The Ring

by Sarah Anne Carter

  “But, despite that, I’d like to see where this goes, too,” she said. Then, she leaned over and kissed him – the first time she had initiated a kiss. Lucas smiled and then kissed her again.

  Amanda tried to give the bonsai plant back to Lucas, but he asked if she would hang on to it. He had read a book on minimalism during the deployment and had realized with all his traveling, he really didn’t need many things. He and his coworker had decided on the small apartment to save money. Most of the time only one of them would be home anyway. Lucas explained that they could actually make a little money each month since the government gave them an allowance for housing and it was more than their rent and utilities. Amanda saw it for the first time when she went to their “New Apartment Party.” It was a two-bedroom apartment located on the second floor of a three-story building. There was a locked front door for their stairwell with an intercom buzzer system to let people in. Most of the people living in the apartment complex were college students, so Lucas and his roommate, Marc, wouldn’t have to worry about the noise level too much. Lucas had been able to save up a lot of money by packing his things away in a small storage unit while he was gone and not pay rent. He said that he knew he’d want a house one day, so he split up his extra money between saving for a house and getting ahead on his retirement fund. Amanda learned a lot about retirement from talking to Lucas and was glad she was hoping to take advantage of a school district’s matching IRA donations when she got hired.

  Lucas was gone for Thanksgiving and went to spend Christmas with his father and his new wife, who had two teenage boys. He then spent three months in Oklahoma while Amanda was student teaching, but came back just before she started going on job interviews. She was hoping to teach at her alma mater, but she had to keep her options open. For student teaching, her assignment was to work with the high school English teacher at the school district that had a huge population of military children. Amanda was assigned to work with Mrs. Trunker at Spanaway Lake High School. Mrs. Trunker let Amanda truly teach the three afternoon classes twice a week with a project Amanda organized. She picked a different book with each class and assigned them to read a chapter a week. They had one discussion class and one writing class that tied to the book. Mrs. Trunker gave her solid feedback every day and helped her with some of the tougher students. A few kids with parents in the Army hadn’t seen one of their parents for almost eight months as they were on a year-long deployment. One girl, Stephanie, was living with her neighbor since both of her parents were gone. Amanda suggested starting an after-school tutoring session for a few of those students, and Mrs. Trunker arranged the details with the school and parents. Amanda started really looking forward to the tutoring days on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

  Lucas loved hearing her stories about teaching and tutoring. They ended up talking on the phone almost every day while he was in Oklahoma. She was still working at the coffee shop on the weekends and some evenings to help her get through the summer. She was planning to move into an apartment before the school year started but wanted to make sure she had a teaching contract in place first. She wanted to live closer to downtown Tacoma, near the water, but also didn’t want to commute too far. In April, there were three high school teaching jobs in the area, and Amanda applied for all three. There was one in Spanaway, one in Tacoma, and one in Lakewood. She wanted the one in Lakewood because it was a seventh and eighth grade teacher, and the pay was the best of the three jobs. It was also closer to the water and Tacoma than Spanaway. She also thought it would be a good distance from Lucas’ apartment, which was near the fairgrounds in Puyallup.

  Amanda finally heard back from the schools just two weeks before graduation. She was offered the job at Tacoma and Lakewood, but not at Spanaway. She accepted the job in Lakewood and was able to sign the contract the morning of graduation. Her parents held a party that evening, and while it would be pretty small with just her two aunts and uncles coming, a few friends, and a few of the kids from Mrs. Trunker’s classes, Lucas had taken the day off, or “leave” as they said in the military, and would be with her all day. Juliana would be graduating the same day in Boston, and they planned their own celebration in two weeks – Juliana and Amanda were going to Paris for a week. Juliana’s parents had given her the trip to Paris with a friend as a graduation gift, and Juliana had picked Amanda in a heartbeat. She had no trouble getting the time off work at Coffee First – Jodie was almost as excited as Amanda about her going. Amanda was glad she already had her passport from when her parents took her to Canada after eighth grade. She had a one more year until it needed to be renewed.

  Her family gave her money as a graduation gift since they knew she was planning to move into an apartment and would need to furnish it. Her students had taken a blank book and passed it around for each kid to write her a letter. When they gave it to her, she quickly realized she would have to read it later as she started to tear up after reading the first two entries. She would treasure those letters for a long time and made sure they knew she really appreciated the gift. Mrs. Trunker gave her a teacher supply kit, full of items Amanda would need for her own classroom. Lucas gave her a hand-carved nameplate to put on her desk at school. It said “Ms. Schaffer,” and he had carved a dragonfly after her name. She smiled when she saw that, knowing he had remembered her saying she could watch dragonflies all day when they had seen one at the park a few weeks ago.

  Lucas said his goodbyes to her family right after they served cake. He had to be up early to leave on another trip. Amanda walked him to his car.

  “Thank you for being here today – all day,” she said.

  “I’m so glad I could. It’s a very important day. You should be so proud. I am,” he said.

  “I can’t believe I won’t see you for three weeks or more,” she said. He wouldn’t be back from his trip before she and Juliana left for Paris.

  “You’ll have so much fun, though,” he said. “This time, you can bring me a present.”

