Something Borrowed, Something Flaunted
He inches towards me, whether to shield the surrounding crowd from hearing our conversation or to just be near me it doesn’t matter. I need him to be close. Want him to be close to me.
His words are like a song, as he whispers, “I picked this out for my girlfriend.” He reveals a box in his hand and lifts it to me. A girl is standing a few feet away admiring the jewels resting in their glass cases that have me guarded behind a short wall.
I take the box from his hand and turn away to open it.
The necklace is stunning with crystals swirling around a blue stone all held together by a sterling silver chain.
I swiftly close the box as I hear the girl say, “I would like to look at this piece.”
Her eyes haven’t left the case, so I hand the box back to him and wiggle the keys from the band around my wrist.
I move down the wall of jewels and lean over to see which one she is referring to.
A dark chocolate and white crystal heart intertwining with a gold band is directly below her fingertip.
I unlock the case, and remove the piece with a slight glance in his direction.
He was gone. Something else must have interested him more than waiting, or he might have been called to further assist someone. We were suppose to be working, after all.
“Ma’am. This is a lovely necklace, and I think it suits your skin tone very well.”
She snaps the chain around the back of her neck and admires the jewel in a mirror nearby.
“Yes. Thank you. I would like to purchase this please.”
I retrieve the necklace from her hand and close the case.
As I move along the counters to the nearest register I hear him laughing.
I can’t see him, so he must be near the beauty counters behind the many small walls of makeup.
I want to know what is so funny. I want to know what makes him laugh like that. That sweet, adorable, completely free kind of laugh. The kind of chuckle that comes out without a chance of being held back.
I ring the ladies necklace up, and put it in a neat white box with the store’s logo on it, and hand it to her.
“Thank you.” she says as she places her wallet back in her purse.
My thoughts quickly went back to him. Maybe once she leaves he come back over to talk again.
“You know,” she interrupts my day dreaming, “If you like him so much you should say something.”
It took me a moment to realize she was referring to him, and that for the first time in my three years of working here, someone finally said it.
“I’m sorry?” I ask. She was just a customer after all, how could she possibly know from the few moments spent at this store that I like him?
Her face lights up with a smile, and she tilts her head in the direction his laughter was coming from.
With a wink, she lays the jewelry bag back on the counter.
“You know exactly what I am talking about.” she rifles through the bag to find her receipt and hands it to me.
“Is something the matter with your purchase?” I ask, accepting the small piece of paper and look at it.
“You gave me an additional percent off that is supposed to be against store policy. You must have been too focused on getting back to whatever conversation had the two of you so close before.” Her smile doesn’t fade, and I see where I made the error.
“Are you showing me this so that I can correct the mistake, or are you trying to start a conversation?” I probably shouldn’t have added the last part with such a tang of disgust. She was likely trying to be nice, and think she was doing some good by getting me to admit my feelings. But with him standing so close, and her trying to have this conversation my hairs and skin are on end.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t pry. I am just curious how well you know him, and why your face lights up when you speak to him, yet you looked solemn once you opened that little box. I could see the jewel from where I was standing and it was beautiful. Are you two not together?”
She’s right, she shouldn’t pry. But nonetheless, she already has. And besides, I never really get to discuss my feelings for him, because everyone I know that also knows him would tell him in a heartbeat.
His laughing had long since stopped. Whether he went to another department in the store, or just found the rest of the conversation not so amusing, I don’t know. I sigh, then lean forward slightly so that she will know I am about to answer her questions.
“We’re not together. He is seeing someone else.” I don’t want to give more than that, because I don’t want him to over hear as well as I don’t want to say aloud how pitiful I am.
“So the jewel was for his girlfriend?”
Yes, it is for his girlfriend. And apparently she is an angel from heaven, and has really nice hair. I’ve heard as much from him and my other coworkers. She is the new light of his life, even though only a short six months ago he was engaged to someone else. Someone he thought was his future. Someone who didn’t care when he was sick, didn’t spend hours a day with him, didn’t notice when he was upset about the situation between him and his parents. And now all I’ve heard from him directly about this new girlfriend is that he gets laid every night. In the time I was giving him to lick his wounds from the first girlfriend, he had already found someone else. An angel that he gets to sleep with.
“Yes,” was all I replied.
She must have noticed the shift in my face, because her next words were caring and understanding, “I was in love with a man once, that I couldn’t have. He was engaged to this monster for several years, and believed her to be a saint. But somehow, by God, the two of them separated.”
I became curious, though I only cared slightly, “Did you end up together?”
She grinned, and removed the jewelry bag from the counter once more. Her attention was now on the 5′9 figure with short blond hair moving closer to us. His eyes deep brown, which shine in any light. And his face is framed by an unshaven golden mane. He is beautiful.
As he reaches the two of us, the girl smiles at him then laces an arm through his.
“Yes, I did. I wasn’t taking any chances with this one. You understand what a prize he is, I’m sure.”
It is taking everything in my being to keep from knocking the bitch out and breaking down at the same time.
She is holding the one guy I think about day and night. The one guy that I want more than anything, and all she wants to do is taunt me about it.
“You two know each other?” he asks, looking puzzled.
“No, we only just met, but she seems pleasant enough.” she smiles at me, then him, and pulls him away from the counter to say her goodbyes.
She kisses him very quickly on the cheek and shimmies away.
“She didn’t see it, did she?” he asks after she is out of hear shot.
“No,” I say without any emotion behind my words, “but you should really consider buying her something like socks or a toothbrush instead of jewelry for her birthday. We just had a long talk about not liking exquisite gifts for special occasions. I’d be happy to help with the return if you like.”
I am repeating all of the things she said to me in my mind. If I can’t have him, then by the devil, she won’t have this necklace.
