Go Get a Ring

It was December 23rd, a mere two days before Christmas, and Jordan was feeling incredibly antsy. Her boyfriend, Zack, had waited until just the day before to do all of his Christmas shopping for her, and she wanted to know what he’d gotten her. No one could say that she was a patient person, and (in her own defense) she’d not once claimed to be. And, again in her defense, she only wanted a yes or no—she wanted to know if he’d gotten her an engagement ring. They’d talked about it often enough, and it seemed as though everyone else was hoping for it.

Her reasoning for wanting to know (just a yes or no) wasn’t selfish, either. At least, she didn’t think it was. She knew that if he did, he would probably wait until Christmas Eve, when there was a large gathering going on at her parents’ house, or Christmas day, when everyone got together to open presents. Cliché, sure, but she needed to know so that she didn’t panic. If she had time to prepare herself, she would be able to keep calm when all of the women would surround her to ‘Oh!’ and ‘Ah!’ at the ring.

She knew from experience that she would stop breathing and begin to cry, and if that wouldn’t ruin the moment, she didn’t know what would. The same thing had happened when she’d gotten her car as a graduation gift. If there was anything Jordan could live without, it was a repeat of those events. But, even though he knew the story, Zack still didn’t seem to want to cave into her whining.

Why can’t I know? Jordan hit the ‘Send’ button on her phone and waited for Zack to read it. She really wasn’t in the mood for games today. It had been a long day, her period had started an entire week early, she’d woken up with a pounding headache, and her boyfriend was at work. The entire day just sucked.

However, she did perk up a bit when three small bubbles appeared on her screen. He was typing a response, and if he wanted to sleep in bed that night, he was going to give her a real damn answer.

I don’t know. Maybe I did. Why? That’s it. She was just going to lock the deadbolt. He didn’t need to be in the house at all if he was going to be like that. Jordan was even nice, and told him as such. Don’t lock me out, it’s a surprise.

Oh no. Guess I’ll just have to go to bed early tonight. Make sure that the house is nice and locked up. Don’t want any intruders. If he wanted to play games, she could, too. Of course, she knew that she would win. Zack was stupid, but he wasn’t that stupid.

Or maybe he was. She would just have to find out.

What if I tell you tomorrow? he tried to bargain.

So at 12:01? When you’re already in the house and don’t have to worry about being locked out? I don’t think so.

Why do you want to know so bad? Is it because you want to be married? he challenged.

If there was ever a night that Jordan was as angry with her boyfriend, it’d definitely be tonight. Who the hell did he think he was?

I want to fucking know. She sent the message and waited… and waited… before finally sending a final, I swear to God, dude.

It took another few moments, but then there was a simple Okay. on her screen. After another minute, more words appeared below them. Do you really want to know? Like 100% positive?

And that was the last straw. I already made up my mind. I’m gonna tell you no whenever you finally ask.

What? Why?

Because I don’t like mean people.

That was the last text that Jordan sent. It was only a few minutes after six in the evening, so she didn’t worry when Zack didn’t respond. He would be home for lunch in less than ten minutes. She considered locking the door in the meantime, but decided against it. The bed was comfortable and her show was playing on the television. She’d missed almost half of the episode and didn’t want to miss anymore. No, Zack would be permitted entrance, and if he didn’t want to answer her question when he got home, he would get what was coming to him—a door locked with a deadbolt.

At the sound of the front door opening nearly thirty minutes after, she slid a little further under her blankets. Sure, she was a little curious as to why he was so late, but she knew that he’d be in to say hello and try to get a kiss out of her in no time…

After another few minutes of listening to him rustle around in the kitchen, he appeared in the doorway.

“Hi, baby!” he said. When he leaned over to give her a kiss, she pulled the blankets up and over her head. “No kiss?”

“No,” she mumbled from under her shield.

“Why not?” he asked. He sat on the side of the bed and reached up to try to pull down the blanket. Jordan’s grip on the edge tightened to keep it in place.

“I don’t kiss mean people,” she responded. At the sound of his answering laugh, she pulled the blanket down just far enough to look at him.

Jordan didn’t even need to ask before he was telling her, “You’re just the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.” And… okay, maybe that made her feel not-so mad anymore. “Now come on out into the kitchen and I’ll give you a present.”

Tempting, but—“I don’t want presents from mean people.”

“Come on,” he pleaded as he stood from the bed. “Don’t you want a present? You beg and beg for one, and now I say I’ll give you one, and you say no? Come into the kitchen.”

