“Can I help you sir?”
“I’m here to pick up a custom order.” Chance replied, looking a little anxious as he folded his arms across his chest for a moment, then shoved his hands into his pockets.
“Name?”
“I believe it’s under Krueger.” he replied, again looking nervous, but he was being patient.
“Ah, here we are.” the woman on the other side of the counter said, pulling out a small black box and sliding it across the counter to him. “Please check and make sure your specifications were met. If something is wrong, we’d like to fix it before the sale.”
Chance nodded and picked up the box, opening it carefully to reveal a simple, yet elegant, ring. He removed it from the box, and examined it carefully before putting it back in place. “It’s perfect.” he said with a smile. “Thank you.”
The jeweler’s assistant smiled, and told him the price. He paid with a card, and took the box with him, holding on to it tightly before putting it into his pocket once he got in the car. Now came the tough part – he felt like he needed to talk to people about this before he asked her…he just wasn’t sure who all he needed to talk to. After all, people were already calling Trish his wife, so why not make it official…right? He put the key in the ignition. Why am I so nervous then? he thought.
Shaking stray thoughts free, he started the car, and turned it back towards the outreach center. Once comfortably situated in the office, he could make his phone call. However, once in the office he procrastinated making the call for a bit, finding an excuse to work…until there was no more work left to do. With a sigh, he called Greg.
“Hello?”
“Uh…Mr. VanZant…sir? It’s Chance.”
“Everything okay?”
“Yes, everything;s fine. Well, Trish is still mad, but she’s cooling off. No…I just…well, I wanted to talk to you about something, if you have a minute.”
“I’ve got time. Say your say.”
“I want…no, I’m asking your permission. I’d like to propose to Trish.” There was silence on the other end for a few minutes. “Sir? Greg?”
“I heard you. And yes, I’m fine with it. It’s just hard to accept that she’s not a little girl anymore, that’s all.”
“Thank you.”
“You’ve been treating her good. Continue to take care of her and that baby, and everything will be fine.”
“I intend to.”
“Good. Take care now.”
“You too.” he said, and hung up. The call went better then he had expected. Then again, now that he thought about it, he had already proven himself. I wonder who around here is capable of officiating a wedding. His first thought was Charles – but he didn’t want to assume. He could talk to Charles later – after Trish said yet…assuming she would.
But when to ask? He mulled this over a bit, and thought they were long overdue for a date night. They’d need to line up a sitter – but it wasn’t like there weren’t plenty of capable sitters willing to look after Emily. It was settled then. He’d find a date, take her out, and propose to her then. It was about that time that his phone beeped. Picking it up, he saw a message from Greg. Simple, and straight to the point ‘Have you told your Dad about any of this yet?’.
Dammit. He sighed. he and his Dad may be on better terms…but this was not a conversation he wanted to have. He could hear his Dad now….you’re too young, you’re making a mistake, you’ll regret this, blah blah blah. Still….if he didn’t take the initiative to call his Dad and talk to him, Charles may very well march him over to his Dad’s apartment and deal with him face-to-face. He Dad would be critical – his new step-mom might be even worse. Rather than deal with Alice in addition to his Dad, he picked his phone back up, and called.
“Hello?”
“Hey Dad.”
“Chance. Been a while. to what do I owe the pleasure?”
“I just wanted to let you know that I’m planning on asking Trish to marry me.”
“Come again?”
“You heard me.”
“Chance, you’re too young. You’ve got plenty of time to settle down, get married, have kids, all that. Hell kid, you’ve only just passed your GED – never mind the fact that you aren’t employed. Kid, this is something you may seriously end up regretting.”
“In case you already forgot, I’m already doing the parenting thing.”
“For a kid that isn’t even yours. Kid, she got pregnant by another guy while you two were dating. She cheated once – what’s to say she won’t do it again?”
“I don’t appreciate this – moreover, I don’t need your blessing. I’m doing this.”
“No, you aren’t.”
“I’m hanging up now.”
“Chance – ” but he had already hung up, and he ignored subsequent return calls and texts from his father, which eventually stopped, as did his own slight tremors from anger. “Fuck him.” he mumbled, leaning back in the chair, closing his eyes. Right now, as far as he was concerned, his Dad could go to hell. There was time left on his shift yet – then he could head home; the home he’d built up with Trish over the last year.