me: Alright, I'm gonna have to wrap this story up. I threw in a little twist in this chapter, but after the Christmas is over you'll get...
Angel: *drumroll*
me: Max's secrets!
Total: *bangs cymbols*
me: Yay! :D
Disclaimer: Still don't own MR...
"May I help you, sir?"
I jumped. A woman with a tag that said Hope and Love: Quality Jewelry and a name tag that said Laura stood smiling beside me.
"Um," I stuttered. I pointed to the gold heart choker beneath the glass. "My brother said you had these with inscriptions and birth stones."
She nodded and motioned for me to follow her to another glass counter. "We have one more inscription left." I peered through the glass and stifled a groan. Of all things, the fancy cursive writing read World's Greatest Wife. World's greatest wife? You have GOT to be kidding me.
I glanced up at Laura. "How old do you think I am?"
Laura shrugged. "Nineteen, twenty maybe?"
If it was anything but glass, I would have beat my head on it. "I'm fourteen. This is for my girlfriend, not a wife."
"Oh." She glanced back down at the necklace. "That changes things. What inscription were you looking for?"
"One that said 'You have my heart'."
She bit her bottom lip. "We sold the last of those a few hours ago." She snapped her fingers. "You know what? We called in another shipment last week. It has all kinds of inscriptions. It will be in later today or tomorrow." She grinned at me. "Let me load your number in and we'll give you a call when it's in."
I glanced at a sign on the counter 'CLOSED CHRISTMAS EVE AND CHRISTMAS DAY'. "Tomorrow's the day before Christmas eve."
"Yes, but the markets guaranteed they would get here before Christmas eve. They haven't failed yet."
Hesitating, I scrolled through my options in my head. Either wait for the shipment, or have no gift to give Max. The second option wasn't an option. I nodded. "Alright. If I dont' get a gift for my girlfriend she'll kill me. Just let me in to get it before you close."
Laura grinned at me and walked behind the counter to the computer. I called off my number as she typed it in.
So I went home praying to get the call soon, and before Christmas.
I paced up and down the floor beside the phone. Now was the time to panic. I glanced glowing red 3:30 PM on the clock beside the couch. The Hope and Love store closed at five, and wouldn't reopen until after Christmas. The clock was slowly ticking until I would have to tell Max I couldn't get a gift for her, and my life officially ended.
"Fang," Iggy said. "Mom says stop pacing. You're causing a draft."
I shot a glare at him. "Sorry, I'm just... nervous."
"I can see," he said, frowning. (Remember, they never went to the School, so Iggy isn't blind.)"Why didn't you just get her that wife one as a joke?"
"I'm not getting my girlfriend a 'Worlds Greatest Wife' locket!" I suddenly stopped and grinned. "You're not afraid to give chocolates to a girl. Give me Ella's locket and I'll go buy chocolates for you to give her. Consider it a... trade."
"Come on, Fang, that choker costs thirty dollars. You'd have to get a mighty big box of chocolates for thirty dollars."
Sighing, I said, "I guess you're right. I'll just have to trust that Laura wasn't lying about the shipment."
"Laura?" Iggy wagged his eyebrows. "Is she cute?"
"She's thirty something. You have a girlfriend, remember?"
The phone on the table rang. I jumped across the couch and grabbed it. "Hello?"
"Is this the Giffith home?"
"Um, yes."
"Come quick. We close in five minutes and the shipment just arrived. So -"
I cut the voice off my slamming it onto the receiver and jumping over the couch and out the door. I ran to the Hope and Love store, and reached the doors right as the night guard was pulling the key from the lock. My heart jumped into my throat.
"Please let me in!" I begged. "Tomorrow's Christmas Eve..."
The guard shrugged. "Sorry, buddy," he said, his voice muffled by the glass door. "It's against regulation."
"Who cares about regulation?"
He shrugged and turned around, walking through the halls of the store.
"Then at least grab it and let me give you the money!"
He turned around. "Okay!"
Please. Like he really agreed to that. Instead of saying 'Okay!' (How nice that would have been...) he shrugged again and turned back around.
I squinted my eyes and glared at him. Great. Now I'm going to have to give her chocolates or some other lame cliché gift. It rang in the back of my head that I could get it after Christmas, Max would understand that, right? Yeah, sure, and let her know I waited till the last minute to go buy her gift?
While I was arguing with myself, my feet led themselves down the block. Against regulation. How stupid.
I ran into a late-night store and grabbed Max some chocolates and flowers as a cover up. I was still going to get the choker and give it to Max. I would just have to figure out how I was supposed to tell her without her ripping my throat out.
me: Oo... DUN DUN DUN!
Angel: *laughs* FA, how do you spell 'Dun Dun Dun Du...'
me: D-U-N D-U-N D-U-N D... U...'
Total: FA and her friend did that. It was hilarious.
me: Review and you'll get Max's secrets sooner!