I apologize for the long note. Just skip it if you don't want to read it, it's not really important as it's just my ramblings about this.

There's a plethora of works here about the movie or the movie and the book but I only come across very few that focused solely on the book. I love the movie very much and all (Cate Blanchett, you are simply a goddess. I absolutely adore you) but I read the book first before I saw the movie and so I have my own preconception of the story and characters as opposed to the ones shown in the movie.

Not only that but the character personalities themselves are a bit different in the movie such as Therese being less selfish (a change I very much applauded) since she blames herself for Carol's predicaments as opposed to the Therese in the book that simply wants Carol all to herself, or Carol being more vulnerable in the movie (Cate's eyes are always so dreamily teary…) instead of always looking preoccupied or reprimanding and aloof in the book.

So I decided to write this fiction using as much reference from the book as I possibly can without overstepping the boundaries to what can be considered plagiarizing. It probably won't come close to Patricia Highsmith's level of writing anyway. And just to get it out of the way later, none of the characters are mine, yadda yadda, all the credit goes to the talented author of the book, you get the idea.

So enough of my rambling and without further ado, please enjoy the story~

"Welcome to Frankenberg's!" The PA speaker blurted out as it always did every quarter of an hour at the department store's entrance. But the roar of people's simultaneous chattering as they walked in and out of the doorways silenced it. Even on a Thursday, one of the least busy days in the store, the hoard of customers swarming the department store just wouldn't cease. But it was to be expected, because it was the week before Christmas in New York City. All along the aisles were customers busily browsing through the shelves, picking out any last minute Christmas presents they forgot to buy before the holidays officially began. Carol was one such customer.

She was on the third floor of the department store, looking at the selection of sweaters for a gift to give Mrs. Riordan, the wife of one of her husband's acquaintances. Mrs. Riordan always complained of feeling cold especially during the winter season and Carol remembered the nice blouse she gave Carol last Christmas. Because she met Mrs. Riordan through her husband Harge, she doubt she'll ever meet the middle aged lady again after the upcoming months, but Carol only gave her a greeting card last year and her pride ushered her to return the favor this year with something that would at least match the value of the blouse she had received.

She was very nice, unlike her husband who always talked business whenever Harge would ask him to stop by for a cup of coffee. Mrs. Riordan was one of the few among the people she met through her husband that bothered to remember her name instead of simply referring to her as "Harge's wife." All of that's going to change however…

"May I interest you in any of these?" an old shrilly voice said from the corner and snapped Carol out of her thoughts. She turned and saw a fifty-something woman wearing a nameplate with the number five forty-four that said "Ruby" holding out a couple of sweaters to her. She liked the purple V-necked sweater because the color reminded her of the blouse she had received, but remembered suddenly Mrs. Riordan would rather be warm than fashionable.

"Do you have any turtleneck sweaters of this color?" Carol asked the saleslady and a minute later, she came back holding a stack of the mentioned sweater. Mrs. Riordan was plump and seemed to be gaining weight the last time Carol saw her so she bought a large sized sweater to be safe.

Next on her shopping list was something for her best friend Abby. She remembered Abby asking they take a weekend off to go skiing at some mountain cabin near Lake Tahoe but she quickly withdrew that suggestion when she realized that her ski equipment was broken. Carol seemed to like the notion although the idea of falling face first into the snow while winding down an icy hill wasn't very appealing. Still, she knew she'd have plenty of time on her hands soon. I might have to take some skiing lessons first. God knows I won't hear the end of Abby's mockery if I hit the snow first before she does. Maybe I'll just buy her something else. I haven't really skied for a long time. It was about how many years ago…?

"Third Floor, women's apparel." The speaker inside the elevator said as it opened in front of her. Carol quickly killed her last train of thought and entered the elevator into the ski department on the fifth floor anyway.

"What about this one then?" the salesclerk brought out another pair of skis while Carol was inspecting the ones already sprawled out in front of her. The man was so eager to sell his wares that it occurred to Carol that he must've had some sort of commission from whatever he managed to sell to the customers. It irritated her because he would follow her all around the floor, trying to get her to buy any of the equipment they came across. It was probably because of Carol's mink coat and posh manners that made her look like a big buyer. But she loved that mink coat and took it everywhere with her when she had an excuse to. And her manners, why on earth would she change that?

If I only wasn't getting this for my best friend, I'd storm right out of here and come back another time when a different clerk is manning this department…

Finally, as if out of resignation, she decided on a pair of hardwood skis that looked durable enough to take on any misadventures Abby would run into. "I'll pay COD." Carol said, looking at the price tag.

"Thank you very much for you purchase." The salesclerk said as he took out a green COD slip and began writing down Carol's info and address. "We'll have it delivered to New Jersey before the end of next week, Mrs. Aird."

"End of next week?" Carol's blonde eyebrows lifted in slight surprise, although the fact that he called her by her surname seemed to have made more of an impression on her. Quite a friendly fellow, isn't he? Maybe a little too friendly. "You mean, it may not arrive before Christmas?"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Aird, but we've been getting so many requests for deliveries this week that it might take a while to have them all delivered." It figures. Not everybody would want to carry a set of ski gear out of the store and stuff it in the back of their oversized trunk or tie it to the top of their cars if they can just have it delivered. Well, I supposed I'll just tell Abby her gift will have to come after Christmas. She'll understand anyway.

"Very well." She turned around and walked away from the man. He called back to her, telling her that she forgot the COD slip but she was getting tired of being called Mrs. Aird in public by a man she didn't know at all and just ignored him.

The last on her list was something for Rindy, her beloved daughter. Mrs. Riordan's sweater, she could have easily bought some other time, Abby's ski gear, she could have even brought Abby herself along to pick it out, but Rindy's present, that's what Carol drove all the way to New York for. How could she forget to buy the most important person in her life a gift for Christmas? Well, she knew why. The events in Carol's life have been such a whirlpool over the past few months and she expects it will still be for months to come. But she knew it was a petty excuse for that potential neglect and so she marched her way back to the elevator and looked at the directory before stepping in. There was a toy department in both the basement and on the seventh floor, she saw, and since she was at the fifth floor, decided to go to the one on the seventh floor first before heading over to the basement if she doesn't see anything she likes.

What a dull day this is turning out to be, she thought as she exited the elevator and into the toy department.