Someone Like You

Part Five

As Theo briefly updated him on where things were, he was amazed at how close they had become. They hadn't known about each other until Theo was eighteen, and Daniel twenty three, but as he told his brother his woes, he really felt close to him, and he was glad of his support. For someone who came from a family that consisted in its entirety of him and his mother, he never thought he'd have a sibling bond like this, and with all that was happening in his life, it was comforting to know that someone had his back too.

Nina looked at the first ring, entwined ropes representing the union of marriage, personalised inscriptions, and diamonds, individual, unique and very exclusive. The other, 'his' was a mirror opposite, minus the feminine touches. She felt so proud of her work, and once each ring was complete, she photographed them for her portfolio...to advertise her skills as well as to remember the exact designs she'd already made so that there was no significant overlap of style, then embedded it into its individual black velvet box embossed in silver with the words "Anneau de Saule Jewellery", her chosen name for her designs after much deliberation. The name meant Ring of Willow in her grandmother's first language of French. Willow had been a nickname on so many occasions over the years as an abbreviated form of Willoughby; she felt that the name reflected her heritage, her mother's French roots, and her father's name. And as Lilah so crudely added, "it sounds posh in French."

The business represented everything that was important in her life, her independence, her success and of course her background, which despite earlier problems, she was no longer ashamed of. If anything she felt guilt over the past, but that wasn't essentially her fault either.

The basement of the house that she'd inherited was huge, and despite the generally poor lighting, she'd deemed it the perfect place to work from. But as she looked around the room crowded with machinery she knew she had to move on. She worked with small amounts of metal, so she didn't need to increase the size of her smelting machine for example, but at some point she would have to think about having an apprentice, and there was no room for two to work in the basement. She added 'factory search' to her already growing mental list of things to do.

"So this is where you're hiding!"

She looked up at Lilah's voice, "not hiding, just grafting." She held out her fist, then uncurled her fingers slowly, one by one, to reveal the complete first ring.

Lilah rushed towards her, taking it in her hand. When she lifted her eyes again, she gasped, "it's absolutely beautiful. I don't know how you do this; time and again...it's the best yet."

Nina smiled, "it's the most romantic...that's why it appeals to you, you old softy!"

Lilah laughed, "maybe...but it IS beautiful. You can't deny that."

She passed her the box to secure it safely, "I'll polish it properly tomorrow, when the other ring is ready."

"They're not due for another week."

"I know, but I'm going to France on Wednesday. I want to get them finished before I go."

Lilah's head shot up, "France? Why? You never said. Are you visiting your family?"

Shaking her head, Nina felt a little awkward admitting that she was taking a pensioner, a virtual stranger at that, on a road trip, not that she doubted that it was the right thing, she just knew that others might find it strange. Smiling at Lilah, she tried to play it down, "I'm taking Mansell one of the guys from Oakdale, to the D-day celebrations."

Lilah's jaw dropped open, "WHAT? Are you crazy?"

Nina laughed, she had wondered that a few times. "No! He's a war vet, it's a huge celebration and no one will take him, his family are too busy, it's seventy years since the landings. He should be there. He feels it's his last chance to see his brother's grave."