The jeweller stayed forty minutes past closing, and never once made either of us feel rushed about it.
Ring shopping had been on the list since the engagement, and kept being pushed past other, louder decisions. We finally went on a Tuesday evening, later than planned, to a small shop neither of us had visited before, chosen mostly because it was still open.
What we were looking for
Something plain enough to survive daily wear and sentimental enough to be worth the fuss. Ellis wanted a matte finish that would not need re-polishing every few years. Amara wanted a band narrow enough to sit comfortably under a glove in winter, which turned out to be a more specific request than either of us expected.
The right ring, it turns out, is mostly about what it feels like after an hour, not what it looks like in the first minute.
Why we stayed so long
Neither of us could settle on a size at first, and the jeweller, rather than hurrying the decision, brought out tea and let us walk around the block twice to think. By the time we came back the shop was technically closed, the sign was turned, and the door was still open for us anyway.
We left with two plain bands, a receipt, and a strong sense that the right shop matters as much as the right ring.
