Forever Fades Away

"I'm looking for something softer," I said to the jeweler. He looked back at me like I was an idiot, or at my tattoos, I couldn't tell just yet. He placed the ring back in its case.

"We carry a new line with beautiful, affordable stones. The accents really make the diamond shine, forgive the pun." Jimmy eyed me.

"Price isn't an issue for me," I said. I wasn't looking for something that would weigh her hand down; something small wouldn't be fair either.

"I don't exactly know what kind of ring to get her, to be honest," I said to the jeweler.

"He thought that you could show him some rings and he'd get some ideas," Jimmy said. I mildly blushed.

"No problem. I usually have clients that send in assistants to do this for them." His clear blue eyes had finally started to show sincerity.

When Jimmy and I initially came into the store, no one bothered with us. Not a single greet came our way. Usually, we didn't mind, but this time we needed help. This guy was pushed towards us by other workers that did not want anything to do with us. He had forced a smile and started to eventually help us. He seemed more at ease now, knowing I had money.

"Mind describing her to me? I can come up with something based upon her personality and looks, that is if you don't mind." It felt awkward at first, but I gave it a shot anyways.

"Well, her name is Mae," I started.

"Beautiful name. I suggest we don't get something too traditional," the jeweler said. Jimmy laughed at him. I gave him the eye and looked back at the jeweler. He was embarrassed.

"No, I like that. Mae's sort of an old soul. She's very traditional and very grounded. Lately, she's had this motherly figure type of thing going on and it suits her well, I think." The jeweler nodded.

"A ring opposite of what she is?" Jimmy asked, "You're making it too damn complicated."

"Well, a traditional ring is what she would expect, correct?" the jeweler asked.

"Yeah," I said. I looked at his name tag, his name was Arthur.

"Okay, that's not a problem, i think a single princess cut stone on a platinum ring is a bit boring these days anyway," Arthur said. "Let's walk over to this side and I'll show you what I've got in mind." We all went to the case he was pointing to. I felt my phone vibrate, which was soon followed by the ringtone; it was Mae.

"Excuse me," I said to Arthur. I answered the phone and walked away.

"Hello? Hey baby, what's up?" I tried to sound casual

"Nothing really. I'm going to meet with my admissions rep and counselor in a bit. I don't know how long I'll be. I just wanted to let you know," Mae said. I heard dogs barking in the background. Gena must be over with Ichabod.

"Okay, I'm with Jimmy looking at some drum kits. We should be home soon," I lied. "Just call me when you're on the way home."

"Don't get too caught up in drinking and smoking, okay?" she said.

"Not a problem, love you."

"I love you too, bye." I hung up.

The past two weeks of recovery had been running very smooth. I started smoking again, but it was no where near like what I used to. I had a beer maybe once every other day. I was taking it slow.

I walked over to Jimmy and Arthur, "Sorry, so you were saying?"

Arthur brought a box with demo rings out. He pulled out a small silver ring, "This is a relatively old line, but we've just recently become an authorized seller." He placed some black velvet onto the glass counter.

"See the intricate designs on the bottom of the diamond? Each point has a small diamond. Instead of the traditional whole solid ring, they've designed this." I picked it up and looked at it with more curiosity. It was most definitely a non traditional ring.

"Can we change the stone's shape?" I asked.

"Yes, of course," Arthur said.

I placed the ring on my pinky finger, and looked at it from above. It looked stunning.

"Personalization is available. There are also several other different designs available as well. The line sells premade rings, or you may design your own. The princess cut isn't as popular as the rest though."

Arthur pulled out a book and showed me the rest of the design. After about an hour of arguing with Jimmy, I placed my "order".

"Wonderful choice, Mr. Haner. Mae will most certainly love it." I smiled at him.

"I hope so." Jimmy slapped my back.

"Now because this is a rather large order, the company will place your order as a top priority. Your ring will arrive within this week, Saturday at the latest," Arthur said as he placed a few papers into a folder.

"Yeah? That's fast! I thought I'd get more time to plan things out," I laughed. I looked at Jimmy.

"You don't know when you're going to do it, do you? Zack said you had it all planned out."

"Well, I have an idea but I haven't actually started it yet. Fuck." Arthur laughed when he heard me.

"I wouldn't worry too much Mr. Haner, your fiance will love you no matter what, especially after you give her the ring." We all laughed together.

"Dude, take her to Tijuana, get drunk, and BAM! pop the question," Jimmy said. Mexico sounded like a good idea. We could be normal without anyone bothering us.

"I saw an ad in a magazine a while back about Veracruz. It looked pretty and it had a bunch of ruins of some sort that Mae would like to see. Plus its far away from Cancun." I signed some paper work for Arthur and we left the store.

"Have a great day, gentlemen." We waved back.

"You don't think its too cliche to propose there?" I reached for my keys in my pocket.

"Nah, you don't want something too nice, otherwise it'll just get pushed down the list, ya heard?"

"What do you mean?"

"Say you take her to Fiji or something. She'll be like 'Oh my gawd oh my gawd, FIJI!' Then you pop the question and it's all she'll be thinking about. You guys won't be able to experience it the way you really should," Jimmy finished his rant.

"You got a point, Jim."

"I always do. Let's go buy some beer and burgers to grill"