I stared at the myriad of diamonds under the glass case, picturing each one on Angelina's finger, skipping on when a bunch of them just didn't feel right.
"What's her personality like?" someone asked me, appearing at my side. I looked up and a saleswoman smiled at me.
"Oh, er, my girlfriend?" I asked.
"No, your dog. Of course, your lucky lady! I'm just kidding with you," she laughed. I laughed back, preoccupied with what each ring might look like on Angelina's finger.
"Well, she's beautiful, for one thing, on the inside, not just the out…she's somewhat dark and mysterious, which is what I love about her the most. Her eyes are always sparkling and she's strong willed, determined, smart, incredibly skilled at athletics, a diamond in the rough…" the saleslady looked like she was about to faint as she stared up at me, leaning against the counter.
"Is she English, too?" she asked, admiring my accent. I nodded.
"Tell me more," she said, "it looks like you're not too interested in anything over here," she added, grabbing me by the arm and leading me deeper into the store.
"How'd you know I was looking for an engagement ring?" I asked.
"Oh, sir, it's just about the only thing tall, handsome glasses of water such as yourself ever come in here for." She was laughing as she stopped at a particular case filled with diamond rings, many of them also inlaid with gems.
"Now these," the saleswoman began, opening the case with a key, "are very special. They have gems in them as well, symbolic of birth dates. What month was she born in? Perhaps she'd like something…" I trailed off as something dead in the center of the case caught my eye. I reached out and touched the ring.
"Oh! This one is one of our rarest, incredibly beautiful. You said your lady can be mysterious and dark; then I would say this is a great choice…"
She took the ring out that I was staring at and let me hold it.
"Black opal," she said, her voice drowning in and out as I stared at the ring, envisioning it perfectly on my Angelina's finger. I didn't care how much it would cost; it was the one! I had to get it. I'd literally gone to at least ten other stores and hadn't come across something I thought would be as perfect for her as that diamond ring with such a mysterious looking gem set in it. The band was white gold and perfect. I just couldn't stop staring at it.
"This is the one. I can feel it," I said. The saleswoman smiled warmly, placing her hand over her heart. She seemed to swoon every time I spoke.
"This woman is very lucky and I'm honestly jealous. Something tells me you're not only a cute redhead, but an absolute gentleman as well." I could have sworn she'd try and kiss me or something as she glanced up at me dreamily. I just smiled in return.
"She's going to love it. Thank you for bringing me over here," I said. When she led me over to the counter to ring me up, I nearly had a heart attack at the price. It was going to cost almost half of what I'd been saving up, but at that point I didn't care. It was the one ring I could really see myself placing on Angelina's finger…I pondered it a bit and wondered if it would be less expensive to just conjure up an exact replica of the ring. But I bought it, anyway. I wasn't going to waste another week running from store to store trying to find the right ring again. Once the saleswoman had boxed it up for me, wishing me the best of luck, I left the store and turned a corner casually before disapparating. I went straight to the flat. I opened the bag to look at the red velvet box that protected the ring. I looked around, wondering where would be the best place to hide it so that Angelina wouldn't accidentally happen upon it…Fred's door was suddenly so inviting, closed as it was. It seemed to be beckoning me forth and I walked right up to it and turned the knob. I stood in the doorway, looking around. Approaching the bureau, I pulled a drawer open, which was almost empty except for a few copies of The Daily Prophet in which the store had been mentioned. I smiled, remembering Fred and I jumping for joy when we got an article with good ratings about our store. We'd each kept a copy, hoping that some day, when we were old and gray men, we would sit in rocking chairs and open the yellowing pages to find a picture of ourselves as young men at the grand opening of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. I shook my head, remembering why I was in Fred's room.
"Do you think she'll like it, Freddie?" I asked quietly, forgetting once again that he wasn't there to answer me. But I smiled and tucked the small box into the back corner of the drawer and closed it. I walked out of Fred's room and closed the door securely, somebody knocking impatiently at the flat door.
"Coming!" I rushed over and pulled the door open to find my little brother, Ron, glaring in at me.
"Bloody hell, where've you been? You've been taking two-hour lunch breaks lately, I swear."
"Got a broomstick up your butt, have you? Relax, I'm back!"
Ron rolled his eyes.
