As Tasmin takes her seat beside me, I can't help but clench my pocket tight, letting the edges of the small box dig into my palm and between my fingers. It hurts, but the thought of what's to come hurts more.
I thought that speaking to Ally would motivate me, reassure me about the situation, but perhaps her words just welcomed an uninvited feeling of deep guilt. I never asked Ally to be with me on this mission, and I sure as hell never meant to drag the Reprisal into this. But they were all there for me when I needed it. My mother needs me, and when this is all over, I'll make it up to them. To all of them.
I think of Tasmin.
After trekking down to Deck five, I found the jewellery store that Tasmin wandered into on our second day, when she didn't hold doubts against me or hate me. The door was locked but the lights were on, gleaming down over the glass cases and twinkling pendants and precious pieces. I recalled that moment when I noticed Tasmin glancing towards the store and her eyes lighting up. At that moment, I didn't understand why Tasmin wanted shiny jewellery when she already had such shiny eyes.
I pressed my fingers to the glass, feeling the sweat from beneath them, making the surface blurry. Through the glass doors, I eyed the spot where Tasmin stood twinkling from excitement. Just as I was going to stand, My vision became blocked completely by black. As I bounced back in surprise, I saw that the blackness belonged to a neatly-pressed suit worn by a smiling young woman. She grinned, unlocking the door and opening it a little.
"Here to buy something?" she asked.
At that moment, a harsher voice sounded from behind her, and I spotted another woman sitting at the front desk, looking sternly at the back of her colleague's head. "We're not open yet, Sam," she said firmly, loud enough for me to hear.
"I can wait," I offered. I could wait forever.
The woman named Sam sneaked a glance behind her, her long tresses of straight blond hair falling over her shoulder, then chuckled under her breath before saying, "Come in."
So I followed her inside and spotted the heart-shaped ring immediately. It was displayed upon a blue velvet cushion, and gleamed under the spotlights, the shine of each ring face throwing multicoloured patterns onto the glass box surrounding it. Perhaps the way it shined reminded me of someone.
"This one?" Sam asked, gesturing to the ring I was staring at, and the woman at the desk growled.
"Um… yeah." I cleared my throat, wishing the lights weren't so damn bright to show how hot and red my face was.
"Good choice." Sam's dainty fingers carefully unlocked the transparent box, lowering the panel of glass on the front to pluck the ring from where it sat, gorgeously flaunting its beauty. "I've seen a lot of customers just staring at this one, but I won't deny that it's… quite expensive."
I nodded. I knew it would be. The first time I saw it my brain had exploded in questions of who would be able to afford it. But I already knew the answer to that.
"I know," I admitted, and the woman nodded and took the ring to the counter, resting it on a deep-blue silk handkerchief before returning to lock the glass case once again. She led me to the desk, where her friend continuously gave me disapproving glances. I peeked at her tag once; it read: Victoria.
"So, uh," Sam started, and I knew immediately what she wanted to ask.
I sucked in a breath. "It's for a friend," I said, trying not to stray away from the conversation and just take off running with the ring.
"Ah, I see. For a friend, huh?" Sam teased, beaming her white teeth. Victoria rolled her eyes.
"I know she'll like it," I said honestly.
"Yeah? And why's that?" Sam queried, interested.
"I saw her staring at it."
"We see a lot of people staring at that ring," Victoria informed me flatly. "They all want it, and so does your girlfriend-to-be. So why does she deserve it?"
I started to debate whether or not to go to Customer Service and complain about two overly-snoopy jewellery store workers, but it was rather amusing, actually.
I stared at the ring, posing elegantly upon the handkerchief, its exquisitely-carved sides radiating colours of all sorts, dancing over the white of the fabric beneath it. I nodded at it, both Sam and Victoria followed my gaze.
"See how every single part of the ring shines and makes colour all around it?" I asked.
They both nodded.
"Do you see how the colours are everywhere in this room? You can see it not just on the fabric, but on the ceiling, on that glass case over there, on your necklaces." They gawked at me, and I felt my cheeks heat up. "And I bet if you take that ring anywhere, it'll shine on everyone and everything. That's Tasmin." I realised I said her name a second after I did, and I covered my mouth with a hand and gawked back at them.
They continued staring for a moment, then they looked at each other, and Victoria's lips curled into a smirk. Sam blushed and turned back to the ring, muttering, "Uh… What type of, um… wrapping w-would you like?"
"Just a small box, thanks."
"You mean a proposal ring case?" Victoria asked, smiling.
"No!" I paused. "I mean, yeah."
When they were done, they handed me the velvet blue case, and with a nod of appreciation, I started to make my way out of the store. Just as I pushed open the door, Victoria called out.
"That was beautiful!"
I turned back and smiled at them. If only they knew.