I was down to my last ten dollars, and there we were stuck in the middle of desert.  How could I let this happen?
I looked at my girlfriend waiting patiently in the car from the gas station window, then back at the lady at the counter and smiled pleadingly.
“Sorry, Hon,” The lady said. “That ain’t even enough to get outta town.”
We were lucky enough to have had just made it into town.  As I looked at the green paper in my hand, my stomach rumbled and I realized that it was either gas or food.
“Thank you.” I said with a weak smile and left.  I went back to the car dejectedly.
“So?” Liza asks as I get into the driver’s seat.  I hadn’t told her just how much I had yet.
“I don’t have enough.” I said.
“What do you mean you don’t have enough?” She asked, confused.
“I’m down to my last ten” I said
“How could you be down to your last ten?” She asked. “Last night you had-”
“I know.” I said, cutting her off. “Last night after you had gone to bed, I went back down and played some more and…” I trailed off not entirely ready to talk about the reality of things.
“You what!?” She exclaimed “Matt how could you?”
“I just thought… you know because we had been doing so well and I…” I stopped, knowing there was no way out.
She stared at me in disbelief and anger.
“I guess you’re my good luck charm?” I laughed, nervously.
“You know what?” She said getting out of the car. “I’ll pay.”
“No, Liza, wait.” I said, getting out too.
“Why? What are you going to do?  We need to get home and you don’t have enough.”
“But-”
“You pay for lunch and we’ll talk about this later.”
I stepped back and watched her go inside, go up to the counter.  As she and the lady at the counter talked, she laughed and pointed at something and then the lady at the counter was animated as if she were giving directions to something.  Finally she smiled and waved goodbye to the lady and walked out of the little shop.  Liza’s smile faltered a bit when she saw me.  I went around the car and put the nozzle in.  I turned around and pushed the button, then turned back to the store and pulled the trigger.
She was next to me now, pulling the handle to get back into the car.  A few seconds the after her door closed, the trigger clicked back into place and I put the nozzle back up.
I got back in the car.
“There’s a little restaurant not far from here.” She said. “Just park the car here, we can walk.”
“Right.” I said, turning the keys in the ignition.  I thought it was pointless to move the car, since we were only moving a few yards from where we were sitting, but I did it anyways because I knew the lady inside didn’t like me and I didn’t want her to lose more business because of me.  We parked on the side of the building and got out.
“I- I really am sorry.”  I said
“Yeah” She said as she led the way.  “I just thought… because you know… and we had just…” I really didn’t know where I was going with this.  “I didn’t think I would lose it all.”
“I know.”  She had stopped in front of a little a little blue restaurant with the specials written on the windows.  I opened the door and let her enter first.
“Just please don’t be mad.”
The place smelled like pancakes and sandwiches.  My stomach rumbled.  There was a sign that said “Please wait to be seated” so we stood waiting.
“Mad?” She whipped around to face me, a paper menu in her hand. “How can I be mad?” She laughed “You only gambled away all your savings so you could play that stupid game.”
“No. Liza. I didn’t go back for the game.  I mean, well, I did.”  I paused for a second thinking about it, but snapped back almost immediately.  “But that wasn’t it.”
“No?  Then what was it?  Was-was it that girl?  Were you trying to impress that girl?”
“Shhhhh, Liza, not here.” I said lowering my voice a little, everyone was staring at us.  There was a girl in uniform standing behind the counter, watching us.  I held up two fingers.
“It was, huh.” She laughed. “And don’t tell me to be quiet when you were the one who start this.” She waved her hands dramatically.  “It’s your fault.  And who are you signaling to?”  She looked behind her shoulder and scoffed.  Everything bothered her.
“Booth, please.”  I said to the girl and turned back to Liza.  “I know, I know.  I didn’t do it to hurt you.”
“Then why?”
I wasn’t prepared to tell her.  Not here, not now.  This wasn’t the way I planned it.
“Liza, I love you and-and,” I sighed, “I ruined it.  I screwed up and couldn’t get it and-”
“What are you talking about, Matt?”
“The ring.”  I said “I went back for the ring and I saw the table and thought that if I could just get a little bit more we would be set, but I lost and…”
She started to cry but I wasn’t sure why.
“Liza…?”
“Oh, Matt.” She said from behind her hands.  “Yes, Matt, yes.”  Just jumps in my arms.  “Of course I‘ll marry you.”
Everyone around us started to clap and cheer and someone shouted “Kiss her”.
I did, but I was confused.  Of course I wanted to marry her,  but I wasn’t exactly talking about that ring.  I was talking about the One Ring.  The Ring of all rings.  I guess I really did have some explaining to do, but for now I was just happy with holding her.