The Ring of Truth

THE RING OF TRUTH

“Matt, bro, guess what! I’m going to PROPOSE and will you please design the ring for me?

“Propose to who?” Matt frowned.

“Angie, of course, dude. Who else would I be asking?”

“But you only just met her.”

“Bro, it’s been two months since you introduced us. Time waits for no man. Strike while the iron’s hot! I can’t let her get away.”

Hell no, I won’t design it, Matt thought. He was gobsmacked. He rued the day he'd introduced Randy to the girl he loved. No way will I design the ring! He stared at Randy, his rival, the guy with the Romanesque profile, sable-colored hair with a tinge of gold, wide smile with titanium white teeth—which were a bit crooked, inexplicably making Randy even more attractive. To top it off, two days of designer stubble.

“Propose?” Matt repeated, still in a surprised daze. Fortune didn’t shine on him the way it did on Randy. He was an average looking thirty-year old, hair thinning, skin wanting a tan, teeth three shades from white perfection. Matt was normally happy (excluding romance) but the ring request pushed his good mood off the high dive, plunged it into the ocean of regret where it was strangled by good intentions and drowned.

“Congratulations,” Matt finally muttered. You asshole!

“I’m going to propose to her next month,” Randy added.

Matt hated Randy’s ridiculous cleft chin and especially the sappy grin on his face. Matt didn’t think of himself as a mean person but he felt mean at the moment. I’ve must calm down; Randy’s my BEST friend.

“Matt, if you hadn’t introduced me to Angie I mightn’t have met her, but you did, and I’m a lucky guy. I owe you big time.”

Lucky for you, NOT for me, Matt thought. I should be the one proposing to Angie. You owe me and I owe you a punch in your stupid Matthew Mcconaughey nose. Another surge of lava coursed through Matt’s veins. He didn’t realize he was punishing his teeth too until he felt a sudden pain in his jaw.

The events that led to this moment flashed through his mind. Two months ago he’d asked Angie for a date. He’d known her casually in college but only to say “hi” when they passed in the halls. Dating her or merely talking to her seemed impossible. But one day he found himself sitting next to her at an art lecture. During the lecture Angie whispered “hi” to him, he grinned, said “hi” and that started a sotto voice conversation lasting through the lecture. By then Matt had forgotten his shyness and asked Angie for a date. Surprisingly she said yes.

He knew he was acting like a smitten guy in a Hallmark movie, when by the second date he thought of Angie as an appropriately named angel. When he joked, she giggled. When he voiced an opinion she agreed or stated her own opinion pleasantly. She listened to him and her soft voice calmed him. He loved her pretty face, long dark, shimmering hair, and her eyes! Her eyes were an extraordinary turquoise color, reminding him of summer skies.

On their second date, Matt and Angie lunched at a popular restaurant near the ocean. Afterwards they explored seaside shops and walked along the beach for a mile or two. They watched the sun begin its dip into the sea as the sky turned from pale blues to a salmon blush. A string of lights festooning a nearby patio restaurant caught their eyes, so they decided to investigate. And that’s when they ran into Randy.

He sat at an outdoor table sipping a brew and when he spotted them he grinned and waved them over. “Hey, Matt! Who’s the pretty lady?”

The memory of that evening sickened Matt. Randy did not once take his eyes off Angie. After Matt introduced her, Randy began his witty bantering routine and Angie batted witticisms back like volley balls. Matt was at a loss to say much, let alone anything witty. In the warm glow of lanterns and darkening sky, Angie and Randy began leaning across the table to exchange quips. Suddenly Matt disappeared. Oh, he was there physically, now alert and watchful but he grew quiet as time passed. When the three friends stood to leave, Angie and Randy were wreathed in smiles and Matt was deeply depressed. He knew he had witnessed a phenomena: Love at First Sight.

“I’ll make the ring for you,” Matt finally said. He was Randy’s best friend, but what he really thought was that he’d design the ring for Angie because he adored her, he wasn’t doing Randy a favor, he was doing himself a favor. He hadn’t gotten over his crush and he doubted he ever would.

Matt sketched a ring that he felt suited Angie and sent a picture of it to Randy. Randy liked it, so Matt painstakingly crafted the ring. Even though Randy hadn’t yet picked up the two-carat diamond he’d chosen, the ring was still beautiful without it.

“The white gold band is scalloped because it’s feminine like Angie,” Matt said. “The diamond will be cupped in this flower-shaped mount. Do you like it? What do you think? The wedding band will also be scalloped so the two rings fit together.”

“It’s extraordinary!” Randy exclaimed. “I know Angie will love it.” He stared at the ring in admiration; even without the diamond , the artistry and unusual design were eye-catching. Randy could not praise Matt enough.

