When Ricardo finally arrived at the distribution center, the row of people was turning the corner of the street. He knew doing anything outside the day before Christmas Eve was madness; waiting in line was the price to pay for starting late. That and listening to the same old carols playing on a loop.
“Woah, a lot of people are gonna eat turkey,” said Sandro, who was back from parking the car.
“Most probably don't have a choice,” said Ricardo. “God knows I wouldn't be here if dad hadn't received a voucher from his job.”
“Nothing beats free,” said Sandro, taking out his cellphone.
“I didn't think it would be this bad,” said Ricardo. “You can leave if you want, I can call a taxi later.”
“It isn't moving that slowly. Besides–unlike you–I won't be doing any preparations at home. If it was for me, I wouldn't even be there.”
“At least they are letting you get away for New Year's.”
“Yeah, Clara would kill me otherwise. With all the extra classes I'll be giving this January...”
“Sorry.”
It was fortunate that Sandro worked at the same academy as Ricardo, and thus he could replace him for a month. If he just gave away his hours, it would be very difficult to get them back after vacations.
“Don't be; I'm glad to help. After everything that happened, it's great watching Minerva get excited for something.”
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After an uneventful lunch, Ricardo braced himself and went out. Too late to buy the presents online, he had no option but to face the Christmas crowds again. The closest mall was at a walking distance; the music coming from his earphones replacing the traffic noises while he evaded the throngs of last-minute shoppers.
His first purchase was easy, he just got one of his dad's wine of choice at the liquor store. Dad bought anything he could want himself, but wine was a consumable so you couldn't do wrong with it.
After that, things got more complicated. Ricardo passed by the storefront windows trying to get some inspiration–no, he wouldn't go inside unless he had a reasonable expectation of actually finding something–walking through the packed aisles aimlessly wasn't worth it.
He was talking a short break under the shade of a shoe store when he noticed her, just seconds after she noticed him. Ricardo quickly threw away the paper napkin on his hand and feigned a smile.
“Hello!” exclaimed the girl, approaching Ricardo with a spring in her step.
“Hello Amelia, doing Christmas shopping?”
“Yup,” Amelia looked at Ricardo from top to bottom. “You too?”
“Yeah”
“Can you help me for a bit?”
And that's how Ricardo was dragged back to the liquor store with Amelia in tow. Amelia wanted to make gives to all his family this year and she hadn't had any idea for dad's present until she saw Ricardo's.
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“I just broke the law,” said Ricardo, taking a bite from his ice-cream cone.
“Yup, you're a criminal now,” said Amelia, taking a seat in a two-person table in the terrace of an Italian café. “Enjoying your bribe?”
“It's ice-cream.”
Buying alcohol for a minor–even if she was just by a few months–was technically a crime. Not that anyone would care. And, actually, the ice-cream in question was really really good: orange-flavored–with small pieces of candied rind mixed inside–the perfect balance of sweet and sour that melted softly in his mouth.
“Did you finish with your Christmas list?” asked Amelia, taking a spoonful of ice-cream from her cup.
“I wish,” replied Ricardo, taking another bite and swallowing. “With all the university stuff I just started thinking about presents today. And everywhere is full of people. At least dad's easy.”
“Things didn't go well?” asked Amelia, before putting the tiny spoon in her mouth, being careful to not touch her lips.
“The truth is I should be satisfied. It was just a group project that probably won't ever amount to anything. But still, I feel like I was really close to something special...”
At that point Ricardo realized that he had raised his voice in frustration. All day he had been still thinking about the project, unable to let go. Heck, Amelia didn't even ask about that–she was talking about the gift shopping–her surprised eyes staring at him.
“Sorry, I guess I needed to vent.” said Ricardo, laughing from embarrassment.
“You know, I'm still missing a few presents,” said Amelia, smiling. “We could buy them together.”
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The rest of the afternoon got a lot more pleasant. The sun was still beaming in the sky, but Ricardo felt he was making progress. For all his complaining, being stuck inside the stores was many times better. They did have air conditioner after all.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“For your mom this color shade would fit the best,” said Amelia, handing Ricardo a makeup box set.
“If you say so, I'll trust you,” said Ricardo, putting the box in the department store's basket he was carrying.
“Are you missing anything?”
“Only one left.”
The Christmas shopping was almost finished, but there was one present left, the hardest one every year: Minerva's. She had been hard to approach for Ricardo in the meltdown aftermath years ago and they just kinda drifted away. So, even living together, he didn't know much about her pastimes–besides her recent interest in VR games.
“Minerva's?” asked Amelia. She surely had already realized that Ricardo hadn't done any Christmas shopping before the day.
“Yeah,” said Ricardo, focusing in the line for the cashier.
“I haven't bought it yet either,” said Amelia, showing a spark in her eyes. “But I have an idea.”
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After leaving the department store, Amelia walked Ricardo towards a small shop in a corner next to the elevator. Unlike the rest of the stores, this one didn't seem to have many people.
“Here.” Amelia said, beckoning Ricardo inside.
