Angels of Long Island | Mathew Barzal

~32~

A few weeks later, Mat's dad and I worked out the final details of their trip. I set up that we would be having a small party at my parents house in Roslyn. It's the first time Mat meets my parents and Colton. Its also the first time I meet Mat's parents and sister, Liana. She was actually the most nervous to meet. Sister always have an intuition. I should know, I am one. Any time Colton had a girl over and I didn't like her, it usually didn't end very well. Mat still wasn't aware that his family was coming. All he knew was that we were meeting my family for Christmas. I could wait to see the look on his face when his parents were already there. I had arranged for them to get there after Mat and I did so he'll be really surprised.

I even picked out a little gift for him aside from getting his parents to him. I found a new pendant for the end of the necklace he wears and never takes off. It came as a matching set but I only bought the one for a guy. 

It's a silver ring that's engraved with the words "I will always be with you" on it and it also has a black ring interlocking it.

MAT'S POV

One day, Lexi had gone out with Sophia after not seeing her for almost a month. It's almost Christmas and she said she didn't want anything but I got her something anyways. I went to the mall one day with Beau, who was shopping for Lauren. "Let's go to Kay" He said. I agreed and went along with him into the store. "Good afternoon gentleman!" The salesman said once we entered the store, surrounded by glittering jewelry. "Girlfriend shopping?" He asks. "Yeah." We both say. "Is there anything in particular you're looking for?" The man asks. "No I think we're just looking right now." Beau says, starting to browse. I started to look too. I looked at all the watches and bracelets and earrings they had in the case and then I walked down a bit farther and looked at the necklaces. After about 15 minutes of looking, Beau came over to where I was looking; he had given up looking here. I, on the other hand, was still looking at a particular necklace. "Is there anything you'd like to see?" The same salesman asks. "Actually, are any of these changeable with like different stones?" I ask, poking at the glass case. "Yes sir, these right here are. Is there one you'd like to see?" He asks. "I like this one here." I say, pointing to a circular shaped necklace. The man unlocks the case and reaches in for it. He holds it out for me and I look at it. "You can interchange the stones that make up this ring here and this spot here is for an engraving. Usually about 3 letters." He explains. "I really like this one." I say, admiring how it sparkled just when he was holding it up in the store light. I was picturing Lexi wearing it and I decided this was her gift. "Perfect, how can we customize this for you? Would you like to keep this diamond or make it a colored stone?" The man asks, grabbing an order pad to write down my requests. "Can I make it my birthstone?" I ask. "You certainly can! What's your birth month?" The man asks me. "May." I tell him. "Ok, so that's Emerald." The man says, talking to himself and writing it down on the paper. "And what engraving would you like?" He says, looking back up at me. "Can I just get an M on it?" I request. "Sure thing, would you like it in plain or fancy font?" "Fancier please." I ask. He writes all this down and the asks "Ok, and would you like this to be Rose Gold, Yellow Gold or White Gold?" He asks, pulling out different chains of the different materials. I inspect them all before saying "White gold." "Perfect! This will look amazing." The salesman said. I glance back at Beau, who's standing behind me with his arms crossed over his chest, smiling at my choice. "You mentioned this was for your girlfriend?" He asked, walking back to a register. "Yeah." I say, setting my phone down on the counter; and as I did so, my wallpaper popped up

"She'svery lucky. This will be a very beautiful necklace." The man tells me. "May Ijust see your I.D. please?" He adds. I fish my wallet out of my pocket and whipout my license, showing my NHL pro card. 

"Ok Mr. Barzal, here you go." He says, handing me back my ID. I finish checking out and he hands me a receipt. "Give us a week and we'll have it ready for you. We'll call you when it's ready." He says, shaking my hand. "Will do, thanks for your help." I tell him before Tito and I turn to leave. Once we're out of the store, Tito turns to me and says "Lex will love that. I was picturing it as you were telling him what you wanted and if I was a girl, I'd want a necklace like that." "Thanks bud. It's a shame you didn't find something for Laur. You want to go to a different store and look?" I ask. He says yes and we go to a different jewelry store and he ends up finding a necklace he liked and he got to take it home with him. We managed to get in and out of the mall without being seen by too many fans.