Somehow I went from buying cereal on-sale in a grocery store to skimming display cases of a jewelry store, and honestly, I had no idea how.

Just like the grocery store, the soft ringing of sleigh bells jingled along to Christmas tunes playing in the background. Excluding the salesclerks behind counters, only a few other people browsed the store, and quite frankly it made me feel a little too overly conscious.

There was an underlying pressure of buying something hanging in the room, and the constant stares and interrogation of the saleswomen walking around didn't help ease the tense atmosphere. One of these saleswomen in particular was extremely dedicated in making me buy any piece of jewelry I laid my eyes on.

"Ve don't usually get young boys leeke you who come eento shop. Vho are you shopping for?" she asked, her words reflecting a heavy Russian accent. The corners of her dark red lips were pointed outwards into a wide smile as she stood still, watching patiently as I awkwardly fumbled around with my fingers.

"Well I um, I don't really know," I replied, flicking my gaze towards the display case. Various shiny golden chains were draped over woven white stands, emphasizing their little details and differences through fixed lightening.

Her light brown eyes followed my gaze as she quickly rushed behind the counter.

"You leeke zees one? Here, you choose vheech one you leeke and ee'll take eet out for you yeah?"

She nabbed a little golden key from the black lanyard hanging around her neck, bending down to stab it into the small silver lock holding the two glass doors of the display case together. After a sharp click sounded, she quickly straightened up, shooting me yet another friendly smile.

"Uh...I um, don't know if I'll be buying anything to be honest."

Quite frankly, the only reason I everything into here was because I spotted a ring that reminded me of Wren. But then again, looking at the prices of everything in the store, I didn't think I'd be able to afford a thing here, let alone that ring.

"Come on, you are shopping for geerl no?"

Immediately I felt a tinge of heat spill over the sides of my cheeks.

"Uh, no, I just..."

Unsure as how to end the sentence, I simply froze up, trailing off.

She waved her hand at me, drawing my attention over to her over-sized nails, which were adorned with tiny specks of gold and little white pearls.

"Young love ee see. Lucky for you, ee'm a sucker for teenage love stories. So who eez zees geerl?"

I let out a nervous laugh.

"Well to be honest I um, don't know if I'm going to be shopping for a girl."

"Ahhh, ee see."

With that, she took her leave, letting me browse the store alone.

As I skimmed through the rows of silver necklaces lining the cases, I couldn't help but let my eyes trail back to what attracted me here in the first place.

It was a polished silver ring with a little wren, wings sprawled in a position of flight as it perched over top of a tree branch which served as the band. It sat over a long cylinder stand located just on top of the display cases, along with several other pieces of more bland silver jewelry, such as small circular earrings adorned with tiny rhinestones and a few plain rectangular shaped bracelets.

Trying my best to not seem too interested, I walked towards it, sliding the ring off the stand.  

"Are you eenterested een zeese peeces?"

I jolted back in surprise, flicking my attention towards the Russian saleswoman who had somehow teleported behind me. As per usual, the corners of her lips were tugged into a wide smile, one that reminded me of the Cheshire Cat.

She put her hand out in front of me, beckoning for me to place the ring on to her open palm. Obediently, I did.

"All zeez are Styerleeng seelver. Much cheeper zan normal seelver. And for only today, eet eez on sale. You leeke no?"

Her pale fingers traced the edges of the ring as she brought it closer up to her face, taking time to examine it carefully. With a nod of what seemed like approval, she handed it back to me.

"It's nice I guess," I muttered, letting my fingers trace of the bumps and ridges of the band.

"Only neece? Really?"

She shot me a questioning look, letting the smile on her face falter ever so slightly.

"Well, it's also pretty?"

My words came out more like a question than a statement really.

"Vell, eet eez only 50 dollars. Very good dyeal."

I hesitated for a moment, lowering my gaze back to the ring in my hand.

"I uh, don't have that money on me right now," I replied, fidgeting nervously with the ring between my fingers.

The Russian saleswoman let out a long sigh, but not too long after she flashed yet another wide smile.

"Leeke ee asked before, who are you getting zees reeng for? A geerl no?"

She raised a suggestive brow at me, the corner of her lips pulling upwards into a playful smirk.

I remained silent, letting yet another wave of heat wash over my ears.

"So yes, okay. How much money do you haf now?"

"Thirty," I muttered in embarrassment. I handed the ring back to her in an attempt of bringing her attention off my reddening cheeks.

"Ee leeke you. You are a cute leetle boy. Come weet me."

She lead me towards one of the cashiers at the other end of the store, spewing out quick orders to the clerk standing behind the cash register after handing the ring to her.

"Reeng is $30, feenal sale."

She made a swift motion with her chin towards me, quirking an eyebrow.

"Thank you," I murmured, a timid smile dancing over my lips. She proudly returned it, adding in a quick "you're velcome".

In a rather frantic manner, the lady behind the counter slipped the ring into a tiny red sachet with one hand, using the other to grab the bills in my hand and work the cash register.

As I took the little bag out of the lady's hand, I gave yet another "thank you" over to the Russian saleswoman.

She shot me a quick wink, along with playful grin.

"Ven you get ze geerl, ee get 25% of credeet. Good luck."