The Perfect Ring!

 Do you believe in miracles and happy endings? If you’re like me, you most probably do. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a religious person by any means. Sure, a logical explanation to things is always a welcome relief to confusion, but, as the great Crawford Starrick from AC Syndicate so eloquently said in his dying breath, “Surprise is the spice of life”. A little mystery never hurt anyone, right? But I’m getting way too lost in philosophy now. My name is Calvin Abarico, and this is my story. Let’s start from the beginning, shall we?

It all started a little over 2 years ago in a little apartment in Los Angeles. I was, for lack of a gentler term, a deadbeat. Had no job, I was running out of money, and there were bills coming at me from every direction. I was at my lowest point, and I was losing all hope that I would be able to rise form this quicksand that I was in. But I wasn’t willing to die of starvation and being neck-deep in debt. I had my computer, and my next-door neighbor was kind enough to let me connect to his WiFi, so I capitalized on that to apply to as many online jobs as I could.in fact, I was so desperate that I even started applying as janitor for restaurants, hotels, and whatever establishments I could find. I wasted no time in the day doing things that would not help me improve the situation I was in.

After over two weeks straight of applying for 15 jobs a day and getting no responses, I started getting even more desperate, so I started asking my friends on social media for help. A friend’s friend, a girl, saw one of my posts asking if there were any job openings nearby or online. She private-messaged me, asking if I was open to the possibility of working as the caretaker of the cats in a Cat Café that was soon to be launched just a couple of blocks away from where I was staying. It was a bigger opportunity than I had expected, so I immediately said yes. Taking care of cats sounded like a way easier job than cleaning clogged toilets, and the pay was significantly higher. That was the first miracle which, unbeknownst to me at the time, was only the first of a series of really good things coming my way.

Fast forward to the very next day, I met the woman, whose name was Charisse, in the construction site of the soon-to-be-launched Cat Café. Have you ever met the human version of a Greek goddess? Well, that day, I did. Charisse was the exact representation of my idea of the perfect feminine beauty. She was neither too tall or too short, her blonde hair was just long enough to touch her shoulders, her round, blue eyes, which to me were her most remarkable feature, were like a pair of sapphires delicately placed together on the prettiest face I had ever laid eyes on. She greeted me with a warm smile. I tried to be as professional as I could be and gave her a firm handshake. We introduced ourselves, had some small talk, and then she introduced me to her cousin who was the owner of the establishment. He was a kind old man and immediately hired me after saying that he’d gone through the same situation that I was in.

 I immediately started working for the old man the day after. The job wasn’t very hard- all I had to do was feed the cats, give them baths a couple of hours before the café would open, clean their litter boxes, give them their vitamins, and brush their fur. Nothing stressful. And the bonus was that I got to see Charisse every day because she was assisting her cousin, and she’d also apparently work there as a cashier. We’d talk during breaks, getting closer and closer as time passed. One other thing I liked to do during breaks was draw scribbles and doodles on my little notebook. One day, the owner saw me drawing and asked if he could take a look at my work. I of course said yes. “This is amazing!”, he said. “You know, young man, one thing my establishment lacks is some aesthetic. How would you like to have your art displayed all over these walls for people to admire? I’ll pay you good money for it!”. I was more than thrilled when I heard him say that. “When do I start?” was the only response I could give, as my excitement practically took away my ability to think of any other words to say. “Why, as soon as this weekend! Believe me, young man. Your talents will give life to these otherwise unliving walls.”

So the weekend came, and I started working on the murals. It didn’t feel like work to me. I was doing something that I loved, and the whole time, I was pondering how much my situation had improved over the course of under 3 months, and how truly fortunate I was to have met such kind, good-hearted people. I finished painting the whole café and everything was ready by the time of its grand opening. It was a truly glorious event! And just to top things off, the owner promoted me from being the cats’ caretaker to being the branch manager.

From there, things only got better and better. I was earning more, had a lot more free time to do the things that I loved, I was able to spend more time with the people closest to me, including Charisse. Working together, we grew really close, and we found out that we had so much in common. We spent a lot of our time together talking about our philosophies in life, the things we believe in, the things we wanna do in the future, or ideals, and just basically finding more and more out about each other. And the more we did so, the more I came to realize that I was developing feelings of greater fondness than friendship for her. I realized that she was more than just the personification of my ideal feminine beauty, but she was also my ideal woman with whom I’d love to spend the rest of life. There was no question about it.

I’ve never been one to hide my feelings or beat around the bush. One beautiful moonlit night, as we were doing our nightly routine where I’d walk her home before catching a cab to go back to my own place, I told her how I felt about her. I told her how lucky I felt to have met her and how I couldn’t imagine living the rest of my life without her, and asked her if she felt the same towards me. I will never be able to emphasize enough how happy I was when she said that she did, and that she’d been waiting for me to make the first move all this time. Right there, that night, under that white street light blanketed by the moonlit sky, we had our first kiss.

Things have never been better for me. Charisse and I decided to move in together after I saved up enough to buy a house, and every day was like a dream come true. Fast-forward four months later, everything was going perfectly, and I thought to myself, “I’m more than ready to make the commitment of a lifetime. And when I finally pop that big question, I want everything to be perfect and ready.” As an artist, I’m very conscious about visual beauty, and I wanted to give Charisse the best surprise proposal, and I wanted it to be no less than perfect. Only the finest engagement ring adorned by only the finest gems could ever do.

So I searched all over the internet for the perfect engagement ring, talked with jeweler after jeweler, just looking for that perfect piece. And there have been quite a few rings that took my fancy, but none quite met the standard that I had for the ring that I wanted to adorn the finger of the love of my life. Then I met this brilliant man with over 25 years of experience in the jewelry business, Pasquale Angelucci, and he led me to his website called angeluccijewelry.com that lets customers literally build and design their own rings. At long last, after weeks upon weeks of searching, I finally got to make the perfect engagement ring! A white gold round brilliant halo diamond ring, prong-set, with two diamonds beautifully set right beside each other. The band, with its excellent high-polish finish, perfectly cradles the stones on the ring. I want only the best, and I wouldn’t settle for anything less. And Angelucci Jewelry delivered just that.

I love this woman more than anyone in the world, and I love this ring that I’m about to offer her because it not only represents the love that I have for her, but it also reminds me of all that I’d been through in life, and how she was the beginning of my salvation, and all the things that we have been through together.