One thousand six hundred something. I didn’t even hear the rest. I smiled and handed her the ID and credit card. My body struggled to decide if I needed to swallow or inhale as she walked toward me with the pen and receipt. I quickly scribbled something on the paper that didn’t even come close to resembling my name. Once I signed the paper, she neatly folded up my copy, put it in a small envelope, and handed it to me.
“Thank you for your purchase, Mr. Hudson. Inside the envelope with the receipt is a card on how to care for and clean the ring,” Erica said as she handed me the bag.
“Okay, thank you. I’ll see you soon for the sizing.”
I walked out of Tiffany’s, grinning with pride. I had a thoughtful gift for Russell that he could proudly wear and show the world that he was everything to someone.
“Ryan,”he called my name. His voice pulled me out of Tiffany’s and back to the present. I pried my eyes off the ring I had given him and looked into his eyes. “Relax, my boy. It’s not like I asked you to climb Mount Everest with me.”
“Funny, because I think it might be easier to actually climb the mountain,” I replied.
Russell chuckled and turned his head to look out the windows to the backyard. When our eyes connected again, I felt my stomach drop. This was one of those very few times when Russell wanted something, and I worried that I wouldn’t be able to measure up.
He pushed himself away from the desk and sat beside me. As his hand gripped the back of my neck to jostle me, I felt the coolness from the metal band on his finger.
“Ryan, time is precious, my boy. My parents aren’t getting any younger, and they are unable to travel. I want to take you to meet them. It’s important to me that they meet you. I’d like for us to spend the holidays with them.”
Russell wanted to take me to meet them. He wanted it. I nodded, agreeing to go. Russell didn’t ask for a lot. Hardly anything, in fact. Considering everything that he’d gone through with me, this was the least I could do for him.
