The Ring of Truth

THE RING OF TRUTH

“Matt, bud, will you design a ring for me? I’m going to propose to Angie,” said Randy, a beseeching grin on his face. He sat across from his friend Matt as they chatted and hoisted beer at an outdoor garden restaurant. The summer sun beamed down on Randy in a flattering way, its rays highlighting his reddish-gold hair, his wide smile and pearly-white, crooked front teeth, whose lack of symmetry inexplicably made him even handsomer. Two day’s worth of stubble on his tanned face emphasized his rugged good looks.

“You’re going to propose?” Matt Brown squeaked in response. The sun shone on him too–an average looking thirty-year old, but his hair was beginning to thin, he could use some rays to cast off his pale look, and his teeth–well they were more ivory than pearly.

Randy’s announcement didn’t surprise Matt, but he grit his ivories, clenched his jaw and his stomach lurched. His happy mood dried up and blew away. Or maybe it leapt into an icy pond and drowned. Wherever it was, it was gone; maybe for good.

“Congrats, man.” Matt coughed, then forced a tepid smile. Randy, you Neanderthal, I saw her first! 

“I’m going to propose to her in July and I hope we’ll be married by December,” Randy added. Matt studied Randy’s now ridiculous dimples and the sappy grin on his face. Meanness was not normally in Matt’s nature, so he tried to disarm it. I’ve got to cool it; he’s my best friend, isn’t he? I can’t be a childish oaf.

“Matt, if you hadn’t introduced me to Angie I might not have known her. But you did, and I’m lucky. I owe you, buddy.”

Lucky for you, NOT lucky for me. I should be the one proposing to Angie. And I owe you a punch in the mouth! 

      Matt’s anger ratcheted to blazing; he desperately needed a release valve, he dare not say what he thought. He didn’t know he was punishing his teeth until he felt excruciating pain in his jaw.

Taking a deep breath, Matt relived the events that led up to this moment. Two months ago, he’d finally dredged up the cajones to ask Angie for a date. He’d known her casually in college but only to say “hi” as they passed in hallways or on campus. Dating her or even talking to her seemed highly improbable. But he did get lucky when he was seated next to her at an art lecture one day two months ago. They exchanged quips and wisecracks during the two hour talk; he forgot his shyness and felt encouraged to ask her out. She said yes.

He knew his crush was schmaltzy but he thought Angie’s name suited her. To him she was angelic. At the art lecture, when he cracked a joke, she giggled. When he stated his opinion, she agreed or politely stated her own in an engaging manner. When he spoke she listened seriously and when she talked her soft voice soothed him. Her pretty face, her bluish-black hair, and her eyes! Her eyes were an extraordinary turquoise color, reminding him of summer skies.

On their first and only date, Matt and Angie ordered shrimp cocktails and seafood sandwiches at a popular restaurant built out over the harbor’s cornflower blue waters. Afterward, they went to an outdoor rock concert, followed by a stroll on the boardwalk and a walk on the beach where they waded into cool water. The evening sky’s kaleidoscope of colors cascaded from pale blues to lavenders to a salmon blush as the sun slipped into the sea. Orange blossoms and spicy eucalyptus trees scented the sea air; people walked about with happy faces, and peals of laughter mingled with the sounds of seagulls squawking. Their idyllic walk ended at a patio restaurant for dinner, and that’s where it happened–they ran into Randy.

He was seated at a table beneath an umbrella, having a beer. When he happened to see them he stood and waved them over.

The memory of the evening was so painful to Matt that he could hardly stand to recall it. The three chatted, sampling brews, then ordering dinner. Angie was friendly to both Matt and Randy; she talked to each man with equal interest and humor. As the conversation became more animated, the sky grew dusky and the tables were lit with lanterns and festive lights that festooned the umbrellas and trees. In the warm glow and darkening sky, Angie and Randy began leaning across the table to speak to each other. Matt watched them and grew quieter and quieter as the evening passed, and by the time the three parted, Angie and Randy were grinning like lottery winners. What happened could not be mistaken–it was love at first sight. Matt, feeling anguished, witnessed it.

Now Matt shut down the upsetting memory and answered Randy’s request.

“I’ll make the ring for you, bro,” he 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 doubted he ever would.

