“What?” I thought we were here to sniff. I wasn’t expecting to be put to work.
“Of course, let me get you set up with trays.” The clerk walked over to a shelf, returning with two wooden trays topped with an index card and baby pencil. “You’ll find all our fragrances along these walls. I always encourage visitors to walk around and get a feel for the scents they like, and then I can help you hone your preference.” She handed us the trays. “My name is Clara if you need anything.”
When the clerk walked away, I leaned in and whispered. “I don’t know how to make cologne.”
“Neither do I but Clara’s here to help us.” Danessa dipped a test strip into the nearest glass bottle.
“When you said you were going to show me the neighborhood, I thought you meant another coffee shop.”
“We can do that too.” She brought the strip to her nose and frowned. “Smell this?”
“No, it clearly smells disgusting. I saw you turn up your nose.”
“But your reaction could be different.”
“I’ll pass.”
“When did you become a party pooper?”
“Party pooper? I’m the life of the party. I walk into the event and people cheer and shout, “Aldridge is here.”
“That’s never happened.”
I grabbed the strip from her hand and took a whiff. “It smells like a wet dog and not in a good way.”
She giggled. “I know right.” Danessa lingered over the display, sniffing every bottle, her reaction to each varying greatly. If I closed my right eye and squinted, I’d confuse this for a date.
“So do all your clients get this level of attention?”
“Yeah, pretty much.” She said it so matter-of-factly, it made my head jerk back.
“And here I thought I was special.” One hundred percent I was fishing for a compliment or some indication that being with me meant something. I wasn’t looking for declarations of love because that would be crazy. But a hint she was also finding it difficult to breathe and her palms were humid due to our proximity would be nice.
Danessa moved on to the next bottle.
“Hold up. You’re really not going to acknowledge that. The least you could do is affirm my uniqueness.”
“I’m your realtor, Aldridge. I’m not treating you differently. I’m just doing my job.”
Fuck this perfume shop, fuck this neighborhood, and fuck her.Aldi, chill don’t ruin this vibe. You’re right … but I absolutely have to.I wasn’t a random dude looking to purchase a house. We had history so Ishouldbe treated differently. She wasn’t dealing with just anybody. I used to belong to her. Andsince I was now uncomfortable, every motherfucker in this shop was fittin’ to be too. Danessa, Clara the fragrance guru, and the unsuspecting mother and daughter on the other side of the shop perusing atomizers. “You’re telling me you take every fucking client to the fragrance shop?”
“Sometimes it’s Pilates, other times a brewery. My goal is to help you envision yourself as part of the community.” She was talking to me like a fucking realtor. Her voice was even different. It was polished, less casual, one thousand percent fake.
“So we could have been eating hot wings right now but instead we’re here?”
“Don’t act like you don’t like to smell good. And you hate wearing the same cologne as everybody else.”
“I discovered Light Water Intense before any of those other motherfuckers at college, and a few months later everybody and their uncle was wearing it.” I bit down on the inside of my cheek.Shit she was right, a fragrance shop was very on brand for me. Why hadn’t I gone to a place like this before?
“Are you done Christopher Columbus?”
“No, no amount of fragrance shops or hand-pressed coffee is going to make me magically fall in love with this place. It’s not Kansas City.”
Danessa finally looked at me, sensing from my tone I was actually upset. “You didn’t even wanna go to Kansas City. You were pissed when you got drafted.”
“Yeah, well things change. I grew to enjoy a slower paced life.”
“Stop acting like you were out there baling fucking hay. KC is a major city.”