Jordan shook her head. “I don’t want a present from a mean person,” she insisted. Part of her was lying, but the thing she was more concerned with was the fact that it was almost time for Zack to head back to work and he hadn’t eaten anything yet. She hated when he didn’t eat on his breaks. “Go make something or you’re gonna be late.”

“Come out into the kitchen with me, and then I’ll eat,” he bribed.

Jordan’s eyes narrowed at his silhouette in the doorway before she acquiesced and moved from underneath her makeshift fortress and trudged past him into the kitchen.

The fridge and freezer door were tugged open, one at a time, so that she could take inventory. Seeing nothing more than some drinks and a frozen pizza that would take far too long to make, she closed the doors and moved over to the cabinets. There had to be something that he could eat.

“So I went and talked to your mom,” he said as her eyes landed on a Poptarts box. Hopefully there was a package in there and he hadn’t just left the box to sit in the cabinet… again. As she reached up to grab for it, his arms slid around her waist and a kiss feathered itself onto her shoulder. “She said that I shouldn’t propose with other people around… and there’s no one else around…”

The arms that were holding her close moved, and the body that was pressed against hers was no longer there. Most people would’ve turned around at that, but instead, Jordan continued her journey toward the Poptart box. Zack was probably just messing with her.

But maybe he wasn’t.

It didn’t matter. She didn’t know what to do. She wanted this… she was pretty sure that she did… but she was freaking out on the inside just a little too hard. In fact, she was panicking so much that she couldn’t even bring herself to turn around to face him. Instead, the (surprisingly not empty) Poptart box was set on the counter and, while still facing the wall, slid down the counter and away from him. Another cabinet was opened, one she knew didn’t contain any food, and was promptly rummaged through.

“Baby? Is that a no?” The question was asked from directly behind her, and Jordan finally steeled herself to turn and look at her boyfriend. He was no longer on his knee, if he’d been at all, but there was a velvet box perched in his right hand. The ring inside was beautiful, and a fleeting thought of the price stop her thinking in its steps. It was only momentarily, and then she was looking back up into his watery eyes.

“You’re not on your knee, so I can’t say anything.” She said it with such conviction, like she couldn’t give an answer if he wasn’t on his knee, and for a moment, Zack looked taken aback. Then, he shook his head.

“I was on my knee,” he insisted in a grumble before he got back down. The ring was lifted, and she watched as his red-rimmed eyes got impossibly shinier. “Will you marry me, baby?”

He gave a slight cough then, and the tears started to flow. If she was honest, part of her felt bad for not crying. It didn’t feel right to force it, though, so all she did was reach out to wipe at his face.

“Of course it’s a yes,” she said as she leaned down to give him a kiss. He fell apart at those words, but stood to slide the ring onto her finger.

“It’s probably not going to fit you, but we can get it fitted soon,” he said as he fumbled the ring from the box.

“How do you know?” Jordan asked as she watched him.

“Because it doesn’t fit me.” Zack didn’t trust himself to get the ring onto her finger regardless, and he simply handed it over so that she could do it for him. He was right, and the ring almost slid off of her finger. The diamonds glittered in the light as the couple embraced again.

It was almost seven when they pulled apart, and Zack had to get back to work. He knew that he was going to be late, but he didn’t want to be too late. He didn’t need to be fired now.

With a final kiss, he was out the door and heading back to work. Jordan couldn’t help but stare at the ring on her finger. It was… weird. Nothing had changed, but everything had changed. When she was done (for the time being) admiring the ring, she made her way back into the bedroom. The box of Poptarts was still sitting untouched on the counter, but that wasn’t her concern anymore. She’d be sure to bring that up later.

In the bedroom, her phone was lifted from where it was sat snug on the sheets, and a grin spread across her face as she opened up a text to her boyfriend fiancé.

I still don’t like mean people.

--- ---

Zack finally stumbled back into work a half an hour late.

“Nice of you to join us,” his coworker, Alex, said.

“I have a good excuse!” Zack said. He still had red-rimmed eyes and a mega-watt smile.

Another coworker, Jack, perked up at that. “Oh, yeah?” he teased. What kind of excuse could be that good?

“I asked Jordan to marry me,” the recently-engaged man declared. Both stopped to stare before clapping him on the back in congratulations.

As they were all preparing to head out onto the floor to pick up their work where they’d left it off, their supervisor for the day, Rian, walked over. “Zack, nice of you to join us,” he said, just as the others had.

“I have a good excuse,” Zack insisted once more. Rian raised his eyebrow in question, but Alex and Jack were already jumping in.

“It’s actually good!” they crowed together. And for once, the excuse counted for something.