Inside, warm ambient light accompanied a soft piano melody, an earthy smell filling the room. Handbags, jackets and other leather items filled the sparsely placed shelfs.
“Leather goods?” asked Ricardo, a bit surprised.
“Faux leather,” answered Amelia, who had already turned in a particular direction.
Ricardo followed Amelia towards a rack filled with hanging handbags. They were all roughly the size of a portable tablet, with colorful, geometric-shape designs.
“What do you think?” Amelia asked, expectantly.
“If you recommend them, it should be fine,” said Ricardo, trying to discreetly figure out the price from the label.
“They are the same design as she uses inside VC.”
“Oh, that's neat.”
Ricardo finally found the price and was taken aback. Quite pricey, Virtual Connection must be doing really well.
“I know, they are a little expensive,” said Amelia. “But it would be perfect for using during the trip. I have considered other options, but nothing compares.”
“Are you buying it?”
“She wouldn't accept it from me. But if we buy it together, she won't be able to refuse.”
And that was how Ricardo ended up filling his Christmas list. They picked a sky-blue and light-brown, hexagon-patterned handbag–which Amelia was sure to have seen Minerva's character using–and paid it half-half. Amelia could have easily bought it alone–her father had a very well-paid job, something about international business–but it was true that it might make Minerva uncomfortable.
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“So, you play Virtual Connection too?” asked Ricardo, trying to make conversation with the teenage girl sitting beside him.
“I do play, not as much as Minerva though,” answered Amelia, looking at the people walking on the street. “You don't play VR games, do you?”
Amelia and Ricardo were sharing a ride back, since they had a lot of bags between the two of them. Ricardo had wavered if he should buy her a snack in thanks for the help, but–after they finished their last purchase–she had decidedly went off to hail a taxi and the moment was gone.
“No, I don't,” answered Ricardo. “I did try once when we got our first VR machine.”
“Not too much of a gamer,” said Amelia, still looking outside.
“I used to play tabletop RPGs when I was in school,” added Ricardo. “I was really into it for a time.”
Even saying it like that was an understatement. He had been completely obsessed, to the point that his grade average nosedived. And then the incident happened. It blindsided him–of course it would–he was just a teenage boy who lived for games and didn't notice the big alarm signals in front of him.
“Oh, I have never played something like that,” said Amelia, turning her head. “Do you need an app?”
“No, there's one person who's the dungeon master, DM for short,” answered Ricardo. “He's the one who tells the others what happens.”
“Oh, seems like a lot of work.”
“Yeah, it really is. But I enjoyed it a lot.”
It was a bittersweet memory. Being the DM had been the center of his life at one point, so it was extra painful when the group disbanded. From his former group, Sandro was the only one that he kept in touch with.
“You were the DM?”
“Yeah. I still have the files for the scenarios from that time.”
“Maybe we could try it with Minerva sometime.”
Ricardo couldn't help smiling, even though it probably wouldn't ever happen. And if it happened, he needed to revise his scenarios throughly. There was no way he would show them his younger self world-building unedited.
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“Let me check it out first,” said Ricardo, quietly opening his front door. Amelia just nodded in response, waiting in the sidewalk with all their packages.
Ricardo noticed only Minerva's dolphin key chain remaining in the rack before hanging his own. He went up the stairs, checking out his sister's room. As he had supposed, she was inside her VR machine and disconnected from the world. He checked out his room too–putting all the clothes that were laying around in the basket–before going back to Amelia.
“We're practically alone, Minerva is using the VR machine,” said Ricardo, taking most of the bags from Amelia.
“Thank you,” said Amelia, following Ricardo to his room.
The gifts Amelia had bought that afternoon ended up all being for Ricardo's family members. And that being the case, he had offered to hide them in his room, so she wouldn't need to haul them from her house tomorrow.
“Nice room,” said Amelia, looking around.
Ricardo's bedroom was fairly standard, ash white walls with no posters on them, just a framed waterfall photo hanging over his bed. A small desk that doubled as nightstand to the right, the wardrobe to the left. The VR machine occupied the whole corner in front of the door.
“I expected it messier, with all the pressure you had on these days.”
“I did order a little before letting you in.”
“Knew it.”
It dawned on Ricardo that this was probably Amelia's first time inside his room. She had been a regular visitor for so long that he sometimes forgot she actually wasn't family.
“Where should I put them?” asked Amelia, pointing to the bags.
“Here.”
Ricardo got on his knees and pulled a brand new suitcase from under his bed. They had bought them for the trip to Argentina, but he wouldn't start packing before Christmas, so it was perfect for hiding the presents.
After all the packages–which included both Amelia's and Ricardo's–were fitted inside, and the suitcase pushed under the bed again, an uncomfortable silence filled the room.
“Do you want to stay for dinner? I can call Minerva out from the VR machine,” asked Ricardo, not wanting Amelia to feel like she was being thrown out.
“No, don't bother her,” answered Amelia. “It's better if I return home now. It'll be more surprising when we take out the presents tomorrow.”