Chapter 3: The Ring That Wasn't Meant for Me
For a moment, I couldn't hear anything except the pounding of my own heart.
Selena stood on one side of Romeo, breathing hard. I stood near the open door, my handbag digging into my palm. Romeo remained between us, but his arms had dropped to his sides.
He wasn't trying to calm her anymore.
He was trying to decide which lie might save him.
I stared at him.
“What did she just say?””
Romeo shook his head.
“She's mad. Don't listen to everything she says.””
Selena laughed sharply.
“I'm mad? You told me you wanted to make this family official!””
“Selena, stop talking.””
“No, you stop talking!”” She jabbed a finger toward his chest.
“You came to my apartment last month talking about getting a bigger place. You said our son needed his own room. You said you were tired of living separate lives.””
I looked at Romeo.
“A bigger place?””
He dragged a hand down his face.
“That's not what it was.””
“What was it, then?””
“We were discussing our son.””
Selena stepped closer, forcing him to look at her.
“Then tell her about the ring.””
Romeo's expression changed.
It was tiny. Barely a flicker.
But I saw it.
Selena saw it, too.
She reached into her pocket, pulled out her phone, and tapped the screen several times with a shaking thumb.
“You want to pretend I'm lying? Fine. Let's stop talking.””
She held the phone toward me.
At first, all I saw was a photograph.
A small velvet box sat open on a wooden table. Inside was a diamond ring.
Beneath the photograph was a message from Romeo.
Been thinking about everything we talked about. I want to do this right for you and our son. Let me get some things in order, then we're going to talk about our future.
The message was dated three weeks earlier.
I read it twice.
Then I looked at Romeo.
“You bought her a ring?””
“That's not what that is.””
Selena's mouth fell open.
“Are you kidding me?””
Romeo reached for the phone, but she pulled it away.
“Give me that,” he said.
“No. You don't get to erase what you did just because somebody else is finally looking at it.””
I could barely breathe.
Three weeks earlier, Romeo had taken me to dinner at a restaurant overlooking the city. He had held my hand across the table and asked whether I believed people could recognize their future partner almost immediately.
I had laughed at the question.
He had looked at me with that same confident smile.
“I think sometimes you just know,” he had said.
After dinner, he had kissed me beside my car and told me he was serious about me.
Now I wondered whether he had been driving to Selena's apartment before or after that date.
I swallowed.
“Was that ring for her?””
Romeo stared at the floor.
“It's complicated.””
“Stop saying that!”” I shouted.
The sound surprised all three of us.
My eyes burned, but I refused to cry in front of them.
“No more complicated. No more 'you don't understand.'' I asked you a simple question. Was that ring for her?””
He finally looked up.
“I was trying to work things out with Selena before you and me got serious.””
Selena went still.
“Before?””
Romeo's face tightened.
“That's what I said.””
“No, Romeo. You told me you wanted to work things out after you met her.””
He looked at her sharply.
“That's not true.””
She turned to me.
“Girl, I found messages from him on my phone while he was sitting beside me on my couch. He told me he wasn't ready to give up on us. Then I found out he'd been taking another woman on dates.””
She pointed at Romeo.
“And now he's standing here trying to make the timeline fit whichever one of us he thinks is about to leave.””
I felt something inside me go quiet.
Not calm.
Not acceptance.
Just a sudden, terrible clarity.
This wasn't a misunderstanding between two women who had been given different versions of the same story.
This was a man who had been comfortable letting both of us believe we were the woman he intended to choose.
I looked toward the hallway again.
“I'm done. Move.””
Romeo stepped toward me.
“Baby, don't leave like this.””
I recoiled when he reached for my arm.
“Don't touch me.””
His hand dropped.
“Come on. We can talk about this privately.””
“Privately?”” I repeated.
“You brought me into your apartment and made me believe you were building something with me. Now I'm finding out you have a child, a relationship you never explained, and a ring you apparently bought for another woman. What exactly is left to discuss privately?””
He glanced toward Selena.
She folded her arms.
“Tell her the rest.””
Romeo turned on her.
“Can you please stop?””
“No. You want her to think I'm crazy? Tell her why you asked me to hold off on telling my family about the engagement.””
My stomach tightened.
“Engagement?””
Selena nodded, her eyes shining.
“He told me we were going to get engaged after his promotion. He said he wanted to surprise our son. He said he didn't want anybody interfering before we had everything figured out.””
Romeo shook his head violently.
“I never proposed to you!””
“You said you were going to!””
“That's not the same thing!””
The words hit the room like a slap.
Selena stared at him.
Then she laughed once, a small broken sound.
“Wow.””
For the first time since she had entered the apartment, her anger seemed to falter. She looked at Romeo as if she were seeing him without the stories she'd told herself to survive their relationship.
I knew that look.
I was wearing it, too.
Romeo moved closer to her.
“Selena, listen. We got history. We got a child. We can talk about this without making it a whole thing.””
She took a step back.
“You should've thought about that before you started promising people futures.””
I reached for the doorknob.
This time, nobody blocked me.
But before I could step into the hallway, Romeo said my name.
Not casually.
Not with the easy confidence he'd used all afternoon.
He said it like a man watching the last exit close.
“Wait. There's something you need to know.””
I turned.
Selena looked at him sharply.
“Romeo, don't.””
His gaze moved from her to me.
And for the first time, I realized that the ring might not have been the worst thing he had hidden.
“What?”” I asked.
He swallowed.
“Your name came up before you ever met me.””
My fingers tightened around the doorknob.
“What does that mean?””
Selena slowly lowered her phone.
The color drained from her face.
“Romeo,” she whispered, “you better not tell her that.””
He stared at me, breathing hard.
Then he said, “The reason I started talking to you wasn't what you think.””
I felt the hallway tilt around me.
“What are you talking about?””
He opened his mouth.
But Selena suddenly stepped forward, her fury replaced by something far more frightening.
“Ask him who gave him your number.””
I stared at her.
Then at Romeo.
Because I had never given him my number.
Not directly.
We had met through a mutual friend at a birthday dinner. He'd approached me, made me laugh, and asked whether he could take me out sometime. I'd thought the whole thing was ordinary.
A little romantic, even.
Now the memory felt contaminated.
Romeo rubbed his palms against his jeans.
“Look, I can explain.””
Selena shook her head.
“No. You've explained enough.””
She unlocked her phone again and turned the screen toward me.
“This is the message I found the night I realized he was lying to both of us.””
At the top of the screen was a name I recognized immediately.
My own best friend.
And beneath it was a message sent to Romeo two days before our first date.
She doesn't know anything about your situation. Just make sure she falls for you before she finds out.
I stopped breathing.
May you like
Because my best friend had known exactly who Romeo was.
And she had helped him find me.