REVAMPED AS OF APRIL 2014
"Mort! Rob, look, it's Mort!"
Rob had come with Melanie to her ultrasound appointment because the woman had a great deal of anxiety about doctors – she simply didn't like them. That, and the fact that he had been dating her for nearly a month now. Before the dinner at Carmen's house, he'd been hard-pressed to find a way to break the news for fear of someone making a snide comment about him dating another co-worker, but now that it was out in the open, it was an enormous relief.
As they left the doctor's office, Mel was the first to catch sight of a familiar face on the streets coming out of one of the high-rise buildings.
"Hey! Over here!" Mel called out, waving a hand, earning a strange glance from some of the passersby. Mort finally looked over in surprise and half-jogged in their direction.
"New literary agent," he said, nodding over towards the building, not sure whether or not they were even curious. "Carmen's not with me right now, she's getting the oil changed on her car –"
"Thank God she remembered, I was worried she'd try to sabotage it," Rob said, his face clearly worried – Mort couldn't help but chuckle. This guy took his cars seriously. Rob quickly caught himself though and chuckled, reaching out to give Mort a friendly handshake. "Well, coincidence we run into each other out here," he half-grinned.
"You should have lunch with us!" Melanie said brightly. "Rob's going to take me out for dim sum –"
"I'd hate to intrude on you two –"
"No, really, please come," Rob chuckled. "When she says I'm taking her to dim sum, she means that I'm coming along while she eats everything on their menu because it's for her and the baby. No conversation. Just –" Rob mimed the motions of shoveling food into his mouth, earning a playful smack on the arm from Melanie. Mort shook his head in good humor and agreed.
"Great!" Mel said, clapping her hands together gleefully – she was a little bit like a Barbie-doll, Mort decided, with her big blue eyes, blonde hair, and practically perma-grin. She was just so sweet, so incessantly positive, that being around her more often was probably one of the reasons Carmen had been so good about everything. "We can share a cab - come on, it's about eleven blocks away."
As promised, Mel had gone straight to task 'feeding the baby' with at least four different orders of dim sun when they arrive at the restaurant - which orders she preferred, it appeared they already knew. Rob and Mort shared a glance and shook their heads as they ordered food for themselves from the very normal-looking takeout counter and took a seat at a table.
"So, new agent," Rob said, grasping at the first topic he'd been able to think of - while Mort was used to having no friends at all, Rob had grown accustomed to having mostly female friends when he had time away from work. The combination of the two yielded a pair of men who were gradually coming to be friends, but had no clue in the slightest what they were doing. "Any reason?"
"Just - fresh start," Mort shrugged. "It's been a while since I've had a big success, and I think my work's changed since the last time - so I figure it's time to move on, I guess."
"Good reasoning," Rob nodded in agreement before bringing a pork dumpling to his mouth. Unspoken between the pair was the understanding that they'd both had issues with moving on and starting fresh in the past, and were finally managing. "So you came into the city just for that?"
"Uh..."
Mort hesitated and scratched the back of his neck, looking away uncomfortably. Maybe this was why he usually didn't have friends, he mused. It was still a splash of cold water to the face to have people rightfully asking about your business - though it was nice that at least, people weren't in his business to try and accuse him of things. At his hesitation to answer the question, Mel paused from eating her radish cake doused in low-sodium soy sauce and raised her eyebrows at Mort. He cleared his throat and looked down at the ground, realizing that his silence about what else he was doing in the city could very well mean a lot of things.
"I have this - errand to run," he stammered, rubbing his temple gently. It could help, having Mel and Rob along, he considered. They could be a big help - they considered him a friend now, didn't they? And they definitely considered Carmen a friend. Wouldn't it be helpful?
It would.
"Listen, do you guys have anywhere to be for the next hour or so?" Mort asked, bringing food to his mouth to occupy his hands, only realizing after he had done it that it would force him to talk with his mouth full now. Great. He looked like an absolute plebeian. No choice now, though. "I could actually really use your input on this... this thing that I'm... doing," he explained awkwardly, careful not to lose any of the food still in his mouth. He chewed it the rest of the way and swallowed, chasing it with a large gulp of water. In the pause. Mel and Rob looked at one another questioningly, then back at Mort.
"I'm - I'm taking a long lunch, and I don't have any meetings until about three-thirty," Rob shrugged casually. "Mel, you okay with going along?"
"Well, obviously - I want to know more about this mysterious errand," she replied matter-of-factly. So, the trio finished their dim sum and followed Mort's lead to his mystery destination. They hopped into a taxi with Mort in the front seat directing the driver, and Melanie's jaw dropped when they pulled up in front of an old Italian jeweler on Bowery. They got out of the cab, and Melanie began repeatedly swatting Rob on the arm, practically oscillating with excitement. Rob simply stared up at the building in surprise.