“You’re very talented, bro,” he said, looking at Matt with sincere appreciation. “Now I know why your design classes are so popular. Thank you. I can’t wait to give it to Angie.”

“When you pick up the diamond, come to my studio and I’ll set it for you.”

“Great! I’m going to pop the question at Angie’s favorite restaurant I want you there too, Matt, you’re our matchmaker!”

“Right,” Matt said. What was one more blow to his wounded ego? His only consolation was that Angie would be wearing a ring he’d made for her, with love.

* * *

The night of the engagement dinner, Matt arrived feeling resigned but satisfied. The ring was lovely; there wasn’t another like it in the world. That he was very sure of.

When Angie and Randy spotted Matt they waved him over. Angie wore an aqua and white summer dress that complemented her unusual eyes and Randy looked cool in his aqua shirt. Their clothes match! thought Matt. Another sign of their feelings for each other. Rats!

Angie gave Matt a warm welcoming hug. “I’m so glad you’re here,” she said. Her husky voice made Matt blush.

The dining room became crowded and noisy with Angie’s and Randy’s family and friends, whom Randy had invited to a secretive “Special Event.” After the crowd ordered dinner, Randy stood and tapped his water glass with a spoon. “I’m glad you are here because this is a special occasion,” he announced. Randy turned to Angie, solemnly knelt on one knee and proffered the ring. “Angie, will you marry me?”

“Yes!” she said, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him. When Randy slid the engagement ring onto her finger, her pretty face glowed.

“The ring is beautiful,” she murmured to Randy.

“Matt designed it for us.”

“Thank you, Matt. It’s gorgeous.” Matt gave the couple a thumb’s up.

The guests applauded, whooped and when they quieted down, Randy turned to Angie and said, “Angie, there’s more.” He pulled a jeweler’s loupe from his jacket.

“Sweetheart, look at the diamond through this loupe–it magnifies twenty times over.” The guests in the room were transfixed as Angie removed the engagement ring and peered at the diamond through the magnifier.

“Can you see the middle of the diamond, where the top and bottom meet? That area is called the girdle.” He laughed and so did the guests. Matt, however, did not laugh. He was horrified.

Angie peered through the loupe. After a long minute, her face turned red. She handed the ring to Randy and asked with a quavering voice, “Is this a joke?”

Matt stood up and fled from the room, wondering how he could have been so stupid. Randy must have had the diamond engraved with loving words, such as ANGIE AND RANDY FOREVER. Something romantic. But Matt had not inserted Randy’s diamond into the engagement ring. He set a diamond he'd bought himself, engraved with the words MATT LOVES YOU MORE! His two-carat diamond was far more valuable than Randy’s; it was a secret gift from Matt to Angie.

Matt never guessed that Randy would know about diamond engraving. Most people didn’t. A diamond could have as many as 30 characters/spaces engraved on its girdle!

Randy would have ok'd the romantic engraving on the diamond he’d bought when he picked it up. So he had no reason to look at the engraving again.

Clutching Angie’s hand, Randy told her what was supposed to be on the girdle:

♥ANGIE & RANDY FOREVER IN LOVE ♥

Not the shocking MATT LOVES YOU MORE! He could just kill Matt for playing such a joke.

He found Matt huddled in a corner in the lobby, where he slapped the ring into Matt’s hand and said, “FIX IT!”

Matt, in a frenzy at his studio that night, unseated the diamond he had bought and set Randy’s diamond into the ring, while Randy stood guard and glared at him. It seemed the end of their friendship. But months later, Randy cooled off after many sincere apologies from Matt, and Angie, true to her nature, helped the two friends mend fences.

Tossing the diamond with MATT LOVES YOU MORE into a junk drawer, Matt decided he’d eventually move to New York City for a new start and as a cure for his wounded heart. Randy and Angie were married and had just returned from their honeymoon.

Before leaving for New York, Matt took his diamond from the junk drawer and gave it to his distant cousin Benny for safekeeping. When he visited Angie and Randy for the last time, he advised them to have the engagement ring cleaned and the prongs tightened each year. He gave them the business card of a jeweler they could trust. His name was Benny, (unbeknownst to them, Benny’s scruples were questionable.) With a little persuasion, Matt would bribe Benny to switch the diamonds once again so that Angie would be wearing his diamond. The thought of the switcheroo made Matt deliriously happy.

On the day of Matt’s departure to New York, Randy and Angie saw him off at the airport.

Matt seemed exceedingly happy, gleeful, playful, and when he waved goodbye he actually leaped into the air with a “Hasta la vista!!!!!!!!!!!”

Angie and Randy looked at each other, with quizzical expressions. Matt was so joyful, so hilariously happy, well . . . it almost seemed odd.