Chapter 138 - 135
Tristan left work early again today to go and pick a ring for his proposal to Justin. The wedding rings he prepared for their future wedding are already getting customized, but he still doesn't have a ring to use when he proposes to him.
On his way to the jewelry store located inside the mall Daryl's family owns, he stopped by at a cafe first because he felt like drinking a cup of coffee. He could have gotten it at the cafe in their company building, but it's just that he only felt the urge to drink coffee just now.
It was the cafe where he had Justin wait for him five years ago.
It's already been a while since the last time he came there. Usually, he comes there every Friday in hopes to see Justin again if he ever comes there. To his dismay, Justin never once did show up at the cafe.
Now that they're together again, the alpha had no reason left to keep going there.
The moment he stepped foot inside the cafe, everybody's eyes were glued to him. People kept throwing glances at him, amazed to see someone with his looks.
It's not every day that you see a man as handsome as Tristan Lee.
He walked to the counter to order his drink. "I'll have an Iced Americano. I won't be drinking it here," he said as he handed his card to the cashier.
"We haven't seen you in a while, sir. Did something happen?" the cashier asked as she handed the card back to the alpha.
Tristan remembered how he waited there every Friday for five whole years. It's not an exaggeration to say that he was desperate to see Justin during those times.
Waiting for someone who never came was never easy. That's what he learned as he waited for him back then. He knew that that was the feeling Justin felt at the time when he had him wait for him at the cafe. He now thinks of the times he waited for him there as his karma for not getting there on time.
Although he knew Justin wouldn't like it if he thinks that way, to Tristan, that was the only way he could ever feel like he's atoned for what happened before.
"Ah, yes. I don't think I'd come here as often as before," Tristan said as he smiled a little, happy that he doesn't have a reason to go to the cafe again because the person he's waiting for is already by his side.
The cashier's heart thumped from seeing his smile even if it wasn't that wide.
The whole time Tristan came to the cafe, he always had a menacing aura as if he's telling everyone around him not to approach him. He always had a cold gaze and an indifferent demeanor towards them as if he doesn't care one bit about others.
'Something good must have happened, then. I'm glad,' the cashier thought as she watches Tristan walk to a vacant table.
After a few minutes, Tristan's drink was already served. He took his drink and headed out of the cafe with the cup in his hand.
He opened the car door and went inside his car. He then proceeded to drive to the mall where the jewelry store was.
As soon as he got there, he immediately headed to the jewelry store.
It was one of the branches of the jewelry shop that opened five years ago. Just from opening quite recently, the shop already became known in the country for its fine jewelry.
Victoria's.
Tristan looked at the name of the jewelry shop to see if he's actually in the right place. He then entered the store and started looking for a ring that would look great on Justin.
'For a marriage proposal, there has to be a diamond, right? I remember seeing that back when I watched movies about romance when I was very heartbroken about our breakup,' Tristan thought as his eyes scanned the rings inside the glass.
"Good day, sir! May I ask what kind of jewelry you're looking for?" a woman who seemed to work there asked.
Tristan remembered the things he looked upon the internet earlier before he left the company. He read something about undertones and the color of the ring that would suit the person wearing it. There were three types of undertones: cool tone, neutral tone, and warm tone.
'If I remember it correctly, people with cool undertones look great in black and blue. Justin looks incredibly and breathtakingly beautiful in those colors, especially since those are the colors of his hair and eyes. People with coon undertones would look great in silver,' Tristan thought.
"Silver. A silver ring with a diamond for a proposal," the alpha said as he looked at the rings again.
"Oh, for a proposal? We have these for those kinds of rings, sir," the woman said and walked to somewhere to show the rings that she was talking about.
Tristan walked there too, following the woman to see the rings for himself.
The moment he laid his eyes on the rings, he couldn't help but purse his lips because the rings that the woman showed him were rings that are usually for women.
"I'm not proposing to a woman," Tristan said as he removed his eyes from the rings and looked at the woman.
