The thing with The Ring

"What's her finger size?" she asked me...

"Her what? Finger size? Errrrmmmmmmmmm......" blur case...

"Is her fingers like my size?" she helpfully asks as she shows me her fingers.

"Errrmmmm..... Yes.. Almost.. But a bit... 'meatier'".. I said.

"It's best you know her size for sure. Some rings can be modified, others can't. You have to return it in 3 days if it doesn't else we'll buy it back from you at 70%" she says.

"OKAY... Soooo.. How do I find out her ring size? I don't know." Was feeling a bit anti climactic. I had hoped to buy it that day itself. I though I could just waltz in and be done with it. typical male shopping mentality. (Hopeless la you... Liddat oso duno.. hold people's hand for so many years.. ring size also cannot get right).

"Here, take this.. Measure it using this and come back when you have a size." she tells me, as she passes me a paper strip that rolled into a ring... used to measure a persons finger size..

oooOOOooh.. so THAT's how people measure finger sizes.. Man, me buying jewelry was like a kampung boy trying to take the LRT. So awkward.. so unfamiliar.

But how was I going to measure her finger without making it obvious to her what I was up to? I had exactly one week to get it done before my big little plan. She's sharp as a hawk. How am I supposed to do it? A few ideas came up.

Aaah.. I could just take one of her existing rings and send it to the shop.. They'd find the exact size in no time and save me the trouble.. But wait.. Oh.. ya.. she doesn't wear rings. Scap that idea..

I KNOW! I could pretend I came across this little strip of paper.. Pretend to be suddenly interested in rings and ring sizes and all and try to casually get her to measure her finger... On second thought, maybe not la.. She'll see right through it. I've never been interested in her jewelry etc.. so why the sudden interest? Dumb idea.. :-S

I could get a friend to measure it for me.. But that'd mean I'd have to spill the beans on my plans to some other person. I didn't want that. (I'm very private)... Plus, THAT person would have to come up with some lame ass excuse on why they wanted her ring size also.. Dumberer idea...

AHA.. I could just wait till one of those mornings, when she was deep in her sleep.. and her fingers just happened to be in the open.. I could delicately take out the paper and oh-so-gently wrap in around her finger.. and voila! A ring size!! It was risky.. because she was a light sleeper... She's always been the type to wake up at the slightest distraction / noise.. I always slept like a stone.

I patiently waited my time.. Trying to catch my opportunity.. Waiting for the chance when she was sleep, and her fingers exposed.. But I think lady luck wasn't on my side and I just knew this wasn't going to be so easy. It was a challenge life was throwing at me.. Buying the wrong ring size would be quite a kill joy.

I spent the entire week, holding her hand, looking at her fingers, then my own.. then hers.. then my own. She picked up on my behaviour.. and was asking why I was behaving 'so strangely'... Because there were time I'd be just staring at her fingers real hard.. and other times, I'd just call her "Dear.... erm... Nothing-la"..... and she's have this puzzled look on her face. I know I know.. I wasn't doing a very good job hiding my intentions.. But I REALLY didn't want to get it wrong.

By the end of the week, I still hadn't a clue what her finger size was.. But had a pretty rough idea that it was around the size of my left baby finger.. I just had to go with that...

The day before my big little plan....

It was a Saturday. I made some lame excuse about wanting to go jogging. Thank goodness she wanted to cook dinner so she didn't come along. I put on my shorts, and my running shoes.. and my Visit KL shirt just to look the part. Haha, you'd never tell I was going to buy a ring. I drove to the jewelry shop again.. I later found out it was the very same shop MY parents bought their wedding bands (isn't that something?).. This time, it was a different guy.

"Can I help you? You looking for anything in particular?"

"Ya... erm.. I want to buy a gold ring. Plain, simple gold ring." It just HAD to be a gold ring. She never liked white gold.. Her work didn't permit fancy jewelry, and it just didn't seem her style to be wearing flashy jewelry. She and I have both always loved simple, understated elegance. I wanted a simple ring she could wear everyday, everywhere without worry. PLUS, my pockets weren't really deep enough to get anything with a stone on it. A simple gold ring would have to do. After all, in my mind.. this was just to propose.. It's not our actual wedding bands.. That was to be selected together.

A doubt crossed my mind. When you propose to someone and you get engaged, should the man be wearing one too? I wasn't really properly taught on the protocols of marriage and engagements etc. I wasn't even sure how a proper proposal was supposed to be done.. if there were ever such a thing. All I knew was, there is this point, when a man gets down on his knees, and ask the woman to be his wife... In the movies.. that usually skips fast forward to their wedding days.. so how you are supposed to engaged was really lost to me. In the mean time, does the guy wear a ring too? I certainly didn't have to budget for TWO. One will have to suffice.

Anyway, so there I was.. going through all the gold rings that they had. I really wished I had a female companion I could bring along, or at least if the sales personnel was a female. I felt I really needed a woman's advice right about now. I don't even trust my own sense of fashion even when it came to wearing my own cloths.. How was I to choose a suitable ring for such an occasion? The bored looking male sales assistant wasn't much help either.. Keeping his interaction to a minimum.. My first, second and third choice of rings all seemed to irk him in some way. He finally spoke out "These rings are all nice... albeit a bit..... TRADITIONAL How old is the person you're buying it for? Oh? Twenties.... how about you try some of these...." His not so subtle way of telling me I've been picking the most outdated 'aunti-ish' looking rings.

Despite his sarcastic remarks.. I eagerly welcomed his suggestions.. I must say, the rings he picked out for me did look quite nice.. though they weren't exactly 'plain'.. But anyway.. It boiled down to two choices... One lighter, fancier looking pattern, the other, simple, but heavier looking with a bit of styling.. just the way I wanted it. He warned that it WAS popular.. but it could scratch after prolonged use.. since the lining across the centere was polished. It was bound to have wear and tear. That alone made the pragmatic engineer in me want to choose the sturdier one.... But I reminded myself that in matters such as this, a different thinking cap was required.

"How much?"

"RMXXX" (Yes, it was still within 3 figures)

Gulp..... OK.. More than I planned for.. but certainly not too preposterous, considering the occasion. Plus, the ring was nice, plus it could be adjusted if the size didn't quite fit... That was quite something to consider too.

"OK. THIS ONE. I WILL TAKE THIS ONE."

"Great. Good choice. So what size?"

"Erm... (looking at my baby finger).. 12.. no no.. 14.. no no.. erm.....(deep breath).. I'll take 14." I finally decided.

I paid for it.. took the box and walked out the store.. It was raining. Gosh, I'm going to have to explain how I went jogging in this rain. How come I didn't come home straight away? OK, I'll just say I got stuck somewhere halfway. Ya, that'll do. I've never been very good at lying.. But it was either white lies all the way or ruin her surprise.

I threw away the silly strip of paper I had the whole week. Some help THAT was.... I ran across the car park and into my car. It was done. I finally took that step. The first physical incarnation of my intention to propose. I knew she already suspected something.. but ha.. I wasn't about to let her in on my intentions so easily. I had to think where to hide the ring so she wouldn't find it. And how does a person go about the rest of his day, acting all dandy and normal, just after making one of the most important purchases of his life? I was bursting with excitement, but thankfully, being a rather reserved person, it wasn't too obvious when I got home.

And there was still that other thing I needed to do.. something that was to me, EVEN MORE important that this. I've let it brew in my mind for the entire week.. And I felt ready to put it into action.. But at least for now.. this was accomplished.

I had bought the ring I was going to use to propose.... God I hope she liked it...