“What are you doing?”
“I’m describing the smell for you.” He said as if it was the simplest thing in the world, “It smells like a thunderstorm, but not the ones that wreak havoc. When the wind blows the curtains and the rain patters down on the windows. It’s something alright, but I don’t think it’s you.”
I stared at him for longer than I should have as he spoke. I have had various people pick out my perfumes at different points in my life. At one point it was my mother. In high school, it was a friend of mine and up until recently, it was Olivia but no one has ever tried to describe the smell for me.
They would always just pick what they felt was right and hand it to me but here he was,l the largest dick on the planet and he was describing the smell of the perfume so I would feel included in thechoosing process.
He placed the bottle back on the shelf and gestured for me to pick another one. This time I didn’t hesitate before handing another one to him.
“What about this one?”
“It is lilac; it’s sweet, kind of like honey. It’s like a summer night, the ones you rarely ever forget. It’s like being wrapped up in a dentist’s nightmare. It’s wonderful, but it’s not you.”
“You choose then.” He picked one up and brought it to his nose but dropped it back almost immediately, “What’s wrong with that one?”
“Nothing,” he said quickly and when he saw the look on my face he sighed, “Just trust me, let me pick something else.”
He avoided my eyes as he picked another one off the shelf. He slowly uncapped it and brought it to his nose.
“This one,” he looked proud of himself, “it’s feminine, it’s very soft and elegant. It’s like a musky floral scent. Kind of vibrant, if it were a color, it would be peach.
“You got all that from one smell?”
“What can I say? I’m a man of many talents.” He shrugged, “But if you don’t like it then we can pick something else.”
I thought back to the perfume he put down and wanted to ask about it but I decided against it. Maybe he put it down because it smelled horrible. If he went through the trouble of describing the scents for me then he wouldn’t put that one down unless he was sure that it was bad.
“I’ll take this one.” I nodded to the one in his hand.
He spent less time choosing one for himself and when he was done, he took them to the counter to be checked out. I dug through my pocket for my card but before I could even pull mine out, he paid for it. I waited until we had walked away from the counter before I spoke.
“Are you going to pay for everything I buy?” I asked and he shrugged, “We’re going clothes shopping next and I don’t shop cheap.”
He smirked and reached into his pocket to pull out his card, “The pin is 2-5-7-9, feel free to knock yourself out.”
When I didn’t take it from him, he slipped it into my breast pocket and walked towards the men’s line, leaving me standing there with my mouth gaping open and my eyes wide.
I couldn’t meet his eye as we browsed through racks of clothes. I could still feel his card in my pocket and it burned my skin as I thought about how his hand brushed against my skin when he placed the card in.
“I don’t think a clown fit is good for this weather,” Nathan whispered and that was when I realized I had been staring at the same costume for a while.
“I’m thinking about how good it would look on you.” I quipped.
“Everything looks good on me,” he said with such an air of self assurance that I wanted to slap him, “Are you done; the checkout line is empty.”
Instead of answering, I made my way there and I was about to hand my own card to the cashier when Nathan leaned into my ear.
“Give her your card and I swear I’ll break it.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me.”
I knew his taunt was genuine so I sighed and put my card back into my back pocket and handed the cashier his own. Her eyes were drifting from his face to mine and she had a small smile on her face that I didn’t want to dissect.
She was bagging the things when I heard a disgruntled huff from behind us. I turned and saw a young girl standing in front of a row of baby clothes. She had two hangers up in front of her and she was staring at them hard as if she was trying to figure out which one to choose.
I didn’t realize when I drifted over to her side, “Would you like some help?” She jumped when she heard my voice, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
