Claimed for Christmas

Chapter Thirteen

Maxine’s face clears immediately as she looks down at the glove in her hand, scrutinising it, ‘well this is the cheapest option’ she starts slowly, wrinkling her nose in obvious distaste, ‘it’s a good lower budget choice for people who might not be able to afford something better . . .’

I sigh quietly, ‘which do you think that Cherie needs?’ I ask bluntly, ‘but please do not say one of the four hundred dollar ones, I’m a receptionist Maxine, I’ll have to change careers to bank robber if you do, and we both know that I’m too pretty to make it in prison.’

The store owner laughs, putting the one in her hand back and picking up a second one, which is white and purple with gold lacing, holding it out to me.

‘This is one of our mid ranged glove, it’s a good choice for her age group.’ She eyes me seriously, ‘honestly, you want a decent glove, but you don’t want to be going top of the range until you know she’s going to stick with it.’

I nod quickly, ‘so how much?’ I ask, wincing in readiness for the figure.

‘This one is two hundred dollars’ she replies as though she’s being perfectly f.ucking reasonable.

‘Two hundred’ I whisper, trying not to break out in a sweat, looks like that new leather jacket I was hoping to buy in the sales is going to be pushed back.

‘Well, like I said before, there are cheaper options if it’s too expensive . . .’ Maxine starts, frowning at me.

‘No, no, it’s fine’ I agree reluctantly, ‘I’ll take it, now let’s go ring me up before you make me completely bankrupt.’

The older woman grins widely, ‘excellent’ she trills, ‘follow me to the register dear.’

I stomp along behind her as she moves with grace through the shoppers in her store, calling out greetings to families as we pass them until we reach the front.

Two teenagers are manning the registers, dealing with the long line of people that are queuing impatiently to check out.

‘Just join the end of the queue Elijah dear and I’ll get to you in a few minutes’ Maxine tells me, balancing the glove that had better be laced with actual f.ucking gold for the cost of it, on top of Flora’s doll and heading toward the registers to open the third one and call forward the next in line.

The first assistant becomes free, calling the next shopper toward her as the line shuffles forward a step and resume waiting. Five minutes pass before assistant two finishes her transaction and we move forward another step. So it goes on with Maxine and the two assistants’ checking out each of the people in front of us. I’m halfway through the line with about a dozen people now behind me when assistant number two suddenly shuts her register down and walks off.

I frown, watching her leave as Maxine raises her head toward us, ‘sorry guys! It’s time for Marie-Sue’s break, we’ll get you checked out as soon as we can, thanks for your patience.’

My arms are hurting from the awkward boxes, I shift them around, juggling around to alleviate the ache as I huff out an exasperated breath.

‘Next?’ Assistant one calls out, the woman five in front of me toddling forward with two laden shopping baskets, plonking them both onto the counter between them.

She picks out one of the items, holding it out to the shop worker ‘do you have this is green? My daughter said they do a green one, it’s the one my granddaughter asked for but I couldn’t find a green one on the shelf’ she states loudly.

‘All our stock for that particular toy is on the shelves ma-am, if there was no green out then I’m afraid we’re out at the moment’ the assistant replies, picking up one of the other items and scanning the barcode.

‘Well could you ask someone to check out back?’ the shopper trills, ‘it’s for my granddaughter, she wants a green one, she was very specific about the fact it needed to be green.’

Irritation licks at me as I focus on Maxine who is handing over a receipt to her customer before waving to the next . . . four people in front of me . . .

‘Ma-am, there is no stock out back,’ I hear the assistant state firmly, ‘I filled the shelves this morning with the last ones’ the assistant repeats.

‘Well maybe you missed a box’ the shopper huffs, ‘it’s for my granddaughter, she wants the green one . . .’

I grit my teeth as I shift my boxes again, trying to keep my calm as the next shopper goes to Maxine with a huge pile of toys in her arms, three people, just three more people . . .

The first assistant sighs heavily before placing the item she was just scanning onto the desk and picking up at walkie talkie that sits beside her register.

