Now all he had to get ready for was Christmas, and he was going to have so much fun with thatholiday.He had plenty of people to buy for this year, and he’d been planning all year—well since they came into the family, a gift for each and every one of his sisters-in-law.His brothers, too, but he’d never bought for a young woman before, and he was looking forward to it.
~*~
Olivia didn’t have any idea why she thought being a personal shopper the day after Thanksgiving would be a good idea.No one knew what they wanted, and it was up to her to get them to buy the biggest ticket item she could from them.The man she was working with right now didn’t even know if his wife would wear a robe around the house, much less what color to get her.And since he wanted it monogrammed as well, there would be no regifting it the day after Christmas either.
“ White is a good color to go with, yes.It will match any pajamas that she has.”He didn’t want her to have to have too many pajamas either.So when she suggested that he get her a pair of those, he balked at the idea.“ How about some nice slippers.You can get those monogrammed as well.”
“ Now that would be nice.She’d know how much I love her with that.”She didn’t understand how putting her initials on something was a sign of love, but she didn’t believe in love at all.She rarely believed that people loved their kids.She’d seen enough failed families—not just marriages, to last several lifetimes.“ I want to get her some of that powder that you were talking about, too.The kind with the blue powder puff.”
“ All right.”She had shown him all kinds of powders, now all she had to do was find the one with the blue puff.She noticed a man watching the two of them and wondered what his beef was.Didn’t he believe in personal shoppers?Well, she didn’t either, but it paid well, and she only had to deal with one customer at a time this way.“ I’ll have this wrapped for you as well, correct?”
“ Yes, of course.”Her man was excited, and she was too.Not just to get him to the wrapping department, but to go on to the next man.They were all men that she had on her list today, and she wondered what their wives thought of the gifts that she’d convinced their husbands to buy.“ Do they have monogrammed wrapping paper, too, do you suppose?”
“ No, I’m sure they don’t.But they have some lovely colors for you to choose from.”How would that even work, she wondered as she found the blue puff.“ Here you go.All finished with the wife now.Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“ I’m finished shopping then.You’ve been a wonderful help.”She nodded, distracted by the man who seemed to be following them around.“ I’ll tell your manager how helpful you were, and perhaps you can get a raise.Wouldn’t that be nice this time of year?”
“ It would.”The man wasn’t being too cagey about following them.He was staring at the man she was with like he owed him money.When her customer walked away, the other man came up to her and smiled.“ Can I help you?I really can’t, just so you know.I’m someone’s personal shopper today, and I have appointments all day.”
“ You didn’t think that the robe was a good idea.”She said that was what he wanted.“ Yeah, he did, I heard him turn down everything you suggested.But you didn’t think the robe was a good idea.Why?I have five sisters-in-law that I was going to get one each for, but now I’m second-guessing myself.”
“ Have you ever seen them wearing a robe?I’m assuming that your brothers are their husbands.Do they wear robes?Who wants to put on an extra piece of clothing before they dash to the shower and take it off again?Unless you’ve seen them in a robe, I would assume that they don’t wear them.If they get up out of bed and shower right away, they’re not going to be putting on a robe.That’s just my opinion.But if you want to get the five of them, did you say?Robes, then go for it.I can’t help you.I have another appointment in ten minutes, and as I said, I’m booked all day.”
“ I’ll pay you double whatever you’re making from them to get you to work with me.”She said that some of these people had their appointments set up since July.“ I can work with that.Just name your price.I was thinking I’d get them all the same thing and be done with it, but I can see now where that would be a bad idea.”
“ Look, Mister.I have plenty to do without picking up another shopper.You’ll have to talk tomy manager and see what he has to say.But let me tell you, he’s going to tell you the same thing that I did.I’m booked all day.”He followed her to her break area and said he’d pay her whatever she wanted for some of her time.“ I can’t do that.I have to do what I’ve been set up to do.”
When she was on her third customer of the morning, he was getting his wife a toaster and a blender for Christmas, the man came around her again.But this time he was with her manager.And he had a huge smile on his face.She just knew this wasn’t going to bode well for her, and she was sort of put out that he’d done what she’d said and gone to her manager.She guided her customer to the wrapping department and walked away.
“ Olivia, I’d like for you to meet Mr.Zander Erickson.He’s going to have you as his personal shopper for the rest of the day.”She asked about her bookings, the ones that he’d told her were important.“ This gentleman is going to have you help him shop for his entire family.Children included.I’ll find someone else to get with your customers today.This is important for the store.”
