Finding the Perfect Gift

It was the Christmas season and Joe had to find just the right gift for his wife, Trista.

“It shouldn’t be too hard, Trista is into everything, so she’ll like anything I get her!” he thought as he jumped into the car to go to the store.

Joe strolled down the street to a store full of jewelry. The second he walked in, he was greeted by the friendly employees, as they showed him the sales that were going on and the store’s best-selling necklaces and rings.

He spotted a gorgeous set of earrings that he thought Trista would love, so he asked an employee how much it was. 

“Eight hundred fifty dollars,” she said and gave an uncomfortable smile. “They’re pretty, but they come at an expensive price because they’re made from very fine gold in China. Unless you’re interested, like many others aren’t, I can show you our other wonderful selection of earrings at an affordable price!”

Joe hesitated because he knew she would just love these earrings so much, but he agreed to go take a look at what else she had as the kind lady guided him to the other side of the store.

Joe took a quick scan and saw another pair of earrings that looked almost identical to the China gold pair! The good news was, they were only an eighth of the price, thus much more affordable. He thanked the kind lady and skirted out the door.

Walking down the street, he excitedly spotted an art store and went inside. He examined the shelves full of different kinds of paint, brushes, pens, pencils, and canvases.  

Shes into watercolor, I can get her some paint, a new brush, and a new canvas! He thought as he started to gather the supplies he wanted to purchase. 

Thinking he would only grab a little, he ended up wanting to buy the entire shelf and reconsidered his decision. He decided to take a look at what he didn’t actually need.

He had grabbed four different sets of colors of paint. One with light pastel colors, one with the rainbow, one with very dark colors, and one with sparkles in the paint. He started using the process of elimination and thought, well, she already has all the primary colors, so she probably doesn’t need the rainbow set as he placed it back to where it belongs. Left with a decision to eliminate at least one more, he took a second and closer look at the dark colors, only to find the seal was broken, and it was the only one on the shelf! The paints inside were probably all dried out, so he put it back and thought, well that was an easy decision. 

He took a look at the kinds of brushes he’d picked up and saw he’d grabbed a handful of them when really he only needed one or two. Not knowing much about brushes, he closed his eyes and randomly picked out two of the brushes he was holding. He placed them by the paint he was hoping to get.

Next, he had taken the whole stack of canvases and only took one, not knowing what he was thinking before. He headed to the checkout, hands full of what his final decision was, and checked out.

In the back of his mind, he thought it was probably enough but something else about him made him think he needs more. The more he gets her, the more she’ll love him, right? 

He continued his walking down the street and decided to go into her favorite clothing store and find an outfit.

Scavenging through the remains that had been picked through over Black Friday, he found a t-shirt that was teal, her favorite color. Wishing she was there to try it on to make sure it fit, he continued looking through the clothes. He found a pair of black and white striped bell-bottom pants and once he first looked at them, he knew she would adore them. 

While he was waiting to checkout he couldn’t resist but to grab her a beanie that would match the outfit perfectly.

There’s something missing, he thought, looking through everything he’d purchased. Ah-ha! It was perfume, who wouldn’t get their wife perfume for Christmas?

The second he opened the store doors to the perfume shop, he was greeted by 500 different scents. The bottles were separated and organized on tables by what they smelled like and how strong, along with a table full of Christmas scents. He knew she really liked to wear vanilla, so he grabbed a bottle of that and took a look at the Christmas table. There appeared to be sweet peppermint, cinnamon, gingerbread, and hot chocolate scents. The only one out of all of that sounded good to be a perfume was the sweet peppermint. He checked out, and feeling satisfied with all he got, he jumped in the car and headed home to wrap it all up.

The presents were perfectly wrapped and placed under the tree, and soon, Christmas day arrived. When the woke up to go open the presents, Joe noticed the only presents under the tree were the ones he’d bought. Suspiciously, he looked around to see if maybe Trista was hiding something somewhere, but he still didn’t see anything. Oh well! he thought.

As Trista was opening her presents, she just loved every single one. From the earrings to the art supplies, to the clothes, and perfumes. She said she couldn’t thank him enough for all of it and the time he’d spent shopping and how grateful she is for him. 

Trista had stayed quiet about what she’d gotten for him, but Joe was enjoying his time so much with Trista that he’d forgotten about his own presents. They decided they’d better start getting Christmas dinner ready because they were going to have a few friends over. 

While she was mashing some potatoes, she asked Joe, “Will you go out in the backyard and make sure it looks okay?”

He answered, “Well of course, even though we’ll be eating inside.”

As he stepped outside to take a look, the nicest looking BBQ grill he’d ever laid eyes on stood in his way, and he ran and hugged Trista and thanked her. Christmas was a success.