15 CIRCLES
Oliver pulled away from her building and headed to his estate. He knew that the next morning, he was going to have them driven down to Philadelphia – well,
Bryn Mawr to be precise – to meet with Grace's family. He had not told Grace about this. He felt both guilty and nervous, a bit unsure about this. He had
never kept anything like this from her before and had been intentionally vague about their Saturday to her. His mind was trying to organize exactly how he
was going to pull this off. He had so far succeeded in the most daunting but exciting part of his plan. About two weeks earlier, he had taken his car and driven
himself to Tiffany's. He let the valet take his car and he walked into the store. He was greeted immediately by a senior salesperson very familiar with Oliver
Warbucks. Oliver had bought his shirt stud at that same store from that same salesman, as well as his watch, his chain and a couple of tie pieces, many sets
of cuff links. He greeted Oliver: "Mr. Warbucks, what a delight to see you here today!"
Oliver greeted him by name: "Allen! Hello. So nice to see you."
"What can I help you with today, Mr. Warbucks?" Oliver looked around, wanting to speak to him without everyone around them getting every juicy detail.
Oliver leaned ever so slightly toward the salesman and motioned for him to step a little closer, he said: "Allen, I wonder if we could confer about something. It
is of a personal nature." The salesman lowered his head and his voice, leaning closer to Oliver now, mirroring his body language, he said: "Of course, Mr.
Warbucks. I am only too happy to assist you." Oliver said to him, barely moving from his stance: "I want to buy an engagement ring. It CANNOT get out to
anyone, Allen. It will be only you and me that know about this…okay? At least for now. I cannot have the papers printing something about me buying a ring
and I haven't proposed yet. Right?' and he laughed ever so slightly. Allen agreed and as a strict professional at a very prestigious shop, he knew better than
to ever usurp or divulge anything whatsoever about a customer. Oliver confided in him that he was going to propose to a certain young lady in the next few
weeks, but he could only do that with the right ring. He would not name his intended. He did, however, have her ring size, captured by a small piece of paper
on which there was a circle drawn in pencil. At the estate office a couple of weeks prior, Oliver had seen her remove her ring to put on hand lotion at her desk,
then he saw her take an inside call from another part of the house. She had gotten up after a few words to someone on the phone and had not put her ring
back on. He had waited until she was safely down the hall, hearing her heels getting farther away. He had gone into her office, ripped a sheet of paper from
her steno pad, hastily grabbed a pencil and the ring. Listening for her return, he quickly traced the circle inside her ring. It had been the ring she wore on her
left-hand ring finger. He was almost skipping as he quickly got back to his office. He put the paper he took from her steno pad into his breast pocket. Later
that day, he sat at his desk, staring at the circle, pondering a plan to get to Tiffany's with nobody but perhaps his guards knowing. There was absolutely not a
snowball's chance in hell that he would not personally pick out her ring. This was his mission and only his, no substitute would do.
As he showed the paper with her ring tracing on it, the salesclerk said: "Mr. Warbucks, I have an idea. We could go into a private viewing room and I will hand
select some very nice rings from all our tiers, but I will show them to you under the guise of you shopping for a tie tack…." Allen said this to Oliver very
discreetly, and indicated which private room they could occupy. "If I may, sir, what is the lady like? What kind of ring do you think would suit her?" Oliver had
thought about it – a lot. He noticed that she already wore a sapphire ring on her left hand. She had a pearl ring on her right hand. He knew that the pearl ring
was her grandmother's and that the blue sapphire ring was her college gift from her parents. Hmmm. He thought about her style. He thought she was
elegant, and so poised. She was stylish without being faddish. He thought she would look great with a platinum ring with a square-cut and largish diamond in
the middle, surrounded on all four sides with more diamonds. Oliver had a design in his mind. He asked Allen for a pencil and paper. "Certainly, Mr.
Warbucks." Oliver drew the ring, explaining it as he went along, trying his best to illustrate the ring he had in mind. "Do you have anything similar? I want it
to be glamorous and sparkling and a work of art. Just like her." Allen obliged. He left for a short while, offering Oliver coffee or champagne or anything he
wanted and came back later with several trays filled with rings of the sort Oliver described. The rings were absolutely breath taking, especially in the context
of having so many displayed at the same time, in the perfect lighting, on black velvet. "Which ones will fit?" Oliver asked. "All of them will fit her finger, Mr.
