The Missing Ring

The Missing Ring   

Two years ago
The atmosphere was gentle and laid back, the perfect atmosphere for a good time. The small club was filled with young adults looking for a good time; a time to unwind from the stressful week that is now passed them. The live band set the mood with their music that was easy listening, yet easy to dance to. The middle of the large room was used as a dance floor, where young adults would meet and dance together, hoping to find a connection.  Outside of the dance floor was an arrangement of tables and dining booths, were the guests can converse and enjoy each other’s company.
 
A young man maneuvered through the dance floor, as if he were looking for someone that he recognized. The young man was nicely dressed in a light blue button-up shirt that was draped over a clean pair of blue jeans and pair of black formal dress shoes. While looking around, the young man sipped on the drink that resided in his right hand.
 
Okay, this is uncomfortable. The young man thought to himself, taking a sip of his drink. I guess I should just sit down. I feel foolish standing in the middle of the dance floor. The young man made his way away from the dance floor and took a seat at a nearby table that just happened to be empty. He took another sip of his drink, hoping to not look too out of place.
 
I feel so out of place here. I don’t belong here.
 
The young man scanned the dance floor. He looked over the appearances of the dancers while they moved to the rhythm of the live band. The small club was filled with very attractive people, all of whom were dressed in their nicest clothes. This was the best way to show your best side which increases ones chances of being noticed by a fellow dancer.
 
While scanning the crowd, the young man analyzed the appearance of every female in his eyesight’s path, trying to gather an idea of their personalities, hoping to find a young lady that he could meet and make a connection with. All of the women in the club wore tight dresses that frame their best bodily assets.
 
Even if I see someone I want to talk to that doesn’t mean that I’d be able to talk to them. The young man thought to himself as he still scanned the room for the perfect person to talk to. His eyesight left the agenda of scanning the crowd and met with the doorway. Maybe I should leave. I don’t need to be here. I don’t belong here.
 
Finishing the last of his drink, the young man set the glass down on the table and looked toward the bar, which was across the room, next to the exit.  Sitting at the end of the bar was a very attractive woman in a low-cut red dress. As she sipped in her own drink their eyes met. She smiled at the young man. He smiled back at her.
 
He looked her over and smiled even wider. He was mesmerized by her appearance and her gaze. Her bright red lips parted in a pleasant smile. Without ever speaking a word she seemed to be communicating to the young man who sat at the table across the room.
 
With a silent tone the woman mouthed the word, “Hi,” to the young man. The young man returned the greetings with his own silent speak. The young man stood to his feet and made his way to the woman in the tight red dress.
 
“Hello,” She said with a smile.
 
“Hey,” He returned.
 
“I’m glad you came over.” She said gliding a single finger around the rim of her glass. She never broke her gaze on the young man.
 
“Yeah, I was thinking of leaving, but….” He began to explain; he searched to find the right words as he shuffled nervously.
 
“Then it’s a good thing that I saw you.”  
 
The two began a conversation instantly. Within moments the conversation moved from average small talk to the couple getting to know each other further. With everything the young man shared, the woman was intently engaged. With every opportunity, she would use a variety of body language techniques to further the conversation along.
 
“Well, I’d better head home.” The beautiful woman said, standing to her feet.
 
“Well, were do you live?” The young man asked who also stood to his feet.
 
“Not too far from here,” She said. Her gaze was intense and passionate. She smiled at the young man.
 
“Can I walk you home?” He asked with a shy smile.
 
“That would be great.” She responded.
 
The two of them headed for the exit side-by-side. As they entered the night air, a chill brushed against their skin, adding a layer of goose bumps to the skin. The young man shoved his hands into his pockets to keep them warm. His female companion walked close to him. Their shoulders often rubbed together as they made their way down the street.
 
The couple found themselves filling the time with more small talk and even deeper conversation as they walked through the dark street under the moon-lit sky. They both enjoyed each other’s company. 
 
The young man felt the smooth touch of the woman’s fingertips gliding against his wrist. He removed his fist from his pocket and the two hands soon found themselves entangled in an intimate handhold.
 
“Well, here we are.” The woman in the red dress said, pointing to the building to her left. “This is my place.” They stood next to a tall building of apartments.
 
