Jeweller

Callum kept it hidden well. Since he shared a room with Boo, he had to have it hidden well or she would've wondered what on earth he was up to. It was all rolled into a sock and that roll of socks were hidden under the chest of drawers in their room. He always made sure she was nowhere around whenever he got it out. Every time he got paid, he put some more away. It would take him forever to save up for the perfect ring. It had taken him three months to save the £200 he had managed. And that had been very difficult. He couldn't keep doing that. £200 would have to do.

He had travelled around from jeweller to jeweller. Everywhere he went, the cheapest engagement ring he could find was about £500 while the most expensive had been in the thousands. He had made a list of every jeweller in London and had been to most of them. Maybe he would have to struggle for a bit longer. He could give himself more time. He still had to ask her parents for permission, he was a little old fashioned like that, and that would take time since they were visiting family in Mumbai. He turned the car around and started the journey back to Waterloo. The £200 in his wallet would just have to go back into the roll of socks and back under the chest of drawers. He sighed to himself as he drove and looked at his list once more. There was a jewellers not far from the flat. He would try there and, if there was nothing, he would give up for the time being. Getting married was expensive work. Even getting the engagement ring was breaking his bank.

He could've asked Stephen for help. Stephen had access to a little bit of money from his family. Although they hated each other, they granted him a little something now and again. Not out of love, but out of principle. Their son was a Dene, and no Dene who had attended Eton should struggle too much. It was a sense of obligation that kept the money coming to Stephen, not family love. But Stephen rarely took it. It just accumulated in the separate bank account he had set up for it. The bank account he rarely touched. He'd dipped into it for Rory's engagement ring though. He figured his family should be good for something. And he figured it would burn them if they ever found out that their money had helped him marry what his father had called "an American whore." Stephen proposed because he was madly in love with Rory and always had been. He'd bought the engagement ring with his parents money as one last, giant "fuck you" to them.

So, yes. Stephen had a bit of money set aside. He wasn't sure how much but clearly enough to comfortably buy the £3,000 ring on Rory's finger. He could've asked for help. But he kinda wanted to do this by himself. He nearly drove past the jewellers. He parked the car and stepped out onto the street. It was next to the river so he took a moment to look out across London before going into the store. There were a few people in there already and a sales assistant greeted him immediately with a smile. "Good afternoon sir. How can we help you today?"

Callum smiled back at the man. "Morning. I'm looking for an engagement ring."

"Of course, sir. If you'd like to come this way."

The sales assistant took him over to a large glass counter. "This is our selection of engagement rings. They are all of excellent quality, I can assure you. Over on the right, we have our most expensive collection and on the left we have the more affordable options, all of which are of the same excellent quality as the more expensive options. I shall leave you to browse. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask."

Callum smiled widely. "Thank you."

The sales assistant nodded before walking back to the middle of the room. Callum cleared his throat before looking. Out of curiosity he walked over to the expensive section. He exhaled when he saw the priciest option. £5,750. The ring was gorgeous but it would take him a lifetime to save up for it. He quickly walked back to the more affordable options. "Affordable" when looking for an engagement ring generally still meant a few hundred more than he had. He scanned the prices; £750, £600, £500...

And then a price caught his eye. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief and looked at the ring. It was beautiful. It had a fair sized diamond in the centre and the band was encrusted with smaller diamonds. It was simple, but elegant. And it was only £149. He could afford that. He had the money for that in his wallet right now. He turned to the sales assistant. "Excuse me?"

The assistant smiled and walked over. "Yes sir?"

"Am I reading is right? This ring," he pointed down to it, "is only £149?"

"Indeed sir. We stock rings of all prices here. We believe it to be fair that everyone should be able to buy a ring that is of excellent quality regardless of their price range. Would you care to have a closer look at this particular ring, sir?"

Callum nodded. "Yes please."

The assistant smiled. "Wonderful."

He walked around to the back of the counter and produced a small key which he used to open it. He deftly removed the cushion that held the ring that Callum had been looking at. He handed it to him. "This is the Elegant Duchess engagement ring with Shoulder Accents. As you can see, the centre piece is a stunning diamond and the shoulders are decorated by a dozen smaller stones in a channel setting, six on each side. This ring would look beautiful on anyone's finger, sir."

Callum studied the ring with a smile. "I agree. I'll take it."

The assistant smiled. "A marvellous choice, sir."

He boxed and bagged the ring as Callum thought through all the different ways he could propose. He barely acknowledged being handed the bag. "Oh! Sorry, I was lost in thought."

"It's quite alright sir. Thank you for shopping with us."

"And thank you for having a ring I could afford."

The assistant smiled. "I'm delighted you were able to find the perfect one."

With a final nod and goodbye, Callum left the shop and got back into the car. He knew Boo was at home in Waterloo so he decided to go and show Stephen the ring. He turned the car towards Goodwin's Court and was there in 10 minutes. He entered the building and climbed the stairs. He called to them halfway up. "If you're doing anything, stop cause I'm here now!" He opened the flat door. Stephen was walking out of the kitchen.

"We weren't doing anything," he said with a smile.

Callum nodded approvingly. "Where's Rory?"

"She's trying on some new tops upstairs. Her other ones don't fit her anymore. She managed to make them fit for a while but the bumps too big now. She had to give up."

"How far gone is she now?"

"Five and a half months."

"Do you know the sex yet?"

"Well, we had our second scan a couple of weeks ago and we could've found out then but we've decided to wait until it's born to find out. We want to be surprised."

Callum nodded again with a smile. "Look."

He opened the bag and pulled out the jewellery box. He opened it to show Stephen the ring. Stephen grinned. "Callum, it's gorgeous. She's going to love it."

"I hope so."

"Well, I certainly hope you're not proposing to my husband," a familiar American accent called from the second set of stairs. Rory descended the stairs with a giggle and Callum smiled at her and the baby bump she was sporting. "Because I've already bagged him."

Callum chuckled. "You can keep him. It's for Boo."

Rory smiled and feigned surprise. Stephen had told her Callum was planning to propose. "Oh my god! That's brilliant."

Callum raised an eyebrow at her. "You already knew didn't you?"

Rory sighed with a smile. "Yeah, Stephen told me a while ago. Can I see the ring?"

Callum smiled. "Course, sis."

He handed her the box. She looked at it adoringly. "Its lovely."

"I think so too. It's simple but elegant. And all I could afford."

"Hey," Stephen said, "it doesn't matter how much you paid for it. All that matters is the sentiment. You want to marry her. This ring proves it. That's more important than how much it cost."

Callum nodded. "That's true."

"So," Rory said, "when do you plan to propose?"

"After I ask her parents for permission. But they're in Mumbai and I have no idea when they'll be back."

"You could ask Boo," Stephen said. "She'll know."

"Yeah, and she'll also wonder why I asked."

"You could just drop it into conversation," Rory suggested. "Like, 'so, how's your parents? Are they enjoying Mumbai?' That kind of thing."

Callum nodded his head thoughtfully. "Yeah, that could work. Thanks Ror." He smiled at her as she handed the box back.

"Anyway," Stephen said, "you can't rush these things. It took me weeks to work up the courage to propose. But, I'll promise you one thing."

"What's that?"

Stephen walked over to Rory and out his arm around her. "It'll be worth it."