“ All right.I’ll do it.”But she wasn’t going to be happy for it.One shopper meant no tips, and she’d gotten a good one from numbers one and two today.“ How many people do you have to buy for Mr.Erickson?”
“ Twenty-two.My brothers, their wives, their children, as well as my secretary and a few other people that I have on my list.I thought that I’d just do this the easy way, and then I heard you talking to your customer and realized that buying them all the same kind of gift would be a waste of time.My brothers have never worn robes in their lives.The women might, but I don’t know them well enough to get them that.And the children wouldn’t think of me as their favorite uncle if I were to buy them something as lame as a robe.I have to be the favorite uncle.”She asked him where he wanted to start.“ My brothers.I have a good idea what to get them, but I want to make sure that it’s going to be epic.I’m the only one that’s not married, and I want to get them something that reminds them how much fun I’m having without a wife.”
It took them nearly two hours to get the gifts for his brothers.It was going to be fun, she thought.He’d got them all a game system with different games so that he could play with them all the time.They could also play with their kids, as he’d gotten games for their ages, too.
Mr.Erickson also got a small handheld game for his secretary so that she’d have something to do when he was stuck in court all day.She thought that was a good gift as he seemed to think that she didn’t have much to do while he was gone.
At lunchtime, she was going to the cafeteria to have some lunch when he followed her.Buying her lunch was probably frowned upon, but he was funny and knew how to spend money when he wanted something.It wasn’t as if she didn’t know who he was; everyone knew of the Ericksons, but she doubted that few saw them as she was seeing this man today.He was having a good time, and she was catching his mood more and more as she hung out with him.
After lunch, they hit the floor for the kids.He really was going to be the favorite uncle with what he was buying the kids.There were beautiful toys for the little girl that she wished she could have afforded, and trucks for the young boys.He showed her a picture of all the kids while they were looking for the perfect gift.They were beautiful families, and he seemed to have an endless supply of pictures of them on his phone.
“ Now I have to get my cook something.She’s been complaining about her hips hurting for a while now and is going to retire.I would love to get her a beautiful cane that she can use when she’s off working.”She asked if she’d broken her hip.“ Yes.And she’s had a hip replacement, too.I’m going to miss her.”
The canes were lovely, and she thought it thoughtful that he’d picked out something that he thought she’d use.When he had her initials engraved on the handle, so she’d not lose it, Olivia wanted to hug him.He’d put a lot of thought into her gift, and she thought it wonderful.
The rest of his staff was going to get cash, he told her.“ They’ll have to do with that because I don’t have that much time to get them something.I would like some pretty envelopes for the cash if you have them.”She showed him the money cards that they had, and he bought a dozen of them.Theman was really racking up the cash in his shopping, but he said he wanted to be done today, and this was working out better than he could have imagined.
It was nearly four o’clock when they finished with everyone but the women in his life.He really did have five beautiful sisters-in-law, and he was stumped as to what to buy them.She had an idea that he wanted it to be personal, so she suggested he buy them frames and have the pictures that he’d taken yesterday put in them.There were pictures of each of his brothers with their wives and children, if they had any.
“ It’ll be outdated next year, but you said that this would be all of their first Christmas’s together, correct?”He nodded and smiled.“ I mean, I’d want to have a memory for my first holiday with my family if I had one.I don’t think you could get more personalized than that, even though they’re all the same gift, they’ll be of their families.”
“ Perfect.Can I get it done here?Today?”She said that there was a photo shop in the store, but she didn’t know how big he wanted them.After he told her, they then looked at the frames that he’d need.He picked out five of the most expensive ones they carried, and she thought it was going to make him the best brother-in-law ever with these gifts.“ You’ve helped me so much.I can’t believe that I’m finished.I’m doing this next year with you.You hit on everything that I needed and then some.Can I tip you?”
“ Yes, you can tip me, but remember, I might not be able to do this next year.They only take a few of the staff to do this, and I just happened to be picked for this year.”He said she was going to have the best day of all of them.“ More than likely.You’ve spent a great deal of money today.But I don’t know.”
“ I’ll pull some strings.”She just bet he would too, and she didn’t doubt that even if she didn’t get picked, she’d be his personal shopper when he came in.He’d really spent a fortune on his gifts this year and had them wrapped.The wrapping alone was going to be in the hundreds of dollars.“ What time do you get off?I would love to take you out to dinner for all your help.”
