Chapter 21 - Christmas shopping

Sarah was happily checking out items in the store. She stopped and examined dark brown leather gloves, eventually picking one female, medium size and one male, large size. 'These are perfect for Vivian and Gabriel. Matching gloves', she thought. "Done here. Let's go to next store!"

Sarah was hopping through stores and examining items before deciding to buy them or not.

Aiden was observing her. He didn't want to miss wide range of expressions which Sarah showed when she was not aware that someone is watching her.

Next stop was a jewelry store. Sarah stopped at the counter with parts for charm bracelets. There was an excitement in her eyes when she saw pendants for charm bracelets in the shape of Greek alphabets.

Aiden noticed ger gaze, "You like these?"

"Yes.", Sarah moved on and found a pair of gold earrings with pearls embedded in golden design, 'These are great for JoAnna'.

After few more stores, Sarah looked at Aiden, "You must be bored. Let's take a break and grab a coffee."

"Still not done?", he looked surprised.

"I have few more gifts to buy. We are only on third floor. Two more floors to go", she had a look of someone stating obvious fact.

"Luckily, fifth floor is all entertainment, so only one more floor to go", Aiden laughed. "Let's get coffee", he pointed at a nearby coffee shop.

...

Sarah was sipping her coffee while thinking, 'I should get something for Aiden. But I don't want him to see me buying the gift. I guess my only option is to order it online. What should I get...' She looked toward him, and their eyes met. Her heart skipped a beat, and she was in a daze for few seconds before speaking, "If you want, I can help you pick presents for your family. I think that it's sad to miss an opportunity to show someone that they are important to you, Christmas gifts are perfect for that."

He thought about that for few minutes, like he is having some internal struggle and then said, "OK. Let's give it a try."

"Great! Tell me something about them so I get an idea of their likes. That will help with gift picking.", she was enthusiastic.

"Hmm, I have an older brother. He works at a company."

"That is not much to work with", she complained.

"What else you want to know?"

"Is he single?"

"Why is that relevant?", he was taken aback.

"If he is taken, getting something matching for him and his significant other is a sure win!", Sarah pulled from her bag matching leather gloves she purchased earlier and pointed at them, "See? For Vivian and Gabriel", she said with a huge grin.

"Are they a couple now?", Aiden was surprised.

"Even if they are not official couple now, by Christmas they will be", Sarah said confidently.

"I see. My brother is single.", he finally gave her the answer.

Sarah looked disappointed for a second, then continued, "His favorite color?"

Aiden shrugged. "I don't know"

"Hobbies?"

"None that I know", Aiden shook his head.

"What music he likes to listen?", Sarah was losing her patience.

"I don't know", he honestly replied.

"You are not very close, are you? How big is the age difference between you?", Sarah was exasperated.

"6 years", finally Aiden answered one of her questions.

"That is not a lot. You should know more about him", Sarah scolded him. After some thinking she asked, "Is there something you did frequently together as kids?"

Aiden thought for few seconds, "We used to go to visit grandparents every winter break. We would spend the whole day sledding."

"Now that is something we can work with!", Sarah exclaimed. "How about Parents? Cousins? Grandparents?"

"My mother paints. Father goes to office occasionally, and when weather and time permits, he goes fishing on a nearby lake.", his mood was improving now that he can provide some details.

"These are all great. Continue", she encouraged him.

"My grandparents are on East coast, I don't see them often", Aiden's mood dropped.

"That does not mean that you can't send them something. My grandparents are far away, for them I buy online, and have it delivered to them. Anyone else?", Sarah was on a roll.

"I have an uncle and an aunt, but we are not close.", he said in a quiet voice.

"Do you want to be close with them?", he didn't respond, so she continued, "If you want to be close with them, there is no better time than Christmas to start breaking the ice."

"I will need to think about it", he responded.

"Just don't take too long, Christmas is close by.", Sarah was in her element now. She loved buying gifts for others, "Let's go and continue shopping. We passed a sports equipment store, I'm sure we can get something for your dad there."

