Caroline and the Ring

Summary: With one little ring as the catalyst, a lot can happen in a short time!

Author's note: This story takes place during season 2. Characters' thoughts are in italics.

Chapter 3

"AAAIIIEEE...!!!"

Annie ran from the entrance to the seated Caroline, and enveloped her with a big hug, almost squeezing the air out of Caroline's lungs. "Congratulations, Caroline!" Annie enthusiastically bellowed, as she sat next to Caroline and Richard. "I can't believe it!"

"Uh, thank you, Annie" Caroline replied ambivalently. She didn't want to lie to her best friend, but Caroline was intrigued. Annie was the second person who thought that their 'engagement' was a good idea.

Annie turned to Richard, and with far less enthusiasm offered "Uh, congratulations to you too, Vlad."

Annie quickly turned back to Caroline. "So, dish...! What happened...? And why haven't you been telling your very best friend in the whole wide world about it?!?!" Annie asked with enthusiasm, and a touch of indignation.

"Uhhh... Sorry Annie, everything happened so quickly..."

Richard was watching silently, nearly panicking. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god... Caroline must be stringing Annie along to get another reaction to our 'engagement'. But, unlike Remo, who just had a feeling, Annie knows how I feel about Caroline. At least she knew how I felt when I wrote the letter. But I lied, and told her I was over Caroline... Oh my god, the letter...! Annie'll tell Caroline about the letter, and then... and then..."

"...and so then, Annie, Richard got down on one knee and gave me this" said Caroline, waving her left hand in front of Annie.

"Eek...!" squealed Annie. "Lemme see..." Annie grabbed Caroline's left hand and coolly appraised the 'engagement' ring. "Hmm... Not bad, Richie... The rock ain't huge, but the ring is nice, very nice... it has a sorta old-fashioned elegant feel about it."

Richard hesitantly answered "Uh... thanks. It used to belong to my grandmother."

"So Richie, what made you decide to spill your true feelings to Caroline? Have you had time yet to show her your l- OWWW!!!" Annie yelped, after Richard gave her a swift kick in the shin, under the table.

"Ha ha" Richard laughed, obviously forced. "That's so good of you to pretend to believe we're engaged. But you know us both so well, you knew right away it was a sham, didn't you?"

Annie stared intently into Richard's pleading eyes. She replied threateningly "Uhhh... that's right, Richard...". Richard grimaced, and stifled a yelp when Annie returned his kick to the shin. "I am a nice person. And I think I should be rewarded for being so nice, don't you agree...?"

"Uh... yeah. I'm in such a celebratory mood, please let me pay for your lunch today."

"Thanks. That's good..." replied Annie "...for a start."

"Oh boy..." thought Richard. "First the letter, and now this. I'm practically Annie's slave now."

Caroline watched this exchange and Richard's unusual offer with curiosity. She knew something important was going on, but wasn't quite sure what it was. "Uh... Annie...? So, you knew all along, huh?" Caroline asked dubiously.

"Uh... Yeah. Of course I did. I'm your best friend, Caroline, you can't pull the wool over my eyes."

Caroline was still suspicious. "So Annie... when Richard interrupted you, you were about to ask him if he had shown me his l-... His l-... what?"

"Uh... His l-... his l-... his... little Richard. Yeah, his little Richard... "

"Ewww...!!! Annie...?!?!?!"

"Yeah, Caroline, I know it's gross, but that's me. I have to know all the dirty details... Besides, I knew the 'engagement' was a fake, and your reaction to the question would be just the one you gave, one of disgust, thus proving it. If you had really been engaged, your reaction would be embarrassment if asked if you had already 'done it' with your fiancé."

"You got me there, Annie."

"So, why are you wearing that ring, Caroline?"

"There's a very simple explanation, really. The ring did belong to Richard's grandmother, who died recently. She left it to him in her will. Richard had it delivered to my apartment, and I was admiring it, but it got stuck, so I couldn't take it off."

"You were admiring it... so you put it on your ring finger...?" Caroline nodded, sheepishly. "Right..." Annie replied, with curiosity and doubt. "There's more to this story, but I'll wait 'til the next time we're drinkin' Margaritas to pry it outta you."

Caroline got up from the table. "C'mon, Richard. We've had enough fun this afternoon, let's get back to work."

Richard got up. "I think we have. I know I'm ready to go."

Caroline looked around. "I don't see Remo. I wanted to thank him for our meal, even though you are paying for it, right?" Richard nodded. "I also wanted to tell him that our 'engagement' is off."

He took out his wallet, removed nearly all the bills, and placed them on the table. "Annie, this should cover our lunch and yours. And Annie, can you tell Remo, although I'm sure he was just pretending to believe us, that our 'engagement' was fake?"

Annie nodded. "Okay, Vlad."

As Caroline and Richard left the restaurant, Caroline's head was filled with questions. "Were Remo and Annie just pretending, or had they really believed that we were engaged? They seemed to think that we are a good match. They seemed to know that Richard has feelings for me... Hmm... Come to think of it, when I asked him, he never really denied that, he just skirted that issue. I wonder...?"

When they got outside, Richard said "Caroline, do you mind if we stop by my ATM on the way back? This unexpected expense has left me a little short, and I still want to buy some Christmas gifts after my second meaningless job at Macys tonight."