“Well, I’m glad I met you. It was a pleasure.” The young man said smiling shyly. He had lost his grip on her hand and shoved his hand back into his front pocket.
 
“Thank you for walking me home.” She said with a seductive smile.
 
“You’re welcome,” Before he could finish his thought the woman in the red dress leaned in and kissed the young man. He embraced the kiss as the kiss grew more passionate between them.
 
The couple parted lips, leaving a few inches between them. She smiled at him. He returned with a smile of his own.
 
“Would you like to come up to my place?” She asked, her gaze penetrating his own.
 
“Y-Yes,” He said in a light tone.
 
Her smile grew seductive at she looked deeper into his eyes.

Six months ago
 
“Son, let me tell you something.” A peppered haired male spoke to the young adult sitting across the table from him. The two of them sat in a darkened room. The dim light from the TV illuminated the room in a light glow. The room was filled with other occupants that were enjoying the company of friends and family over drinks and meals.
 
The young man looked up to his father as if he were thinking, “I already know what you’re going to say.” The young man realized that his father had invited him out in order to have a serious discussion with his son.
 
“Yeah,” The young man said to his father, looking him in the eyes. The father took a final drink of his beer before he began.
 
“I know what you’re doing. I know what you’re going through.” The father tried to start, unsure what to say. “I mean, I see what’s going on. You’re exploring. You’re trying to learn who you are and you’re trying to learn what you want.”
 
“What do you mean? I don’t understand.” The young man asked his father. The young man’s demeanor transformed from resentment for his father’s words to curiosity about his father’s words.
 
“I’ve been where you are in life. I used to do this too.” The father continued as he took another sip of his drink.
 
“Okay, I’m lost.” The young man said, confused.
 
“The women, son,” The father added firmly. “I see how you have been treating them. Every time I see you, you have another woman with you.”
 
“I don’t see why that matters to you.” The son shot back to his father. “I’m nothing doing anything wrong. I just enjoy their company.”
 
“Oh, I know. I’ve used to enjoy their company too. Yet, I had to learn. I learned that it never made me happy. I only hurt myself and I hurt the ladies as well.” The father tried to explain, realizing that his son’s eyes had glazed over, indicating that he was no longer listening to the words of his father.
 
“I am happy.” The young man retorted.
 
“Are you?” The father asked, taking yet another drink. “That’s good. I don’t think it’s going to last though. It never does.”
 
There was a long silence between the two.
 
“I just don’t want you to get hurt.” The father reassured his son.
 
“I won’t. I’m fine.” The young man replied with short statements filled with spite.
 
“Son,” the mentally exhausted father continued, unwilling to give up on his son. “Your mother and I always taught you that there are predators in this world, both men and women. They both take advance of each other. They both hurt each other. We just don’t want you to become one of them.”
 
“I’m not.” The son said.
 
“There are a lot of great women out in this world, but the path that I see you on will lead you to the predator, or the harlot; the type of women who will lure you into her life just to hurt you and take everything that you have to offer. They will do this regardless of how it hurts you.”
 
“Dad, I’m not doing anything wrong. I’ll be fine.” The young man stood to his feet and walked out of the restaurant, leaving his father sitting in the booth, alone.
 
The father bowed his head in prayer as he sat at the table alone. His face was distorted with the look of concern for his son.

One year ago
 
The couple entered into a nicely decorated house that was decorated with nice furniture, which showed that the occupant was well-established and organized. The lights were flicked on, illuminating the apartment in a bright light.
 
The couple kissed once again.
 
“Go ahead and make yourself at home on the couch, I’ll be there in a minute.” The woman in the red dress said, leading the young man to the living room.
 
“Okay,” The young man responded in a quiet whisper.
 
After a moment, the woman entered the living room with two drinks in her hand. She was dressed in a seductive robe that was tied at the waist only tight enough to cover her body. The young man looked at her with amazement and excitement. With a single glimpse, the young man did not need to imagine what his partner was wearing beneath the robe.
 
He took the drink that was offered to him and took a sip of the beverage. The drink was something that he had never tasted before, yet he instantly liked it. The robed woman sat next to the young man, leaning into his shoulder.
 
