Love Stinks

by Jeffrey Marks

  Fortunately, she and Joshua had made plans to go to the latest Pixar film today. Checking her watch, Marissa saw that she still had plenty of time to pick up her son and drive out to the Showcase Cinemas in Springdale. The orange construction barrels had disappeared which made highway driving possible again. She pulled her bag from under the counter and looked for Nicole.

  The blonde was on a cellphone, hunched over so that she couldn't see the woman standing at the counter. Marissa walked over to the counter and answered the shopper's questions on blusher prices while poking the clerk in the ribs.

  "Nicole, you are supposed to be working, not gabbing to your friends." Working with some of the more experienced clerks hadn't helped the girl's habits at all.

  "I'm sorry, Miss Scott, but I'm having a family problem. I hope to have it cleared up real soon." She shoved the phone in her pocket as she turned to look at her supervisor.

  Marissa didn't lose her temper, knowing she gone from this in a few minutes. "I can understand that, but don't ignore the customers while you're doing it. They do pay your salary after all."

  "Are you going somewhere?"

  "Joshua and I are going to the movies, so I won't be back today. If you have any questions, Opal can answer them for you." Anyone but me, Marissa thought as her smile grew.

  "Well, have fun. I wish I were going too."

  Marissa counted her blessings that the clerk was not and headed towards the parking garage that connected to the mall from the juniors department. She cut through women's fashions, but Anne Dillon was nowhere to be seen. Probably a fashion seminar or a downtown meeting.

  She pushed open the door leading to the garage and started towards her car. The day looked gray, and the garage smelled damp as she started the trek across the parking facility. Mall officials insisted that all store employees park in the back corner of the first level to allow the customers better access to the store. Her heels clicked loudly as she walked, and she smiled as she visualized the plush chairs of the darkened movie theater, a popcorn-infested cocoon away from her problems.

  As the sound of raindrops started on the ceiling, Marissa began to hum as she neared her car. No one at Kantor's had noticed her leaving early. Although she had put in more than her share of overtime in the past week, she didn't feel like explaining herself to management. The overcast sky made the parking lot dark enough that no one would notice her here. A sharp wind whistled through the cement rafters.

  The garage was deserted as she came to her car and leaned over to insert her key into the door lock of the VW Rabbit. Suddenly, she felt a hand clasp over her mouth and an arm reach around her throat. The force pulled her back, and she felt the heat of another human body behind her. Marissa found herself staring at the ceiling.

  She held up the purse she was still grasping. She threw it behind her so that the attacker could get his reward and run off in the other direction, but the toss had no effect on the arms. They grew tighter, and Marissa struggled for air. A sense of fear gripped Marissa as she tried to decide what this attacker wanted if not her money.

  Marissa cursed herself for not paying more attention in her self-defense class last year. She and Anne had spent more time making fun of the intensity of the instructor, laughing at the serious way she kicked and hit the punching bag. Her own practice had been awkward and infrequent.

  Marissa remembered one of the moves and brought down her heel hard. She missed the attacker's foot and only threw herself off balance. The arms dragged Marissa back toward the garage wall, causing one of her shoes to fall off. One of her jacket pockets flopped heavily against her hips as she lurched backwards. Tiny drops of rain came in through the open areas of the garage and fell against her arms.

  As the arm grew tighter around her neck, Marissa could smell cigarette smoke and a cheap cologne she didn't recognize. Trying to breathe hurt, and she felt herself getting weaker.

  Is this what death was like? She felt tears on her cheek as she realized all she would miss by being killed. Seeing Joshua grow up and become a man, holding a lover and being held again, seeing Dan get his. Joshua would go to Dan and that waif of a future wife and would probably forget about her in time. The hands grew tighter around her neck, and Marissa felt light-headed.