The two friends met a week later and Matt showed Randy the sketches he’d made of a ring that he felt suited Angie. He knew she was very feminine, enjoyed wearing dresses, especially sundresses, she loved flowers, and she loved colors but not garish ones, she dressed like summertime all year long. Randy liked the sketches, Matt made the ring and they met once again.

Taking it from a velvet box, Matt handed the ring to Randy. It did not yet embrace the two-karat diamond that Randy was buying, so it consisted only of a gold band with the setting for the diamond.

“The band is scalloped because it’s feminine like Angie,” Matt said. “The diamond will be cupped in the mount shaped like a flower. 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, bud,” he said, looking at Matt with sincere and appreciative eyes. “Now I know why your design classes are crammed with students. 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 our favorite restaurant in two weeks. 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. He was sure of that.

When Angie and Randy spotted Matt they waved him over. Angie wore a gauzy blue and white summer dress that complemented her unusual eyes and Randy looked cool in his white-on- white striped shirt and aqua tie. They match! thought Matt. Sure sign of a united pair.

Angie hugged Matt. “I’m so glad you’re here,” she said. Her husky voice made Matt blush.

The reserved dining room became crowded and noisy with Angie’s and Randy’s family and friends. After the crowd finished the main meal and before dessert, Randy stood and tapped his water glass with a spoon. “I’m glad you all are here because this is a special occasion,” he announced to the guests, who stopped chatting and looked up expectantly. Knowing looks passed between some of them. Randy turned to Angie, solemnly knelt on one knee and proffered the ring. “Angie, my love, will you marry me?”

“Yes!” she said instantly, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him as he stood. Matt winced. There was no doubt she was head over heels. 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,” Randy said, grinning at Matt. 

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

At this the guests cheered and clapped. Randy remained standing. “Angie, there’s more,” he smiled, and pulled a jeweler’s loupe from his jacket.

“Sweetheart, look at the diamond through this jeweler’s loupe–it magnifies twenty times over.” The guests in the room were transfixed as Angie removed the ring, held it up 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–not a very romantic name is it?” He laughed as did the guests. Matt, however, did not laugh. He was horrified.

Angie smiled and curiously peered through the loupe at the diamond. After a lengthy two minutes, her face, having been the picture of happiness, turned pale. Flustered, she handed the ring back to Randy, searching his face. “Is this a joke?” she asked, her eyes filling with tears.

At this, Matt stood up and fled from the room into the restaurant lobby, where he wondered how he could have been so stupid. It was obvious that Randy had his own diamond engraved with sentimental words. Something like ANGIE AND RANDY FOREVER or ANGIE, MY LOVE. Romantic. Instead, the diamond in Angie’s ring was engraved with this: 

MATT LOVES YOU MORE

Matt switched the diamonds! He didn’t set Randy’s diamond because the thought of it made him sick. He bought a diamond himself (of better quality), had it engraved with MATT LOVES YOU MORE and figured no one would be the wiser. It would be his own little sneaky vengeful secret.

He never guessed that Randy might know about engraving! Randy was a dunce when it came to weddings, jewelry, diamonds, trends, traditions, etc. Most people did not know that diamonds could be engraved, with as many as 30 characters (including spaces.) Wow, had Matt misjudged Randy!

Randy, of course, had ok’d the engraving when he picked up the diamond, and then delivered it to Matt. He had no further need to look at it through a loupe until the engagement dinner. He trusted Matt.

As Matt stood shamefully in the lobby, in the dining room Randy clutched Angie’s hand and told her what he’d had engraved on the diamond that he thought was on the ring.

ANGIE & RANDY FOREVER IN LOVE

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

Matt, in a frenzy at his studio that night after dinner, unseated his diamond and set Randy’s diamond into the ring, while Randy glared at him. Months later, Randy cooled off after receiving many sincere apologies from Matt.  Angie, true to her nature, helped the two friends mend fences. 

Matt had tossed his diamond with the inappropriate words into a dresser drawer to rattle around to remind him of his folly. Eventually he decided he would move to New York City for a new start and a cure for his wounded heart.

Before leaving, he took his diamond from the drawer and gave it to Benny for safekeeping. He then advised Angie and Randy to have their wedding rings cleaned and prongs tightened each year and he gave them the name of a trusted jeweler. That trusted jeweler was none other than Matt’s distant cousin, Benny. 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.