I found Holly waiting for me outside my apartment. I had just gotten back from Christmas shopping at the mall and I had no idea how long she had been there. When I saw her she was knocking hopelessly on the door and obviously trying to figure out if it would be worth her time to wait for me to get back. When she saw my car drive up a smile broke out on her face. I didn’t take my time getting up to my apartment, but I didn’t rush either. After all, it’s not like she had been invited.
“Hurry up, hurry up,” she said, bouncing as she waited for me. It occurred to me she had probably been here a while.
“What’s up?” I asked as I opened the door and let her slip in.
“Nothing,” she said, trotting in. “Just wanted to get this to you before tomorrow, since I’ll be spending all day with my family.” She presented me with a thin envelope, meticulously wrapped in an off-green wrapping paper.
“Thanks,” I said as I took it from her, surprised. I hadn’t expected to do Christmas exchanges until after Christmas, simply because we hadn’t had time to meet beforehand. That she would stop by my house to drop off my present didn’t surprise me, but I admit, it did catch me off-balance. And her gift was sitting, unwrapped, in the bag in my hand.
“Well?” she said impatiently. “Aren’t you going to open it?”
I gave her a side-long glance. “What, and not wait until tomorrow?”
“But then I can’t see your face.”
I’ll give her that one. I usually buy the gift just to get the expression. But what could be exciting about something that I guessed was a gift certificate was beyond me?
With a few quick rips, I tore the package open and found myself blinking at her present. It was indeed a gift certificate. But not from any store I had expected.
“Sixty dollars,” I read aloud, “to be spent at Lens Crafters?”
My annoyed, perplexed expression didn’t faze her a bit. “Yes. On a new pair of glasses. Hopefully, on ones that don’t have dark lenses.”
I scowled at her. “You can’t possibly think my sun-glasses look that bad?”
“Oh, they look fine,” she said, grinning. “But I don’t think it would hurt you to get an alternate pair.”
“So you bought me a gift-certificate?”
“Well, I could just take that back and pick out your new pair of glasses myself….”
“I can handle it, thank you,” I said flatly.
She laughed. “You can get another pair of sun-glasses if you want,” she said. “But at least get a new pair. From the sound of it, you haven’t had your eyes checked in years. They could have gotten a lot worse, for all you know. Anyway,” her grin was a bit wider now, “I have to go. I’ll see you in a few days.”
“Wait, wait,” I said, sticking the envelope on my desk. “You get a present too, you know.”
She looked at me, a little surprised. “You actually got me something?”
“Ha ha,” I answered. I looked down into the bag, seeing a glint from the present I had found for her. Maybe I hadn’t given her a sixty dollar gift certificate, but I had bought her something for Christmas. “Hold on a second,” I turned around, “and close your eyes.”
She laughed at the last part, but complied. Scowling, I pulled her present out and then began tearing the Dillard’s bag into strips and wrapping it up with them. When it was covered, held closed only by my fingers, I put it into her outstretched hands.
She looked at the brown paper wad that she was holding, a little uncertain about it since the paper was beginning to unwrap itself.
“I figured you’d want it wrapped,” I explained.
“Sure,” she said.
I looked away, rather than watch her pick the paper apart. Sure, the gift certificate was a little sarcastic, but it was still personal. After seeing it, I wasn’t too happy anymore with the gift I had chosen for her. She’d be polite and say it was very nice, or something, but I knew she wouldn’t really mean it.
“Oh,” she said, breathless. “It’s wonderful!” I looked back up to check for sarcasm, but she was still gazing at the locket. Cradling it in her left hand, she deftly popped the clasp on the side with her right index finger. Then, cupping a half in each hand, she pulled it open. I hadn’t actually seen the inside of it yet, myself, but she didn’t mind the burnished bronze that almost looked dirty compared to the gilt on the outside. She smiled and gently closed it with a soft snap. When she finally looked back up at me, her eyes were shining. “Where in the world did you find this?”
“Well, I was at the mall…” I trailed off, not certain I wanted to ruin the moment with the truth.
“Oh, never mind,” she interrupted me, “I don’t want to know.” Suddenly, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around me. “Thank you,” she whispered happily. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
“You’re, uh, welcome,” I said, returning the hug.
She laughed and pulled away, looking down at her feet. She suddenly seemed too shy to meet my gaze. “Anyway, I have to head over to my family’s now. I’ll see you, what, the day after tomorrow?”
“Sure,” I said, watching as she put her coat back on and made her way to the door.
She gave me one last, glowing smile before she opened the door and stepped through.
A gift that says we’re not dating, I thought to myself. Obviously, that wasn’t it.
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