The couple’s eyes met. She smiled. He smiled.
 
“We didn’t come up here just to sit on the couch. Don’t you want to see what I’m wearing for you?” She said with a seductive smile as she led her hand down the opening of her robe to the lightly tied knot at her waist. With a gentle hand, she allowed the knot to untie, causing her robe to loosen.
 
“Hello, beautiful.” The young man said in reaction. 
 
The couple kissed.

Six months ago
 
The young man angrily entered the house of his parents. With a slam of the door, he entered in his old bedroom and lay on the bed. The words of his father filled his mind, filling him with a swirl of emotion and confusion.
 
Is everything that my dad said right? Am I mistreating these women? Why am I doing this? Why does it matter? Who is it hurting? I’m not hurting anyone! I’m just living my life! I really like these girls. What does my dad know anyway?
 
The young man remained on the bed, lying on his back. His head hung over the edge of the bed. The young man’s hands were stretched over his forehead, shoving his hair back off of his forehead.
 
The young man’s eyes were filling with tears. The young man had a heart of gold, therefore he hating the idea of ever hurting anyone. His father knew this; this was the meaning of the meeting that the young man angrily ran out of.  
 
My father says that I’m lost. My father says that I’ll be mistreated by a woman, a harlot. Is this true? But I haven’t mistreated anybody! Am I truly lost? Was my father right? I’m sorry!
 
The young man thought of the various women that he has met and dating in his recent years. He began to rethink their encounters and their relationships. He thought through his various sexual encounters, realizing that these encounters are very harmful.   
 
“I’m sorry!” The young man cried aloud. His face was red and wet from tears. With every gasp of breathe between tears, the young man wiped the tears from his cheeks only to be replaced by new puddles of tears.
 
“It’s okay,” A familiar voice uttered from behind the young man. The young man looked towards the door, where his father stood. “Look son, I didn’t mean to offend you. I just needed you to know what I saw. I needed you to know about my past as well.”
 
“I need help.” The young man said through his tears. “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”
 
“It’s okay, son, I know that you didn’t even know that you were hurting anyone. You were just doing what too many people do at your age. It is a time of our age that we truly need to change.”
 
“I guess I never really understood the effect of those actions.” The young man suggested. He wiped a final puddle of tears off of his face. “What do I do now?”

Current day
 
The young man awoke, lying in a strange bed, in a room that did not belong to him, in a state of mind that he did not recognize. Sitting up in the bed, the young man wiped the morning crust from his eyes while he looked around the room.
 
“Hello?” The young man spoke in groggy, early morning voice. His eyes shifted around the room, looking for any resemblance of another person. There was nothing.
 
The room was brightly lit by the sunshine, which peered in though the window just across the bed. The bedroom was nicely decorated, as was the living room and the rest of the house, yet, the bedroom was decorated with very light colors, giving it a very comforting feeling. Yet, the young man didn’t feel comforted.  
 
The young man’s stomach was tied in a knot as he thought through the actions of the previous night. He thought through each kiss, each embrace, and each unholy act. As the thought journeyed through his mind, his stomach became more and more uneasy.
 
“Oh God, what did I do?” The young man thought to himself, laying his head back in disbelief. “I guess I better get out of here.” The young man pulled himself from the comforts of the bed and looked at the floor for his scattered clothes. Piece by piece his collected his clothes, ensuring that he had everything that belonged to him. As he collected an article of clothing, he would put it on: first, he reached for his pants, which he pick up off of the floor and shoved his legs into the leg holes, one leg at a time. Next, he grabbed his white T-shirt that he wore underneath his blue button up shirt.
 
“Well, it looks like all of stuff is…..”The young man’s voice trailed off. With his blue button up shirt hanging from his fist, the young man looked up from the floor with a shocked look on his face. “Wait, where is my…..”
 
The young man patted his back pocket, where the average man keeps their wallet. There was nothing there. The young man patted his pocket yet again, there was nothing there. He checked his other pockets quickly, yet again, nothing was found.
 
In a panic the young man pulled the bedroom door open. He was greeted with more bright lights, not only from the natural light of the sun, but from the florescent lights that were left on.
 
