“See you then,” Tawson said. He looked back to the map and made the mental note of where he needed to go. He tried to relax, reminding himself that it seemed like Clark was leaving the mall. It wasn’t like he’d stalk him and see what he was buying anyway. Tawson was just thinking worst case scenarios.
By the time he made it to the right place, he was more than grateful to step through the glass doors into a quieter space. It wasn’t the people, really, but the noise. There was a child throwing a tantrum and the parents were sitting on a bench not doing anything to calm them. A group of teenagers were walking out of a store giggling and talking way too loud about what they’d seen in the back section. Tawson was usually an outgoing person, but sometimes he just liked his quiet.
“Hi there, sir. How can I help you?” An older lady walked up and greeted him. She had to be in her fifties at least. Her hair was that style from the 80’s where the only products used were Prell shampoo and hairspray.
“I was looking online at some of your necklaces,” Tawson said. “It was a gold chain with a purple gem set in the middle. It said you had them in stock.”
“We have a couple different options if you want to follow me,” the lady said. Her nametag pinned to her jacket said Tara. “Are you looking for a birthstone purple or something else?”
“Just a general necklace,” Tawson said. “My partner has a love for the color and I want to surprise them.”
“Well, aren’t they lucky.” The lady smiled and opened the glass case on her side. “Now, like I said, we have a couple different options depending on your budget.”
Tawson looked at the necklaces. There were four of them. Three had the thin, gold chain. One had a silver one. The one that immediately caught his eye was a small jewel, a light purple shade, that was set in a gold bracket with three diamonds curving around the bottom side. It was beautiful.
“How much is this one?” Tawson asked, pointing to the second one on the display.
The lady looked at the tag before smiling. “It’s two hundred and thirty. This is an eighteen karat gold with three half-carat diamonds.”
“Do you mind if I look at it?” Tawson held his hand out while the lady pulled it off the display. It was lightweight, simple enough in design. He held it to his own neck to gauge sort of where it would lay on Vic’s chest. The gem and diamonds looked well set. “This is perfect. I’ll take it.”
“Are you sure? We have other options you can look at first,” the lady said. It wasn’t in the tone of trying to make a larger sale. Tawson had been looking online though and he knew what he wanted.
“I’m okay,” Tawson said. “I’m pretty easy to shop with.”
“Well, that settles it,” Tara said. “Let’s get you checked out then. Would you like the insurance on it? It’s good for a year. We’ll fix the clasp or replace the necklace and up to two of the diamonds within the first year.”
“Yeah, we probably should. I have a feeling this is going tobe well worn.”
“That’s a good thing,” Tara said. He paid with his card and took the small bag from the woman. “Thank you so much.”
“Have a great day,” Tara said with that customer service smile.
Tawson felt much better walking back out of the store. He knew as soon as he saw it with the others that this was the one for Vic. He’d been told that picking out jewelry was his specialty. His phone vibrated in his pocket as he stepped onto the escalator to go back down. Seeing Clark earlier made him want a pretzel.
He had a notification for his personal email come along. He didn’t recognize the email address, but the subject line caused him to almost miss the step off.
It’s been a while…
The phone screen went blank before he could click on it. He didn’t know if he wanted to or not. It couldn’t be from his ex. Could it? His personal email was the only thing he hadn’t changed when he left. He found an Auntie Anne’s and ordered the pretzel bites with a lemonade before finding a place to sit down and stare at the notification.
After four pretzel bites and half the lemonade, he finally opened it. He could always just delete it and pretend it didn’t happen. Report it as spam so he didn’t get anymore.
Hi Tawson,
I know you don’t want to hear from me, but I had to reach out. I’ve been trying to find the words to say to you but I’m sorry doesn’t seem like enough. I am though. I’m sorry for all the words I said, for turning my back on you when you needed me most. I was upset. Hurt. I thought you had gone and slept with someone else. I didn’tthink I could trust you. And by the time the trial came around, I let others convince me of those same things. I should have stuck by you.
I heard you’re working as a professor. Congratulations, Taw. I know you always talked about that being your dream job. You were so good with those high school students though. You always put in 100% with everything you do.
I hope you’re doing well.
I’m going to include my contact information if you want to reach out. I’d love to hear from you, Taw. I miss you.
Love,
Meredith Helvey
Tawson knew he was sitting alone, in the middle of a food court, crying at his phone. He could feel the tears falling but couldn’t do anything to stop them. He shouldn’t have opened the email. Should have just deleted it. She wassorryafter all that time? The whole email was about herself, even he could see that. She tried to justify her feelings on the worst night of his life.
