My favorite color

Gifting is a tricky, isn’t it? I love Christmas gift tradition but sometimes I need to squeeze my brain (and wallet) in order to nail that perfect gift. The last one on my list is for my work bestie, and after visiting many stores, I couldn’t seem to find the one that will make her scream in joy.
She is into journaling, so I would like something in that category, but nothing in the store served that function, nor affordable enough, nor expensive enough and most importantly cute enough.
I finally gave up, wrapped up my Christmas shopping spree and on the cashier counter spontaneously bought an orange pen as a back up for anyone. At the end of the day, I ran out of ideas, it was getting late so I decided to wrap the pen for her in addition to a cute pink necklace that I know she would like.
I laughed to myself. A pen. How ridiculous is that. Why would anyone intentionally give a pen to someone? It seems like an afterthought AF.
But anyway. Let me buy her a drink and hopefully she will still count me as a bestie.

The next day we exchanged gift. I opened a box from her, and guess what did I receive? A pen. I laughed to myself again, is this karma? Albeit, mine is a luxurious fountain pen in maroon color.
“Oh my God, we gave each other a pen!”
“Yes, I know red is your favorite color, so I choose the maroon pen for you!”

I really appreciate this pen, but can’t help but think: Yes I love red, but maroon is not red. And of all colors, I think maroon is my second list favorite color. Red is brave, shocking and required immediate attention. And with an additional splash of blue, it takes away those characters of red. I look good in red, but never really invested in any of maroon stuffs.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the pen and I love her with all my heart but this gift gets me pondering, do I not show my true color on daily basis? Am I conveying the wrong message through unintended actions? Which side of personality is clouded and does not shine? And, is it really important to be known as myself, with my favorite color and all that?

I caress the pen and promise to write some more. I didn’t take this personally, she might run into trouble of finding the perfect gift like I did, and it was not a big deal really.

But my favorite color is blue.