Page 36 of Belonging to Them

“Of course,” he says smoothly.“Is there a particular kind of jewelry you’re looking for today?”

“Necklaces,” I say.

“Jeweled, or?—?”

“I’ll know it when I see it.”

He nods.“I’ll let you browse, then.I’ll be right here if you have any questions.”

“Thanks.”I wander around the shop.My phone buzzes with the occasional text from Bash as he sends me more pics from boutiques in Vegas.I browse the wide variety of rather mundane necklaces.They’re pretty, and well-made.The jeweler and his buyers have a gift for finding the best.But nothing really fits Ella, or what Sebastian and I are trying to say with this particular piece of jewelry.

I come to another case, and this one has exactly what I’m looking for—O rings affixed to the chains.These are very obviously daytime collars.Some of the O rings are big enough to bear custom engraving, and others are thin and delicate.Some are studded with diamonds and other jewels.As I linger over the display, the clerk approaches.

“I wondered if these might be what you’re looking for,” he says.

“Did you?”I raise an eyebrow at him.

“Yes.You have that air about you.Are you shopping for your friend that you mentioned?”

“No, he and I are shopping for our girlfriend.”

“Ah.In that case, I have some others I’d like to bring out, if you’d like more selection to choose from?”

“By all means.”

He pulls a key from his pocket and unlocks a drawer beneath the display case.He struggles to pull it from its home, but once he does, he carefully sets it on top of the other display.Some of the pieces are still in plastic bags and tissue.Others are shoved off to one side of the drawer or the other, but they don’t look as if they’ve been sorted.

“They aren’t arranged properly yet,” the clerk says, “as we just got them in a few days ago.But see, over here…” He tugs a necklace free of its brethren, where it was dangerously close to becoming tangled.“The pendants on many of these are customizable, with a space for engravings, or with adding charms or jewels to make them more personal.These particular ones would hold up well to addingtwomessages or other additions?—”

“What’s this?”I ask, pointing to a silver necklace.The O ring is linked to the delicate chain with two infinity symbols, one on each side.

“It’s platinum, finest quality,” the clerk says.“It can be switched with an optional locking clasp.”

We won’t need a lock.If we get this necklace for Ella, she’s never going to want to take it off.

I take a photo and send it to Sebastian, with the caption:I think I’ve found it.

He calls me a second later.

“Excuse me, I need to take this,” I say to the clerk.

He steps away to give me privacy.

“What do you think?”I say to Bash.

“It’s fucking perfect, man.It’ll look good on her, especially with our come dripping all over it and on her chest.”

“Pervert.”

“Yep.”

“We can get it with a locking clasp, which I don’t think is necessary?—”

“We’re trying to say ‘forever’ to this girl, right?”Bash says.“We should get the lock.It shows her we mean this.You know, in case the infinity signs aren’t enough of a message.”

Chuckling, I say, “Okay, I’m getting it.There might be enough room to engrave the back of the O ring.”

“Our first names, all three of us,” he says.“Nothing else.It’ll go in a circle.”