Perfect Strangers

“Do you have anything cheaper? I’m on a budget, I was thinking more like thirty pounds,” she meekly responded.

Pat’s face dropped and she looked at Myla goggle eyed. “Is he a cheap skate?” She whispered with a knowing look.

“Yes, why do you think he’s brought me to a pawn shop?” Myla whispered back and let a small smile form on her lips.

“I can hear you, you know,” laughed Kai as he moved towards Myla. “It was her idea to come here actually, If I had my way we would be in Hanley’s on Sloane Street.”

“Really?” Myla asked. She looked at him surprised that he would buy a ring from the most expensive jeweler’s in London.

He moved in front of her and leant in towards her ear, she could feel his breath fan over the skin on her neck as he spoke. “Yes, Juliet. When I finally settle down, my engagement ring will come from Hanley’s, my fiancée will only have the best.” He whispered lowly so as not to offend Pat. Feigning a laugh, Myla smacked him in the chest and pushed him back from her personal space.

“You two are a wonderful couple, tell me how did he propose?” Pat asked, leaning her ample bosom on to the counter. Myla glanced at Kai, who was looking at the ceiling and running a hand back and forth over his dark hair.

“He hasn’t,” she whispered.

With a wink and another beaming smile Pat dropped behind the counter where rustling, thudding, and muttering ensued. Myla and Kai exchanged quizzical looks to each other, then Pat jumped back up from under the counter with a little red velvet box. Blowing off the dust, she opened it and held it out to Myla. Leaning over the counter, Myla gasped as she took in the ring sat inside the velvet cushion. It was a copper colored heart-shaped stone, mixed with swirls of a honey color, and diamonds encased the heart.

It’s a similar color to Kai’s eyes. “It’s gorgeous,” she whispered, ignoring her thoughts.

“Try it on,” encouraged Kai.

Slipping it on to her ring finger she furrowed her eyebrows as she looked at it sat on her hand, it was a perfect fit. Coincidence?

“I’ve been saving this ring for a special couple and finally, you are here,” beamed Pat wide eyed, glancing from Myla to Kai. “It belonged to a lady who fell in love with a stranger she met on the train after a brief conversation. Two years later she ran into him again, and within a month they were engaged and married three weeks later. This ring was her engagement ring. Her husband’s wish was that it was to be passed to their daughter to bring her the same love and happiness they had shared, but they never had any children, her husband was sent to war and never returned,” said Pat with a quaver breaking in her voice.

Myla felt a lump form in the back of her throat as she listened to Pat. Kai handed Myla a tissue from the counter, “You have a tear sliding down your cheek,” he said gently.

“It’s your ring, isn’t it? You are the woman in the story?” Myla asked. She took the tissue and dabbed her cheek.

She nodded her head. “And now it’s yours, my dear. I hope it brings you as much happiness as it did me.” Leaning over the counter, Pat took the ring from Myla’s finger and held it outright to Kai. “Propose to her,” she ordered.

The color drained from his face at her words. “I’ll do it later, in private,” he replied.

“Do it now,” she growled, her voice dropped to a slightly deeper and sterner tone.

Blowing out a deep breath, he shook his head and snatched the ring then turned to look at Myla, “Marry me?” He asked pathetically with a shrug.

“For god’s sake man, do it properly, get down on one knee and ask her properly,” Pat snapped. Excitement flashed in her eyes.

It’s just for show Kai, it’s just for show. You can do this. Dropping to one knee, he took a deep breath, and he heard Myla snort. “Myla, you are infuriating, annoying, and downright hard work, but I …Uhm… I …. love you with… everything I have. Please will you marry me?”

Silence descended over the shop while Myla dramatically paused for effect. “Sure,” she breezed with a smile then snatched it from his fingers and slid it on. “My darling fiancé will settle the bill, Pat. Thank you so much for all your help,” she said over her shoulder when she left through the door, leaving Kai looking like an idiot down on one knee.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Holding out her hand in front of her, Myla ticked her head from side to side as she admired the new ring adorning her finger. “I’ve never had a real engagement ring before,” she said picking up her glass of lemonade to take a sip.

“It’s not a real engagement ring, Myla. It’s for show, I hope you’ll remember that whilst we are in Florida,” Kai replied shifting in his seat next to her.

“Of course,” she scoffed, “I’m just admiring my new accessory that’s all. How much was it anyway?”

He turned to look at her, his chestnut eyes locked with her deep chocolate brown ones and his heart begin to dance as he gazed at her lithe form, when he noticed a sudden flash of curiosity whiz through her piercing stare. A hand movement caught in his peripheral, and he watched it brush a lock of her hair back from her face. Oh shit. What am I doing?

Realizing it was his hand acting of its own free will, Kai dropped it like a dead weight, onto the table causing the cutlery to rattle. Breaking free of his gaze with her, he took a sudden interest in the table napkin and began folding it into a swan.

“What was that?” She asked, rearranging the cutlery on the table.

“What was what?”