Chapter 7 #3
Her mother, on the other hand, loved jewelry and wore lots of it.
All fake and costume, of course. She would often wear a ring on every finger and some of them two.
Long sparkly earrings were her favorite adornments.
She’d never leave home without something large and flashy around her neck and wrists that clinked and clanged, attracting attention.
Theodora didn’t want to go in and look at gold and stones that she could never afford, but since her mother wanted to go in, so would she.
When the guard wearing a uniform and a gun unlocked the door and locked it again behind them, Theodora knew she couldn’t afford a single thing in that store.
She was afraid they might charge her for the expensive scented air she was breathing.
The classical piano music playing softly in the background and the plush carpet that her admittedly ugly walking shoes sank into were more clues that she didn’t dare touch anything.
“Mr. Riggs, please join me over here.” The man in the custom-tailored three-piece charcoal suit, starched white shirt with gold cufflinks embedded with a shiny gray rock, pointed to a seating area with overstuffed chairs and a small coffee table.
“I’ll bring your custom order right out to you as soon as I retrieve it from the vault. ”
As soon as Clint sat down, a woman who could adorn any fashion magazine strutted out of the back, carrying a tray of drink service she stopped at his chair.
Elegantly picking up a fragile cup and saucer she asked in a sultry voice, “Mr. Riggs, how may I prepare your coffee?” She dramatically swept one hand over the tray that seemed to contain everything from white to dark brown sugars to cream.
“Just black, thank you.” Clint reached for the red flowered cup with gold trim that looked tiny in his large hands.
Theodora shouldn’t have been surprised at the sophisticatedly way he held the cup and sipped the one strong Ethiopian coffee.
His mother was an ambassador, and he was a graduate of West Point.
He’d been raised around diplomats and taught impeccable manners.
“Oh, my Lord, Theodora you must come see these.” Her mother spoke way too loudly.” Wanting to cringe, she pasted on a smile and walked to the opposite side of the showroom, where a saleswoman had just brought out a tray of rings.
Theodora was too far away to see what the gentleman had brought to Clint, but she could tell by the smile on his face that he was pleased.
“You’re a woman of excellent taste. Let me show you some of our Welo opals.
They are exclusively mined here in Ethiopia,” the saleswoman explained in a low, cultured voice.
“These are unique in that they have the ability to absorb water and become translucent, but when they dry out, they return to their exquisite internal fire.”
As she and her mother examined the expensive jewelry, Theodora realized she was only a few feet from the seating area where Clint had his back to them. She couldn’t help overhearing their conversation.
“This is absolutely beautiful, Mr. Rabinowitz,” Clint said. “But I only gave you the center emerald. What do I owe you for all the others? They are so gorgeous, inlaid in the gold.”
“You owe us nothing, Mr. Riggs,” the polished salesman replied.
The very old man who had joined them explained, “They were a gift from Mr. Neberu. He brought all the small emeralds, and the gold from the Queen of Sheba mine, personally writing the authentication certifications. He even insisted on where they were to be placed.”
Her mother and the ever-so-patient saleswoman were on the move again, passing the seating area when she heard the old, wrinkled man declare, “He wanted to give your wife something special.”
Wife? Theodora didn’t believe he was married.
She’d never seen him with a woman in the compound.
Maybe he intended to get engaged? Using a necklace instead of a ring?
That was a new one for her. For the first time, she noticed the gold band on his left ring finger.
She’d known men on the Army base who would wear a gold ring on their left hand to ward off unwanted attention, but they’d also take it off when it was convenient.
“Theodora,” Clint called to her as she passed.
He held up the large black velvet box containing the most beautiful gold-and-emerald necklace she’d ever seen.
The thick outer heart was inlaid with small green chips, and the smaller inner heart held a green stone in the middle of it.
“You’re a woman, what do you think of this? ”
“It’s beautiful,” she said honestly ,stepping closer.
Her mother practically ran over. “Let me see,” she insisted.
When she grabbed for it, Clint moved it out of her reach.
“It’s very pretty.” She gave him a patronizing smile, which in Kimberly Parsons’s speak, meant that she didn’t care for it.
Of course not. It was delicate, and her mama only owned jewelry that smacked of size and color.
The salesman, reading the room incorrectly, stepped in. “Shall I box it up for you, or would you like your wife to wear it now?” He glanced back and forth between Clint and Theodora, looking directly at their wedding bands, then at her large, obviously pregnant belly.
“Oh, we’re not married,” Clint quickly interjected. “Box it, please.”