Find Me Alastar(10)

“Wow,” I whisper to myself I did not expect this Aladdin’s cave of treasure. The shop seemed small from the front but is actually quite large on the inside with lots of aisles and furniture set up in the corner.

A little old lady comes around from the hidden back room. She would have to be ninety.

“Hello, my dear. Can I help you with anything?”

I smile at her hunched over posture. “Just looking, thanks.” I walk up and down the aisles and pick up an old rose teacup and saucer. It’s a beautiful pink and has gold gilding around the edges. Oh, I love this. I turn it over and see the price sticker is only ￡15.00. I have no idea what that equates to in Australian dollars, but I don’t care—I’m getting it. I continue around the shop with a huge smile on my face.

This is why I wanted to come to England. We don’t have history in Australia. The whole country is only 250 years old. Our history was mostly borne in England, and I intend to inhale every breath of it while I’m here. I continue looking around, walking over to the old cabinets to peer through the glass tops. Filled with rows and rows of antique jewelry, they fascinate me. My eyes roll back and forth over the lines of trays, and then I see it. In the bottom right corner is a ring. It’s rose gold with an oval green emerald stone sitting in the centre of it. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. It’s so feminine, yet so different. I keep looking at the other pieces but my eyes are constantly drawn back to this one ring.

“Would you like to try it on, dear?” The old lady asks.

“Oh, umm.” I shrug. “Why not? Yes, please.”

She smiles a knowing smile at me. “You have excellent taste. That ring is very, very old.”

“Oh.” I smile as she hands it to me and I stand still and stare at it for a minute. It’s intriguing.

“Can you feel the beautiful energy coming from that ring?” she asks.

My eyes rise to meet hers and I frown not understanding her meaning.

“The women who have owned that ring have all been beautiful souls. I can feel you also have the gift. That stone it carries is an emerald.” She smiles.

I frown at her, the gift? What’s that supposed to mean? I run my thumb over the stone of the ring as I hold it in my hand, she’s right. I can feel the beautiful energy coming from it.

I smile softly at her.

“Try it on,” she urges.

I slide it onto my ring finger of my right hand and I melt a little. Oh, I do love this ring. I don’t know why; I have never liked anything like it before.

“How much is it?” I ask.

“Four hundred and twenty pounds,” she replies.

My face drops. “Oh,” I murmur sadly, knowing I don’t have that kind of money. I stare down at my hand again. Shit.

Another customer calls her from the back aisle. “Excuse me for a moment, dear.” She disappears to the other side of the shop.

I stand and stare at the ring on my hand. I do love it. I want to get it but I have to be careful with my spending. Damn it. Should I just splash out? It is a lot of money… but then it is something that I would have forever. I bite my thumbnail as I think.

The old lady comes back over to me. “Do you want to take that ring, my dear?”

I look down at my hand, I do, but I’m not telling her that. “Is this ring negotiable?” I ask meekly.

“No, darling. That ring is very valuable. We don’t even know of its true age. We do know it’s hundreds and hundreds of years old by the stampings inside, though. But its origin is unknown. We believe it may have belonged to royalty way back.”

I frown.

“It has royal stampings,” she replies, seeing my confusion.

I smile, that’s it. I really want this ring.

“Oh.”

“What is your name dear?” she asks.

“Emerson.”

“What a beautiful name.” She smiles.

The doorbell rings to notify us of someone entering the shop and I feel them walk over to us. I smile broadly and turn as I lift my eyes I stop dead in my tracks.

My eyes widen.

A tall man with olive skin and dark wavy hair stands in front of me, his hands are in the pockets of his expensive jacket.

Holy shit.

Every hair on the back of my neck stands to attention.

He smiles softly. “Hello, Em.” His eyes search mine.

My heart starts to hammer; my eyebrows instantly rise by themselves as he takes a step toward me.

“Hello,” I murmur as I fight the urge to step toward him.

His eyes look down at my new ring. “Beautiful,” he whispers in a thick Northern Irish accent, his voice deep and inviting. That accent… holy f*ck.

My brow furrows. Who the hell is this? I turn to look for the old lady who is now standing smiling as she watches our interaction and I turn back to him.

No words come out of my mouth but I can feel myself blushing as my face hits a tropical heat.

I am tongue-tied. Never has a man affected me like this. Is this what they call a physical attraction?

No words will leave my mouth and I look back to the old lady for some much needed guidance.

“The ring, dear.” She smiles. “Do you want to take it?”

“I...” I shake my head as embarrassment fills me. God, I bet every woman he meets reacts this stupid to him. “Umm.” I shake my head, this is really too expensive to buy, just for the sake of it.