“Now you see how difficult my job really is. It’s not a walk in the park to pick the perfect ring, is it?” Charm teased mercilessly before laughing loudly.
Reiner shot Charm a stare before letting out a loud sigh. She was right, he hadn’t expected that choosing a ring for Natalia would be this difficult and he also never knew that there were so many options available and multiple combinations of factors to consider before he could pick out the perfect ring.
“I never said that your job was easy…” Reiner retorted softly.
“You always act so high and mighty about your job when you just run around shooting and killing people. So, which stone and which setting design?” Charm asked with her hands planted on the sides of her hips.
Reiner stared down at the seemingly endless options of diamond stones and rings that were on displayed. He had never felt so helpless and lost before in his life. Every stone looked pretty and sparkly enough. All the rings looked fine and that only made it harder to select the right one.
“I don’t want to remind you but based on your time constraint, I only have around two hours to get the ring ready for you and you haven’t even made up your mind yet. You’re not the only one rushed for time here!” Charm cried out loudly as she wrung her hand helplessly.
“Can you lower your volume? You’re giving your client a headache…” Reiner complained as furrowed his brows.
Charm rolled her eyes as she continued observing her old friend scan his eyes over the rings and diamonds on display. She knew that he was hopeless at something like this and bet he couldn’t even tell the difference. She let out a loud sigh before turning around and lifting up another large tray to present him with even more options.
“There’s more…?” Reiner mumbled in disbelief.
“Of course, there are loads more. My family runs one of the largest diamond trading companies in the world in case you have forgotten. We have them all from clean diamonds to blood diamonds…” Charm stated proudly before dumping more loose stones onto the counter in front of her friend.
“Is there…a way that you can help me choose?” Reiner inquired.
Charm lifted a brow at her friend before she smirked at him. She gestured with her hand for Reiner to take a seat while she also did the same.
“It’s going to take a while but if you cooperate, we should be able to pick out something within the time limit that we have. Mind you, I don’t have the magical power to custom make a ring setting for you from scratch right now…” Charm explained before letting out a small sigh and closing her eyes momentarily.
“Thank you, Charm,” Reiner said sweetly.
“Save your sweet talk for your bride. It doesn’t work on me,” Charm snapped as her eyes also snapped open.
“Right…” Reiner muttered softly.
“Well, first off to pick the pile. Which do you want between normal diamonds, blood diamonds or stolen diamonds?” Charm asked bluntly.
“Normal ones…” Reiner replied.
“What’s your budget?” Charm asked.
“I don’t have one,” he replied.
“I love the sound of that. Is your old man chipping in by any chance?” Charm asked with a pleased smile.
“No, he’s not…” Reiner replied with a hint of annoyance.
Charm made a face before she nodded her head a few times while she jotted down some notes onto a small piece of paper.
“Please continue…” Reiner said as his eyes glanced at the clock on the wall.
“You know the 4 C’s in choosing a diamond, right? Color, Clarity, Cut and Carat?” Charm asked.
“Sort of…” Reiner replied truthfully.
“Well, most people can’t tell the different with their naked eye so let me show you a few stones and you can see for yourself. These are all the same except for carat weight which determines the size of the diamond and obviously, they are all in the standard round heart and arrow cutting. So, let’s start with size. Which one looks about the right size?” Charm asked after explaining and laying out the diamonds.
Reiner looked down at the row of stones that were arranged from smallest to largest and although he could tell that they were different in size, he had absolutely no idea which one Natalia would like.
“Bigger is better, right?” Reiner asked after failing to come up with an answer on his own.
Charm gave her friend a ‘are you kidding me?’ look before shaking her head at how hopeless she found him at this.
“Not necessarily. Fine, lets try something more obvious to start with. The shape of the stone. Which shape do you think she would like?” Charm said as she slid a small tray towards Reiner.
Reiner looked down at the row of diamonds all in different shapes. The stones sparkles and looked very pretty. He thought that they all looked beautiful in their own way. Once again, he wasn’t sure which shape Natalia would like. He thought that every shape would look good on her no matter what and that thought didn’t help him make up his mind at all.
“Can’t decide again?” Charm said knowingly before heaving another sigh.
“I’m sorry…” Reiner mumbled.
“Knight, dear…time is ticking by. You want to try another approach?” Charm asked as she leaned her face into the palm of her hand.
“There’s another approach?” Reiner asked cluelessly.
“Of course. You can describe your bride-to-be to me, and I’ll make some recommendations. Don’t worry, I’m a pro at this. Oh, it’s going to cost you loads…no worries there either,” Charm said before flashing a smile full of her whitened teeth.
“Right, let’s go with that,” Reiner replied without hesitation.
“What is she like?” Charm asked.
“She’s…very hard to handle. She’s very unique and full of contradictions. She’s very selfish but very kind at the same time. She knows what she wants and isn’t scared of going after it. She’s very smart but she can be very ruthless and do stupid things at times. She’s very beautiful…” Reiner said before trailing off.
“No buts for that last one, huh? I’m quite amazed that you can say all that with a straight face,” Charm said, clearly impressed as she nodded her head.
“So, which diamond is it?” he asked.
“How does she normally dress?” Charm asked for more information.
“It depends. She wears everything depending on the occasion…I guess…” Reiner replied after a moment of thought.
“I see. Wait here,” Charm said.
–To be continued…