The Wedding Ring Page 8

  After what seemed to be hours of trying to make it to where Thea was, Felix finally caught up.

  “Hi!”Felix greeted. “I’m Felix Dupont.”

  “Thea Anderson,” Thea answered as she offered a handshake.

  “The professor just announced that we have the rest of the day off, being freshmen and all that,” Felix said. “Are you free?”

  “I guess so,” Thea said.

  The two immediately went out of the campus, straight to the nearest snack shop. Felix just made up the “rest of the day off” thing, so he could talk to Thea more. From that day on, the two were inseparable. They didn’t have an actual relationship at first. It was more on companionship and liking each other for friendship. Of course, they were the only ones who knew about their relationship status. The rest of the student body just assumed that they were together. Contrary to what everyone thought, Felix and Thea didn’t date romantically until they were in third-year college. By then, Felix was certain of his feelings for Thea.

  That same year, he introduced Thea to his parents. To their eyes, Thea was the only young woman for their son. Felilx’s father even spoke to him man to man, telling him that he was ready to provide anything just to make sure that Thea was happy and stayed happy with them. They certainly didn’t want to lose such a gem. Felix’s mother had Thea’s background checked. Her head hurt from reading all of her achievements.

  The Dupont family was set on having Thea as part of their family by college graduation. Thea’s parents were proud of their daughter for being so blessed. A week after their graduation, the wedding preparations started. And now, it’s only three weeks until that red-letter day. It will probably be the most talked about nuptials in the US.

  “Felix, honey,” Thea starts. “Do we have to spend this much on the wedding?”

  “Hush, mother might hear you,” Felix says as she squeezes his fiancé’s hand. “She wants our wedding to be the best one this year. She wants you to be the most beautiful bride anyone has ever seen.”

  “I know she means well, honey, but I just want this to be our wedding and not the Dupont family wedding or your mother’s wedding,” Thea softly says in frustration. “I didn’t even get to taste the cake.”

  “All right, we will taste the cake now,” Felix says playfully and turns to his mother. “Mom, we’ll just go cake tasting.”

  “Just not too much, okay?” Mrs. Dupont reminds as she smiles at Thea. The bride-to-be smiles back as Felix pulls her out of the cloth shop.

  “You honestly think we’ll go to cake tasting, huh?” Felix says. “I already ordered a cake sample, and it’s waiting for you at home. I am sure that you’ll love the cake because it’s your favorite—cherry, chocolate butter cream frosted cake. It’s like biting into a moist, compact brownie. Just the way you always want your cake, right?”

  Thea kisses Felix in the mouth as tenderly as she can. There is no one who could ever know her that well. Felix is her truest true love. With all the preparations being made for the wedding, there’s still a very important element that Thea has to choose—her wedding ring. She doesn’t want to stick to the conventional designer wedding rings that she has been presented with. They all seemed so superficial to her. Felix even arranged for them to visit Italian and French jewelry designers but Thea still wasn’t able to pick out her wedding ring.

  Just as she’s about to settle for the design she thought would fit her well, a friend from New York calls. Thea’s friend knows that she’s into antiques and unique pieces so the Porteza Museum Auction enters the scene.

  “Let’s just attend for fun,” Thea suggests. “Maybe we could spout some unique furniture for our house, right?”

  “I’ll just check with my pilot to ready the plane,” Felix says. He sees the spark in Thea’s eyes. How could he possibly dismiss that?

  After a quick flight to New York, the young couple checks into The Plaza Amiela—Felix’s mother’s latest venture. The two are immediately taken to the Superior Suite. They look at the jewelry shops after they freshen up, but Thea still doesn’t find what she wants. As they pass by a newspaper stand, Thea notices a Times newspaper that features an antique ring on the cover. Her eyes suddenly widen with anticipation.

  “That’s my wedding ring, honey,” Thea tells Felix, stopping him in his tracks.

  The paper has quite a good shot of the ring. It emphasizes the unknown Egyptian symbols that intrigue Thea. She buys the paper and looks at Felix, who smiles warmly at his ecstatic fiancé.

  “We’ll be there, my love,” Felix assures her as they walk towards the café around the corner.

