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"That one? It's merely a showpiece, not for sale," the jeweler replied.
"Why? It's a lovely ring," I stated and he looked at me like I had lost my mind.
"Sir look at the ring," he said, "The edges aren't smoothly cut and the gem isn't either. The only thing that looks good is the box and that was something I decided to place it in."
"Why is it on the showpiece if it isn't for sale?" I asked.
"Because it's not really the showpiece," he said as he pointed at the sign: unfit for sale
"That's kind of a harsh thing to say about it," I said. I was still unable to take my eyes off the weird looking ring.
"Maybe if I told you its story, then you would understand," he said. "I bought a bunch of rings from a fellow jewelry maker. His assistant gave me that ring, saying it was his first. I didn't even look at it then because I trusted the work of his master."
"But I got back here and further inspection showed that it wasn't a good ring. I've asked the boy to come pick it up today." He said, "If you're having difficulties selecting a ring for your woman, I'll be happy to select one for you."
"If I remember correctly, you said I'm the one meant to choose my ring," I said.
"Yes, but…"
"Give me a price," I said.
"$600," he replied. He genuinely didn't want to sell the ring for the price he would sell the others in thousands.
The door opened and a young man in his early twenties walked in with a sullen look on his face.
"Oh, there he is," the jeweler said. "Marcus, this gentleman wants to buy your ring."
"Really?" The man's eyes lit up.
"Yes," I answered.
"It's not perfect though, but I can recommend you to my teacher, he'll get you a better ring," he said.
"Marcus, are you a clumsy person?" I asked.
"Yes," he didn't even hesitate in admitting it.
"Then we're of the same feather," I smile. "Name your price."
"Okay, $1000?" he asked.
"I'll buy it for $10,000," I said and his mouth dropped open. "I'm not encouraging you to create messy rings, but it should be an opportunity for you to improve your craft. Maybe you'll sell a ring worth that amount one day, who knows?"
"Thank you so much, sir," he said with a bow.
I wrote him a check and took the box. In my eyes, the ring was perfect. But those were my eyes. I wasn't sure what she would think.
"And to give us a few words, here's Dr. Stacy Roberts," the compere announced.
Stacy got on the podium as we all applauded.
"A lot of things didn't go the way I expected tonight," she started to say. "I expected everyone to wear the same colors, and I got baptized in red. Turning from the lady in white to the lady in red. Chris de Burgh would be proud."
We chuckled at the joke.
"I always had this way of seeing things. I thought I was going to be the one who wouldsinglehandedlyreignite the dream my mother once had," she continued. "And for a while, I thought I knew what I was doing. I decided to go to Richmond. I realized how wrong I was about being able to pull this off on my own. I knew I couldn't do it alone, but I was blinded by the image my mother created; it felt like she was always doing it on her own. I forgot there was someone standing right there beside her, making everything look very easy. I'm sorry for forgetting about that, Dad.”
She looked in Henry's direction, and the father raised a glass to the daughter, accepting her apology.
