Dream // Van McCann

30. I Miss Him

What I thought was going to be a quick visit turned into a one hour visit. I learned a lot in that one hour. I felt bad for bombarding her with questions but she took her time answering my questions and now I have an idea of what I'm doing. One hour isn't the worst thing to happen but I was worried these late nights would happen often enough that Florence would get suspicious.

As much as I'd like the proposal to be a total surprise, I wasn't sure what Florence wanted and that made me nervous. The last thing I wanted was to spend thousands on a ring that wasn't to her taste but I didn't want her knowing every detail either. I figured when the time was right, I'd find a way to ask what kind of ring she preferred, and it was very convenient that her friend got engaged.

When I came home, Florence was on the couch watching the telly. She turned to me and smiled.

"It's about time you came home! I was going to call you," she said, getting up and walking over to the kitchen. "Were you able to get what you wanted done? What were you working on?" Florence's questions were innocent enough but some part of me wondered if she knew what I was up to.

"Erm...yeah. We ran into some issues and had to troubleshoot it. Reckon it might take a few days to fix."

"What are you guys working on?" The panic caused my mind to draw a blank.

"Erm...a new concept where...we wanted to test...it's complicated." Florence looked at me curiously as I've never blabbered this much before. Her gaze made me nervous. "Reckon you should ask Bondy. He'd explain it better."

It was very unusual for me to not know how to explain something given how excited I get when discussing what I'm working on. I'm the one who usually talks her ears off until her eyes glaze over from too much information and she simply just walks away. That's her nice way of telling me to stop talking, though she does tell me to stop talking as well.

"Enough about my day. How was your day?" I asked, turning the attention away from me.

"I did some cleaning and then Madelyn called asking if she should have her engagement photos professionally taken."

"And what'd you tell her?"

"If they have the money, go for it. They should capture that memory."

"Would you do an engagement photo shoot?" I asked her back, smirking.

"Of course! I want to show off my ring," she said proudly. She held her hand out dramatically and teasingly moved the family heirloom ring from her index finger to her ring finger. "Just like that...."

"Do you like Madelyn's ring?"

"It's nice but not my style, y'know? I'm not a flashy person even though I don't mind the attention. I'd rather have something that means a lot to me. I was thinking of getting this ring reset. It's a beautiful stone and actually my grandmother's wedding ring but I want a gold band instead." She took the ring off and looked at it. "My mom wasn't all that bad, though. This ring was a gift to me when I turned 18 but I think she gave it to me hoping I'd marry the guy she set me up with. Do you want to see it?"

She held the ring out and I walked over to her. She dropped the ring in my palm and I looked at it. Despite it being generations old, it was a classy ring with a timeless design.

"I trust you know what you're doing. It's a little big for me but I can provide you a ring that's a good fit," she said casually. I stood there, shocked.

"How'd you know?" I asked.

"Do you mean it's normal for your boyfriend to ask about rings?" Florence teased. I could feel my cheeks heating at being caught. Am I that obvious? I've only started thinking about rings just yesterday! Florence smiled knowing she had me caught. "It's okay. I'm glad you asked because my ex didn't." She got up and went to our room. She later emerged with another ring.