There's something different about sitting across from someone you grew up with, watching them become a version of themselves you always hoped they'd get to be.

I've known him since we were kids. Before ambition had a shape, before either of us knew what forever might look like. So when he sat down across from me, not just as a client, but as my friend, and started talking about her, it hit different.

He didn't talk about the proposal first. He talked about her laugh, the way she remembers things he forgets about himself, how being around her feels like the version of home he didn't know he was still looking for.

I've seen a lot of people fall in love with an idea of love. This wasn't that. This was someone I've known half my life, finally sounding like himself, because of her.

We built this ring together, piece by piece, memory by memory. Not just as jeweller and client.

As two kids who grew up on the same streets, now sitting on opposite sides of a moment neither of us could've imagined back then.