An Online Soap Opera
Episode 902: What Child Is This?It was easily the chilliest day of the year but Tansy just rubbed her mittened hands together and kept walking, she didn’t have the luxury of turning back for hot cocoa at home, she was running out of days before the date she and Enid had agreed to exchange gifts. She couldn’t just chicken out because the weather was too cold or because the handful of people she might have enlisted to help her on this mission were busy today and probably sick of her quest given the number of fruitless shopping trips they’d already accompanied her on.Maybe it was better to go alone anyway and not have to wonder if whoever she was with was wondering why this gift was so important to her. She wasn’t entirely sure herself. She didn’t want to dwell on it too much and instead concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other on the icy sidewalk – until she heard a car pull up alongside her, its engine shutting off. Tansy kind of freaked at first, she was about to take off running, risk slipping on the ice when she recognized the man climbing out of the car. He was nothing to be scared of, just annoyed by. “I knew it was you,” her grandpa said, stepping beside her. He sounded all triumphant like that made up for him not recognizing her at all at his stupid summer party. “Well pin a rose on your nose,” Tansy said and kept walking. She had enough to deal with finding the perfect gift, she didn’t need her grandfather pestering her like he had for weeks after the party, texting her to have lunch or whatever. “Are you excited for the holidays?” He asked. “I told you months ago, I’m not going to tell the world that you’re such a jerk that you couldn’t even recognize your own granddaughter, so you can just leave me alone.” “I’m not leaving you alone out here, you’re just a child, what kind of parents-” “I’m twelve, not a baby, you’d know that if you bothered to see me grow up. My parents are good parents, the best. I can go places alone as long as it’s not too far and I tell them first, which I did. They’re okay with me going to the mall like a block away. So you don’t need to act like you suddenly care what happens to me.” “The mall? So you’re shopping for Christmas? Do you mind if I tag along? Ordinarily gift giving is a task I assign to my assistant, but I’ve been wanting to give my gifts a more personal touch. I have time today, and since you’re shopping, maybe we could tackle this together. I would even happily buy you-” “I’m not for sale.” “I didn’t mean to imply that you were. I just thought it would be nice to treat my granddaughter to a little something, plus I would like to get to know you and some gift giving advice would be helpful. At the very least though, let me drive you to the mall, it’s freezing out here. Or, as I said, we could shop together, and then you could venture further from home, we could go to any stores in the city, you wouldn’t be limited to the selection at one mall, increasing your odds of finding the perfect gift. So, what do you say?”
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