The next morning, I took a shower, got dressed, and headed to work.
The only difference was that Jessica was looking at me weird. When we were finally on break, I asked, "Why are you staring at me like that?"
"You...have an unearthly glow to you." she said in awe.

All of a sudden, I felt the dream fade, and I was sitting up, panting.
My heart was still pounding fast, and I could barely breathe. The dream felt so real.
I tried to go back to sleep, but to no avail. I tossed and turned the rest of the night.

I was standing in front of a jungle. It was humid, and I was searching for clues as to my whereabouts.
There weren't any signs, and I was growing impatient. Suddenly, I heard a tremendous ROAR, and I turned around slowly. I gasped and held my breath as I saw an orange and black tiger looking at me with ravenous golden eyes.
My mind told me to run, even though that defeated logic, because I couldn't outrun a tiger.
I could run, even if I wanted to. My feet were planted to the ground. I felt immobile. Every bone in my body was tense.

I sighed. Finally, I took the ring out from inside the book and put it underneath my pillow.
My dream that night was disturbing...

"I live in the ring."
I snorted, "That's impossible."
She frowned prettily as she looked at me, "I wish it was. I have been cursed to live in the ring, until one can free me. I come from 1200 B.C. A powerful king has cursed me to this, because I had refused to marry him. Only one can rescue me. Everyone else has failed."
I furrowed my brow, "Even Shawn?"
Jewel slowly shook her head, "He was not meant to carry the ring."
"Then why did he have it to begin with?"
"It's very...difficult to explain. The ring goes to anyone who feels despair, because that is what I have gone through. It gives them the purpose that they search for, but most of them find a painful death from their failure. Shawn, however, kept a hold of the ring, so it became restless and found you."
"What am I supposed to do with it?"
"Set me free. The ring will lead the way." she smiled as she slowly began to disappear.
"Wait. You can't leave me with all these questions I have!"
"My time is up. Do not worry. You will soon know what to do." with that, she was gone.
I slowly sat down on the couch, staring at the book that the ring was in. It wasn't shining brightly anymore, and the book was out of the bookcase part way.
I got up and slid it back in, but it slid back out.

Someone would come in and notice, and that was the last thing I wanted.
After work, I went home and laid on my bed, staring at the ceiling until the pain in my chest went away.
No one knew about the pain of loneliness and heartbreak that I felt everyday. I kept it to myself, hoping that it would go away. Besides-what would anyone do about this? Suggest I go to a psychiatrist? Nah, I'd rather deal with the pain by myself.
Suddenly, the book that i had put the ring in began to glow brightly. I gasped as I sat up and scooted backwards.
A woman stood in front of me and smiled. She was an Indian girl with tanned, smooth skin, long, flowing black hair, and a beautiful smile, "You must be Katherine."
Instead of confirming my name, I stared at her and asked, "Who are you?"
"I'm Aabharana." her smile was friendly.
"Huh?" I was now staring with my mouth open.
She laughed, "Or you can just call me Jewel."
I nodded, "Yeah, that's easier to say, but what are you doing in my room?"
She looked confused, "You brought me here."
"No, I didn't." I protested as I stood up, starting to freak out again.
"The ring..."
I quickly went to a drawer and pulled out a gun, "Why do you want the ring?"
She laughed again, and I felt stupid, even though I was the one holding the gun.

The next day, I went to work, and Jessica was there, waiting for all the "news." She could barely contain her excitement. I decided that I should  probably just try to ignore her expression and get right to work. I was still confused. I hadn't looked at the ring since I put it in the book, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to.
Jessica walked up to me while I was wiping down tables, "So...how did it go?"
"It went well. We talked. He seemed really nice." I shrugged.
Jessica looked at me like I was crazy, "You talked? What else did you do?"
"Well, we went to our separate houses." I wasn't making eye contact.
She had a prepared a party just for me to find a boyfriend, or more than one boyfriend, and I screwed it up. She was not going to be very happy.
I went to the back to start cleaning trays. She followed me, and just like I expected, she was really upset, "I planned a party for you, so you could get out more. You can't be alone your whole life, Kat."
I sighed, "I know, but now, I guess, isn't the right time." I really didn't want to explain my concept of love to Jessica. She wouldn't understand.
She looked at me with pleading eyes, "Then when is the right time?"
I shrugged my shoulders, "I don't know." she left me to my own thought for the rest of the day.
It was a relief, but at the same time, I felt even lonelier. I wanted to collapse to the floor with the same pain that was in my chest, but i knew that that was not a very good idea.

