It was a day like any other. My shift at the store drew by at a snail's pace. Not many customers came through with serious purchases on their minds. I needed a sale, or my commission was going to plummet to the bare minimum for the week. Selling jewelry to those without the intent to buy was exceedingly difficult as of late due to the poor economy. It almost seemed like less and less people were getting married because of it. But who can blame them? Weddings are an expensive affair, let alone an engagement ring. Consigned to a day of slow customer traffic and even slower sales opportunities, I took a seat at the front counter and let my mind wander. It wasn't until the last hour that he walked in.

At first I didn't pay him much attention. The way he walked into my store seemed like he was just another window shopper. But then I noticed his clothes. This man looked like he was on his way to a formal event; his black suit was impeccably pressed with a sharp crease down the legs of his trousers. I was even shocked to see him wearing a black vest complete with a pocket watch chain dangling down its front. His suit coat almost shimmered in the soft light. He drew his fingertips along the display case closest to him; it seemed as though he was deliberately keeping his back to me. I stood from my desk and walked around the inside of the display case and plastered on my best salesman smile.

"Good afternoon sir, may I help you?"

The man jumped at my voice and even took a step back. It wasn't until he looked up at me that I noticed the porcelain mask on the right side of his face. His eyes blazed with a mixture of apprehension and fear; for a split second I thought he was going to flee from the store. I rekindled my smile and held my hands out palms up.

"Do you have any questions I can answer?"

The man's eyes darted from me to the display case and then back to give me a hard stare. He reacted as though I had spoken in a foreign language; his brow furrowed as he studied me. Finally he leaned back and drew one hand along his vest. My heart did a flip at his strange demeanor combined with his hand drifting to his pocket. Was he here to rob me? If so, this was exactly what I didn't need today. My hand slowly moved to the silent alarm under the counter as the man reached into his pocket. To my relief, he only removed his watch to glance at the time. With a flick of his wrist he closed the watch and tucked it safely into his vest again. I idly wondered where he had procured such a nice watch. It was more ornate than I had ever seen in my store, not to mention its delicate details on the face. Lost in my thoughts, I looked back up at the man to find him staring at me again. It dawned on me that his eyes were two different colors, the one behind the mask a striking blue color.

"I need a ring," he finally said in a low voice. At first I almost didn't hear him, but his mask moved as he spoke and captured my attention.

With another smile I nodded and said, "I think I can help you with that. May I ask the occasion it's for?"

He noticed my eyes fixating on his mask and turned his face away to conceal it as best he could. Ashamed of my actions, I averted my gaze to his uncovered eye.

"Well, it's for..." He chewed his lip, unsure of what to say.

"Yes? For...?" I pulled one set of rings from the case and set it between us. As I glanced down, I thought I heard him whisper, 'My angel,' but looked up to find him stone silent. "May I assume this is an engagement ring?"

A subtle blush filled his cheek as he slowly nodded. He reached up to smooth back his dark hair and took a deep breath in the process. "In a perfect world, yes."

I couldn't help but chuckle. "You haven't popped the question then, I take it?"

His eyes snapped up to give me another hard look, yet I could detect a hint of distress in his face. "No," he said in a flat voice.

With a nod, I lifted another set of rings onto the glass counter. "Don't worry, I'll help you find the perfect ring for her. What sort of diamond were you thinking? A classic oval? A pear? A heart?"

"I…have no idea."

"What sort of jewelry does she own already?" This was going to be a difficult puzzle to solve; most men had no idea what to get though, so this wasn't the first time I had to play detective.

With a shrug of his shoulders he said, "She doesn't own any that I know of."

I nodded and said, "That's all right. I would suggest a classic oval diamond. Simple, yet elegant."

The man drew his attention to one of the displays I had set on the counter, this one predominantly containing oval stones. He studied each and every one very carefully before lifting his eyes to stare at me. "No. Not good enough."

His response caught me off guard and made me stutter for a second. Although secretly I was elated; the oval gems were the least expensive and I would often start there before working my customers to a higher grade. This man skipped my speech all together and went ahead to the next step. I smiled and placed the display of oval diamonds back inside the case.

