The Proposal

Wiping his hands on his jeans, he glared at the impossible choice in front of him; there were dozens of sparkly diamond rings and all were worth a pretty penny. Derek had carefully planned the perfect proposal for his girlfriend Harley and the only thing left to do was to choose a ring. He had been standing in the jewellery shop for the better part of an hour and was still no closer to making a decision; he had been fending off the glares of the older saleswoman since he entered. In the hour since he had been searching for the perfect ring, the saleswoman sighed impatiently yet again at his lack of decision making skills.

“Have you reached a decision yet, sir?” sneered the saleswoman glaring at him

“I apologize if I am wasting your time ma'am,” said Derek frustrated with her attitude, “except you have had nothing better to do except glare and sigh at me for the hour I've been here. I would like to see your manager because I have a feeling the manager will be more professional in a five minute interaction than you could ever be.”

The saleswoman gasped; she was about to retort when an elderly man appeared behind her and introduced himself as the manager.

“Thank you,” compliment Derek before explaining his conundrum, “I am searching for a ring...I'm going to propose to my girlfriend this weekend.”

“What kind of ring are you looking for?”

“Well, I do know she prefers unique, vintage...pearls.” replied Derek really hoping that one would suddenly appear

The manager thought for a few moments, before heading behind the counter; the older man pulled out a thick book of different ring styles. He flipped to the middle and quickly searched the thick binder, a deep frown flashed across his face; after a few minutes he looked back up at Derek.

“I'm sorry, it appears we do not have any rings fitting that description,” apologized the manager, “most young ladies prefer diamonds...although I know where you can find what your looking for.”

“Really?!” exclaimed Derek excitedly

“There is an antique shop forty minutes away from here that has a rather large collection of jewellery.” explained the manager as he wrote down the directions, “Good luck.”

He shook his head as he watched Derek leave, “You'll need some luck...” he muttered

25 minutes later...

Eagerly, Derek took off for the antique store; as he listened to the instructions, he started to worry. He seemed to be driving into the middle of nowhere, 'I swear I just saw a tumbleweed.' worried Derek casting a quick glance at his GPS, 'I'm almost there apparently...'

Trusting that the directions he was given were correct, he continued driving past field after field until finally in the distance a building appeared out of nowhere. Derek sighed a breath of relief and only a few minutes later pulled into the parking lot and dashed eagerly towards the door. He opened the door and was immediately hit by a wave of incense candles; he coughed lightly as his eyes widened as he looked around the store.

As soon as he stepped through the second door, a large stuffed owl greeted him; it's talons out and ready to grab its prey. Everywhere he looked there seemed to a creature of some sort staring at him with large glassy eyes; incense candles burned in every corner causing the air to feel heavy and difficult to breathe.

Finally, he found the jewellery section, his feet picked up a faster pace until he stood in front of the glass case. His eyes searched the rings, Derek was so focused on the rings he didn't hear the shuffling footsteps approaching him.

“Looking for something particular?” came a high pitched lisp

Derek looked up, his eyes widened slightly; the proprietress was wild, wiry grey hair that, although tied back with a floral headscarf, stood up in every direction, she wore green coloured glasses and bright orange lipstick. Her dress was bright tye dye completed with a blue jean vest covered in with various shaped patches.

“Y-yes,” stammered Derek surprised, “I'm looking for an engagement ring, size 7...I know that she would love something unique like with pearls...”

“I have just the thing,” smiled the proprietress, “I have had this ring since I first opened my shop twenty five years ago...I believe that your young lady will love it.”

She disappeared behind a bright orange velvet curtain; drawers opened and closed repeatedly for the next ten minutes before she finally emerged with a wide gap toothed smile.

She slid a vintage silver metal engagement ring box towards him; he picked it up and with a hopeful breath opened it. “Wow!” he breathed

Three creamy pearls, with three small diamonds in between the pearls, sat in a silver band. The beautiful ring looked even more beautiful against the dark blue velvet.

“This is perfect,” exclaimed Derek excitedly, “How much are you asking for it?”

“I will give you a deal because I just love helping out young love,” she squealed happily, “I will accept four hundred and fifty dollars.”

“Done!” grinned Derek pulling out a check, filling it out quickly

After politely declining the offer to have the box wrapped, he thank her and quickly walked out; as soon as he stepped outside, he took big gulps of fresh air. 'As weird as that experience was,' thought Derek, 'I'm grateful that I found the ring!'

Forty minutes later, he pulled into his drive way just as his cell phone rang; with a smile he answered the call.

“Harley, I'm so glad you called,” Derek said hardly able to contain his excitement, “What are you doing tomorrow evening around seven?”

“I'm seeing you,” laughed Harley, “What are we doing?”

“I thought we could go for a walk around the lake and have a picnic,” explained Derek as he looked at the ring again, “Lets dress up for this date.”

“Sounds like a plan,” agreed Harley, “I'll see you then. Love you!”

“Love you too.”

The next evening...

The date proceeded as he had expected, they enjoyed their picnic by the lake; Derek quickly ran the basket back to his truck and as he ran back to Harley his hand slipped into his pocket to once again reassure himself that the ring was still there.

Offering his arm to his girlfriend, they began their leisurely stroll around the lake; they talked and laughed, Derek led Harley to her favourite spot in the park: the bridge. Standing underneath the trees, he observed her as she watched a family of ducks swimming near them. Slipping the ring box from his pocket, Derek knelt down on one knee.

“Harley?” whispered Derek smiling when he saw her surprised expression

She moved to stand in front of him, tears of happiness shone in her eyes as he took her hand in his and present the little silver box with the other.

“Harley, I love you so much...ever since I met you I knew you would change my life for the better,” smiled Derek as tears shone in his own eyes, “I know for a fact that I am a better man because of you. We compliment each other in the best ways; we both know that a relationship takes hard work and I want to work hard beside you for the rest of my life. Harley, will you marry me?”

Wiping tears from her eyes, she watched as he opened the vintage ring box revealing the beautiful ring she had ever seen.

“Yes, yes and yes,” whispered Harley watching as he slid the ring onto her finger

Derek stood, placing one hand behind her neck and the other around her waist, leaned down and gently kissed her. Resting his forehead against hers, he felt her lips curve up into a smile that matched his own.

“Here's to spending eternity together.” murmured Derek kissing her again