Warbucks. Taking her size from the ring you traced, she seems to be a size six." Oliver smiled. He was looking for a ring for Grace. He was going to ask her to
marry him. He was going to ask her to become his wife. He was giddy and nervous and excited. He hadn't felt this jangled since that evening at the train
station. Or, anytime he waited for her to appear on dates, at the college, on Sunday nights when she would appear at the estate – he was always a little
nervous, always excited, always relieved at the very sight of her. Now, he was in Tiffany's. Alone. Thinking about her. He spent 45 minutes looking at rings
and finally decided on a four carat, then, no… she was not that kind of woman….she was more demure..…subdued…classy….. three carats then. Hmmm..his
head was spinning. At long last, he said to Allen: "I am afraid I am overwhelmed. There are so many I like, but I think about her wearing it for her usual day,
I don't want it to be too big, but I want it to be glamorous and very special…she is special…she should have a beautiful ring…." He was rambling. Allen looked
at him with all the salesman decorum and sincere sympathy for his problem. Allen said: "May I make a suggestion, sir? Maybe we can narrow the choices
down." Oliver took a deep breath and averted his eyes from the rings for a few moments. He said: "Yes, thank you. What do you suggest?"
Allen said: "You said you do not want too big a diamond?" You are currently looking at three and four carat rings. Might you like to look at two carat rings, and
see if perhaps that size might suit your intended better?" Oliver sighed with relief and said: "Yes, please, I want a very beautiful ring, but she is very fine
featured and lithe. Her personality is nothing but kindness, her presence is angelic. I do not think a large and flashy ring that is over the top would suit her.
However, a bold and beautiful ring that says: "I am most certainly spoken for" is what I am after." Allen smiled at this assessment. He said: "She certainly is a
very lucky woman, Mr. Warbucks.", to which Oliver replied: "That is where you are wrong. I am the lucky one." The Tiffany's salesman never asked anything
personal about this coming engagement, he never asked for a name, and he never divulged the secret to anyone about Oliver Warbucks shopping for an
engagement ring.
Oliver finally decided on a two-carat diamond, set in platinum. It was a big rock. It had diamonds surrounding the large, geometric-cut diamond in the center.
It was an eye-catching work of art, incredibly lovely to the eye, and he hoped, would be a perfect fit for her finger. It was right on par with his design that he
had in mind. He was very happy with his choice of ring. He had the little velvet box in his pocket. He would take it out when he got to his bedroom. He would
look at it and the thrill of what was happening would hit him all over again. Oliver had also purchased a diamond pendant necklace for her – it matched her
ring, platinum chain, the 1.5-carat diamond was cut in similar shape and style. He stashed it away in his lockbox. He intended to give it to her on their
wedding night. He was trying to imagine where they might spend their wedding night. There was so much to think about, and he was planning quietly and
discreetly, at times having to sit in the quiet of his room to let it wash over him that he was going to marry Grace. He hoped. The fire-breathing dragon of
self-doubt would battle him: "Oh my God, what if she says 'no'?" crept into his brain every now and then. He actually prayed – he had not prayed to God in a
long time. He humbled himself, thought of all the things he had to be grateful about, and simply prayed to God that Grace to say 'yes'. He had also written to
Grace's parents, requesting to meet them. He wanted to see them in person, and he had set it up with Elizabeth – who was over the moon with joy about the
entire situation. He had not said he had bought a ring, or that he wanted to ask her to marry him, but she knew. Elizabeth Farrell was as smart and savvy as
Grace and she just knew. Oliver wanted to do this right, he had asked Elizabeth to keep the secret about meeting them. She said she would, and she did. He
was going to ask John Farrell for permission to ask Grace to marry him. He had never met Grace's mother in person – he had recently had two very short
phone conversations with her. He had met John Farrell the very first time he met Grace – at the gala a few years earlier. He really owed William Gayle a debt
of thanks for introducing them, and for remembering to direct Grace to apply to his estate when she was leaving Bryn Mawr for New York. All of this was
swimming in Oliver's head for weeks.
When he got into the estate from dropping her off that Friday night, he went directly to his quarters. He took a shower and got dressed for bed. He went over
to his dressing table and unlocked a jewelry box. He took out the little velvet covered teal-colored box containing her ring. He opened the box to look at her
ring. He took it took it out and slipped it just past his pinky finger tip. That was as far as he could go on his much larger fingers. He kissed it and carefully
replaced it in the box. He knew that would have to wait for just a little longer. He had planned tomorrow for weeks. Elizabeth was having a small dinner for
just the family. Johnny would be there with his fiancé. They would have a nice evening, get acquainted, everyone could finally meet. Oliver was nervous about
everything. He told himself to calm down, her words in his head as they had been for years: "The luxury of calm…" He tossed and turned for a good 45
minutes before he finally fell asleep that Friday night.