Sam raced to the gift store and as he walked in he mumbled, "this place had better have that perfume or I'm so gonna complain….'Everything under the sun' they say…..my perfume had better not be in the shade…huh!" he walked up to the perfume section and looked around amongst the million perfume bottles they had on display. After having looked through half a rack he gave up and looked up to the sales woman standing there expectantly. "Um…Molly" Sam said reading the name tag "I need a little help, I need to find a perfume called…uh…Yeah La vee Claire?"

"Sir I think you're talking about 'La vie claire'…." Sam winced when he heard her voice…she sounded like a fricking bat. Sam almost had the impulse to check if his ears were still in working condition but checked himself.

"Yes yes that one! Could I have it please?"

"sure…It's a rare sort of perfume sir."

"I'm sure. That shouldn't be a problem right?"

"Uh I don't think so…It's a little expensive. The company was foreign, Irish infact…and they were going good on the business till one day they had to shut down and that's the last stock we have… so…"

"So what's the problem? How expensive can it be? Was it that much in demand?"

"Sir it's rare plus you'll have to buy the set…."

"How much is there in a set anyway?"

"5 perfume bottles…they are in a range of flavors…."

"Okay lady I'll take one bottle. Gift wrap please."

"Sir, Maybe you didn't hear me….it's a set."

"Can I see it?"

"Yes immediately sir. If you don't mind I'll have to go to the store room to get it."

Sam nodded and when she turned he sighed and cleaned his ear out. Then his eyes caught the most appalling thing in the world….her ass…it was a fricking tree-stump, a jigging tree-stump. He felt his memory card suddenly get attacked by butt-virus, not the good kind mind you, now Lavvie's butt…that was a butt to speak about…ask Sam he had done a PHD on it…

Two minutes later she came tottering back carrying an ancient-looking box, and once she had done blowing all the dust into Sam's eyes, she finally got about the task of opening the damn box.

"Okay…um…La lav-an-de and la rose and la vani-elle, la chocolate and la cit-ron…" said Sam as he tried to pronounce each flavor written on the bottles.

"Um…more like La Lavande ; the lavender variety, La rose; that is rose itself, La Vanille; Vanilla, Le chocolat; you obviously know what that means and Le Citron; The lemon flavor."

"Right! That's what I meant! So how much is it? Can I buy only one bottle? I can't can I? So how much does the set cost?" said Sam grudgingly.

"It's $1000."

"What? One grand! I don't wanna buy the god-damned company lady!"

"I'm sorry but that's the price. Take it or leave it!" She said quickly loosing her temper.

"I'm sorry Molly, it's just way too much" said Sam soothingly quickly switching on his Sam Axe charms, "and you seem like such an intelligent woman. I'm sure you understand the problems a single man has to face in times of such economic crisis. And I'm sure you can do something Mols."

"My ex-husband used to call me that. He died of piles." She said after a long pause.

Sam tried his best not to show how disgusted he was. He didn't know whether he did a very good job of that.

"Okay thank you. Can I get it gift-wrapped please? How much is it now?

"Um…." She said sniffling, "It's um….I'll make it $450 for you…but only for you…"

Sam still found this sum of money astronomical but because she was almost about to have a mental breakdown he threw a $500 note on the counter and practically ran away yelling, "Keep the change!"

ooo ***** ooo

Michael was pondering over what to get for Fi, he couldn't get her guns- too common, it had to be something special and memorable but what about Campbell? 'Forget about Campbell' he thought, 'first think about what to get her and then think about its appropriateness.' It had to be something special, something she would remember, something he necessarily didn't have to buy- it had to have sentimental value. Michael sat thinking. Then as if lightning had struck him, he bolted upright and ran two steps at a time to the second floor of the loft. He opened his laptop and found a piece of catalog paper in it. Then dialing the number in it he waited impatiently…

"Hello, Yes. I'd like the call transferred yes. No, I'll pay for it. You'll need to Fed-ex it. For tomorrow yeah! I'm sorry for asking on such a short notice. No! You still have that tape! But it's been years…Okay, okay… You know Fi's old room tradition right?...Yeah that one…I know she removed it but its still there right?...yeah put that in too…yeah I know….Fine! I know…yeah…I'll do something wrong and you can come all the way just to kiss me with a chainsaw….okay…thank you! Okay bye!" Michael quickly shut the phone looking visibly pleased with himself. Yet at the same time something was nagging his mind. Why was that tape still there? And was it the real one?