“Well, hello.” A sweet voice said from the brightly illuminated kitchen. The young man, still holding his button up shirt in his fist, turned his attention to the lovely lady in the kitchen. It was the lady in the red dress except without the red dress, but a lightly flowing robe covering her body.
 
“I was just going to wake you,” she added, looking at the already dressed young man. “Are you leaving?”
 
“I-I thought you were gone.” He managed to reply, still confused at the situation at hand. “Hey, you would happen to know where my wallet is, would you.” His stomach was filled with butterflies at the sheer utterance of the question. A question he’d hoped he never had to ask.
 
“Yeah, it’s right here.” She responded, pointing to the leather billfold lying on the counter. “I think you set it there last night.” She added.
 
“Why would I do that?” He thought to himself. He felt a heavy weight lift off of his shoulders as he grabbed the wallet and shoved it into the back pocket of his pants.
 
“How about you have a seat, I’ll bring you some coffee.” The lovely lady requested, turning her back to the young man. Soon she returned to the young man, joining him on the couch.
 
The two made eye contact, but his eyes quickly shifted down, taking another look at her body; the body that had enthralled him from their first encounter. With his eyes still shifting over her body, his stomach turned over, becoming more upset than it was earlier this morning.
 
She leaned in to greet him with a kiss. He pulled away. 
 
“We need to stop.”  He whispered to himself with eyes that were glazed over.
 
“What?” She asked for clarification, pulling away from him.
 
“We need to stop. We can’t do this anymore.” He spoke up, finally looking at her through clear vision.
 
“We’ve got to stop what?” She asked with a stern look on her face.
 
“This! We have to stop whatever this is!” He proclaimed, pulling himself off of the couch. She quickly jettisoned to her feet to see him face-to-face.
 
“What are you…?” She began to ask.
 
“Where is your husband?” He interjected without letting her finish her question. The question caught her off guard.  She thought; unsure that she ever remembered mentioning her husband. She looked down at her left hand, focusing on the third finger, the ring finger. It was encircled with a tan line that outlined the placement of a wedding ring, a wedding ring that she had removed more times than she could count.
 
“Who says I don’t have a husband?” She retorted.  
 
“Look, we have been doing this for over two years. We meet at the same place, at the same time. We have sex and then we don’t speak until the next meeting.” She seemed surprised at his sudden outburst of accusations.
 
“You can’t tell me you’re not enjoying it.” She responded, keeping the seductive smile on her face. She wrapped her arms right below her bust.  
 
“You’re right, I’ve enjoyed it. To be completely honest with you, I yearn for it, but I’ve realized something; this is not living.”
 
“This is exactly what living is; no thoughts, nothing tying you down, just raw lust and desire. It’s natural.”
 
“It’s death.” He spat back. “Neither of us is putting into this relationship, it’s not growing the way relationships are meant to grow…”
 
“Relationships are too restricting. I’m looking for freedom. ”
 
“Since you’re looking for freedom, then go back to your husband. You’ll realize you had freedom with him the whole time.”
 
He pulled himself away from her attempts to embrace him and moved away. She seemed in shock over his boldness.
 
“Since I met you, since we’ve starting this affair, I haven’t been the same.”
 
“Yeah, you’ve grown into quite the man” She swiftly looked over his body, allowing her thoughts to roam free.
 
“I’ve become a coward. I’ve be treating all ladies like….like….well, like the way you treat me; like a toy. I would not take their thoughts, their feeling or their wants into consideration. I would have sex with them and left them with the pain and broken lies. They were just place holders until I got to be with you, the actual person I wanted to be with.”
 
For the first time her expression went from seductive to a look of realization. She unfolded her arms and tightened the robe around her body. It was as if she heard very shocking and devastating news.
 
“I guess I never really told you, but our time together was about more than just sex, at least until the sex started. I wanted to know you more than just being the lady in the red dress, but the only thing that you were interested was sex.” He finally flung the button up shirt over his arms and began buttoning it up.
 
She sat back on the couch, still wearing the shocked look on her face.
 
“Like I said, go back to your husband, and love him the way that he deserves. We are done. It’s time that we both begin living.”
 
 
*Inspired by Proverbs chapter 7