Chance

Chapter 15 - Shop 'Til You Drop

    There were only eleven days left until Christmas and saying I was panicked was an understatement. Our home was decorated. Cami and I did it during the week since she was on vacation and in a way better mood. The sight of the twinkling lights and the decorated Christmas tree filled my stomach with butterflies every night.

We were at one of the malls near where we lived and it was hectic. Everyone clearly had the same idea for this beautiful Saturday morning. Cami and I popped in and out of stores, ticking gifts off of our lists as we bought them. If we were smart, the two of us would have gone to the mall a day during the week while everyone was at home but no, we had to do it while the world swarmed around us.

Cami and I started with stores outside of town and slowly worked our way back in. It was a tactic my mom showed me when I was younger so we'd be closer to home by the time we were done shopping. It was always a tiring experience, however, the looks on everyone's faces on Christmas day was absolutely worth it. The person I was most excited about giving a gift to was Elijah. I got him the perfect one.

"So I don't want you to see what I'm getting you so let's meet up at the food court in an hour," Cami spoke after we left yet another store.

I nodded, hefting the bags in my hand in a feeble attempt to shift the weight, "Yeah, sure."

We went our separate ways and I made a beeline for the beauty store. In the summer, Cami talked about an eyeshadow palette that came out nonstop. She planned to treat herself to it sometime in the new year. Little did she know, I was about to speed up the process.

It only took fifteen minutes to get Cami's gift and get out which left me with plenty of time to do whatever. We already got gifts for everyone which eased my panic. The only person left was myself. I walked into a huge lingerie store and browsed through the pricey items they had. This sort of spending didn't happen too often so I thought, why not?

I found a black, lace bra with matching panties in my size and I clutched it like my life depended on it. My mind betrayed me as I thought of the look on Ben's face if he ever saw me wearing it. Close by was the same set in a baby blue and I picked that one up too then moved on to items that would give me more of a lift. My hand picked up whatever they felt was cute and my feet carried me to the cashier once my hands were done. Apparently my brain nor my pockets had anything to say throughout this process and I wasn't even mad. Everything I got looked amazing and the faint sound of my pockets screaming faded into the background as the image of Ben biting his lip and eyeing me with every drop of desire he could muster played through my mind like my own personal movie.

As decided earlier, Cami and I met up in the food court and bought dinner. It was already five thirty in the afternoon and neither of us were going to cook after the day we had. It was only right to cap off Christmas shopping with fast food, a shower and some rest.

"You're going to love your gift," I nearly squealed in excitement but the fear of the dirty looks that I would have gotten toned down my behaviour.

Cami grinned, I was hinting at buying her new clothes in the past just to throw her off of what she was really going to get, "Wait until you see yours. You're going to freak,"She suggested and it grabbed my attention. There wasn't a time that I recalled saying something about what I wanted. I didn't even know what to want.

"Okay, now I'm really excited," I admitted. We chatted about everything we got for each person in our lives although both of us were there. The Christmas cheer was tugging on us and uplifting our mood.

Butterflies fluttered in my stomach every time Ben's face came to mind and fear crept up right alongside them. It was an odd feeling, being so happy yet so terrified at the same time. In the back of my mind, the wheels started turning and very real possibilities hit me back to back. None of which I wanted to dwell on.