Shelly - December 23, 2006 - 10:23 am

The cacophony of shoppers' voices all but drowned out The Holly and the Ivy playing over the mall's loudspeakers. My friend Tiffany’s bleach blonde hair bounced on her shoulders as she walked next to me. “Thanks again for coming with me. I’m really hoping to find Andrew the perfect gift this year.”

I walked a half step ahead of her. “Why do you try so hard? He never even likes anything you get for him?”

She turned all of a sudden and walked toward the mall map display. “First of all, he’s my boyfriend and I would never even imagine not getting him something. Besides, don’t they say that it’s the thought that counts?”

We passed a display of mechanical elves playing Christmas songs. Their heads, arms, and torsos jerked left and right and up and down, as their songs clashed with the music playing overhead. I said, “I guess so, but if it’s the thought that counts, then the fact that he doesn’t think you should get him anything should count for something too, right?”

Tiffany stopped in front of the mall map and traced her finger along the list of stores. Then she tapped the sign five times and looked over her shoulder at me. “Hey, Shell, how about this one?”

I pretended to look at whatever store she was tapping on. “Sure, sounds great.”

We turned back in the direction we had just walked from and headed toward the escalator. An ancient lady, in a red hat, ambled next to her friend who had her light blue hair tied in a messy bun. Each of their husbands walked on the outside of them, effectively blocking anyone from passing unless they shoved past. The grey-haired man on the left turned toward his wife and opened a small passage. I walked faster to eke through the opening and he meandered back to his right, just as I was about to pass by. Tiffany grabbed my arm and stopped me from knocking over the old man. “Shell, we’re not in a rush. What’s your hurry?”

I turned toward her and sighed. “Nothing. I just. Ugh.” I threw up my hands. “I Just really hate shopping malls. Especially during Christmas.”

Her brown eyes seemed to search mine as she held her hands on her hips. “And what’s wrong with Christmas?” Then she chuckled at me and pointed to our left. “Oh, look, your favorite coffee shop," She started walking again as she continued talking, "let’s stop in there and get something to drink. A slight change of pace should help calm you down.”

“I doubt it, but sure. I mean, it’s not my favorite, but they serve coffee, and you know I’m always up for getting a cup of brew. And it’s not Christmas I don’t like, it’s the crowds of inconsiderate people who would trample you to death to save five dollars on a big screen t.v.”

We entered the coffee shop, walked up to the counter, and stood behind eight people. Tiffany’s blonde hair swung back and forth as she turned her head left and right. She sopped pivoting her head, grabbed my forearm, and squeezed. “Oh. My. Gosh.” Her mouth gaped open at me, she pulled me close, and whispered in my ear, “Do you see who's sitting in the corner table at the back of the room?” She raised her arm and pointed at a group of tables across the room.

I scanned the heads in that direction of the room. “I don’t know anyone in here. Who am I supposed to be looking at?”

Tiffany shook her head back and forth. “You’re unbelievable. Don’t you not know who Senator Jones’ son is?”

I pursed my lips. “Who’s Senator Jones? I mean, a senator obviously, but a senator from where?”

Tiffany’s head hadn’t stopped shaking since I first indicated my ignorance. “He’s been an Illinois Senator for eight years now. He’s always in the news and this past summer his son was declared Illinois’ most eligible bachelor.”

The line moved forward and I stepped one person closer to the register and shrugged my shoulders. “Good for him?"

Tiffany nudged my side and raised her eyebrows up and down. “You should go over there and introduce yourself.”

The man in front of me pulled his flip phone out of his pocket, stepped out of line, and left the store. I closed the gap between myself and the register. “Uh, why?”

My friend’s mouth curved into a mischievous smirk and she moved her face closer to mine. “I dare you.”

“Will you drop it if I go over there and talk to him?”

She opened her eyes wide and bobbed her head slowly up and down. “Uh huh.” The she raised squinted her eyes and said, “As long as you get his number," Then she amended, "or give him yours.”

The mall Santa walked up behind us and he scratched as his fake beard. It moved back and forth on his face. For an instant, three day old stubble around his mouth appeared before he moved the beard back into place.