After sports store and store for art supplies, Aiden had presents for his parents. Then Sarah led him to an electronic store and found computerized notebook for his brother with a customizable case that had a photo of a sled on it. "You can engrave his name here", Sarah said. Aiden nodded and went to talk with the clerk.

He returned after talking with the clerk for a while, "It will take 20 minutes".

Sarah nodded, "Not bad. Did you decide for your uncle and aunt?"

He shook his head.

"OK. I will not ask you about them anymore." Sarah remembered, "Oh, and presents need to be wrapped. There is a store that will wrap them for you, or we can just buy wrapping supplies. I can help you wrap them."

He smiled, "OK. Let's get wrapping supplies. I will rely on your help."

She nodded, and started walking towards the gift store, "Gift store is right there, we can go now and come back here later to pick up the case. We need wrapping paper, ribbons, gift tags, scissors and tape."

When they purchased all gifts and wrapping supplies, they had several bags. Aiden called mall management and arranged that bags get delivered to his apartment.

"It's still early. Do you want to go to the fifth floor?", Aiden asked.

She nodded happily with a huge smile on her face.

Fifth floor of the mall was for the entertainment of the shoppers. Sarah observed a movie theater, bowling alley, and her sight stopped on a game center.

"What do you want to do?", Aiden looked at Sarah.

"Let's check out game center."

They headed there. After few minutes they ended up car racing. It was a Formula 1 simulation game, and Sarah was driving like a professional.

"Your reflexes are very good", Aiden commented after few games. "Do you play racing games often?"

"This is my second time at the arcade. I have Forza Motorsport wheel at home, but I don't use it much. I prefer the real thing", Sarah casually said.

Aiden was surprised, "You are actually a racer? I would like to see that."

"I will be happy to show off", she laughed.

After few more games, Aiden asked "How about we have dinner before going to wrap presents?"

"Sounds good", Sarah responded. "There is a Greek restaurant on 1st floor. Can we go there?"

"Yes", he nodded.

...

The restaurant had a pleasant atmosphere with low volume Greek music playing. Sarah ordered food for both.

"You know Greek food", Aiden said while tasting dishes that arrived.

"More than just food!", she was not modest. "When I was 10-year-old, I went to Greece for the first time with my mom and spent 6 months there. I fell in love with Greek culture. Their history is fascinating. I was fortunate to go there more than once. Whenever I think of a relaxing place, my mind goes to the Mediterranean Sea. When I was in high school, mom joked that I'm doing extra math just so that I can have an excuse to write Greek letters.", Sarah laughed.

"Do you travel a lot?", he asked.

"My mom travels for her research, she leads Research and Development for the company. She believes that in-person experiences are necessary for someone to fully understand the needs of a customer. Since I was little, out of a year she spends at least 6 months travelling. Earlier I would join her often, but not so much lately. Last time I traveled with her was when I took a year off after high school.", Sarah explained. "How about you?"

"My family is more... traditional", he said. "Other than educational camps that I attended, school always came first. Travelling was scheduled only during school breaks, if it matches everyone's schedule. Otherwise I would spend holidays with my grandparents on East coast."

"Hmm, I guess every family has its own way of living." Sarah paused for few moments, "As much as I love traveling and experiencing other cultures, sometimes I also envy people who grew up in environment similar to yours." Sarah saw that he is observing her with curiosity, so she continued, "Spending a lot of time traveling didn't go in favor for my social life. School for me was mostly just taking exams and at most few months of attending classes in a year. Because of that I didn't form relationships with people my age. If you didn't notice, I'm not good at socializing", she ended with a trace of sadness in her eyes.

Aiden was saddened to see her like that. "I think you are doing just fine", he said in a serious voice.

"You are one of few who thinks so", faint smile appeared on her face.

"Then others have a problem because they can't handle your straightforward personality", he was still serious.

"When you put it that way, it actually sounds good", she laughed. "Let's finish food and go wrap presents, it's getting late."