His desk phone rings, and Tony picks it up without looking at the caller ID. "Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo."
"DiNozzo? This is Ray Cruz."
The sound of that slime ball's voice causes a rush of anger to come over Tony, and he wonders if CI-Ray has any idea how much he hurt Ziva by leaving her alone in that restaurant. She is currently with McGee, following up on a lead, and Gibbs is in MTAC; Tony could give Ray a piece of his mind right now, and nobody would ever know. But before he can decide on what to say, the other man speaks. "I'm going to propose to Ziva."
Tony's heart plummets into his stomach, and his grip tightens on the phone. This is it. She's gonna be gone for good. He manages to choke out, "Congratulations."
"Thank you. I was actually wondering if you knew what size ring she needs?"
He does know, thank you very much, and he also feels like her boyfriend should already know this particular piece of information. As he taps his fingers on his desk, he thinks that he should say size ten, so the slightest movement would cause the ring to fly off Ziva's finger. Or size one, so she won't be able to get it on there in the first place. But then, Tony imagines her tear-filled eyes and knows that a proposal might be just the kind of appreciation she wants from Ray.
"Five," he finally says, very aware that he is taking a huge step in losing Ziva to another man… but also, that he might be giving her happiness. And the latter is what matters. "Size five."
Review? : )