At the back of the room, the blond man sat alone at a table. He held a red blackberry phone between his cheek and his shoulder and tapped away on his keyboard. Every time he raised the coffee to his lips, his broad shoulders flexed through his form fitted black dress shirt. He looked up in our direction and I turned to prevent him from catching me staring at him.

Tiffany jabbed me in the side again. “Real smooth Alicia. Well? What’re you waiting for. I’ll get your coffee, you go introduce yourself.” Her smirk grew. “I’ll wait here for you.” Then she rotated my shoulders and nudged me out of line.

I walked over to the table and my stomach told me that I shouldn’t be going over to talk to the blond, but my inability to back down from a dare told my stomach to shut up. When I was a pace away from his table, he put away his phone, closed his laptop, and looked up at me. “Hi.” He flashed the largest smile I’d ever seen on someone who wasn’t a used car salesman. “Can I help you?”

I folded my hands together, looked at his closed laptop, and then looked up at him. “Hi, um, my friend,” I pointed back at Tiffany, “dared me to come and talk to you. I’m not normally uh, well, you see…”

He stood, chuckled, and extended his hand. “Ah, well, nice to meet you. I’m Jason. What’s your name?”

I took his hand in mine and heat radiated up my arm and into my chest. I hadn’t had any intentions of getting involved with a politician, but the butterflies in my stomach awoke and told me that I liked this man. The instrumental version Last Christmas played over the coffeeshop’s speakers. I swallowed hard and said, “Um, is it okay if my friend and I sit here with you?”

His smile grew larger, despite the fact that I had sworn that he was already smiling as large as humanly possible. He winked at me. “Only if you tell me your names.”

I chuckled nervously. “Yeah, sure. My friend’s name is Tiffany and I’m Shelly.”

He shook my hand for a solid five seconds, as he hypnotized me with his stark blue eyes. He released my hand and then moved to the neighboring table. “Are you two using this chair?” As they shook their heads at him, he moved the chair over to the table he had been sitting at, close to his own chair, and gestured for me to sit.

I did as he said and our legs were so close that I could feel the heat radiating from his leg.

He slid his laptop into his computer bag, folded his hands on the table, and turned to look at me. “So, what brings you to the mall? Still trying to get that last minute Christmas shopping done?”

I looked over at Tiffany who was finally ordering our coffees, then looked back at Jason. “No, she’s trying to find the perfect gift for her boyfriend.”

He nodded. “Ah, I see. That can be tricky sometimes.” He chuckled and took a sip from his coffee. “So, how long have you been in Chicago?”

I twirled the edge of my black wavy hair. “I was born in Chicago. You?”

Jason responded, “Yeah, my dad was in the Airforce. I was born in Nebraska while my dad lived on the Offutt Air Force base. A year later he was stationed in South Korea, then a dozen or more bases until he was honorably discharged, when I was fourteen. That was around 1996 and my dad retired from Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina, moved to Chicago, and became a senator. I’ve been here ever since and never wanted to leave.”

“Wow, that is a lot of moving. How do you keep it all straight?”

Jason chuckled. “Oh, I’m sure I messed up some of the details. That’s the best I can remember it without looking at records.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Is that something you’re prone to do very often? Check your records of where you’ve lived?”

He tilted his head and laughed. “Ha, no, I guess it’s not something I’m prone to do.”

Tiffany sat down at our table, slid my drink over to me, and held her hand out at Jason. “Hi, I’m Tiffany. I hope Shelly here hasn’t been saying too many bad things about me.”

I took a sip of the coffee she had handed me and almost gagged. “What is this?”

“I got you a caramel macchiato, is it good?”

I rolled my eyes. “You know I always drink it black with only sugar, why are you trying to poison me?”

Jason said, “I drink it the same way. Fancy drinks don’t even taste good, I don’t understand why people pretend to like them." Then he turned his attention on Tiffany. "And, no Tiffany, Shelly here has only been praising how good of a friend you are.”

Tiffany shook her head and tapped the table with her finger. “Don’t politician me, I can see right through your flattery.” She raised her eyebrow at him, “And, I don’t pretend it tastes good, it does taste good.” Then she turned toward me. “I’m sorry Shell, I thought you’d like it.”

