"Doesn't Really Matter"
"Excuse me?" Piper looked over at the dark-haired woman who had just sat down across from her. The woman looked back, her hazel eyes glinting with amusement. "Hi. Sorry, but that seat's, um..." She trailed off, momentarily distracted by a gleam of light reflecting off the woman's ring. She wore only the one piece of jewelry, but the stone in it was massive and polished to an iridescent sheen that caught the eye and held it. "It's, um, taken. Sorry."
The woman moved her hand slightly, almost unnoticeably save for the way that it caused the gemstone to shine in the flickering candlelight. "That doesn't really matter, though, does it?" she said calmly.
Piper furrowed her brow, uncertain of what exactly the woman meant. "Well, it's just that it's my boyfriend's." She looked up at the woman's face, but then the light refracted a rainbow of color into her eye and she glanced down at the ring again. It was amazing, she thought. The light almost seemed to dance on the smooth surface like a sheen of oil on water. "The seat, I mean," she said, the words suddenly feeling thick and clumsy in her mouth. "I'm waiting for him, and when he gets here, he'll want to sit here. I mean there."
The woman nodded, but Piper only noticed it out of the corner of her eye. "That doesn't really matter, though. Not right now. He's not here yet, and you don't need to spend that time waiting for such an inconsiderate boy all by yourself, do you? Not when you and I can pass the time so pleasantly together."
"I, um...I suppose you're right," Piper said with a touch of reluctance in her voice. She didn't want to make a big fuss, not when Jeremy would be here soon enough. They could ask this strange woman to leave then. In the meanwhile, she could admire that astonishing ring for a bit longer.
"I see you've noticed my ring," the woman said, almost as if reading Piper's thoughts. "Isn't it beautiful? So many colors, swirling and sparkling on its surface as it scatters the light. It almost seems to glow from within, doesn't it?"
Piper nodded without looking away from the ring. "What kind of stone is it?" she asked.
"It's opal, but that doesn't really matter," the woman responded. "What's important is that it's pretty, and that you want to watch it, isn't that right?" Piper nodded again, leaning in slightly to get a better view. "That's right, dear. Just keep watching, letting those pretty rainbow colors dance in your eyes. A well-cut opal reflects so many colors that it's almost hard to keep track of. It helps if you focus on it. Imagine that inner glow drawing your eyes in, Piper, narrowing your gaze down so that all you see is my opal."
Piper looked up sharply, the spell of the opal broken for the moment. "How did you know my name?"
The woman smiled gently, waving off the question with a gesture that drew Piper's eyes right back to the opal ring again. "It doesn't really matter, dear, but as it happens, I simply chanced to notice you sitting here. So I asked the manager who that beautiful woman was with the curly auburn hair, sitting all alone and looking so forlorn? He said that the reservation was in the name of Piper, and I thought I'd come over and introduce myself since you didn't have anyone to be with."
"Um...my boyfriend..." Piper felt like she should be more irritated by this woman's constant dismissals of Jeremy than she really was, but instead she was feeling slightly detached from it all. The ring kept distracting her; it shimmered in the candlelight, glimmering with a whole new spectrum of colors every time the woman shifted her hand even slightly, and Piper found herself breathing in time to the slowly swirling hues.
"It doesn't really matter, dear. If you're alright with him practically abandoning you like this, I won't say another word about him. You can relax, Piper." The woman's voice was soft, soothing. "Just relax and look at the opal. Relax into the soothing inner glow of the stone."
It seemed like the stone was growing slowly larger now, expanding to fill more of her vision. "It's so beautiful, Piper. Like a magnet on your eyes. Your eyes follow the stone and the pretty colors instinctively now, so focused on it, not wanting to miss a single moment of that scintillating glow. Focusing all your attention on those colors, focusing your gaze and your thoughts on my opal. Feeling your breathing slow as you watch and relax."
Piper nodded absently, staring at the opal with rapt attention. She could tell that it was moving, but her eyes followed it effortlessly. After a few moments, she didn't even notice that it was moving at all. It was as if the opal stayed perfectly still, glowing with its iridescent sheen, and the world moved around it.