Nature

I got on the elevator after work last Monday with a girl from my office. We had met once before at a happy hour and I found her to be friendly and talkative, not necessarily outgoing, but very genuine. Almost bubbly. She was younger – probably 26 – and pretty good looking.

She smiled and asked, “Do you have anything exciting planned for the evening?”

“No, just some Christmas shopping.”

“Oh, do you still have a lot of shopping to do?”

“No, just one last gift for my fiancé, but I’m not sure what to get.”

She smiled and lowered her voice a little and said, “You should get her something shiny.”

I smiled back and thought about the engagement ring I bought a few months earlier and said, “Well, I’ve already gotten her something shiny this year.”

She looked down at her bare ring finger and her smile grew. She began to stare off into space and seemed to fall into a daydream.

“Yeah” she said softly as she stared past me, “When someone gets me one of those…”

She continued, “When someone gets me one of those… I won’t need any presents from him ever again.”

I paused for a second, and then said, “Yes you will.”

She looked up at me and thought about it, and then I continued, “You will. Trust me.”

She thought about it some more, and then giggled and said, “Yeah, you’re probably right.”