Flustered because of what Tristan said, the woman couldn't control her facial expression. She did not think that the man standing before her would be proposing to a man.
"O...Oh... I apologize, sir. We a... also have rings for men. Please come with me," she stuttered as she spoke.
She walked in the direction where the rings were and showed them to Tristan.
As soon as he saw the rings, one specific ring caught his eye right away.
"I'll take that."
*****
Justin's working hours were finally done. He's now fixing his bag so he could leave already.
'Tristan said he wouldn't be able to drive me home because he has to go somewhere. I think this is my chance to buy a ring for him,' Justin thought as he smiled a little.
He said his goodbyes to Hannah and Carl before leaving. After that, he walked out of their department and went inside the elevator.
As he waited for the elevator doors to open, he thought of the jewelry stores in the area where he could get a ring.
He doesn't have much money at the moment, so he couldn't buy a very expensive ring for Tristan since it's not within his budget.
The elevator doors opened and as soon as they did, he started walking to the exit of the company building.
As he walked to the bus stop, he fished his phone from his pocket to check his bank account balance.
'I wonder if this will be enough...' Justin thought as he stared at his phone.
As soon a she got to the bus stop, the bus arrived at the perfect timing. He went inside the bus right away with the other people who were also waiting for the bus to arrive.
Justin got off of the bus when he was nearing his desired destination. There are three jewelry stores in his mind and he's currently now in one of those stores.
As soon as he entered, a woman entertained him and asked what kind of jewelry he was looking for.
"A ring please," Justin smiled as he responded.
'How beautiful...' the woman thought as she looked at Justin's face. 'I wonder who's the lucky person,' she thought as she smiled.
"Oh, yes. A ring. These are the rings that we have here, sir. These are for women, and these are for men," she said as she showed him the collection they have.
There was one specific ring that caught Justin's eye. It was a gold ring with a little diamond in the middle.
The way it looks kind of reminded him of the ring Tristan gave him on their monthsary before. The difference between it and the ring he's seeing right now is that the ring Tristan gave him before doesn't have a diamond.
'The ring he gave me before... I should start wearing it again. I was scared he'd think too much of it before when we just met after years, but it doesn't matter now if I wear it again,' Justin thought as he smiled a little.
"How much is this, miss?" He asked as he pointed at the ring. "That costs $XXXX, sir," she smiled at him.
Justin's eyes widened when he heard the price of the ring. Its price was even bigger than his bank balance. Because Tristan was staying in his apartment a lot before, it also meant that he'd spend more money than before because he has another mouth to feed, too. Of course, Tristan gave him three of his cards, but Justin never used any of them because he was too shy to do so. He doesn't want to spend his lover's money when he also has his.
It's still a few days until his payday, so he still doesn't have much money left. He knew he could use Tristan's card, but he thought that wouldn't be nice because he was buying the ring for his proposal to him. He wanted to spend his own money to buy the ring.
"Oh... I'll go and check some other jewelry stores, too. Thank you," Justin said and smiled before leaving the store.
As soon as he got out, a sigh left his mouth.
He then proceeded to check the other two jewelry stores he had in mind because they were also in the area.
To his dismay, none of them matched what he wanted to give Tristan, so he went back to the first jewelry store for the first ring that caught his eye.
"Hello, do you accept installments?" Justin asked.
"Yes, sir. Would you like to get the ring from earlier?" the woman asked as she smiled.
"Yes please," Justin smiled. "How many months would it be for the installments, sir? We offer 6, 12, and 36 months of installments," the woman said, still keeping the smile on her face. "6 months please," Justin responded.
The woman nodded. "Very well, sir. For each month, it would be $XXX," she said as she handed Justin some papers to sign for the installment plan. Justin took them from her hand as he said thanks and started filling it out.
"Please wait for a moment while I get your ring, sir," the woman said as she took the ring and put it inside a black ring box.
She gave the ring to Justin and the omega smiled when he opened the ring box.
'I hope he likes this,' he thought.
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