Missing Scene from Phase 7 – Drugs: Gendry's Dilemma

In which Gendry thought he made the most important decision, but realizes he has a far greater one ahead of him.

XXX

"Where did you find this?" Arya asked, admiring the ring on her hand.

"I designed it…had a hell of a time telling the woman at the jewelry store that you wouldn't want a huge diamond."

She giggled at how flustered he must have been. "You were absolutely right."

XXX

Gendry sat nervously in his car after he turned off the ignition and wiped his hands on his khaki pants and looked for a wrapper to spit his gum into. Taking a deep breath, he checked his reflection in the rear-view mirror and straightened the collar on his shirt.

Then, mildly cursing himself for worrying so much about his appearance, yet still feeling kind of justified in his decision, he opened the car door and locked it behind him, and walked to the front door of the jewelry shop.

Once he reached the door, he stopped again and took another deep breath. He was certain that he wanted to marry Arya, but the part leading up to that...that was making him nervous.

Immediately upon opening the door, he felt justified in his decision to dress up for this. He knew he could have gone to one of the jewelry stores in the mall, but that felt very open and exposed, and he wanted to have some discretion. Also, he had heard that this particular store had an in-house designer, in case he couldn't find what he was looking for and wanted to have something special made. However, that didn't keep him from feeling very overwhelmed and out of place.

As he stepped up to the first glass case and looked down, he felt like he would be blinded by the shine of the stones and metals inside, and swallowed nervously. He had no idea where to start.

"How can I help you today?" Gendry jumped slightly as he heard a voice behind him. Turning he saw an elegantly-dressed older woman wearing several pieces of very expensive jewelry.

"I-" Gendry paused and cleared his throat when his first syllable came out as a squeak. "I wanted to look at-"

"Engagement rings?" the older woman said expectantly, smiling gently and gesturing for him to follow her. "You stopped before you opened the door and you look like a deer caught in the headlights. Classic signs."

As he followed the woman past several display cases, he was glad that he didn't have to figure out how to ask for help, but slightly disappointed that he had been so obvious.

"Now, what is your name?" the woman asked as pointed towards a chair in front of a low display case, and walked around herself.

"Gendry," he replied, sitting down and awkwardly folding his hands on his lap.

"I'm Miriam," she responded as she made her way to the other side of the display and sat on her own chair and primly pulled herself up to the glass. "I am going to help you pick out a ring that your intended will love."

"Great," Gendry said thankfully.

"Now, what did you have in mind?" she asked, and poised a fountain pen over a pad of embossed cream colored paper, ready to take notes.

It was at this moment that Gendry realized how woefully unprepared he was for this task. "I'm not sure," he said slowly in the general direction of his hands.

"My my, we do have our work cut out for ourselves, don't we?" Miriam said, then pulled out a key and opened the case between them, then pulled out a tray with several rows of rings and set it before him. "How big of a diamond are we looking for?"

"Um..."he replied nervously.

"Let me explain to you about diamonds, so you can make an informed decision. Now, there are four C's that determine the quality of a diamond..."

For several minutes, Gendry sat in stunned silence, nodding occasionally as Miriam explained details about gemstones he had never cared about, and grew increasingly worried as she continued. He had been saving up for this, and was willing to spend as much as was necessary to get the perfect ring for Arya...but the more he thought of it, the more he realized that he had never seen Arya wearing a diamond...or even mentioning wanting one.

"Now, with this particular setting," Miriam said, holding up a ring from the tray, "you can see how the light comes in the side and makes everything sparkle." She paused for a moment and held the ring out to him, and he made what he hoped were appropriate appreciative noises.

"However, with this one," she continued, reaching for another ring, "you can-"

"I'm not sure that she would want something that...sticks out that much," he said, gesturing to the pronged rings before him.

"Once actual diamond is set in the ring, it doesn't stick out nearly as much," she reassured him.

"I just feel like she may not like that," he said, suddenly remembering that Arya had mentioned several times several times that the rings Sansa wore snagged on her hair, clothing, and furniture, and how she never wanted to have to deal with that. "Is there maybe some other setting that doesn't...snag on things?"

He saw the ghost of a frown cross over the older woman's face, but it disappeared just as quickly. She placed the tray back into the display cased and pulled out a much smaller case.

