Things We Didn't Say Yesterday: #2

I never liked them.

The second time they exchanged rings, there were no witnesses. They sat at a picnic table in the small park where Chris had taught her how to play tennis. She had gotten quite good about the time he had lost interest.

Cindy ran the index finger of her right hand over the small diamond. "How much did we pay for these?"

"Not much."

"Well, it doesn't seem like much now, but it was a lot then."

Chris spun his gold band on the top of the table. "But doesn't this seem awkward? I mean, why don't we just keep our own rings and do what we want with them."

Cindy shook her head. "This seems better. More equal. I bought yours and you bought mine. Now we can sell them for what we can get."

"It doesn't seem equal to me. That's not the word I would use."

"You already used 'awkward', so I get your point." She looked down at the diamond again. "Would you be hurt if I told you something?"

Chris laughed. "That's one of those stupid things people say, isn't it? You put it in those terms, then I know I'll be hurt."

"You think I'm that bad of a person?"

"Say what you want to say. I'm probably beyond being hurt at this point."

"Okay. These rings? I never liked them."

"You helped pick them out!"

"Yes. I know. You liked them, you liked the traditional of gold. I wanted something silver."

"You never said anything. Why didn't you say something?"

"I don't know. I wasn't brave enough before, I guess. Or strong enough. You just seemed so happy when you saw them lying in the case like they were, the way the light hit them."

He took her ring from her, and he gave her his. She looked at his face, at how he reacted. She couldn't tell if he was hurt. When they were first married she could have seen how he felt, but he had either learned to mask his feelings, or she had stopped being interested enough to notice.

He stood up and started walking to his car, his hand in his pocket with the ring.

"I'm sorry," she called after him, but he didn't seem to hear. She slid his ring onto her thumb and watched Chris leave, and she wondered just what it was she had apologized for.