  She winced as the jacket pocket hit her hip again. Why was it so heavy? She slipped one of her weakening hands into the pocket, and her eyes widened as she remembered the small spray bottle of Eternity for Men tucked in the bottom of the opening, a gift from one of the sales reps that afternoon. She grasped the bottle tightly as she struggled to pull off the lid with the nails of her one free hand. The attacker was either too busy with his deadly task to notice the action, or he didn't care about the woman's feeble efforts in her pocket.

  The top fell into her jacket, and Marissa wasted only a second trying to determine where the man's face must be. In a single motion, she threw her arm over her head and started pressing the nozzle as fast as she could. Her finger pumped repeatedly until it was sore. She heard the cry of the attacker as he loosened his grip. Marissa continued to push the atomizer as she fell to the ground in a heap, one leg curling up under her body.

  She heard a hoarse cry as she landed on her ankle and was surprised that the voice was hers. The bottle still gripped tightly in her fingers, she pulled her head up and searched the garage for signs of another person. Marissa heard footsteps fading into the distance from where she had just come. Looking at her watch, she realized that only five minutes had passed since she left the store, but it felt like a ten-hour shift. What had been in her mind before this? Certainly not anything that would qualify as last-minutes-of-life material.

  Trying to stand up, Marissa felt the throbbing in her ankle. She hobbled slowly back to Kantor's, realizing that her attacker had no choice but to cut through the store. As her tears dried, she felt her anger grow. With the luck of her weapon, it wouldn't be hard to find a man in the store who had reeked of cologne. He'd smell worse than one of those short, hairy men at a pick-up bar.

  She held open the door to the store and looked around for her attacker. She didn't see anyone, but Anne spotted Marissa almost immediately and ran to her.

  "What happened to you? My God, are you okay?" Anne grabbed Marissa's arm, and Marissa allowed herself to lean heavily against her friend.

  "Someone tried to kill me in the parking lot. Grabbed me from behind." Marissa's voice still came out as a hoarse whisper, and Anne's eyes grew wide as she heard the croaking of her friend.

  "I can see the red marks on your neck. Marissa, you've got to sit down. Let me help you get to the backroom. You're going to scare the customers."

  "No." The word came out clearly, and several customers turned to look at the woman with the torn dress and the dark hair that seemed to stick out all over. "I have to find him. I sprayed him with Eternity. Did you see anyone come in the store from the garage?"

  Anne shook her head. "I just got out of a sales meeting when I saw you."

  Marissa pulled away from her friend and started to hobble again towards the center of the store and her department. She kept one hand on the racks for support as she made her way back to the cosmetics area with Anne following a few steps behind. He had to be here somewhere. Marissa felt her resolve weaken as she tried to walk through the store.

  "Marissa, how can I help? Should I call the police or security?"

  The woman turned around. "Could you pick up Joshua and bring him here? You've done it before so the daycare people won't say anything. We were supposed to go to the movies, and I told them I would pick him up early."

  Anne slipped her arm around her friend's shoulder. Marissa felt Anne shiver. "Are you sure you want Josh to see you like this? No offense, but you might scare him."

  "This might not make any sense to you, but I need him right now. I need my son." Marissa's eyes watered up, and she rubbed her sleeve over her face, not saying a word. Mascara be damned.

  Anne nodded and started to walk back to the women's departme
nt. She turned around several times to keep Marissa in sight as the woman slowly made it back to cosmetics.

  Nicole ran to her boss as she saw Marissa approach. "I don't know what happened, Miss Scott, but I know the procedure by heart. I'll have security down here in no time."

  Marissa rested against one of the glass cases and closed her eyes. Ellen could come down and help find the attacker. Someone had to see the man re-enter the store or at least smell him. The scent had to be overwhelming and should be enough for the police to locate him. Then, this whole mess would be over, and she could concentrate on Christmas sales. Things had to get back to normal so she could concentrate on her job and her son. She tried to mentally go over the things she needed to do tomorrow, to block out the pain of what had happened. She shivered all over, and her teeth chattered loud enough to play back-up for a tango band. She couldn't blame the reaction on the falling temperatures outside.