Pressing the button on the side, she speaks into the microphone, ‘Mitch? Do we have any more of the cuddle candy stuffies in green?’

The radio crackles for a minute, before a man’s voice replies, ‘that’s a negative Sasha, we sold out of the green and pink two days ago and won’t be getting a new shipment till the new year.’

The assistant raises an eyebrow at the shopper who stares back at her expectantly until she presses the button on the walkie talkie again. ‘Can you just check the stock room for me? See if we missed a box?’ she asks.

The line goes silent for a few minutes, and I’m down to two shoppers, then one as we wait, before Mitch is back on the line again. ‘There are definitely no spare boxes Sasha, everything is on the shop floor now’ he replies.

The assistant raises her gaze to the woman in front of her once again, ‘we don’t have them in green ma-am’ she states tiredly.

‘Well did he look everywhere?’ the shopper demands in aggravation, ‘it doesn’t sound like he looked everywhere, he was very quick to reply! Could he double check? it’s for my . . .’

‘Your granddaughter, we know’ I snap suddenly as I reach the head of the queue, the woman in front of me just heading over to Maxine’s register. ‘Just accept that they don’t have it, the girl you are talking to put the last of them out this morning, Mitch has checked the damn stock room for you! So, buy the blue one or put it back, but either way hurry the hell up so we can all go home!’

I press my lips together as the people around me go silent, all eyes on me before the annoying woman holding up the line turns back to the assistant and mutters, ‘I’ll take the blue one.’

I cringe inwardly as the young girl quickly scans the rest of her purchases, bagging everything up before taking payment.

Picking up her bags, the woman turns around, walking past me toward the doors.

‘There wasn’t a need to be so rude’ she mutters as she passes, before disappearing.

I step forward, giving the assistant a sheepish look, ‘sorry’ I mumble, ‘I’m a little stressed.’

Sasha laughs, ‘don’t worry, Mrs Hillberry will be fine, she’ll be back after Christmas looking for something else for her granddaughter and demanding we check everywhere for her.’

She quickly scans my items, and I wince as the total comes up on the screen, handing over my credit card, trying not to think about how much I just depleted my savings for three kids’ gifts.

Thanking the assistant, I head out the door, avoiding Maxine’s gaze which I know damn well will be disapproving. f***k, my mother is going to hear about this before I even get back to the car.

Stepping out onto the sidewalk, I look around at the other stores for a second before deciding that I need a choco mocha with oat milk. That experience just stressed me the f***k out! I cannot face another store without a pick me up.

Walking to the end of the street, I cross over to the next sidewalk, hurrying toward the swinging sign ahead that has a elegantly drawn coffee cup with steam, the words ‘the coffee crusade’ written around the edge.

I pick up my speed as I get closer, I can already taste the caffeinated goodness on the tip of my tongue. I keep close to the buildings, trying to avoid the shoppers that are walking in the opposite direction, everyone trying to get where they are going. As I pass the bookstore that stands next to the coffee shop I'm heading toward, the door to the building suddenly swings open right in front of me. I try to stop, but the sidewalk is icy, my loafers skating over the slick surface as I start to lose my balance. The door looms closer, a big, solid wall of glass and metal, my arms windmilling in the air as I drop my bags and start to turn unable to stop myself.

Just before I crash into the door, my feet fly out from underneath me, my body falling backward toward the icy ground. As my eyes close and I wait for the impact, two strong arms wrap around my waist.

My movement stalls before I’m pulled upward, my hands reaching out to grasp the thick fabric of a winter coat. Slowly, I open my eyes, gazing up into deep grey eyes that stare down at me with fire.

My eyes widen as I stare, my gaze dropping to full, plump lips then up to black, short cut hair that just begs for someone to drag their fingers through it.

I swallow thickly, clinging to the man’s coat as he stares back at me, the two of us silent until he parts his perfect lips, his tongue flicking out to moisten them before he murmurs, ‘Elijah.’