  “Is my dress, okay, honey?” Thea says as she comes out of the spacious dressing room. She is wearing a peach spaghetti strapped knee-length dress and gold pumps. She decided to fix her hair up a while ago to emphasize her long neck. She’s a vision. Felix just can’t help but feel so lucky to have such a perfect woman at her side all the time.

  “I ran out of adjectives when you came out, my love,” Felix says as his eyes fixate onto Thea’s. He approaches her like he’s walking towards a wild butterfly perched on a flower. Then he holds her hands, raises them to his lips, and kisses them. He smells the scent of fresh ylang-ylang and sampaguita blossoms against her skin. It’s the perfume he gave her when they travelled to Asia a few months back. “You are the most beautiful woman in the world to my eyes. Anything on you becomes perfect. Roses shy away because they can’t possibly compete with such a beauty.”

  “You always know how to say your words, Mr. Dupont,” Thea says as she leans over and kisses her handsome fiancé in his white, long-sleeved shirt and dark-brown pants with matching shoes. The sleeves are folded just below the elbows. Felix wears the perfume that Thea gave him for his birthday a month ago.

  The couple drives up to the museum. Felix purchases tickets from the reception table and signs his name. They sit on the second row, where they can see every item perfectly. Refreshments are served and the auction starts. Thea’s pupils are dilated. Her eyes are being enticed by so many remarkable pieces of art and history. She knows that she has to acquire the ring. Felix, too, is aware that they should not come out of the museum without the ring in Thea’s finger. He must admit that the ring may be very old, but it is indeed beautiful. He just wonders what the Egyptian symbols mean.

  When an antique chest is brought out, Thea asks Felix if they could buy it. She thinks it will suit the nursery that they’re working on. Felix bids for the chest and wins it for three thousand dollars. No one bid against him at all when the rest of the auction crowd found out who he is. Felix looks around, then looks at Thea and smiles. Thea squeezes Felix’s hand and rests her head on his firm shoulder.

  A few more items come out before the ring. It seems that the ring is supposed to be the final item that night. When the ring is finally presented, Thea sits up straight and waits for the opening bid. Many auctioneers bid high for the ring but when Felix declares a hundred thousand dollars for the ring, surprisingly, no one bids against it. The so-called “Wedding Ring” is finally sold to Thea and Felix.

  The ring rests in its box until the actual wedding day. Thea keeps on opening the box, wondering how it would feel to finally have it around her ring finger. It looks like a book that’s full of stories to tell. If only she can understand what the symbols say.

  “Are you happy, my love?” Felix asks Thea. His fiancé looks at him with glistening eyes. Finally, she has found the ring for the wedding. She just doesn’t know what Felix’s mother will say about it.

  “Yes,” Thea replies as she gives Felix a peck on the cheek. “But your mother…”

  “As long as you’re happy, Thea,” Felix says. “It’s your ring.”

  Thea smiles at Felix and looks at the ring in its box once more. The two stop by the hotel’s restaurant to have some light dinner and dessert. After about an hour and a half of talking and having fun, the couple decided to call it a night.

  After another day in New York, Thea and Felix go
back to Sioux Falls for the wedding preparation and rehearsals. Felix’s mother has changed the menu for the third time when the two left for New York. The main course was supposed to be beef, but she changed it to lamb and venison instead. She even had a second menu for vegetarians and fruitarians.

  Felix’s father rarely visits the wedding venue. He always says that he wants to be surprised on the day itself. It’s just two weeks to go before the big wedding.

  Thea almost eats nothing at all just to make sure that she will fit into the wedding dress. She didn't eat any carbohydrate-rich food. She just fills herself with fruits and vegetables. The protein shakes are all that she looks forward to everyday Felix occasionally steals her from his mother so that they could eat normal food together. He even sneaks in chocolates for her when she gets home because his mother checks the fridge every morning. Mrs. Dupont is a perfectionist, and she wants to make sure that Thea is perfect on the day of the big wedding.

  The ring rests in Felix’s office drawer at home until he gives it to his best man for safe-keeping. Felix catches Thea’s distant gaze as they have breakfast at a local restaurant.

