“Everything is fine,” I assured him. “Have a seat.”
Balancing my personal life with my professional life wasn’t an easy task. As much as I wanted to jump Devin each time he came into my office, I knew better than to get caught up in such antics. There was a time and a place for us to be affectionate toward one another, and it wasn’t during work hours or at the office.
“Can you believe it’s been three months?” I asked.
He sat down. “What’s been three months?”
“Since you came to work here.”
“Has it?” He grinned. “Seems like yesterday.”
“Are you being serious?”
“I am. It sure doesn’t seem like three months have passed.” His gaze lowered for an instant, and then he looked at me. “Then again, it sure seems like a lot of stuff has happened since I came to work here. I don’t know. Time flies, I guess. Is this my ninety-day review?”
I laughed. “No.” I reached for his envelope, flipped it across my desk, and nodded toward it. “That’s for you.”
He picked it up. “What is it?”
“A bonus, of sorts.”
“Bonus?”
“For the Seever residence.”
He tossed it at me. “That’s ridiculous. I enjoyed it. You don’t need to do—”
“I’m not doing anything for you that I wouldn’t do for anyone else. There’s an equation I use for non-licensed sales, and I’ve followed it.” I tossed the envelope at him. “Open it.”
He pulled a knife from his pants pocket. “As long as it’s legit.”
“It is.”
He cut the envelope open, shook out the check, and looked at it. He choked out a cough at his surprise. “Looks like you gave me the wrong check.”
“How much is it for?” I asked, trying not to smile.
He lifted it to the light. “Seven hundred and fifty-four grand.”
“No,” I said. “You got the right one.”
His eyes shot wide. “Are you fucking serious?”
“Sorry it took so long,” I said. “It’s sixty days after everything clears escrow, but it starts on the first of the month following the sale. Anyway. I hope you put it to good use.”
He looked at the check and then at me. “This is mine?”
“Every cent of it,” I replied. “I want you to know how much I appreciate the hard work.”
“I need to give you part of this, for sure.”
“Believe me,” I said. “I got my part.”
He studied the check as if he was unsure that it was real. “Are you sure?”
“The company gets its share, the selling agent gets his, and the listing agent gets hers,” I explained. “It’s all covered.”
“Selling them beats the shit out of building them,” he said.
“Get your license,” I said. “I could use a construction-savvy agent.”
He grinned. “I’m good right where I am for now.”
“Well. Congratulations, and thank you, again. I couldn’t have done it without you. I wish I could do more, but if I did, it would be unfair.”
“More?” He coughed out a laugh. “This is more than I would have expected out of a lifetime of doing what I did. I enjoyed it.”
“You still want to go out to eat?” I asked. “Or are you going shopping?”
“Shopping?” He laughed. “I’m not much of a shopper.” He glanced at his watch. “I didn’t realize it was so late. Let me straighten up my desk and I’ll be ready to go.”
We strolled along the sidewalk at Mercato, one of Naples’s open-air shopping areas that included a theater, fine dining, and exquisite shopping. As we walked toward one of my favorite Italian restaurants, Bravo!, we passed Dunkin’s Diamonds showroom.
I took a quick glance at a ring that caught my eye in the window. Certain that my interest went unnoticed, I continued my stride at the same pace.
“Do you want to go in?” Devin asked.
“Me?” I asked. “No.”
He stopped. “Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“You sure seemed interested in something.”
“I just glanced at a—”
“Let’s go inside,” he said. “You can take a longer look.” He nodded toward the restaurant, which was on the other side of the narrow street. “They’re not even busy. We’ve got plenty of time.”
I couldn’t speak for other women, but for me, looking at diamonds was a love-hate affair. I loved doing it, but afterward, I hated the fact that I didn’t have a ring on my finger. I always seemed to slip into a slight state of depression after looking at rings. Each one I saw acted as a reminder that I was perpetually single. Nevertheless, I loved it until I came to that realization.
“Okay,” I said. “Just for a minute.”
We stepped inside. Necklaces, rings, earrings, and bracelets of every imaginable design, ranging from elegant to gaudy, were on display in the well-lighted cases.
“The ring in the window,” Devin said, directing his comment to the middle-aged salesclerk with perfect salt-and-pepper hair. “It looks like an old mine cut. About four carats. Maybe more. Can we see it?”
The suit-wearing salesman smiled at me. “The man knows his diamonds.” He looked at Devin. “You’ve got a keen eye. It is an old mine cut stone. A five-point-two carat center stone, with just over two carats of side stones for a total carat weight of seven-point-two-two carats. The color and clarity are remarkable for an old mine cut.”
“What’s an old mine cut?” I asked.
“It’s the earliest form of brilliant cut, dating back to the early seventeen hundreds,” the salesman replied. “The stones were cut in that fashion to allow them to sparkle in even the dimmest of lights.”
“I see.”
He removed the ring from the display and handed it to me. “This particular piece was obtained through a local family following the downsizing of an estate. We normally don’t carry old mine cuts, as they tend to be lesser clarity and often fail to meet our standards in respect to color.”
“This is a good one, though?” I asked.
He chuckled and then looked at Devin. “VVS1 clarity with a D color and no fluorescence.”
Devin coughed. “Yeah. It’s beyond good.”
I started to slip the ring onto my finger and then paused. “Can I?”
He nodded. “Absolutely.”
I slid it onto the ring finger of my right hand. I felt six inches taller, invincible, and, strangely, loved.
An instant of admiration followed, and then I pulled it off like it was on fire. I handed it to the salesclerk.
“It is nice,” I said. “Thank you.”
He seemed appalled that I didn’t enjoy it for longer. “Is there anything else you’d like to see?”
“No,” I said, turning away slightly. “We were just on our way to dinner.”
He wiped the smudges from the ring with a cloth. “Where are you dining?”
“Bravo!” I said. “Right next door.”