Wednesday
Minutes after Eve left for the day, Paul showed up in my doorway. I wasn’t surprised to see him--he sometimes drops by to see Eve if he finishes work early and is nearby. “You just missed her,” I told him.
“I know. I was parked across the way waiting for her to leave.”
The last time he did that he wanted to have flowers delivered and needed the correct office address. This time he wanted to talk about a Christmas gift.
A few weeks ago when the four of us were together, Eve and Blaine discovered they each had had the same slot car racing set. Oh, the reminiscing that followed. I had never heard of slot cars and asked if they meant Hot Wheels. I offended both with the question. Apparently slot cars are way better. Faster. Cooler. Authentic.
I had forgotten the conversation as soon as it ended, but Paul has been thinking about it and has decided this would be a good gift for Eve. This is the first Christmas without her mom so it will be tough, even more so because their daughter can’t visit until after Christmas. Paul thinks she would get a kick out of the slot cars and it may help her connect to happy memories.
“I'll buy the set for Eve," Paul said. "And, if you want, you can buy Blaine extra track and cars.” I didn’t completely understand but he went on to say that once Eve no longer wants the set, they'll give it to Blaine for Eli. I suspect Eve won’t tire of it, but there’s no reason Blaine can’t buy a set if he wants, or maybe I will get it for him next year if he gets excited about them. For this year, the two can combine their gifts and race each other until one or the other can declare superiority. That, from what I recall about their conversation weeks ago, is the whole point. Bragging rights. Perhaps updated to include a bottle of Fireball for the winner. Who knows.
So tomorrow Paul will email me the particulars and I’ll order Blaine’s part of it.
I’m still going to get Blaine something else, something more personal, but I’m not sure what yet. Plenty of time! Right?
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