  “What’s wrong, my love?” Felix asks. “Are you feeling all right?”

  “I’m fine, honey,” Thea replies. “I just fret about the moment your mother sees the ring. I feel so strongly for the ring, Felix. I think it chose me and not the other way around.”

  Felix brings down his newspaper and holds Thea’s hand.

  “You are more important to me,” Felix says. “Whatever decision we have individually, is a decision we make as one. Okay?”

  Thea nods with a smile. Felix leans over and kisses her. The waiter then enters with their breakfast—chicken and waffles. It’s been so long since the two had the dish. They enjoy every bite because they know Mrs. Dupont is not in Sioux Falls threatening to catch them indulging on breakfast.

  There is an eerie glow coming from the ring, as if calling out to the one that’s supposed to wear it. It senses true love in the place where it rests, saturating it. The intense glow fades as the sound of a car engine rumbles and stops. Thea and Felix are home.

  The ring silently anticipates the coming of its new master—the woman who comes to seal the fate of the coming marriage.

  Chapter Eleven: Revelation

  “Wait a minute,” Kyra says as she stops walking towards the house. “I think we need more time.”

  “What?” Ramil asks in surprise. “I thought you had it all figured out.”

  “That’s what I thought, too.” Kyra confesses as she grabs Ramil’s arm and pulls him back to the car.

  “We need time,” Kyra says. “I think the ring hasn’t been actually worn yet because the wedding still hasn’t taken place.”

  “So I guess we have to wait a bit longer?” Ramil says as he closes the door to the driver’s seat.

  “We have to talk to them and convince them that the ring they purchased is cursed,” Kyra says. “I need coffee.”

  Ramil shakes his head, smiles, and starts the engine.

  “Yes, this is he,” Felix answers his phone that has been ringing for a while now. He doesn’t normally answer his phone directly, but his assistant called in sick that day. “Miss Porteza, what an unexpected honor… Yes, I did… Well, in a couple of hours, I can meet you there… Of course, Miss Porteza. Thank you.”

  “He’ll meet me at the local diner in two hours,” Kyra shares after the call ends.

  “Should I be there?” Ramil asks.

  “Yes, because you know the real story,” Kyra replies. “C’mon, we have to get going so we could find a suitable spot.”

  The two immediately get ready for their in person meeting with Felix Dupont. Kyra certainly is very thankful that she owns the museum from which he acquired the ring. Tension fills her as she gets her things ready. Ramil senses her apprehension.

  “He’ll probably believe us,” Ramil says as he walks along side Kyra towards the car. “He bought the ring after all.”

  “I hope he believes us,” Kyra says. “If he doesn’t, I don’t know what else we could possibly do to change his mind.”

  Kyra and Ramil make it to the diner, thirty minutes earlier. They ordered drinks to pass the time.

  The old juke box plays eighty's music, which brings nostalgia to the venue. There were two couples who stand up and start dancing to some of the songs they were familiar with.

  “Do you dance?” Ramil asks Kyra, who is trying to send and SMS message to her assistant.

  “No. Why?” Kyra answers.

  “I don’t either but let’s give it a try,” Ramil says as he takes Kyra’s hand.

  “Wait! What are you—“ Kyra breaks off. She then finds herself a part of a small crowd dancing to Take On Me. Everyone around her is dancing to the upbeat music. Suddenly, Kyra’s heart beats faster than it usually does because of the excitement stirring up inside her. It has been so long since she let herself go on the dance floor. Ramil is starting to dance his best, trying to encourage Kyra, who starts to smile and sway a little.

  After the song, Ramil and Kyra go back to their table. They look around to see if Felix is already there.

  They look around and wait some more but still, Felix is nowhere to be found. Just when they are about to leave the diner, Felix appears at the doorway.

  “Miss Porteza!” Felix exclaims. “I’m terribly sorry for being late. I usually don’t delay meetings, but my fiance had an emergency.”

  “Oh my gosh! Is she all right?” Kyra asks in genuine concern. “Is she hurt?”

  “No, not that kind of emergency,” Felix says. “The roasted chicken was slightly burnt. I had to fetch her another chicken from the grocer. Well, do we talk here or do we move to another place?”