"And Angelina's not going to be happy you missed your lunch date with her, yet again. She just left," Ron informed me as we both started down the steps. I slapped my hand to my forehead, having totally forgotten about our date, the one I kept rescheduling because I couldn't let Angelina discover that I'd been looking for an engagement ring. She was going to be angry later; I knew it.
Ron and Harry were helping me close up shop at the end of the day when Angelina walked into the store. She walked past me like she didn't even see me, and I knew she was upset. I sighed and told Harry and Ron that they'd done enough for the day and they could go home. I locked up and went upstairs to the flat, where the door was already open. I could hear Angelina in the kitchen, putting the kettle on the stove.
"How was your day?" I asked casually, closing the door. Angie didn't answer me, so I walked into the kitchen where she stood with her back to me, arms crossed. I walked over and wrapped my arms around her, from which she pulled away and huffed, walking out of the kitchen. I closed my eyes for a moment in frustration. If only she'd known why I'd been taking such long lunch breaks. But it wasn't the right time to propose. It had to feel like the right moment, and it just didn't feel like the right moment then.
"Angie, can we talk?" I asked, walking into my room where I found her sitting in the chair beside the bed, taking her shoes off and putting her hair up into a bun on top of her head. She didn't say anything to me.
"Okay, I'm sorry," I pleaded.
"But I didn't forget—"
"Forget it. Just forget about it, George. We're never going to have lunch together ever again. I've thoroughly understood that now," she said, somewhat sardonically. She'd never been this angry with me and it just felt horrible.
"What do you mean you didn't forget? You clearly forgot because you weren't even here when I came looking," she said, pulling her sweater off hastily and hanging it in the closet.
"…It might seem like I've been forgetting, but I've really been busy—"
"With what? I thought you said that Harry and Ron have been very helpful to have around. They're always busy doing a million things downstairs, but you're going to stand there and tell me that you're busy?" she crossed her arms again. I sighed and stepped closer to her.
"What have you been doing that's so important, George? We used to get lunch together every day, up until this past week…is there something you're not telling me?" she asked, her eyes starting to water.
"What do you mean, Angie? There's nothing nearly as important to me as you." My jaw dropped a bit at what I hoped she wasn't thinking. I tried to hug her and she pulled away from me.
"I'm not in a good mood. I can't talk to you right now…I need a shower," she said, walking around me and towards the bathroom where she closed the door curtly. The kettle started screaming in the kitchen and I went and turned it off. I decided that maybe I could do something to put Angie in a better mood, so I made myself busy cooking dinner. When I was halfway finished, she came into the kitchen where I was standing at the stove with a skillet of salmon. Angelina sat up on the countertop behind me. I finished the fish and turned it off.
"George, what's going on? What's going on with you, lately? You've been sort of…off all week. And you keep going out and not telling me where, and you don't want me to go with you. Just tell me what's going on. I don't like being lied to," Angelina said, her eyes sparkling at me somewhat teary. I stopped what I was doing and walked over to where she was at the counter, placing my hands on her knees.
"I know I've been sort of weird, but I promise—there's nothing weird going on. There's just some things…I need to take care of and I can't tell you why, at least not yet. Does that make sense?" I asked, hoping she wouldn't still be thinking the worst.
"I know when you're lying, George," she said, a tear rolling out of her eye.
"No, no, Angie, it's not a lie…well, it sort of is, but I'm not doing anything horrible when I'm not around. I hope you know that. What were you thinking?" I asked desperately.
"Th-there's not someone else, is there? Because if so—"
"What? How can you say that?" I was literally surprised at her. A few tears dripped out of her eyes. I grabbed the dishtowel and wiped them off.
"Baby, that's not at all what's going on! I promise. Am I lying to you right now?" I asked. Angelina eyed me for a few moments before shaking her head. I smiled.
"Good," I said, kissing her. She pushed her hand through my hair, which felt good. But then she pulled away from me.
"Then, tell me where you've been going and why you keep missing our lunch dates," she said, hopping down off the counter and gazing up at me.
"I can't tell you that," I said, holding her in my arms. She didn't seem too satisfied with my answer as she began to pull my arms from around her waist.
"But, Angie, it's all alright. I'll tell you soon, but now is just not a good time," I pleaded. She sighed.
"Is that dinner? I'm starving."