All I Want For Christmas
Sandra Pullman sighed as she came face to face with the glittering dew drops that had frozen to the trees. She adored London in the winter, so long as she was snuggled on the sofa watching a black and white film. Like most people, she loathed being blinded by the dazzling sun as it danced about across the road, making the Monday morning commute into work even more frustrating than usual. This morning had been particularly stressful- it was the final Monday before Christmas, and the streets were filled with people searching for last-minute gifts for their loved ones.
As usual, she'd been organised, purchasing presents for the boys, Esther and her mother before the real rush began in mid-November. She only hoped they would like them. The traffic in front of her seemed to have completely stopped, leaving her stuck with her own thoughts and Christmas music on the radio, for company. She turned up the heating in the car and pulled her scarf a little closer as the chill seemed to penetrate the car door now that she was completely stationary. When she'd left the house, the boys gifts all wrapped up in the boot, she was sure it was going to be a good day, now she wasn't so sure.
The UCOS team were notorious for being 'anti Christmas' around the Met. Never going to any of the festive parties thrown by the various departments, their celebrations were usually a low key affair, having a meal and exchanging presents during the last working Monday but this year Strickland had announced he was taking them to the Savoy for a Christmas dinner and the head waiter (a close personal friend of Robert) would hand around the secret Santa gifts- that's when it hit her, she had forgotten to get her boss' secret present. She sighed wearily, running her hand through her hair as she glanced outside disdainfully at the frenzy of Christmas shoppers.
As much as she loved shopping under normal circumstances, she couldn't bring herself to go, not today. And what the hell was she meant to get him? She'd known the man ten years and still knew very little about him, she was sure that he'd be the type who'd have everything they could ever possibly need. As the traffic in front of her finally began to move, she was brought back from her present related thoughts. She now faced the issue of whether to turn and go shopping and hope that an idea would hit her or go out after she'd gotten to work and find somewhere that was likely to be quieter, the later she left it now though the busier the shops would be.
She decided she had better bite the bullet, she sent Gerry a text message explaining the flaw in attempting to be overly organised and asked him to cover for her. After he replied, mocking her stupidity, she sent back an abrupt text as a joke and searched for a car park that wasn't full- she had better have enough change on her. She pulled into the closest space she could find to the small shopping centre's entrance and turned off the engine in her silver Audi. Stepping out into the cool air, she pulled her long black coat tightly around her body, keeping the icily cold wind at bay.
As soon as she got inside, she paused. She was normally quite good at buying presents, but when it came to her boss, she really didn't have the faintest idea. For a bit she just wandered round, trying to find something that seemed appropriate. Toddlers screamed in protest at the amount of time that they were spending in a shop and more specifically stuck in the trolley. Sandra was getting more and more stressed, the noise meant that her head was now pounding and everything she saw was something that would be perfect for people she'd already bought presents. Instead her shopping basket now housed chocolate and a drink for herself for when she got out of the shop as a reward.
Once she bought her items she retreated back the entrance and start again. She had to bite her tongue as she got pushed along the concourse. The noise of screaming children had regenerated to the over the top shrieks of teenage girls, she looked across to the perfume shop and saw a long queue of people waiting impatiently as the D-list celebrity arrived to sign boxes of his new fragrance for women. For heaven's sake. She was tempted to just return to the office and send Gerry out to get something instead. He was a man, he would know what to buy, right? She snorted ironically at the idea. Gerry and the DAC were as different as chalk and cheese, in fact being a man was probably the only thing they had in common. She spotted a quiet corner and headed to it, weaving through the crowd of over-excited teenagers. Right, Sandra, think.
She looked around and noticed that she was now stood in the toiletries section. It was a section of the massive store that seemed to have been abandoned in the Christmas shop rush. It was then that something in just in view caught her eye, something that was the perfect gift for her boss. As she gazed upon the novelty hand creams she remembered that Rob was a golfer, those pointless conversations he had with Jack about handicaps had finally paid off. She reached up and took a tube from the back and studied it carefully, it claimed that this 'special' cream would act as a layer of warmth between your ungloved hand and the club, it had that magic phrase 'scientifically proven' at the bottom which made Sandra laugh. It wasn't enough but it's a start, she thought.
She kept hold of the small green tube and began to explore more of the brightly decorated shop, the endless loop of Christmas tunes continuing to emanate from the speakers above. Suddenly she recalled the time when Strickland had asked Gerry to join his charity band. Gerry had been less than enthusiastic in comparison to the rest of the group, but that meant her boss must have a musical streak. Navigating down an aisle full of novelty gifts and trinkets, a keyring with a metallic guitar plectrum on it caught her eye. Again, it was a small gift, but she liked the idea behind it. With two smaller and thoughtful gifts now in her basket she decided to bulk it up with a bottle of something fancy. She managed to locate her way to the alcohol aisle and stared at the pretty bare looking shelves. She browsed the few remaining bottles but found only alcopops and various cocktails, neither of which were appropriate.
She sent Gerry a text praying that he would reply quickly, she asked him to see if his alcohol merchant would be able to get her something special and festive. Meandering back up the aisles in direction of the checkout she stopped abruptly, facing her was a range of novelty costumes to dress up your bottles of alcohol, there was a rock star one and a police man one, complete with a hat and truncheon. She chuckled, picking up the policeman costume to better inspect it. Her phone lit up in her hand and she smiled gratefully as she read the text from Gerry, confirming that he would be able to find to find something, if she paid him a bit extra of course. There was always a catch when it came to Gerry. But that meant the little police costume for the bottle would perfect. She headed to the tills, feeling much more relaxed about the crowds of hurried people in the store now that she had found the ideal presents for her boss.
The clock in her car told her that it was now pushing half ten as she finally managed to get out of the car park. With all the nutters seeming to be on the road in that car park, she'd briefly debated turning her police lights on in an attempt to get out quicker, but in the end it hadn't been necessary. The roads were a lot clearer than they had been only an hour and a bit before, it wouldn't be for long though as she noticed glittery powder falling on to her windscreen.
At first the powdery offering was feeble but it quickly transformed into a rapid formation, spiralling at her like an other worldly vortex. Luckily, she hadn't far to go before she finally reached work but she was more worried about the fact that if the stuff settled she wouldn't be able to go home and change into her fancy frock which she had forked out for especially for tonight's dinner. Still, she would be partly glad if it did. The memories of last time they had shared a dinner with their boss still made her blush in sheer humiliation. At least they didn't have to worry about the Hansons now though, that was all she really wanted for Christmas. Her boys to be happy.