  “I think it would be better if we go to some place more private,” Ramil suggested.

  “This is Dr. Ramil Geoffreys, by the way. My colleague in my latest expedition,” Kyra says as the two men shake hands. “There’s a coffee shop down the road. That would be a perfect place to talk.”

  “All right, lead the way,” Felix says politely.

  The Rover leads the convoy to the coffee shop. Felix brought his black Jaguar and parks right beside Kyra’s Rover. The three order their coffee based drinks and starts a bit of small talk. After a few minutes, Kyra looks at Ramil, signaling that she’s about to drop the anvil.

  “Mr. Dupont,” Kyra starts.

  “Please, Felix,” Felix says with a smile.

  “Felix,” Kyra corrects herself. “We drove all the way from New York to talk to you about your purchase from my annual museum auction.”

  “Is there a problem?” Felix asks with concern. “I bought the ring for my fiancé. It’s supposed to be her wedding ring.”

  “What we’re going to tell you may be a bit unexpected and unbelievable,” Ramil says. “The ring that you bought your fiancé is a cursed object.”

  Felix fell silent and then smiles. He takes a sip of his coffee and looks at Kyra and Ramil.

  “I know that you are both very passionate about your work as archeologists,” Felix starts. “I actually admire you for your dedication but curses are out already.”

  “We’re not asking you to believe us head on,” Kyra says. “We want you to hear us out and just keep an open mind about what could possibly happen.”

  Felix pauses for a short while and then agrees. Ramil tells the story and Kyra supplements it with what has happened to Gwendolyn and Earnest. Felix knew Gwendolyn and Earnest because his parents used to invite them to their parties when he was a kid. He promises to keep an open mind about the ring, and that Thea will not know anything about their conversation.

  After finishing their drinks, Felix personally invites them to their wedding. He hands Kyra one of the invitations that he just picked up a few hours ago. Kyra and Ramil accept the invitation. They watch Felix drive off, hoping that they have somehow, made his mind open about what they have just discussed.

  Felix’s mind is now div
ided between reality and ancient Egyptian superstition. The wedding ceremony is the final evidence that he does share true love with Thea. If the story is really true, then he knows he should keep an eye on the flow of their marriage and on Thea herself.

  8:22 PM.

  Thea just finished the second chicken roast and is now making a light macaroni salad. It’s a Saturday, and she wants to make dinner very special for Felix. The wedding is very close. She needs to make sure that she could be the ideal wife whom Felix deserves. He has been very understanding all throughout the relationship. Thea knows that she is very fortunate to end up with someone like Felix, considering she has never had any prior relationships. She closes her eyes, smiles, and savors the smells of her cooking in their new home.

  The three-storey house is to be Thea and Felix’s love nest. Hopefully, a few months after the wedding, they will be blessed with little angels. But even with all the “happy-ever-after” vibe, expectations are real and harsh especially on her side. Somehow, she feels that she’s to be married by Felix for all the honor that she could bring into the Dupont family. It cannot be denied. She was an achiever before. “Once an achiever, always an achiever,” so they say. Because of this, the pressures of becoming a perfect wife and mother, as a new Dupont family member, gets to Thea every now and then.

  However, Thea tries her best not to be too affected by all this. She tries everything to hold on to the love that she and Felix have. When she is alone, she opens her scrapbook and looks back at the happy moments they had since they met in college. Those were the best years of her life. It was like their relationship was made in heaven. Everyone agreed to their love and to how they handled their relationship despite the demands of academics and their families.

  Thea knew she has been background checked by Felix’s mother, but she accepted, knowing that they are indeed not a run-of-the-mill family. She just considered it as a trial she had to pass, much like an audition or an elimination round. There were times when she had to attend functions that were stiff and formal. Thea didn’t like such events because she felt that she should count the number of breaths that she has to take or the number of times she chews. The only time she could be herself with Felix is when they’re alone. Together, they are flawless. They never have any arguments about each other’s family. You’d think that being an only child of a rich couple, Felix would be a spoiled mama’s boy. But he isn’t. His father reminds him to be a man that he should be. His father always says that a Dupont male should fight for his love and his life, no matter what happens.