"We do have a few settings like this," she stated, holding up another specimen, "where the band wraps around the stone. "It doesn't let the diamond glitter as much as it could,"she continued dismissively.

Gendry reached out and plucked out one of the sample rings from the tray, and tried to imagine it on Arya's hand, mentally comparing it to the rest of her jewelry.

With his heart sinking, he remembered her collection – a few necklaces and sets of earrings from her family, and a mood ring band that she occasionally wore. Nothing as ornate as this, with detailed scroll-work down the sides and smaller stones embedded here and there.

"Arya," he began, trying to explain his predicament, "she doesn't wear jewelry that often, and she really doesn't have anything that fancy."

"All the more reason to get her something lovely!" Miriam exclaimed, pulling out a delicately engraved ring, pointing out the size of the diamond that could be set in place, and the details in the design.

He bit his lip and contemplated. He felt like Arya wouldn't actually like anything that he had been shown that day, and he was afraid she would laugh in his face...or say no.

Cursing his lack of research, he looked frantically over the display rings, looking for something – anything – that he could imagine her wearing. 'Why did I think that going in blind was a good plan?' he asked himself, growing more nervous by the second. 'She doesn't like anything this...flashy.'

"You could also get something like this," he heard as another ring was held in front of his eyes. "You can still see a fair part of the stone-"

"I think she would want something more simple," he interrupted, trying to sound confident.

Pursing her lips, she picked up a smaller ring, "This is the most basic ring we have," the older woman said disparagingly. "But I do believe that this isn't what you're looking for. An engagement ring must make a statement, it has to be something she will wear with price for the rest of her life. You don't want to downsize something this important. I can help you find the biggest diamond for the best price."

"No diamond," he said firmly, hoping he was making the right decision. "That's not her."

With a stern raise of her eyebrow, she spoke again. "Now, Gendry, every woman wants a big diamond when she gets proposed to."

"Not Arya," she replied with more confidence. "She wants something that matches her – that makes her own statement."

For several seconds, she stared at him down the bridge of her nose. "Very well," she finally said. "Excuse me for a moment."

Without another word, she walked to the back of the store and went through a doorway and disappeared through it. Gendry sat nervously on his chair, wondering what she was doing. He felt like he was in the beginning of some sort of terrible candid camera situation.

Just as he was considering getting up and walking out, Miriam returned with a man in a t-shirt and jeans following her.

"Hi Gendry, I'm Mike," he introduced himself, extending his hand to shake Gendry's. "I understand you want something unique for your lady friend?"

"Yes," he replied, smiling.

"Then come over here with me," Mike said, leading him to a small table in the back corner of the room. "Now, what is your girl like?"

Smiling at this method of finding a ring for Arya, Gendry explained a little about Arya, and, half an hour later, he held in his hand a sketch with some notes on it.

"That's perfect," he said, gazing down at the drawing. There were notes on the type of stone to embed, how wide the band was, and the type of gold to be used. The sketch was simple, slightly smudged where he had debated between a heart on either side or an infinity sign, but looking exactly like something he could see Arya wearing.

"Then that's what I'll make," Mike replied. "It will take up to a month to complete, but I think I should have enough time to finish it sooner. But I'm sure she's going to love it."

Gendry grinned at this"As long as I have it in a month and a half, I'm happy. I have plans for it around that time.

"Will do," the other man chuckled, and handed Gendry the payment schedule they had agreed on. "I'll give you a call as soon as you can pick it up."

"Thank you, Mike," he said, shaking his hand once again.

Gendry smiled as he walked inside, ignoring the disapproving glance he received from Miriam as she attended to another customer who had entered the store. He was positive he had made the right decision.

Author's Notes: So, just in case you forgot, these characters are still not mine.

Now I'm getting to the not depressing moments, and to the more fun times. Gendry, as usual, didn't quite have an action plan, so he was kind of lost, but eventually remembered Arya and what she would want him to do. I really liked the idea of him coming to a moment of realization in the midst of all this jewelry.

I have a couple more missing/alternate scenes that I couldn't work in before, and I'm pretty excited to write them!

Thank you again to everyone that is still following this and going along with all the missing moments, even if the plot is technically done. I really appreciate it!