  He gave her a long kiss, and she watched him drive away before heading back into the house. She planned to put a letter in the mail to him so he would have something when he got back. While she knew she’d have a great time with Juliana, she couldn’t help but wish she was going to Europe with Lucas.

  Amanda loved Paris. Juliana fulfilled her promise to not pay attention to any guys during the trip unless they could use it to their advantage, like getting escorted to the Mona Lisa right when the Louvre opened so they wouldn’t have to wait in line, or the free gelato they got after dinner most nights. Amanda’s favorite place was Versailles. She could imagine Marie Antoinette or Napoleon walking on the same marble steps where she was putting her feet. They spent the whole afternoon walking through the gardens before taking the train back to their hotel. On their last day, they went shopping for an outfit each just so when they got compliments on it, they could tell people they bought it in Paris. To end the day and the trip, they watched the sunset from the top of the Eiffel Tower.

  Amanda didn’t sleep well on the flight home. She had started mulling over the possibility of living somewhere outside of Washington State, something she had never really considered, even with seeing parts of the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. Europe was so different, and she finally understood the allure of living somewhere new where she didn’t know every restaurant, tourist attraction, or historical marker. It had been fun to just explore Paris. Maybe that was the difference – she was able to enjoy and explore and not just learn about history and science like she did on her parents’ summer trips.

  She thought about Lucas a lot, too. She thought every night about what she would want to tell him about her day, but she was too tired to even write it down. While she had always been understanding about his lack of communication while on trips, she now truly understood how the days could get away from you while traveling and seeing new places. She would tell him that soon, but during the plane ride she jotted down notes to help her remember everything she wanted to tell him. He was picking Ama
nda and Juliana up from the airport and driving them each home. Their parents had dropped them off, but they weren’t arriving home until 11:32 p.m. Lucas had offered and Amanda had accepted, not realizing until later that he had blocked the time off as official leave so he wouldn’t get sent on a trip. She had tried to change his mind, saying one of their parents would be able to pick them up, but he said he really wanted to do it and he actually had to use some leave soon or it would be taken back.

  She finally fell asleep during the last two hours of the flight. Juliana had been out the whole time. Once they got through customs, they made their way to the exit. Lucas was waiting right on the other side.

  “Welcome home, girls,” he said as he walked up to give them both hugs. Then, he grabbed just Amanda to give her a hug and quick kiss. When he let her go, he grabbed their suitcases. “I’ll pull your luggage to the curb and then go bring the car around so you guys don’t have to walk.”

  “Thank you,” Juliana replied, sounding very awake.

  Amanda tried to keep her eyes open for the ride home, but found herself waking up to the sound of the door closing after Juliana left the car. Lucas helped her take her suitcase to the house and then came back to take Amanda home.

  “Sorry,” she said sheepishly as he got in. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep. I didn’t sleep much on the flight.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Your snore is actually quite cute.”

  “I don’t snore!”

  “Well, I’ll show you the video I took if you go out to dinner with me tomorrow, and we can settle it then.”

  “I’m sure it was just noise from your car, but yes, I’ll go out with you tomorrow. How about I call you when I wake up?”

  “Sounds good,” he said and then they stopped in her driveway. Lucas took her suitcase to the front porch and gave her a long goodnight kiss.

  “I’m glad you’re back. It was strange for me to be here and you to be gone.”

  “Yes, it was for me, too. But it was such a fun trip,” Amanda yawned, “which I’ll tell you about tomorrow. Must get sleep.”

  “Goodnight, my little traveler,” he said.

  Lucas almost had a normal schedule, if only in the fact that it was regular, after Amanda got back from Paris. He would be gone for about two weeks and home for a week, then it would repeat. He had started taking a few online classes while she was in Paris, which enabled him to sign in and do the work while he was on the road. He was studying finance. A college near a large military base in Nebraska offered the entire degree online, designed to be flexible for military personnel. It would all be paid for by the Air Force, too, which sounded great to Amanda.

  Amanda split her time that summer between Coffee First, the tutoring center, and developing her plan for the upcoming school year. She saw Lucas when he was in town, but spent a lot of time with Juliana who would be going back to MIT for an 18-month intensive master’s degree program that promised to get her a job with any big company out East. Her dream was to live in New York City or Chicago, and she was on track to do just that. Juliana helped Amanda with her apartment hunting in July. Amanda planned to move out the beginning of August so she could celebrate her 22nd birthday in her own place. Her birthday was August 7, and Lucas had just missed it last year because of the deployment. He had bought her “birthday plus one month flowers” on September 7, which she had thought was sweet.

  Amanda’s apartment was barely put together in time for the party. Juliana contacted any of their high school friends who were still in town, Lucas invited some of his work buddies, and Amanda asked a few friends from the teaching program who were planning to work in the local area. It was a luau-themed party with food, music, and karaoke. There were a few drinks available, and a lot of food. She had lucked out to find an apartment on the first floor, and her back door opened to a decent-sized concrete patio and a grassy area. It was only 50 feet away from the apartment complex’s volleyball court, so that was an option for people as well. Since she only had a small couch, Amanda borrowed lawn chairs from her parents.