I looked at him, "So you believe in fate?"
Shawn raised an eyebrow, "Of course, do you?"
I shrugged my shoulders, "I don't know what to believe."
Shawn seemed to ponder about what I had said for a minute, and then he looked at me, "I can understand that, but just believe that you need to take care of this. Someone can use it for the wrong thing."
"Get your story straight!" I was exasperated, "Now you're saying that is more than just a diamond?!"
He winked, "You will see what it can do."
"I can't wait." I mumbled as I put the diamond ring in my purse.
Shawn stood up, "I should go."
I looked up at him in shock, "Where are you going?"
He looked confused, "I'm going home."
"You can't just get rid of a diamond and say, 'Goodbye!' I need your phone number, so if I need help, you're the first one I'm going to call."
He laughed at my alarmed expression, "Okay." We exchanged phone numbers, and I felt a little bit more at ease.
I still thought that this was strange, but at least I wasn't completely alone. The main downfall now was that there was no hiding places for a bright diamond ring.
I sighed as I decided to use the oldest trick in the book, because sometimes, it works. I got out a book that I liked the least and started cutting out a square in the pages of the book. I put the ring in there and closed it. It didn't look noticeable. I was proud of myself. I put the book back on the shelf and went to bed...

"Let me start from the beginning." the man sighed.
"You do that." I said as I folded my arms.
He looked off into the distance, "I used to be like you, you know, lonely, desperate, not knowing the point of life. This diamond seems to pick people like us, it makes us feel like we are worth something, but now it's becoming desperate. Someone greedy and cruel is coming after it, and it picked you."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. How do you know that it picked me? It's a freakin' diamond!"
"Because the minute you entered the room, it started shining like crazy. I had to hide it so it wouldn't cause any suspicions." he laughed.
I looked at him, "How did you know about the party?"
"Fate." he shrugged his shoulders.
I raised an eyebrow, "Care to elaborate?"
"I went into Taco Bell one day, and your friend, Jessica, was kind enough to invite me."
"Jessica was inviting random strangers to her party?!" i might have said it a bit too loudly.
Shawn looked confused, "Well, yeah, who did you think all those men were?"
He did have a point, and I had to think about it for a minute, "Well, uh, I don't know. Maybe some more friends of hers?"
Shawn laughed, "Hate to disappoint you, but that wasn't the case."
I winced. She was trying to have me hook up with strangers, and that didn't make me feel any better.
Shawn sighed, "Look, if you want help with the diamond, fine, but don't get upset with your friend. This was mean to happen."

The man didn't seem at ease, either. He had dark brown hair and bright green eyes.
"I want you to have this." he said. He put a ring in my hand.
I looked at it. It was a beautiful pink diamond, and I quickly gave it back to him, "Whoa, aren't we supposed to go on a few dates first? I mean, I don't even know your name! No offense, you're good looking and everything, but I think we should wait." I was rambling, but I couldn't help it.
He started laughing, and that made me blush and stop talking. "My name is Shawn. No worries. I'm not proposing. This is a rare diamond. You're supposed to take care of it."
"Um..." all time seemed to stop as I pondered that response, "Why?"
Shawn looked around, seeming to notice that we were truly alone for the first time. It also didn't seem to bother him now, "I don't know," he admitted a little sheepishly, "But you need to keep the Argyle safe."
"Great. What am I supposed to do-put a hole in the wall, so I can install a safe, so I can hide it in there?"
Shawn turned his gaze toward me, "Honestly, I don't know."
I started laughing, "You don't know? You just want to hand off a rare diamond, say, 'Keep it safe and good luck,' and then just expect me to take it and be okay with it? It's not going to happen."
Shawn sighed, "That's kind of what happened to me."
"Well, then you're stupid." I said bluntly, still in shock.

Jessica was not kidding when she said that this party was a matchmaking process for me. There were almost no girls here. Granted, there were a few here and there, but they didn't interested in any of the men.
Not only that, it seemed like all the men were talking trailing me. There were at least ten of them.
I tried to pay attention to each and every one of them, but it was starting to get annoying. They all wanted to know me better (or my body).
At the end, I was so exhausted, I fell down on Jessica's couch. The men slowly started to leave around midnight, but one man stayed behind.
Jessica winked at me as she slowly started to ascend the stairs, "Oh, and feel free to use the couch!" she laughed.
I pleaded with her with my eyes. They begged her not to leave, but she ignored my puppy eyes and continued up the stairs.
Realizing that I was awkwardly left alone with a male stranger, I gulped and fidgeted with my hands.

I sighed dramatically, "Fine, but if it goes all wrong, I will blame you."
"Deal!" Jessica smiled. She squealed as she jumped up and down, "This is so exciting!"
I looked at her with a quizzical look, "If I didn't know better, I'd say you live your life through me."
Jessica shrugged but looked at me guiltily, "Well, it's been awhile since I've had this much excitement."
I sighed, "Alright. Let's get this over with."