went back down to focus on my hand. It would be so embarrassing if he mucked THIS up...

“How much is it?” Zacky asked the man who replied with a price that I did not hear. I was far too distracted... Syn placed the ring onto my finger, and I swear it was a perfect fit. Why wasn’t I getting married? Still holding my hand, Syn gave me a kiss. “I’ll take it then.” If only this was for real...

“It’s really beautiful Zacky. It really is...” I said to him.

“Yeah, and you gotta take it off, ‘cause it’s not yours!” he said and I frowned.

“Good point...” I took it off and saw Syn frown also. I put my arm around him and gave him a quick squeeze to put a smile back on his face.

“I’ll go catch us a cab then,” Matt said as he stood up and left. I followed him, leaving Zacky to pay in private. I thought Syn would follow, but he didn’t. I stepped outside with Matt. “Who would’ve thought that so many cabs come past this store?”

“Not me,” I laughed as he flagged one down almost instantly. We got in and waited for the other two. I peered through the window and saw Syn was looking at a ring himself, while Zacky paid. Wait, what? Why was he doing that? I saw him nervously glance over at our cab, and I acted innocently as if I wasn’t watching him and couldn’t see him. Zacky joined him, both of them looking at whatever Syn had found.

“Haven’t we already looked at those rings?” Matt asked, obviously watching them too. “Wait, what are they doing?”

“I’ve tried half of those rings on, too,” I said as Syn glanced over his shoulder at us again. He wasn’t buying ME a ring, was he? A WEDDING ring?

“Maybe you’re not meant to be watching this,” Matt laughed and I agreed as Zacky moved and blocked my view. I sighed and waited for them to come out. Zacky AND Syn were both carrying small bags that clearly contained an item from that shop that they had just purchased. Syn sat in the front of the cab and Zacky sat in the back with me. That was weird.

“What did you buy?” I asked Syn as the cab started moving.

“Uh, nothing, really...” he replied suspiciously and I let it go. Well, I’d find out eventually, wouldn’t I?