  Amanda didn’t get to chat with Lucas much during the party, but he had been around all day helping her get ready. She tried to make it around to talk to everyone at the party. She had requested no one bring any presents, but was collecting new socks for the local homeless shelter. There was a huge pile by the front door, and she wanted to thank people personally for bringing them. Lucas had brought a dozen packages, along with some flowers. Amanda had talked to about everyone inside at one point, so she stepped outside to see who was hanging out there. A volleyball game was going on, and several people were standing near the court watching. Juliana and two friends from high school were sitting in their chairs on the porch talking about their job situations.

  Amanda started toward the volleyball court and saw Lucas, his roommate, and two other guys standing by the court. They were all smoking, which surprised Amanda. She had never seen Lucas smoke before.

  “I can’t wait to get back to Italy,” one guy said.

  “That was the best stop ever. There and Thailand, I’ve heard, are the only two places to get the good massages,” Lucas’ roommate replied.

  “Plus the clubs are all topless in Europe,” another guy said.

  “Yeah, it’s a great life,” Lucas chimed in.

  Amanda turned around and went back into her apartment. Did she really just hear her boyfriend talk about topless clubs and massages? And smoking? She thought to herself that she really shouldn’t be surprised – he was in the military after all. She got herself a glass of wine and joined the people singing karaoke inside. She would try to put it out of her mind for tonight since it was her birthday, but she’d have to talk to him about it soon. When the party ended, she said a quick goodbye to Lucas as he walked out with his buddies. They were going to go to a place to shoot pool. He had asked her to come along, but she said she was tired. Juliana was the last one left and decided to crash there to help Amanda clean up in the morning. Amanda just wanted to put the food away before crawling into bed. She started to talk to Juliana about what she heard while she was putting the food away, but when there was a pause for Juliana to respond, it was quiet. Amanda peaked around the door to the living room from the kitchen and saw Juliana fast asleep on the couch. It would all have to wait until tomorrow. Despite how much it was bothering her, Amanda fell asleep almost as soon as she lay down.

  “Why don’t you call him now before I have to leave to get ready for work?” Juliana asked when they were both finally awake the next morning.

  “It’s only 8:30. He’s probably still asleep.”

  “Well, then he won’t be able to think up any lies.” Juliana grabbed Amanda’s phone and started looking up Lucas’ number. When she found it, she handed it to Amanda. “Here, just hit call.”

  Amanda stared at the phone for a minute and then took it from Juliana. She hit call and listened to it ring and ring. It went to voicemail.

  “Give me a call when you get this. There’s something I want to talk to you about. Bye.” Amanda knew her voice sounded curt, and Lucas would know something wasn’t right.

  Juliana looked disappointed that Lucas hadn’t picked up, but instead of dwelling on it, they spent the next half hour cleaning up the apartment from the party. It wasn’t that bad, but there was some litter scattered in the grass out back. All Amanda had left was the bathroom and vacuuming when Juliana left for work. They had plans in a few days to have dinner at Phyllos before Juliana left again. They both knew it was most likely the last time they would live near each other for a very long time, but they had talked about taking a big trip together every few years just to stay close.

  Amanda had the weekend off for her birthday – she decided to go shopping, get lunch from her favorite deli, and then come home and read on her back porch. Her parents were taking her out to dinner that night, and her Aunt Vicky was coming from Spokane. Lucas didn’t call until right as she was leaving for dinner, so she let it go to voicemail. She didn�
�t have time for a long discussion and just wanted to enjoy the evening. She listened to his message on her way to her parents’ house.

  “Amanda, hey, I’m sorry I didn’t call back earlier. I left my phone in Marc’s car and didn’t realize it until just a little bit ago. We didn’t get home until 4 a.m., but I won $100 playing pool. You sound upset, so please call me back soon. I hope I didn’t do anything stupid.”

  Amanda didn’t check her phone again until she got back in her car at her parents’ house after dinner. Her aunt had announced she was pregnant and they would be moving closer as her husband, Uncle Eddie, was being transferred to Seattle. They were going to look at houses south of the city so they would be closer to her parents. Vicky and her mom were sisters, and they spent most of the dinner talking about the baby. Her aunt had given her a really nice personal planner that was designed for teachers. It was something that would come in very handy soon.

  She had three missed calls from Lucas but no more voicemails. She decided to wait until she got home to decide whether to call him back or not. She noticed someone sitting on the step leading up to the second floor by her apartment when she pulled into the parking lot. She wasn’t sure, but the height looked like it could be Lucas. She put two keys through her fingers in one hand and made a fist while holding her cell phone in the other – just in case she needed to protect herself. The figure stood when she was just a few feet away from her car and she relaxed – it was Lucas.

  “Hi, Amanda,” he said in a quiet voice. “I was hoping you’d be back here before too long. I got alerted this afternoon and have a lot of laundry to do before leaving Monday.”

  “Where to this time? Italy? Thailand?” she couldn’t help but ask right away. His eyes quickly showed recognition to knowing what conversation she was referring to.

  “Amanda, I swear I don’t do those things. The guys were just talking, and I don’t like to make a point of being different all the time.”