**The Other Ring**
Work had piled upurgent, relentlessso Emily decided to skip lunch altogether. Then her mum rang.
«Mum? Make it quick, Im swamped,» Emily answered briskly.
«Love» Her mums voice was faint, almost distant. «I dont feel well»
Emily waited, thinking the line had cut out, but all she heard was a groan.
«Mum? Youre breaking upMum! Im coming now!» She grabbed her coat from the rack.
«Cover for me if anyone asks,» she muttered to her colleague and bolted from the office.
Only outside did she realise shed dashed out in her office heels. No time to go backshe sprinted to the car park. The keys to her mums flat were in the glovebox. The phone call had rattled her, so she sped, running red lights. A fine was nothing if it meant getting there in time.
When she burst into the flat, her mum sat hunched on the sofa, clutching her chest.
«Your heart, Mum?»
Her mum cracked her eyes open, wincing.
«Just hold on.» Emily fished her phone from her coat pocket and dialled 999.
She considered driving her mum to the hospitalfaster than waiting for an ambulancebut the flat had no lift, and she wasnt sure her mum could manage the stairs. The neighbours? Uselessmiddle of the workday, only pensioners home.
As they waited, Emily rubbed her mums shoulder, murmuring reassurances. She left the door ajar. When the paramedics arrived in their blue uniforms, Emily stumbled through an explanation.
The doctor checked her mums pulse and blood pressure.
«Were taking her in. Liam, fetch the stretcher. You, lovegrab her documents.»
«Whats wrong?» Emily asked, voice tight.
«Looks like a heart attack,» he said, shaking his head.
Soon, Liam returned with the driver and a stretcher. Emily followed them to the ambulance, insisting shed ride along, but the doctor refusedshed only be in the way. He gave her the hospital number and told her to call for updates.
Emily headed back to work. Lunch break was long over, and shed catch hell if anyone noticed shed vanished. She cut through side streets to avoid traffic lights. Merging onto the main road, the car lurched. She pulled overfront tyre, flat. Perfect.
Now what? The spare was heavy. In trainers, she mightve managed, but in heels? She blinked back tears.
Standing by the open boot, deliberating whether to call roadside assistance, a Range Rover pulled up. A bloke got out, took one look at the flat tyre and her flimsy shoes, and sighed.
«Got a spare?»
She nodded, almost crying with relief. He fetched the wheel and his tools and got to work.
«Get in the car, youll freeze,» he said without turning.
Her feet *were* numbautumn chill, plus rain. She climbed in and tried calling James. No answer.
The bloke seemed to take ages. Eventually, he tapped the window. «All set. Just need to stow the flat one.»
«Dont forget to patch it,» he said.
«Thank you. How much do I owe you?» she asked.
«Where were you off to in those shoes?» he teased.
«My mum calledshe was ill. I rushed out. Take these.» She handed him wet wipes.
«How is she?»
«Ambulance took her. Her heart. Thanks for helping.»
«Dont mention it. Hope she gets well soon.» He passed back the wipes and left.
Back at the office, Emily collided with her boss by the lift.
«Emily Whitmore, just back from lunch, are we?» Her boss eyed her wristwatch pointedly. «One more stunt like this, and its a formal warning. Personal errands on company timeunbelievable.»
Emily exhaled.
First, she rang her mate Sarah, who worked at the same hospital. Half an hour lateran eternitySarah called back. Her mums attack had been stabilised; no heart attack, just observation. Shed be moved to a ward tomorrow.
«You alright?» Sarah asked.
«Boss chewed me out, got a flat tyre, and James wont answer his phone,» Emily grumbled.
«Rough day. Hang in there.»
James never called back. When she got home, he was glued to his laptop.
«Where *were* you? I called a hundred times!»
«Work. Meetings.» He shrugged. «Silent mode. Forgot to switch it back. Whats up?»
«And you couldnt call back? Mum was rushed to hospitalheart scare! I left work, got a flat, and you were *nowhere*!»
«Drive carefully next time. Hows your mum?»
They made up, but unease clung to Emily.
***
Theyd met two years ago in a café.
«That blokes staring at you like youre the last biscuit in the tin,» Sarah whispered.
«Where?» Emily glanced overhandsome, grinning. She flushed.
Then he was at their table. «Mind if I join?»
Sarah made excuses to leave. They talked for hours, strolled through London. Emily fell hard. Two weeks later, he moved in.
Shed waitedhintedfor a proposal. James insisted living together was one thing; marriage required a flat of his own first. Two years passed.
Her mum nagged: *If he hasnt proposed yet, he wont.*
Weekends, James played tennis with mates while Emily cleaned. He had a habit of hanging dirty shirts in the wardrobe. One day, she noticed his jacket pocket bulged. Insidea velvet ring box.
She sat on the sofa, heart racing, and opened it. A gold band, diamond sparkling. She slipped it onperfect fit. *Hes proposing on my birthday!* She returned it, giddy.
Next day, the ring was gone. She assumed hed moved it.
Her birthday arrived. James toasted her, then slid a velvet box across the table. Her breath hitchedbut no proposal.
«Open it!» Sarah urged.
Inside: gold earrings.
Disappointment mustve shown, because James looked away.
After the guests left, she confronted him. *Whos the ring for?*
«My mate bought it for his girlfriend. Asked me to hide it.»
«Liar.»
«Didnt know you went through my pockets. Dont like the earrings? Fine, well get a ring tomorrow.»
«Lets.»
He hadnt expected that. Next day, at the jewellers:
«Hello! What can we help you with?» The assistant smiled. «A ring? Didnt you buy one already?» She glanced at James.
«You *bought* a ring?» Emily stared.
The assistant backpedalledmistaken identity.
«Ill explain,» James whispered.
«Dont bother.» Emily fled.
In the car, she shook. *Hes been seeing someone else. All that flat talkexcuses.*
James called. She switched off her phone.
A knock on the windowthe same bloke whod changed her tyre.
«Flat again?» He smirked, then noticed her tears. «Oh.»
They ended up in a café. She spilled everything.
«Maybe youre wrong? His mate really did lend him the ring,» Daniel said.
«Doesnt matter. He never wanted to marry me.»
He brought her ice cream. «Always worked when I was a kid.»
***
She left James. Daniel kept «accidentally» bumping into hercinema trips, weekends in Bath, York. Sometimes he stayed over, but she refused to live together. Slowly, she thawed.
Four months later, he proposed. The diamond was small, but the heart behind it wasnt. She never took it off.
Sometimes she wondered: *How long would James have lied if I hadnt found that ring?*
Moral? If youre not prepared for skeletons, maybe dont open the wardrobe. And *definitely* dont rummage through pockets.
