“Not important?” Matt let out a crazed laughhe bit off before it could get away from him. “It’s only a symbolof our love for each other. It’s only going to tell the whole worldyou’re mine. How can that be not important to you?”
Calmly, Vic covered Matt’s hand with his.Love poured through the touch and Matt knew what his lover wasgoing to say before the words were even set free. “It’s a symbol,yes,” Vic told him, “but that’s all it is—a symbol, nothing more.You could put a pop top from a beer can on my finger and it’d meanexactly the same thing to me as the world’s most expensive weddingband. I’m yours, and you’re mine. Whatever ring you choose to showthat to the rest of the world pales in comparison to what it means.Our love is the real treasure to me, Matty. The way you feel for memeans more than all the diamond-cut platinum, filigree chipped goldin all the world.”
He was right, of course. Vic usually was.After that, he left the decision of selecting a ring to Matt. Whenhe said he would love anything Matt picked out, he meant it. Aslong as Matt was happy with the rings, Vic would be, as well.
While that should’ve alleviated Matt’sanxiety over choosing the perfect ring, it didn’t. He’d looked atso many different ones over the past few months that they were allbeginning to look the same to him, too. He’d given up oncatalogs—while there were some gorgeous rings in the glossy pages,they all looked perfect. Matt wanted something he could try on,hold up to the light, see how it looked on his hand before hedecided to drop a few hundred dollars on the decision of alifetime. This was it, he reasoned. Vic said the same thing. Thiswas the only time either of them would make such a purchase, sowhile they were willing to splurge on the price, Matt wasn’t aboutto chase after the most expensive ring just because it cost morethan all the others. It had to be the right one. This had to beit.
As lunch time rolledaround, Matt had abandoned the invoices on his desk in favor ofsurfing his favorite web sites. Most of them included jewelrysites, and as much as he was tired of looking at rings, he couldn’tstop himself from glancing at the newest listings. Before he couldget too engrossed in his search, however, his phone buzzed with aninteroffice call. As he reached for the receiver, Roxie’s voicebarked through the speaker. “Where’s Vic?”
Matt tucked the receiver between his shoulderand ear. “What? At work, why?”
“He didn’t stop in?” Roxie persisted. “Youtwo didn’t have a fight, did you? Is that why you’re buying thering? To make up with him?”
“What?” Matt shook his head, then realizedshe couldn’t see him so the motion was useless. “Rox, no. He wasrunning late this morning and didn’t get a chance to come by. Wedidn’t fight. We never fight.”
Roxie popped her gum loudly in Matt’s ear.“Tell me, what’s it like living in paradise?”
With a grin, he admitted, “Pretty fuckingawesome. You about ready for lunch?”
“Wait.” Roxie’s gum snapped a second time—ifshe did it again, Matt was going to hang up. “He didn’t call here.I know, I answer the phone. And I haven’t seen your line light upall morning. So how do you know he was late for work?”
Matt groaned. “You know how.”
Roxie knew the secret he shared with Vic;once when he’d been stuck in an elevator with her, he had to tellher about Vic’s powers before his lover came to their rescue.Unfortunately, Roxie didn’t believe him. He didn’t know what wasmore far-fetched for her—that Vic got superhuman powers every timethey made love, or that Matt topped a big, brawny lout like Vic inbed. He suspected the latter. If he could come up with a feasibleexplanation of Vic’s abilities without dashing Roxie’s daydreams ofVic fucking him, Matt thought she might be more accepting ofthe fact.
“Convenient,” she was saying. “You’re onlytelepathic with one person who isn’t even around to corroborateyour story. I believe you, I really do. Anything else you want tosell me while you’re at it? Because I’m obviously buying.”
“Lunch?” he asked, hopeful. Anything tointerrupt her before she got on a bitch-roll.
With an exasperated sigh, she said, “Yeah,you ready?”
Matt laughed. “So you’re buying, right? Yousaid—”
She growled into the phone. “I didnot. Now get your ass up here before I find someone else togo with, capiche?”
As she slammed down the phone in his ear,Matt wondered why that threat was supposed to make him hurry.
* * * *
The jewelry store Matt wanted to visit wasnestled behind Walnut Mall on a little strip of stores out of sightfrom Broad Street. As much as he hated to admit it, he would’vemissed the turn completely if Roxie wasn’t with him because hedidn’t really know where he was going. He had a rough idea of wherethe store might be, but if Roxie hadn’t punched him in the shoulderand yelled, “Here, Matt. Right here, damn it!” he would havespent the rest of his lunch break crawling around the mall’sparking lot, squinting at the stores along its perimeter andwondering why the hell he couldn’t find the place.
Of course, he wouldn’t tell her that. Hisreply had been to shrug her off and snap, “I know, Roxie. Jesus.Lay off me.”
“You almost missed it. Don’t play off likeyou didn’t.” She reached past his line of sight to point out thedriver’s side window. “Look, right there! Turn already, willyou?”
Though Matt didn’t see the store immediately,he did as instructed. Roxie didn’t sit back in her seat as he hadhoped, but instead leaned across him again, still pointing. “Howabout we eat there? They have good subs.”
Matt shook his head. “I can’t eat at anItalian place. Nothing they make could possibly compare to mymama’s cooking, trust me. She’d disown me if I even tried it. Howabout Chinese?”
Now Roxie finally sat back, flouncingin her seat. “Wimp.”
“I’m constantly harassed by the women in mylife,” Matt replied darkly. “Present company included. What’s wrongwith Chinese?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” Roxie muttered. “Ijust wanted a sub, is all.”
Matt corrected her, “It’s