"I knew this was coming!" Melanie said, looping her arm through Rob's and dragging him closer to the door. Rob glanced over at Mort and raised his eyebrows slightly, to which Mort simply shrugged with a slightly bashful grin. He nodded for them to enter, and Mort again led the way.
"Ah, Mister Rainey - you're early," said a man at one of the counters. "You were scheduled for -"
"Two-thirty, I know," he chuckled. "But I have a couple friends along who were going to help me out a little, and the schedule's a little tight, so -"
"Understood. We can take you early today, you're in luck - Marco will be helping you, I'll let him know."
"You're proposing!" Melanie said shrilly, clapping her hands over her mouth in uncontrollable glee. "Was it the cake? It was obviously the cake - do you know what kind of ring she wants? She seems kind of like the diamond solitaire type - something shiny -"
"Actually, I - I don't have a clue. At all," Mort admitted. "That's why I guess I was in luck that I ran into you two. I don't want to pick out something that she's going to be embarrassed to wear, or - well, I don't know." He chuckled again uncomfortably.
"Do you even know her ring size?" Melanie asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Uh..."
"Seven and a half." Rob only realized he had spoken up when both Mort and Melanie's necks practically snapped to look at him, and he cleared his throat, brushing his hand over his forehead. "Sorry, force of habit..."
Mort and Melanie both knew the story about Carmen and Rob - they'd been young and broke and were starting a business together in the big city. They'd dated seriously for a while, even moved in together the way young people are quick to do, and Rob impulsively decided one day to ask her to marry him. Carmen refused, moved out to her own bedroom, and after a few months of awkwardness and intentionally scheduling work so that they never had to see one another despite living in the same house along with the Carters, they were suddenly just friends again.
After a brief, awkward silence, Mort reached out and clapped a hand on Rob's shoulder. "I'm lucky to have the inside scoop, then," he said casually, and Rob gave a huff of relief. The last thing Rob wanted was to come off as a threat to Mort, who had already lost a woman to another man before, because Rob felt fairly certain that if it came down to it, he'd lose Carmen as a friend.
So, it was fine in his mind that he became the insider on what kind of ring Carmen might like - even if Carmen hadn't wanted to marry the person who bought it for her, she was able to admit to Rob after a few years that she had indeed appreciated his taste. And his best friend deserved the best - so, the ring Mort gave her had to be even better.
"This one! It has to be five carats - Mort, what does your budget look like?" Melanie cooed, fawning over one of the larger diamonds she saw in the glass cases as they waited for their attendant to arrive. "It's gorgeous -"
"I thought you two were friends, Mel, why do you want to give her carpal tunnel?" Rob retorted, earning a playful glare from the blonde. Mort had looked up in almost-terror when Mel pointed out one of the largest rings in the place. Mort had a nest eggs put away, sure, but nowhere near enough to buy a ring worth several thousands without any qualms. Rob tapped the glass above a much smaller ring and drew Mort's attention to it.
"This one's more the size you'll probably get her to wear," Rob said, pointing out a diamond that couldn't have been bigger than one carat. Mort had to agree - Carmen never seemed the type to enjoy flashy things much.
The employee helping them, Marco, was well worth the few minutes' wait for him to come out from the back, as his process of picking out a ring seemed more like a psychoanalysis than anything. Mort felt like he had a handle on things when Marco began asking questions about the potential bride-to-be. She liked simple things, Mort pointed out. She used to run an entertainment magazine and liked old movies - Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, and the like. She played with her hair a lot. She was a city girl.
"You're a writer, yes?" Marco asked, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "What about the lady? Her favorite book?"
Mort paused - this was something he didn't have the answer to. Crap. Embarrassed, he glanced over at Rob Wallace and cleared his throat. "You, uh... wanna take this one?"
"The Secret Garden," Rob replied hesitantly. "Reads it every Christmas in one sitting."
Mort and Rob shared a brief glance - Melanie was out of the loop enough to believe that it was simply Mort thanking Rob for a good save, but it was something far deeper. Mort knew that Rob knew the secret of what had once been his own secret garden, though he did his best not to think about it. They gave one another an almost imperceptible nod, and Mort cleared his throat to move on.
After about half an hour more, the details of the perfect ring had been laid out, and Melanie had then set to the task of grilling Mort further about his plans. "Have you figured out how you're going to propose?"
"I - no." Mort admitted. "No, I haven't."
"When do you want to?"
For some reason, Rob's ears seemed to perk up at the question, anxious for an answer. The ring wouldn't be ready for another two weeks. How long would Mort wait? He seemed to be pondering the same question, and he ran his hand through his hair before answering.
"I'd do it tomorrow if I could - but they don't make jewelry that fast," he chuckled honestly.
"Then we'll just have to work fast. But don't worry," Mel beamed, looping her arm through Rob's. "Two weeks is plenty of time."