I slid the coffee toward her. “You’ve known me since our junior year of college. In the past five years, when have you ever seen me drink a frou-frou coffee?”

Tiffany shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. People change.”

A man with grey hair and a long beard approached our table and pointed at Jason. “Hey, aren’t you that senator’s son?”

Jason shook his head and shrugged. “Nope.”

The old man wasn’t buying the fake denial. “Yes, you are. Can you give your father a message for me? He does serve we the people after all doesn’t he?”

Jason stood up and grabbed his computer bag and coffee, then turned to me. “Hey, Shelly, can we get out of here? Once one person starts to bother me with whatever pet political issue they’ve drummed up, there’s no getting away from them. It’s like a snowball rolling down hill.”

I stood up with Jason and said, “Sure. Where’re we going?”

The old man persisted, walking behind us. “If I can just have ten seconds of your time, please.”

Jason turned on his heel and faced the old man. “I’m sorry that you think I’m someone I’m not, please let me be in peace.” He turned back around and walked faster.

Tiffany’s feet echoed through the mall in a slight misstep with the Christmas music that continued playing in the mall speakers. She carried both her and my coffee, and followed behind us. I turned around, while not stopping, grabbed my drink from her hand, and tossed it in the trash. Tiffany stopped for half-a second and looked back at the trash can. “Hey! That was my toffee-nut mocha you just threw away.” She sipped at the coffee cup that was in her other hand and her mouth stretched thin. “Ew. This is not my coffee. This is your black coffee.” She looked back at the coffee shop we were escaping from. “What happen to my mocha?”

I reached for my coffee and she handed it to me. A group of teenagers ran past us and bumped my coffee out of my hands and onto the ground. Their laughter mixed with the various sounds of people talking, music playing, and feet trampling the mall floor. I shook my head and we followed Jason out of the mall. We stepped into the bright afternoon sun and it reflected hatefully off the piles of snow and into our eyes. I held my hand over my eyes in an attempt to shade them from the torturous sun. Jason approached a brand new black and red Bugatti, clicked the black key fob in his hand, and opened the passenger door. He flashed that pearly white used car salesman grin at us. “You two get in, we’ll go somewhere quieter and safe from interruptions.”

I placed my hand on the frame of the door and was getting ready to step on. Tiffany gently tugged at my arm. “Don’t you think we should follow him in your car so that he doesn’t have to bring us back to the mall later on?”

I stood up straight and held my keys out to her. “Do you mind if I ride with Jason and you follow us?”

Tiffany rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders. “Seriously? You just meet some guy and are just going to get in to a stranger’s car?”

Jason raised his eyebrows and smirked. “Your friend doesn’t hold back does she?”

I laughed. “No, she doesn’t.” I looked over at Tiffany. “He’s the senator’s son, you really think I need to be afraid that a senator’s son is going to kill me?”

Tiffany pursed her lips and bobbed her head. “Yeah, I guess you have a point. Ok, well, I never did get my boyfriend’s gift and I’m running out of time to get him something.” She turned toward Jason. “Can I get the address of where you’re going and meet you two there later, after I find what I came to the mall for?”

Jason’s blue eyes seemed to shimmer. “Sure, if Shelly’s cool with that.” He placed his hand on top of mine. “You want to come with me and have your friend meet us later?”

The heat from his hand stirred feelings in my soul stronger than earlier in the coffeeshop. “Yeah, I’m cool with that.” I looked at Tiffany and mouthed thanks to her and then got into Jason’s car. As I closed the door it seemed like Tiffany was silently celebrating. Although, I wasn’t sure if it was her or me who was doing the actual celebrating. I was getting to go back to this amazing guy’s place, and if the car was any indication, it was going to be a breathtaking house.

The engine of the Bugatti roared to life and Jason looked over at me. He had changed into mirrored aviator sunglasses, which he was looking over the edge of, and was once again hypnotizing me with those piercing blue eyes. “Alright Shelly, you ready?”

I nodded once or twice and then he backed out of the parking space and drove away.