"How about these? The pear shape accentuates fancy dress very well."

This time he looked at the rings for a fraction of the time before shaking his head. "No. It's not right."

This was going to be a healthy commission at this rate. To save time I passed over the princess and heart cuts and went straight for the marquise stones. "These are the finest ones I have, always a much sought after cut. The marquise is classic yet stylish. She won't be able to refuse your proposal with one of these," I added with a grin.

The man stared hard at the rings in between my hands. He chewed his lip and slowly looked up again. There was a sadness in his eyes that made my smile disintegrate.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to imply…" My heart dropped to my feet as I struggled to find the right words.

"No. It's fine. The whole situation… It's complicated."

I waited for him to continue, but his focus dropped to the rings again and he didn't say another word. After several moments of awkward silence, I gestured to the rings again. "What do you think of these?"

"They're beautiful. But they're not quite what I'm looking for."

I nodded and let my mind wander. A ring on his pinky caught my eye. It was a simple silver band with a black onyx stone. "Your ring," I said with a small gesture, "it has a special meaning to you?"

He stared at his hand and blinked several times. For a split second I was afraid my question had caused him to weep. Twisting the ring around his finger, he sighed and nodded. "It was the first ring I offered her. She returned it to me."

"I'm sorry."

He waved off my apology and shook his head. "It's in the past."

"What would you say to a ring combining a diamond and a couple black onyx stones?"

His face lit up at my suggestion. "You could do that?" The first hint of a smile brushed across his face. I had hit pay dirt.

"Of course. We make many custom pieces here. I know you didn't care for the oval cut earlier, but I would urge you to rethink it for a ring like this." I pulled out a piece of scratch paper and a pencil to quickly sketch a design. "An oval diamond in the center flanked by two smaller oval black onyx stones. A silver or platinum band would look best with the black. What do you think?"

"Yes. It's perfect," he breathed while still staring at the sketch. His fingers idly played with his own ring again as he asked, "How much?"

I smiled and pulled out a small calculator. Adding up the prices of the three stones, the band, the setting, and the labor, I jotted down a total for him. "That will come to about $1200." I braced for his argument, for him to beg for any sort of discount or deal. Instead he reached into his suit coat and removed a small billfold.

"Shall I pay now?"

My jaw almost dropped to the counter. No one had ever offered to pay that much for a ring without first attempting to haggle with me. Yet here was this strange masked man holding out a wad of large bills to me.

"Um… Only half. The rest you will pay once you pick up the ring."

He nodded and counted out $600 in large bills before pressing them into my hand. After a beat of silence, he counted out a few more and slid them across the counter towards me. "A little extra to expedite the job. I need this ring as soon as possible. No later than tomorrow."

"But sir, a job like this will require at least a couple weeks. My jewelers are backed up as it is. We have a waiting list."

"No. Tomorrow. Or I will go find another jeweler who can fulfill my request."

"Well, I suppose I could move a few other orders back. But it would be wisest not to rush the labor; I don't want the ring to be less than perfect."

"It will be perfect," he said in a flat voice. The look in his eyes almost burned.

"Um…yes, of course," I said with a nervous smile. "I will oversee the work myself. It should be ready by late afternoon tomorrow."

He leaned back and nodded, the warning look in his half-covered face now gone.

"If I may…" I started to speak, but when he turned his piercing eyes back on me, I faltered. Several seconds of silence hung in the air.

"Yes?"

"Why the urgency?" I finally asked.

A strange sadness mixed with a glimmer of hope passed through his eyes. With a heavy sigh, he touched his mask and said, "I haven't seen her for ten years. She arrives tomorrow to perform at my theater. I…I need this ring. I can't lose her again," he muttered as he stared at the floor.

"Do you think she'll accept your proposal this time?" The second the words left my mouth, I regretted them. It was not my business at all. But I couldn't help my curiosity. He chewed his lip for a moment before lifting his gaze to mine.

"Even if she doesn't, I will always be grateful for the chance to see her once more."

And then, as mysteriously as he had arrived, he was gone.