  When Marissa looked up, a small woman with a dainty wicker basket covered with bows and colorful streamers, was approaching her. She had blonde hair, cut in a wedge and small delicate features that were set off by an expensive strand of pearls around her neck. Marissa didn't recognize her at first. She was wearing a tailored business suit that brought Marissa out of her troubles long enough to wonder how the woman could afford it.

  "Beth, what are you doing here? I didn't think you were working at Westgate until Friday." The words came out in a gravelly whisper, and Marissa rubbed her throat again.

  "I had to change my schedule. My husband and I are heading to Freeport — the Bahamas, you know — at the end of the week, and I wanted to make sure I got my hours in. Hope you don't mind."

  Marissa let her hand drop to her side. "This may sound like a crazy question, but have you seen a man with red eyes come by smelling like Eternity?"

  Beth laughed. "Only about a million of them. In fact, every man who's come by." She opened her basket and showed Marissa hundreds of small samples of the same cologne. "That's the fragrance I'm selling today."

  Chapter 12

  By the time Anne returned to Kantor's, the rain fell in sheets as the Indian summer faded into memory. The wind whipped the water all over the woman and child as they entered the store. Marissa watched as Joshua shook his head, drops of water splashing all over Anne's glasses and face. Since she was carrying the boy, she couldn't clean her glasses and nearly collided with a passing customer. A group had gathered in the cosmetics department, and Anne headed in that direction.

  Anne smiled as she approached the two officers. Marissa knew Anne was sizing up their potential as mate material for her friend. Marissa also knew she was feeling better, because she cringed at the thought of Anne's third degree of the eligible detectives.

  When Anne set Joshua down, his feet barely hit the floor before he reached his mother. "Mommy, Mommy, I want to go to the movie. Promised me candy."

  Marissa grabbed the boy and hugged him tight, not noticing his fidgets. A surge of life flowed through her as she squeezed him. "I love you, Joshua Scott." She rubbed a palm against her eyes. "I'm sorry. We'll have to go to the movies some other day. Mommy isn't feeling well right now."

  The little boy struggled, wriggling away from the maternal affection. "Put me down."

  Marissa released him and he slid to the floor. "Don't go too far. I want to be able to see you." Anne handed the boy a small truck, and he sat on the floor, running it back and forth across the tile. Anne sat down with him, folding her legs underneath her to keep her feet from becoming human speed bumps.

  The two officers had remained quiet while Joshua came in. Bandarra cleared his throat and flipped open his notebook. "So what can you tell us about the attacker? Height?"

  Marissa took a deep breath and pressed her dark curls to her head with one hand. "I've been through all this already. I don't know how tall he was. He was taller than 5'8" because that's my height. I could feel his breath on the back of my head." She shuddered as she recalled the incident, but the shivering and chattering teeth had been replaced by anger.

  "How about weight?"

  "I didn't have my scale with me. The only thing I saw were two gloved hands. Now how much can I tell you from that? He was taller than me and smelled of cheap cologne and cigarettes on him. I don't think the cologne was anything that we sell here. He never spoke, and I never got to see his face."

  Bandarra snapped his notebook shut. "That's not a lot of help. Don't you want to help catch this man? After what he did to you? We have men posted at all the doors, but we don't even know if he came back in the store."

  "He headed back to the store. His footsteps went that way, and when I looked up, the door to the store was closing. I couldn't follow him because of my ankle."

  "Well, now I can put out an APB on him. He could be anywhere by now." Bandarra's glance dared her to answer his sarcasm.

  "Don't bother. I'm not relying on the police anymore." Marissa searched out her son and watched him play on the floor. She felt her teeth start to chatter again and clenched her jaw. Bandarra wasn't going to see her cry if she could help it. "All I can tell you is right now he stinks of cologne. I sprayed almost half a bottle of that sample on him."

  Bandarra threw up his hands. "Five minutes in the washroom could fix that."

  "Fix what?" Ellen entered the group and looked around. "What exactly is going on here? I've been out. I got a message that someone was attacked in the garage. If this keeps up, we might as well close down this store."

