**The Other Ring**
Work had piled up alarmingly, and Emma decided to skip lunch entirely. Then her mother rang.
«What is it, Mum? Make it quickI’m swamped,» Emma answered hurriedly.
«Darling» Her mothers voice was faint, as if drifting through a fog. «I dont feel well»
Emma waited, thinking the line had cut out, but all she heard was a groan.
«Mum, I can barely hear youMum! Im coming now!» She snatched her coat from the rack.
«Cover for me, just in case,» she told her colleague before bolting from the office.
Only outside did she realise she was still wearing her office heels. No time to go backEmma sprinted to the car park. The keys to her mothers flat were in the glovebox. The phones shrill ring had startled her, and now she drove recklessly, breaking every traffic rule. A fine didnt mattershe had to get there.
When she burst into the flat, her mother was curled on the sofa, clutching her chest.
«Is it your heart?» Emma asked.
Her mother cracked her eyes open, then winced.
«Hold on.» Emma fished out her phone and dialled emergency services.
Driving her mother to the hospital wouldve been faster, but Emma didnt know if she could make it down the stairsno lift in the building. And moving her might be dangerous. Asking the neighbours was pointlessmidday, only the elderly were home.
While waiting, Emma stroked her mothers shoulder, murmuring reassurances. She left the door ajar. When the paramedics in blue uniforms arrived, Emma stumbled through an explanation.
The doctor checked her mothers pulse and blood pressure.
«Were taking her in. James, fetch the stretcher. Miss, gather her documents.»
«Whats wrong?» Emma asked anxiously.
«Likely a heart attack,» he said, shaking his head.
Soon, James returned with the driver and stretcher. Emma followed them to the ambulance, but the doctor insisted shed only be in the way. He gave her the hospital number and advised calling for updates.
Emma drove back to work. Lunch break was long over, and shed be in trouble if anyone noticed her absence. Cutting through backstreets to avoid traffic lights, she felt the car lurch. She pulled overa flat tyre. Just what she needed.
Now what? The spare was heavydoable in trainers, but not heels. Tears welled up.
As she stood helplessly by the boot, a black Range Rover pulled up. A man stepped out, took one look at the flat tyre and her flimsy shoes, and sized up the situation instantly.
«Got a spare?»
She nodded, nearly crying with relief. He fetched the spare and his tools, then got to work.
«Get in the caryoull freeze,» he said without turning.
Her feet were already numb. Autumn, and now rain. Emma called Andrew, but he didnt pick up.
The man seemed to take forever, but eventually he tapped the window. «All set. Just need to stow the flat one.»
«Dont forget to patch it,» he reminded her.
«Thank you. How much do I owe you?»
«Where were you rushing to in those shoes?» he teased.
«My mum calledshe was ill. I just ran out. Here, take these.» She handed him wet wipes.
«How is she?» he asked, wiping his hands.
«Ambulance took her. Heart trouble. Thank you for helping.»
«Dont mention it. Hope she recovers.» He returned the wipes and walked off.
Back at the office, Emma collided with her manager near the lift.
«Miss Hart, just returning from lunch now?» Her boss checked her wristwatch pointedly. «One more lateness like this, and its a formal warning.»
Emma exhaled sharply.
First, she rang her frienda nurse at the same hospitalto check on her mother. Half an hour later (an eternity to Emma), the friend called back: no heart attack, just stabilised in ICU, likely moved to a ward tomorrow.
«You alright?» her friend asked.
«Rushed off work, got a flat, couldnt reach Andrew,» Emma vented.
«Stay strong.»
Andrew never called back. At home, he was glued to his laptop.
«Where were you? I called a hundred times!»
«Work. Meetings.»
«All day?»
«Sorry, left it on silent. What happened?»
«You couldnt call back? Mum had a heart scareambulance took her. I left work, got a flat, and you were unreachable!»
«Drive carefully. Hows your mum?»
They made up, but unease lingered.
***
Two years ago, in a café, Emma and her friend had stopped for coffee when her friend whispered, «That bloke hasnt taken his eyes off you.»
Emma glanced overhandsome, grinning. He approached. «Mind if I join you?»
Her friend excused herself. They talked for hours, then walked through London. Emma fell hard. Within weeks, Andrew moved in.
She waited for a proposal, even hinted. But Andrew insisted living together was one thing; marrying into her flat was another. Hed need his own place first. Two years passed.
Her mother nagged: «If he hasnt proposed yet, he wont.» Maybe she shouldnt have rushed into cohabitation.
Weekends, Andrew played tennis with mates while Emma cleaned. He had a habit of hanging dirty shirts in the wardrobe. One day, she noticed his jacket pocket bulging. Insidea red velvet box.
Emma sat, then opened it. A gold ring with a diamond. Her breath caught. Shed doubted him for nothing! Hed propose on her birthday! It fit perfectly. Reluctantly, she put it back.
Next day, the ring was gone. She assumed hed hidden it better.
Birthday arrived. Andrew toasted her, then slid over a velvet box. No proposal.
«Open it!» her friend urged.
Insidegold earrings.
Emmas face must have betrayed her, because Andrew looked away.
Later, she confronted him: «Who was the ring for?»
«A mates girlfriend. He asked me to hold it.»
Emma didnt buy it.
«Didnt know you rifled through my pockets. Dont like the earrings? Fine, well get you a ring tomorrow.»
«Lets.»
Andrew blinked. But a promise was a promise. Next day, at the jewellers, Emma resolved to pick the most expensive ring.
«Hello! What can I help with?» the assistant asked. «A ring? Didnt like the one you bought her?» She glanced at Andrew.
Emma froze. «You bought a ring?»
The assistant flustered. «My mistakewrong customer!»
«Ill explain,» Andrew whispered.
«Dont follow me.» Emma fled.
So that was it. Hed been seeing someone else. All his talk about a flatjust excuses.
Andrew called, but Emma switched off her phone. Tears fell. How stupid shed been.
She didnt realise shed stopped until a knock at the window. She rolled it down.
«Flat again?» The man from before smirked, then noticed her tears.
They ended up in a café. Emma spilled everything.
«Could you be wrong? Maybe his mate did lend him the ring?»
«Doesnt matter. He couldve proposed without a ring. Why drag me to the shop? He never planned to marry me.»
He brought her ice cream. «Always calmed me down as a kid.»
***
Emma left Andrew. Soon, the manDanielkept «accidentally» bumping into her. Then came cinema dates, weekends in Bath, York Sometimes he stayed over, but Emma refused to live together. Gradually, she thawed.
Four months later, he proposed with a modest diamond ring. She never took it off.
She often wondered: how long would Andrew have lied if she hadnt found that ring?
Maybe some cupboards are better left unopened. And certainly, some pockets unsearched.
