Jim hated Christmas shopping, really, but he was always proud of finding just the right gift for each person on his list. He was also proud of being almost done.

He did a quick inventory of the contents of his bright red Target shopping cart. Wine for his sister-in-law, beer for his brother. A board game of some sort for his niece (the specific one he’d been assigned to buy. He didn’t go off-script anymore, after the stuffed unicorn disaster two years ago). A couple of books he knew his dad wanted, and a gift card and some earrings for his mother. Nobody else was coming for Christmas dinner at his brother’s house this year, so that was his entire familial responsibility.

So that left...Karen. He was frustrated by his lack of ideas. He liked Karen, and they’d been dating long enough that he needed to get her something somewhat personal-- no gift cards or baskets of assorted Christmas treats. But he wasn’t ready for clothing or jewelry, and there were no shows coming up that he was sure she’d want tickets for.

They were keeping it casual. But he needed to get her something. And something that he could give her at the office, as they’d both realized they wouldn’t have any more time alone together before they each hit the road to see their families. What would be appropriate to give her at a margarita-themed office party?

He was wandering aimlessly through the store, hoping for inspiration, when the televisions on the wall across the store in the electronics section caught his eye. A movie? Maybe that would work--one that they’d seen together, so that it was a personal memory but nothing too...sentimental.

Jim started to cross the store to the DVD section. To avoid a family with two loudly bickering children, he cut down a random aisle. And then he stopped.

Art supplies. Sketch pads. Charcoal pencils. Paints and fancy pens. Jim stood as though frozen, looking around him. How many times had he researched these things? How many times had he been tempted to buy them, and then changed his mind?

How many times would he be stuck right here?

With a grimmer set to his jaw, he set off to find a copy of “Bridget Jones’ Diary.”