Gewgaw

It had to be perfect. He gazed at all the display cases, but all the supposed gewgaws looked the same. They all looked boring and ordinary and unoriginal. Throwing his hands up, he growled. “No, no, no. None of these are right. Don’t you have anything unique?”

“We do have a rare collection in the back that we save for our VIP customers, but every piece in that collection is over $2000, sir.” The store clerk responded boredly.

Tony glanced at the store clerk and narrowed his eyes. “Well what are you waiting for? Bring them out, man.“

As the special display case was set in front of him, the frown on Tony’s face grew even larger. “Is it really this hard to find a unique gewgaw these days? All I want is a ring to propose to Jethro with. Grrr.” Grumbling under his breath, Tony turned on his heel and left the store.

Not about to give up, he went to the next jeweler’s. No luck there either. Nor at the next one. Just when he was about to give up, he saw a small mom & pop shop with rings in the window. Deciding it couldn’t be worse than the ones he’d already seen, he walked in.

Beautiful gewgaws lined the walls of the shop. The rings sparkled with the light. Leaving an almost effervescent glow surrounding the walls. He was drawn to a particular one. Picking it up, he held it out to the shop keeper. “I want this one.”

“Yes, sir. Of course, sir. Do you want it gift wrapped?” The clerk asked holding up the sparkling silver band with a dark onyx setting with small rubies and sapphires surrounding it. It was then beautifully engraved with a silver design in between the onyx, rubies, and sapphires. This left the top a smooth to the touch feeling and much less likely to catch on something.

“No. Just a case, please.” Tony replied with a large grin. “Who does your designs by the way? They’re all amazing. Not even one that is unoriginal.”

“Oh. Well that’s a trade secret.” The clerk smirked. “I’d lose my job if I told you.”

“That’s too bad. I wanted to pass on my congratulations and appreciation.” Tony frowned slightly.

“Oh, don’t worry, sir. I’ll be happy to pass it on for you.” The clerk smiled handing him the case with the ring in it.