For the drabble prompt! 26. “The diamond in your engagement ring is fake.”
Sorry, this took so long and ended up being much longer than a Drabble. It kind of got away from me. 🤷🏻♀️
Harry looked down at the newest, shiniest, sparkliest addition to his left hand. Now, if he only had a solid answer to go with it. It had been two days since he was asked the most important question of his life and he wanted to say yes. He did. But he hasn’t. Yet.
“Ahem,” a voice coughed behind Harry. He looked up from his ring, realizing he had no idea how much time had passed since he got lost in thought. When he looked up, he was met with the bluest eyes he had ever seen.
“I’m…so…” he stammered. “Harry.”
The man laughed, eyeing him up and down. “I suppose you could use a shave but you don’t look too hairy.”
“No I mean, I’m sorry and I’m Harry. My name. Is Harry,” he knew he was fumbling this up. Why did it even matter? This person was a stranger. A very pretty stranger. He closed his eyes and shook his head to clear his thoughts. “Let me start over. I am sorry for being in your way.”
“Not a problem, Harry-the-name not hairy-on-the-face. I’m Louis. And you’re not in my way exactly, but your coffee has been on the counter for a few minutes and I thought you might want it.”
Harry blushed. “Yes, thank you. I do. I was just…”
“Lost in thought?”
Harry held up his hand, flashing the ring. “Trying to make a decision.” Why was Harry telling a stranger his problems?
Louis’ eyebrows shot up in shock and amusement. “You’re already wearing the ring, mate. Kind of seems like you may have made the decision.”
“You’d think,” Harry mumbled at the same time a barista called out for Louis to get his drink. “Again, sorry to be in your way.” He grabbed Louis’ drink off the counter and handed it to the man. “Have a nice day.”
Louis looked down at the ring on the hand holding his drink. “Don’t mean to overstep my bounds, but do you want to talk about it?” He gestures towards an empty table. “I was just going to read a little bit but it seems like maybe you could use a listening ear instead.”
“Yes,” Harry said without a second thought. “I would like that.”
The man led the way to the table and Harry followed, wondering why on earth he just agreed to talk about his confusion about getting engaged or not with a stranger.
“So, what seems to be the roadblock?”
“Honestly I’m not sure,” he sipped his coffee. There was something, a little voice, telling him it’s not the right time. Not the right person. “Luca, my partner, is gorgeous and funny. He‘s kind to everything, including spiders. He does crossword puzzles in pen and never leaves one incomplete. He’s perfect.”
“But?” Louis prodded him.
“He’s almost too perfect. We never fight but that’s mostly because he always gives way to me. Like…he used to load the dishwasher all wrong and I told him he way he does it is dumb. He just smiled and said he would change it. And he did. Just like that.”
“Wow, he sounds like a real jerk,” Louis laughed.
Harry couldn’t help but chuckle a bit himself. “Exactly. But even this ring is too perfect,” he looked down at his hand again. “It’s a 3 carat Emerald cut diamond in a titanium setting. It’s gorgeous.”
“May I see it more closely?” Louis asked, holding out his hand.
Harry immediately placed his hand in Louis’. There was a jolt of electricity the moment skin met skin.
Once again Louis laughed. “I meant, can I see the ring, off? I happen to work in antique jewelry so I just wanted to see the piece.”
Harry wanted to evaporate into a puddle of goo. Of course Louis wanted to see it off his finger and not just hold hands. He gingerly removed the ring and passed it over to the still outstretched hand. He looked it over and there was the slightest twitch in Louis’ face. Obviously Harry didn’t know what it meant for sure, but he could tell it wasn’t exactly positive.
“What is it?” Harry asked.
Louis looked up, a little startled. “What? Oh. It’s nothing. It’s a fine ring.”
“Just fine?”
“If you love it, then you love it,” Louis said, passing the ring back to Harry.
He didn’t put it back on his finger, but instead turned it over and over trying to see what Louis did. “Well that’s not cryptic or anything.”
Louis squirmed a bit in his seat, looking uneasy. “Look, I’m not trying to…” he trailed off.
“Tell me the truth,” Harry said, still looking at the ring.
“The truth? The stone. It might be 3 carats. But,” he paused.
“But what? Please tell me.”
“All I’m saying is, if you think something is too perfect to be real, maybe it is.”
“Meaning?”
“The diamond in your ring? It’s not real. It’s fake,” Louis said, and Harry’s face immediately dropped. “Hey, there is nothing wrong with not having a real diamond. I know a lot of people choose cubic zirconia because of personal beliefs or if they can’t afford it.”
“He can afford it. Trust me. He told me it was a diamond. So he lied?”
Louis took a long sip of his coffee. It’s not like Harry expected him to say anything. What could a stranger possibly say to make this better?
“I don’t know if he lied or if he didn’t know. But what I’ll say is this: if you haven’t said yes yet, there’s a reason. Trust yourself. You are the only one who knows what’s best.”
Harry looked up at this man, this very pretty man, who had no reason to sit here and be a coffee house therapist but was willing to be one anyway. But he was right. There was a reason he hasn’t answered Luca. He slipped the ring in his pocket, knowing the answer now more definitively than ever.
“So that’s that?” He asked.
“Yeah, I think it is.” Harry gave a slight sad smile.
“When you know, you know.” Louis shrugged. There was a long pause, air heavy between them. “Hey Harry? Would you…maybe want to meet for coffee again sometime?”
Harry smiled brightly now. “Yes. I think I’d like that very much.
He wasn’t sure why, but he knew this was the easiest question he’d ever been asked to answer.
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