  Marissa held up her hand and saw streaks of mascara on her palm. "You're looking at her."

  Ellen's eyebrows went up. "You? What happened? Why? You look like hell, Marisser. You need a doctor?" A look of concern crossed Ellen's normally impassive face. She came over and gave Marissa a tight squeeze.

  Marissa shrugged. "If I knew the answers to all those questions, the police would be much happier now. He didn't want my money or my body. Not exactly your average male attacker."

  "Did you use some of the moves from our self-defense class?" Anne thrust out her palm in an awkward maneuver.

  Marissa rolled her eyes. "I don't know about you, but I was more interested in the gossip here than the chance to defend myself. What did we really learn in that class other than the whole store's business?"

  Anne pulled back her hand and blushed a tone that made her freckles blend in with her new color. She sat down again to play with Josh.

  Ellen pulled Bandarra to the side and started talking to him in hushed tones. The two huddled close and gestured frequently, but without any indication of the topic. Gavin walked over slowly to where Marissa was sitting.

  "Are you going to be okay?"

  "Are you offering me police protection? I think the barn has gotten away from the horse —- you know what I mean." Marissa tried to brush some of the dirt from her dress. Maybe if she cleaned up, she could forget this ever happened.

  "I could ask for the weekend and evening detail."

  Marissa lifted her head and looked into the officer's innocent face. As cute as he was, she didn't need someone else in her life to complicate matters now. She'd tried for a year to convince herself that she was totally independent, an island fortress against the armada of men. "Gavin, are you honestly ready to get involved with a woman who has a small child? We're a package deal."

  The detective stood there with his feet planted on the tile. "I happen to like kids. I think you're using your son to keep me at a distance. That's not fair to me or him or anyone. Maybe you're the one who's hurt." Gavin shrugged, causing his badge to hang up on his pocket. He pulled roughly at the badge and Marissa thought she heard a rip in the fabric.

  "Of course I'm scared. I've just been attacked." Marissa flipped the hair out of her eyes which flashed a challenge to the officer. "Besides, this is not exactly the time to be talking about a date."

  "That's not what I meant. You can be incredibly frustrating sometimes."

  Bandarra and Ellen returned just as Marissa opened her mouth. She cl
osed it again quickly. She decided to tell Gavin off later. Ellen and Bandarra stood side by side almost presenting a wall of security to the group.

  "I've been talking to Bandarra. We've decided on a plan. There are currently six men on duty in the store, monitoring the exits. The police are going to stay until six-thirty. Adam and I will take over at that time with the help of a few salespeople. If your attacker is still in the store, we'll find him."

  Marissa studied her friend. "Won't Adam be mad that he hasn't been informed? He seemed a little huffy about you and the shoplifter."

  Ellen shook her head. "He's been leaving everything to me lately. He's having a rough time over his sister's funeral. Most of the time, talking to him is like talking to a wall."

  "How hard can it be to find a man with a faceful of cologne? There can't be more than one. His nose will be running. He'll have red eyes. He’ll smell."

  Bandarra's face got red. "There's a thousand reasons we could miss him. Like glasses, for instance. He might have missed most of the spray just by having glasses on. Did you ever think of that?"

  Nicole brought a can of Diet Coke over and handed it to Marissa. "Are you all right, Miss Scott? I couldn't help but notice with the police and everything here. Why would anyone want to hurt you?"

  Marissa took a swallow from the can and made a face. The cold drink felt good against her rough throat. She hadn't realized how much the man had hurt her, and she ran a hand across her neck again. "I was attacked in the parking garage. You might want to tell the other sales clerks to be careful when they leave the store tonight. Maybe go out in pairs or have someone watch from the store exit."

  "I'll tell them." Nicole made no move to leave, standing next to her boss and watching the policemen.

  Bandarra opened his notebook. "You're Nicole, right? Work in cosmetics? Have you talked to your brother today? We've learned that he was pestering Steve Douglas the day of his murder."