She'd delayed it as long as she could, but there was no more time to waste. Though Annie Walker was exhausted from an especially challenging week at Langley, it was time to spend another three or four hours shopping for Christmas presents. She was so tired she wouldn't even be able to enjoy the secret, sinful pleasure of buying herself something along with the obligatory gifts. But she made up her mind to enjoy it as much as possible.
The evening was cold, good for Christmas, and she decided to stop at a small shopping mall that might not be quite as crazy as the bigger ones. The clanging of the bell of the Salvation Army Santa behind his red kettle lent a festive air, and the decorated window displays with a toy train running through a holiday landscape caught her attention.
She ticked through her mental list - Danielle, her nieces, some minor thing for Danielle's husband, a present for Auggie, some house-type gift for Arthur and Joan, something fun and techie for Barber, and a few more bits and pieces.
An olive-wood nativity announcing it was from Jerusalem "In the Holy Land!" brought to mind someone she actually did not need to get a Christmas present for, both because he was absent and because he didn't celebrate Christmas. And were presents really part of their context? What she owed him - and, she supposed,what he thought he owed her - weren't things that could be settled up with a pre-wrapped tie. Or those humorous Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer satin shorts. Annie! she scolded herself. That was definitely not in their "context".
Thinking of Eyal in holiday underwear was not helping her make her decisions. If anything, it was making her feel rather lonely and awkward in the crowd. Though she would see Danielle and her family for Christmas - they were back East for the holidays and she'd promised she'd cook, something she had been preparing for for weeks - it would be nice to be really with someone for the time and not be so much the "Maiden Aunt" of the family group.
She got through much of her list, though she would still have to carve out another shopping period before Christmas Eve. She dug in her purse for a dollar to push into the kettle on her way out, balancing her packages as she did so. She stepped away and almost didn't hear the "Thank you, Neshema" above the clanging of the bell. She spun around. It couldn't be. But under those shaggy white brows were a pair of snapping dark eyes, and though well-padded, this Santa was also tall and broad-shouldered. And even the beard could not completely conceal a smile she knew very well.
"I don't believe it. What are you doing here?"
"Watching you violate every rule of good spycraft," he said, his voice dropping. "Even minimal proximal threat assessment should have picked me up on your way in. Never mind on the second pass. You're making me worry for your safety, neshema. Thank you!" he called out cheerily to someone who tossed in a few coins.
He was, annoyingly, right. "Point taken. But honesly, what are you doing here?"
There was a brief pause in the crowd as they were nearing closing time. He answered her softly.
"The mall is owned by a fellow countryman. With the recent Nairobi attack, he thought it would be wise to have a bit of extra security around for the holiday season. So a few of us, when we can, are helping out, in return for a very handsome discount. You should have spotted me on your way in, I could have saved you some money. Go check out that window over there. The very last pair of earrings in the display I have on hold for a very special woman."
Annie wasn't sure what to make of that, but still juggling her packages, dutifully went to the window. Was he possibly saying they were for her? But the last pair, while gorgeous, were long dangling shoulder-sweeping earrings that looked like they should adorn the ears of Queen Sheba. She couldn't imagine herself in them - and couldn't imagine him thinking of them for her, either. So, she thought, as she looked at the earrings. To have a moment to process all this, she looked at the display of mostly engagement-type rings in the adjacent window. Was this his none-too-subtle way of letting her know that he was involved with someone now? Annie swallowed. She went back and looked at the earrings again, but Eyal had excellent taste and a second look couldn't change the fact that they were completely wrong for her. She followed the sound of his bell back to the red kettle. So someone had finally "belled" the tomcat Eyal Lavin?
"What do you think? Beautiful, aren't they?"
"Gorgeous," she said, a little flatly so she revised and added,"I'm sure she'll love them."
He nodded happily in agreement. "She has a lovely long neck, very soignee, and these will suit her very well. And I'm getting them wholesale, which, being a frugal woman, she will also appreciate."
"That's great!" Annie said, with a perkiness she didn't feel.
"I noticed you checked out the adjacent window. Some lovely rings there. I looked at them also. See one you want?"
"No! I mean, I don't ... they are very pretty but ... our lifestyle - well, my lifestyle - at least now - doesn't really... ah, work with fancy rings." He was just watching her wiggle through the sentence, his deep brown eyes contrasting with the satiny white fake beard and hair around his face. Great. She was getting dumped by Santa Claus. No, not dumped because they weren't - they had never been ... and now, they never would be... Even worse, for the rest of her life, every Santa she saw would make her think of Eyal Lavin.
"If you did want one, you know I'd be very happy to get you one. With my discount."
He can't have meant that. It could be taken as a stealth proposal. She stared at him for a moment.
"Well, I better get home with these," she said, indicating her packages. "Good seeing you."
"Always lovely seeing you, neshema. And I'm very glad you think my mother will like those earrings."
"Your ... mother will look great in them, I'm sure. Very queenly," she added, her heart pounding fast.
"She will indeed."
Okay, Annie. This would never do. "You know, I didn't throw all my money in that kettle." She gestured with her chin at a nearby lounge a few doors down. "Is Santa up for an eggnog?"