“Ah.”
“He was so sweet. And so hot. Mia was flirting like mad and I thought he was really into her. He got some spare fuel out of their truck and put it in our tank. I thought he never even noticed me.”
“But he obviously did.”
“He did. He mostly talked to Mia, though. He said he was heading back to Brisbane, to a base right near where we lived. When he had to leave, I thought that was it. But then he threw this piece of paper through our window as he drove off. Mia got all excited and snatched it up.”
“But it wasn’t for her, was it?” Rosie looks so happy at the idea of Mia not getting her way that I almost feel bad. And then I remember recent events and I feel bad for me instead.
I shake my head.
“What did it say?” she asks.
“It said Chloe, please look me up on Facebook. And it had his surname, Yasbeck, which was very easy to find online.”
She cackles with glee. “Oh my God. I love it! I mean, I don’t love it now that I know how he treated you, but I do love how you guys met. So when did you start to suspect something was wrong?”
I feel my insides curl up. I still don’t want to admit that anything is wrong with our relationship. If I say it out loud, I’m confirming it.
“Um, I’m not sure. It’s not that bad most of the time. Obviously him hiring a PI wasn’t great, but usually it’s OK. He always buys me cute gifts when he’s away, and we have some pretty deep conversations on Skype.”
“But…”
“Well I guess the only thing that’s really bothered me in the past is how he has this way of sometimes twisting my words so I feel like I’m saying the wrong thing. But I don’t think he does it deliberately. I think maybe Aaron is just better at articulating a situation than me.”
“Chloe! He’s completely manipulative! If he’s twisting your words and making you question your reality, that’s called gaslighting! You need to protect yourself from people like that. Preferably by avoiding them altogether.”
“Even you?” I half-joke. “Because I’m pretty sure you were manipulating me when you wrote that letter.” I still haven’t totally forgiven her for the whole emotional blackmail thing.
She bites down on her bottom lip. “I’m sorry, about that. I shouldn’t have made you feel bad about leaving. I just didn’t know how else to get around that pull from Aaron, and that sense of obligation. I know what it’s like to feel trapped in a relationship. If there was any chance you felt like that, I wanted to give you an excuse to get out. To take some time to think.”
“To be completely honest, I have started to question everything since I left the other day. But I need to work through it on my own. The only reason I agreed to come back was to help Daniel and his team…”
Rosie looks away guiltily.
“Alright, what did you do?” I demand.
“Speaking of being honest…” she says quietly.
“Come on. Spill it. The perfumery isn’t really in financial difficulty, is it?”
She shakes her head so slightly that I almost miss it.
“I knew it! Damn you, Rosie!” While I’m annoyed, I’m also immensely relieved to hear that no one’s jobs are in danger. “If we’re going to be friends, we need to be straight with each other from now on. OK?”
“Yes. Absolutely. I promise. And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
I sigh. “As long as you don’t deceive me again. Even if you think it’s for my own good. Especially if you think it’s for my own good.”
“Deal. Will you keep working with me?” she asks anxiously.
“Yeah,” I say, still feeling a little put out. “I’ll keep working with you.”
She looks so relieved that I wonder if it’s as much about her as it is about me. Maybe part of the reason she doesn’t want me to go is because she doesn’t really have many people in her life at the moment. The thought makes it much easier to forgive her. Again.
Our food arrives and we dig in.
“Alright, enough with the serious stuff,” Rosie says. “I say we start afresh right now. And I have a vitally important question for you.”
I look at her warily. “What?”
“Are you a taco person or a burrito person?”
I answer the question with the seriousness it deserves. “Taco. Naturally.”
She laughs. “Correct. I just know everything’s going to be good from now on.”
I raise an eyebrow. “If you say so.”
I really hope she’s right.
EIGHTEEN
Monday passes relatively drama-free. Kannika seems to avoid me whenever I’m around Rosie, so I take advantage of that as much as possible. And then suddenly it’s Tuesday, the day when my passport should finally be ready. I text Daniel to let him know I’ll be in as soon as I’m done at the consulate. He texts back saying that’s fine, and there’s a letter for me waiting at the perfumery, presumably containing my replacement credit cards.
I eat a quick breakfast and then head over to the consulate, feeling like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. It’s no fun being on holiday and worrying I’m going to get into trouble for not carrying my passport, or watching every cent I spend.
After waiting in a queue that’s not quite as long as the one the other day, I finally reach the front. I’m so relieved, I actually kiss my passport when the woman behind the counter hands it to me.
“Thank you so, so much!” I say, tears welling in my eyes. “You don’t know how happy I am to see this.”
“No problem,” she replies, apparently unsurprised by my display of emotion. I guess this is a common occurrence for her. “Enjoy the rest of your holiday.”
I wander back out into the street, and it occurs to me that I should probably locate Mia and join her for the last part of the trip. That’s why I’m in Thailand, right?
