Thankfully a new stock delivery had kept her busy for much of the time, but it also meant she hadn’t had the chance to talk about any of yesterday’s events with Jodi, whom she guessed would be just as excited and intrigued by it all as she was.
Or maybe not. With Jodi you never knew.
Beth took in the store’s front façade, which always looked especially beautiful during the holiday season. This year the merchandisers had made it look as though the store itself was wrapped up with a huge glittering red bow, which ran the entire length and width of the corner building. While it was one of the most exclusive jewellery stores in all of Manhattan, it was also a world-famous landmark – thanks to Audrey Hepburn and the eponymous movie – and regularly amassed extensive crowds both inside the store and outside. Throngs of New York Christmas shoppers and tourists crowded around the front just then, many of them looking to pose for photographs in front of the window that the beautiful Ms Hepburn had made famous in 1961.
Meet me there.
OK, so she’d figured out that Tiffany’s was the place she should go. Butwhereexactly? There was nothing about any specific meeting spot (or indeed time) in the clues she’d been given.
Beth spied the huge picture display windows and wondered if this area was where she was supposed to be. Maybe there would be something obvious in the content or theme that connected everything?
She quickly but politely made her way through the crowds, having been waylaid by a small group of giddy teenage girls – who all had their hair in up-dos and were sporting big Jackie O-type sunglasses and fake fur coats – to take a photo in front of the window where Holly Golightly stood in the movie.
Beth’s eyes took in everything. The stunning vintage Christmas-themed showcase full of glistening adornments that were worthy of royalty, elaborate designs using precious stones, the jewels alone easily costing thousands of dollars, if not hundreds of thousands. But all in all it was simply a festive display. The store’s holiday windows were merely tempting those on the outside with their wares – there was nothing in the display or amongst the arrangement that connected to her clue.
And, disappointingly, there was no one (at least not anyone she recognized) looking for her by the windows, or indeed anywhere around the store’s exterior. Who was she supposed to meet? And where?
Beth decided to refocus her efforts. There had to be someone waiting for her inside. There justhadto be. Why else go to such elaborate lengths to get her to meet whoever it was if the person wasn’t going to turn up?
As she pushed through the revolving doors that led to Tiffany’s glittering inner sanctum, she wondered just what she was hoping would happen, or who she’d be meeting there.
Her mouth grew dry and she swallowed nervously. Was it Ryan? The thought had crossed her mind more than once since yesterday’s curious delivery. If so what was he up to? Had their recent conversation about Danny given him reason to think that Beth’s head might be for turning?
Or could it be Jodi, her friend trying to distract her from what she’d already warned was a potentially troublesome dalliance? No, that seemed a little over the top and not remotely like Jodi, who always preferred to cut to the chase and say straight out what was on her mind.
In any case, it certainly couldn’t be Danny (who’d arrived home from work at some godforsaken hour yet again last night). To say nothing of the fact that he was up to his eyes at the office, he’d barely had the time to speak to Beth these last few weeks, let alone go to the trouble to concoct such an elaborate gesture.
No, it had to be Ryan. Beth thought back to recent conversations that the two of them had had over lunch. About New York movies, baseball, relationships and so much more. It was totally like him to do something like this. But Tiffany’s? That seemed a little excessive for a guy she didn’t knowthatwell, didn’t it? Unless he really was that swoonsome romantic type like the hero inSweet Home Alabama, who’d closed off this very store to propose to his girlfriend.
Of course Beth knew this wasn’t going to be a proposal or anything like it. In fact she still had no clue what it was all about, but she couldn’t deny that this kind of spontaneity, almost playfulness, was exactly what her life had been missing lately – something exciting, something adventurous andfun.
Still, she had to be careful. By going along with all this – thrilling though it was – wasn’t she in danger of ending up somewhere she wasn’t yet sure she wanted to be?
Well, she was here now anyway, Beth argued with herself, so despite her misgivings about what was going on or who was behind all this, she might as well find out what happened next.
***
Walking into the store, she eagerly returned the smiling doorman’s greeting and then looked around. Trying to make sense of the mass of people here – as well as determine just what exactly she was looking for – was definitely going to be tricky.
Beth tentatively made a loop around the jewellery floor on ground level – taking a moment to appreciate the stunningly beautiful robin’s egg-blue and white Christmas trees dotted around the room, all adorned with those famed little blue boxes.
Realizing then just how big the Tiffany’s flagship actually was, she tried to figure out how in the world she was supposed to know if she was in the right area – let alone the right floor.
Wondering where her intended meeting companion might be, she actively sought out the gazes of people who happened to catch her eye – store clerks, other shoppers, innocent-looking tourists – until she realised that she was probably looking like some kind of weirdo desperately staring down everyone in sight. So she decided to abandon that plan completely.
Beth paused for a moment next to a display case filled with sparkling diamond necklaces, earrings, and the odd engagement ring. Her mind wandered a little as she took in the beautiful sparklers – symbols of love and commitment – and immediately a wave of melancholy washed over her. Peering down at her unadorned left hand she thought about Danny and wondered if she would ever have a ring like that on her hand.
Seven years together. But nothing tangible to show for it. No greater commitment had been made. And why was that? Beth wondered.
She continued staring at the case of diamond rings, trying to imagine what one would look like on her finger; picturing what it would be like if Danny proposed, what he would say. And then, without any control of her thoughts, her mind switched gears. What if it was someone else – say, Ryan – doing the proposing?
She felt flushed at the thought and immediately abandoned that line of thinking. Again, she was getting way ahead of herself. She barely knew Ryan. And she felt guilty too. Danny was the one, the only one she wanted a ring from.
Wasn’t he?
Just as Beth was about to move away from the display counter and concentrate afresh on finding the person she was supposed to be meeting, a Tiffany’s saleswoman behind the counter said, ‘What’s it gonna be, Angelina?’
Beth looked up confused, and trying to determine if the woman was in fact addressing her. But there was no one else around. She was at least a ten foot radius from anyone else on the sales floor. Plus, the woman, who looked to be in her mid-fifties, was looking directly at Beth. Clearly she was talking to her.
