Alex turns to me with a huge grin and pleading eyes.
“Alright. You can buy me something,” I concede. I don’t feel a lot of fight in me at the moment. He pulls me into a hug, and I’m sure he’s reading too much into me allowing this. Still, I’ll take it. It feels too good to be hugged. Especially by Alex. He’s so big, I feel like I’m being totally surrounded.
He releases me and takes a small step back, then runs his hands over my wild hair. “Thank you.”
“Shouldn’t I be thanking you?”
“No.” Alex takes my hand, and we walk into the store.
“No diamonds,” I whisper, and Alex rolls his eyes.
“That’s fine. I think you need an emerald to match your eyes.”
The store is opulent. That’s the only word I can think of to describe the level of luxury before my eyes. There is nothing cheap, but good enoughhere. Most of me hates to think about what he’s fixing to spend, but I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a little part of me that felt like a kid in a candy store. I’ve always loved jewelry, but I’ve never had anything real. Only cheaper items, or ones that may look real to the undiscerning eye, but certainly aren’t.
“Are you sure about this?” I’m again whispering to Alex, likewe aren’t allowed to talk at normal volumes in this store. And, honestly, calling it a store doesn’t seem right. It’s more like a museum. People whisper in museums, don’t they?
“I’m absolutely sure.”
Alex tells the finely dressed woman behind the counter—who pretends not to know who he is—that we want to see anything they have featuring emeralds, the lighter in color, the better.
“What if I want a dark emerald, or … a ruby?” I tease.
“We can get whatever you want.”
The woman brings out a selection of jewelry featuring emeralds, ranging from crystal green to grass green. I point to a pair of earrings: simple, thin gold chains that lead straight down to teardrop-shaped emeralds. I hold them up to my ear, looking in a mirror. They’re perfect.
“They’re beautiful, but would they be hidden?” He twists some of my hair around his fingers.
“I could wear my hair up,” I suggest.
“I’d like to see your hair up.” He looks at me like he’s trying to imagine what I would look like with my hair contained on top of my head. “Are they what you want, or do you want to keep looking?”
I know myself; if I kept looking, I would get overwhelmed and never be able to choose. “I want these. They spoke to me instantly.”
Alex smiles and kisses my temple. “Then they’ll be yours.”
He pays, and I purposefully stay away. I don’t want to know the worth of what would at some point dangle from my ears. As we walk out, he takes my hand in his and lifts it to his lips for a soft kiss.
“Wear them tonight?”
I look down at the blue-gray sundress. “I’m not sure this is the right outfit for them. For multiple reasons.”
“Did you bring the red dress?”
***
I had, in fact, listened to both Alex and Val, and packed the red dress. I pull it out of my bag at our hotel for the night and find it fairly wrinkled. Of course. I let it hang in the bathroom while I shower, then leave the water running as I smooth my hands down the dress, and to my relief, the wrinkles relax.
I pull my hair into a wild poof on top of my head, making sure to leave some tendrils around my face. I’m giving my cheeks a little color when my phone lights up.
VAL
So… kiss him yet?
I roll my eyes. Val is a hopeless romantic.
IVY