"Okay, Richard." Caroline teased Richard. "Oh yeah, Macys… Well, have you finally gotten into the Christmas spirit, 'Mr. Santa's helper'?"

Richard muttered a perfunctory "Bah, humbug!" which caused Caroline to giggle.

After making his withdrawal, Richard sadly shook his head and muttered "Ugh".

"What's the matter, Richard?"

"I just saw my account balance on the receipt after my withdrawal. My balance is still in double digits… barely."

Caroline sympathetically said "I've been thinking about that, Richard. It's not fair that you should pay for the whole lunch. I mean, you didn't mean any harm by it when you kissed me. When we get back, I'll reimburse you for half the bill. But I can't pay you now, I didn't bring my purse for lunch, since you were treating."

"That'd be great, Caroline."

As they started to return to Caroline's loft, Caroline and Richard didn't notice the shady character skulking behind them, watching Richard's withdrawal with interest…

As they crossed the opening of an alley, Caroline and Richard were both rudely surprised by violent shoves which sent them into the alley sprawling face-first onto the ground.

"Alright, you two" a gruff voice commanded menacingly. "Close your eyes and keep kissing concrete! Do as I say and no one has to get hurt!"

"Oh, Richard…" whimpered Caroline.

"Shaddup!" the voice commanded. "Where's your purse, Red?"

Caroline's frightened voice was barely audible. "I – I – I didn't bring one. R – R – Richard was treating me to lunch."

"Rich guy, huh? Okay Donald Trump, pull out your wallet. Slowly. And no tricks!"

Richard did as he was asked. The mugger picked up the wallet, took out the bills and ATM receipt, tossed the wallet, then laughed. "43 dollars, and 13.65 in your account? I ought to shoot you now, and put you out of your misery."

"No…!" squealed Caroline.

"Oooh…! I see something interesting…" said the mugger, as he reached over and grabbed Caroline's left hand, and started yanking on the ring.

"No…! Not the ring…!" Suddenly, Caroline started struggling with the ferocity of a mother bear protecting her cubs. But the mugger, starting out above her, and stronger physically, quickly gained the upper hand and shoved her roughly back down on the pavement. Caroline groaned.

It all happened so quickly, that by the time Richard had heard the struggle start and opened his eyes, it had already ended. "What are you doing, Caroline?" he asked with concern.

Caroline wailed "I can't let him have your ring, Richard. It's – it's…"

"It's not worth it, Caroline. No thing is worth it. Only you are precious. I couldn't live with myself if you got hurt on my account."

The mugger pointed his gun at Richard. "Get back there!" he commanded, and Richard complied.

"Now, we'll see about that ring!" The mugger grabbed Caroline's left hand again, and yanked on the ring.

"No…!" Caroline screamed, as she instinctively started to struggle. Not surprised this time, Richard got up quickly and rushed the mugger…

BANG!!!

Having grabbed the ring, the mugger quickly took off, leaving a shocked Caroline and a motionless Richard behind.

Caroline went over to Richard and hovered over him, softly calling out his name. After what seemed like an eternity, Richard's eyes began to flutter, and he came to.

"Richard, are you alright…?" Caroline sniffled.

"Uh, yeah… I think so" Richard replied, as he slowly sat up.

"So, you're not shot?"

"No… When I rushed him, the guy sorta swung around and clubbed me in the head with the gun, and it just went off. The bullet whizzed past me."

"Thank god." With that, Caroline gave Richard a sweet, tender kiss.

"Caroline…?" a confused Richard asked. "What was that for?"

"Sometimes, it takes your life being in danger to make you see things clearly" Caroline replied. Richard gave her a puzzled look. "I belong with you, Richard. Not with Joe."

They got up, and Richard smiled at Caroline, something she had never seen before.

Caroline kissed Richard again, but this time with more passion. Richard responded with equal fervor, but Caroline pushed him away after a few seconds.

"No, I can't do this" Caroline cried.

"I knew it…!" thought Richard. "She's come to her senses."

As if she could read his thoughts, Caroline replied "No, Richard. I still want you. But I'm still a Wisconsin girl. I can't be with you while Joe's still my boyfriend."

"Oh…" Richard replied, disappointed.

"I'll break up with Joe tonight. Can you wait for one day?"

He smiled "Caroline, I've been waiting for one and a half years, I can wait for one more day." He gave her a short kiss.

"Richard, the mugger got your ring. I'm sorry, I couldn't stop him."

"You're all that's important, Caroline."

"Still, you should report it missing to the police."

"You're right, Caroline. Can you come with me? I think you can describe it better than I could."

"Of course I will, Richard."

As the started walking towards the police station, a sad thought entered Caroline's head. "Richard, do you believe Grandma Karinsky is looking down on all this? Do you think she's disappointed, after wearing that ring for decades, that you lost it after less than a day?"

"I do believe Nana is watching us, Caroline. But I think she's very happy about how things worked out."

"I don't understand, Richard. You think she's happy that some mugger got her ring…?"

"No, Caroline… I think she's happy that her ring did its job so well."

Caroline and Richard smiled at each other, and strolled hand in hand down the street.

The end