“I don’t know,” she said, biting her lip. I knew she wanted to do a pro and con list, and compare prices, but if we did that, we’d be in here for days.
“What about that one?” I asked, pointing at a rose gold ring that had one single oval opal set on the top. It was beautiful and sweet. Perfect for Cara.
“Can I try it on?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. I could tell already that she liked it by the way her hand shook as the saleswoman slid it on her finger.
“It’s a perfect fit,” she said. “That means it’s the right one. It was waiting for you.” Cara turned her hand right and left. The saleswoman had put it on her right ring finger instead of the left. My ring was too big, so she had to get one from the back. I quickly slipped the too large one on my left finger. Why did it make such a difference? Now I was the one with shaking hands.
“Are you sure we’re doing this?” Cara whispered as the saleswoman came back with the right size ring for me.
“Is there anything else I can do for you today?” she asked and we both shook our heads.
“Nope, this is it,” I said. She quickly rang us up, seeing that we weren’t going to be giving her a huge commission, and got us out the door.
“Holy shit,” Cara said, holding up the bag with the ring box inside.
“Yeah, holy shit. We’ve got rings, now all we need is a proposal and then a marriage certificate. Then we can live our dreams, corny as that sounds. Thank you so much for agreeing to do this, Cara. I can’t imagine fake marrying anyone else.” There was a lump in my throat for some reason. I had no idea why I was getting so emotional. Maybe it was the idea of seeing that opal ring on her finger and knowing that I was the reason it was there. And I’d have my own ring as well.
“What are you going to tell your parents?” she said.
I started laughing.
“I have no idea. I hadn’t thought that far ahead.” Why hadn’t I considered that people were going to know about this marriage?
“I think we should tell them the truth. Plus, they’re going to know. But as far as other people, I don’t really want to be the girl who has the fake marriage for money. So...” she trailed off.
“So, what are you saying?” My stomach dipped as if I was on a roller coaster.
“I’m saying that we’re gonna have to fake it. At least for a little while. I’m not saying we have to have a big declaration or anything, but I’m going to tell people I’m married. That we’d been friends for a long time and it turned into something more and we just decided one day to do it. Not that far from the truth, is it?” No, it wasn’t. My stomach rolled again, and it was hard to breathe. What was happening to me?
“Yeah, you’re right. We’ll tell people we’re married. Only the closest will know why we’re doing it. Everyone else will get the story.” Cara nodded.
“Okay. That makes me feel better. But before we announce anything, I think we should come up with a story. Because people are going to ask.” This was why I needed her in my life. She thought of things I would never consider.
“Yeah, that’s cool. Do you want to go back to your place?”
“Sure. I need a few more cannoli to deal with the fact that I have an engagement ring.” She held up the bag again and I snatched it from her.
“No you don’t.” I handed her mine. “You don’t get to have your ring until I propose. And vice versa.” She blinked at me a few times.
“What have I gotten myself into with you, Loren?” I loved it when she called me by my full name, I didn’t know why.
“Only one way to find out,” I said in a singsong voice as I started walking down the sidewalk.
Four
My intention was to propose to Cara as soon as we got back, but for some reason I couldn’t. It wasn’t a big deal, I just had to hand her the ring and say the words, but I kept looking for an opening and it didn’t feel right. I couldn’t find a good moment, so we spent the rest of the afternoon stuffing ourselves with cannoli and complaining about capitalism. The rings remained in their boxes in the corner of the room. I could feel them sitting there. Watching. Judging. How could two such tiny items cause so much pressure?