Alexander, sandwich shop worker (Negation)

My life changed at a farmer’s market.

Not the most exciting, I know, but it’s the truth. The market was my girlfriend Tess’s idea of a date night, and after nearly a year of dating, I knew to follow her.

Tess was kind of annoying as a girlfriend. She was drop-dead hot - shoulder length blonde hair, D cup tits but a slender figure, and a nice little ass too. But I couldn’t enjoy any of it, because Tess was romantic in the fun activities way.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy bowling and watching movies and, I guess, the farmer’s market. But Tess’s parents were devout Catholics and she very much believed in the “premarital sex is a sin” stuff. If I was lucky, I would get a chaste peck of a kiss at the end of the night.

I understood why she was hesitant to spend the rest of her life with me. I was a college dropout with a full-time job at Casper’s, the local sandwich shop. So I had little to no money, no future, and was still a virgin at 22.

I guess she approved of the virgin part.

Anyway, it was Sunday and she invited me out to the monthly farmer’s market, so of course I joined her.

She was sitting on a bench when I went up to meet her.

“Alex! It’s so nice to see you!” She pulled me in for a gentle hug.

I felt her pillowy breasts squish into me and tried to keep my erection out of the way. “You too, Tess. This’ll be romantic - picking out, uh, vegetables.”

She slapped me jokingly. “Who cares if it’s romantic? We may be together, but we’re also best friends, right?”

“Right,” I sighed. She took my hand and we walked down the aisles, looking at all the locally grown food and artisanal handicrafts. One reason I did stay with Tess was her personality - she wasn’t nearly as stuck-up as her parents, and she was always making jokes and being cordial with people.

One stall was a bit out of place, selling mostly antiques. I wasn’t sure if that classified as locally grown, but I was still happy to look around.

As I picked up an old wooden clock, I caught a glimpse of silver, way back in the shelf. Picking it up, I found a beautiful silver ring - it was fairly plain, but the quality was incredible. I figured I could give it to Tess - maybe even as an engagement ring. I slipped it on my left hand to test it out, and it fit well.

I went up to the vendor, some older guy with a pair of librarian glasses.

He glanced at my hand and smiled. “Ah, so you’ve found the ring… I was wondering when it would occur.”

Tess looked at me and snickered. “Um, okay, we were just wondering what the price was.”

“For such an incredible specimen as this? I would not take under $7,000.”

My jaw dropped. That was money I could never afford. “Are you for real?”

The old man laughed. “No, of course not. It’s such an old thing… does $30 sound alright?”

That, I could handle, so I paid the 30 bucks and kept it on my hand.

“Let me look at that thing,” Tess said. She held up my hand, looking at the ring’s subtle engraving.

“One ring to rule them all,” she joked in a low voice.

“You know the Lord of the Rings?” I smiled, thinking her parents had kept her away from that fantasy stuff.

“Um, no? Never heard of it.”

“But… isn’t that where the quote’s from?”

Tess chuckled. “No, it’s from Game of Thrones. I thought you were the nerd…”

I swore she was wrong, so I gave it a quick Google, but sure enough, I only got results for the iconic clip from Game of Thrones. My mind began to spin.

I turned back to the vendor, and he looked up at me with a smile.

“Hey, can you tell me anything more about this ring?”

He smirked. “No. Be careful what questions you ask.”

The pieces began to fit together - every question I asked had been answered “no” so far. I thought for a minute, and then asked the vendor: “Do you want to keep my thirty dollars?”

He shook his head no, handing the money back to me. “It’s all yours.”