Loud Silence

Chapter Sixteen

If there was ever a reason that I hated this city, it would have to be from the damn traffic. Sure, rush hour was horrible all year round, but when there was snow, everyone loses their ability to drive.

The highway jam is moving slower than a snail's pace, and if it isn't for the deafening cold and risk of frostbites, I could probably walk faster to my destination than driving.

I finally give up on my impatience, crank up the music, and resume brainstorming my mission ahead. Although Christmas is two weeks away, this is the only week I am free enough to run around and wait countless hours in lines and traffic, and I haven't even finished gift shopping for the handful of people on my list.

This year was contrastive to past years. Tim's assistant had always taken care of the gift buying for his family, friends, and business associates. My goal was primarily Daisy and Violet. This Christmas, I have added Taylor, Max, Dr. Kwon, and a Secret Santa from work.

Max's gift came to me almost instantaneously, after learning of his obsession with ancient Egypt.

A friend in college had an archeologist father, who often gifted her findings from his expeditions as compensation for the void he had left in her life growing up. She admitted to me that the artifacts and history of it bored the hell out of her and often gave them away.

One of the things that she gave me was a rock as big as my hand, supposedly from her father's Egyptian expedition. We had met with an appraisal specialist for fun, who dated the rock about 2300 years old, a piece of a brick that was used to build the pyramids. I'm hoping that Max would appreciate it as much as I had.

Dr. Kwon was easy. He loves to eat steaks and has an even deeper passion for the different cuts of meat. So I bought a year's subscription to a local steak butchery that will deliver delectable cuts of steak directly to his house once a month.

Secret Santa at the office was even simpler. A coffee machine that uses pods to make any coffee you crave. Who doesn't love coffee?

Violet was a collector of vintage fashion pieces, and every year I would scope out a special piece for her. This year, I stumbled upon a pair of jeans in a thrift store known only as JNCO, the outrageously wide leg denim that was so popular in the 90s among the "rebel kids". It even had the logo sewed onto the back pocket. She'll alter and reinvent it, then somehow wear it in a way that looks like the jeans were made for her and only her, another vintage item added to her collection.

Hence, the traffic jam I am stuck in, coming back from that very thrift store, located in the outskirts of the city, that I have just found the gift from.

Remember when I said I had stumbled upon it? Well, I have actually been searching in a dozen thrift stores, hoping the right object was going to appear. The search itself has not been as awful as sitting here with the cars barely moving.

At least I had only two gifts left. Taylor and I had barely spent any time together. He tried to go on as many shopping expeditions with me as possible, but I refused to let him help me shop for Daisy. And I was still clueless as to what I could get a man who desired nothing, well, nothing that I knew of anyways.

A yellow cab to my left is honking relentless, forcing me to turn around and see who this idiot was. The passenger in the rear seats is reaching up to tell him something, as the cab driver yells at him and points for him to get back.

When I see his face, my brain goes numb, both my hands instantly becoming frigid. Tim! His eyes engage with mine at the exact moment. The cab door swings open as he runs out of the cab, and I'm left with no choice but to put my car in park and chase after him. We are both dodging and weaving through traffic, the halted cars allowing me to follow him through the maze.