And then I think of Rosie and Daniel. They seem to value my company way more than my sister does. It’s really a no-brainer. I’m staying.
When I get to the perfumery, Rosie is already busy mixing samples. I sit down with her.
“Chloe, I need your help. For some reason, I can’t get the shower wash to smell right.” She shoves a sample in my face and I inhale. Ugh.
“Yeah, you’re right. It’s got too much aldehyde in it.”
Rosie blinks. “You can tell just from that split second of smelling the sample?”
“Aldehyde is pretty distinctive. And I’ve sort of been reading up on perfume in my spare time. Don’t feel bad. Coco Chanel’s perfumer had the same problem. It wasn’t until he mixed aldehyde with ylang ylang that he managed to tone it down enough to actually smell nice.”
“Don’t tell me. That was when they were making Chanel No. 5?”
“Yep. It took five attempts to get it right.”
“You and Daniel are totally made for each other,” she says.
“Shh!” I feel my face heat up. “You can’t say things like that! It’s disrespectful to Aaron, and it’s disrespectful to Daniel if he has a wife or girlfriend at home.”
“OK, well just to put your mind at rest, he doesn’t.”
I force my face to stay neutral. “How do you know?”
“Because I asked Gan. He said he doesn’t remember the last time Daniel had a girlfriend.”
“Oh. Do you think that means he’s gay?” And then I wonder why I had to say that. Who cares if he is?
“Maybe. But I don’t think so. I think he’s just waiting for the right person to come along.” She gives me a pointed look.
“Stop it. You cannot play matchmaker when one of the people is in a relationship.”
“Fine. Help me fix this shower wash. Do we need to add some ylang ylang?”
“I don’t know. Possibly. Can’t you just ask Daniel how to adjust the fragrance to work well in the shower wash?”
“I guess I could. But I wanted to try it myself first.”
“OK. Let’s see what we can do.”
***
Rosie looks at her watch.
“Oh my God. I didn’t realise how late it is. I have to go!”
“Where are you off to?”
“I promised I’d meet Nick for a drink.”
“I’m assuming Nick is the PI?”
“Yup.”
I grin at her. “Have fun. I might just stay here and work for a little longer.”
“Only stay on if you want to. Don’t feel like you have to for my sake.”
“I won’t. I’m enjoying myself. I’ll probably go home around seven.”
“Suit yourself.”
“See you tomorrow?”
“Definitely.”
She hurries out, leaving me alone. I’m not even sure anyone else is still here. Daniel mentioned that if I ever wanted to stay late, I could just exit via the self-locking back door. I look through to the back room and do a quick scan for any remaining staff. It’s empty.
Then I hear someone moving about in the lab, and a quick check reveals that it’s Daniel. For some reason, I thought he’d already left for the day.
He looks up. “Oh! Hi! I didn’t know you were still here.”
“Likewise.”
“I’m just finishing up something before I head off tomorrow for the workshop.”
“Oh, that’s right. That came around quickly.”
“Tell me about it.” He dips a strip of card into the jar he’s working on and inhales. And then frowns.
“Not what you were after?” I ask.
“No. I’ve been stuck on this all afternoon. It’s really frustrating me.”
I hold out my hand. “May I?”
He hands over the strip and I smell it.
“That’s lovely.” It’s a light floral scent, with geranium and lavender.
“It’s just not quite what I want. I think I’m going to have to wait until I get back from the workshop and finish it then.”
He writes down some notes on a notebook beside him and then starts packing up. I help him by putting the canisters back on the shelf in their correct spots.
“How’s Rosie’s stuff going?” he asks.
“Good. It’s been a great experience, learning how it all works.”
“Have you made anything of your own yet?”
I blush. “Uh, no. I don’t think I’d be very good.”
He gives me a look as if to say he doesn’t agree with me. “You’ll never know until you try.”
“Maybe tomorrow.”
“Why not now?” He waves his hand at the shop. “You have the whole place to yourself.”
“Yeah, but you’re here,” I point out. “It’s like being asked to paint in front of Van Gogh or something.”
He roars with laughter. “You think much too highly of my perfuming ability. Come on.” He walks over to a table out the front. I hesitate for a moment and then follow him.
“Where’s your favourite place?” he asks.
Besides the apartment you’re letting me stay in?
“Uh, I guess the Brisbane CBD? I know it’s cheesy, but I love its energy. Especially when it’s late night shopping on Friday night.”
He nods, grinning. “Hey, anything goes here. Why don’t you write down all the things that make up that Friday night energy? The different shops, the restaurants, the things you’re likely to see?” He hands me a piece of paper and a pen.
“OK.” I feel self-conscious as I write down the obvious things, like the clothing shops I visit, the cafés I frequent, and buildings like the casino and the two huge Meriton towers that sit at either end of the city. I then zoom out in my mind and see the botanical gardens and the river…the man-made beach at Southbank…
“OK, so I assume you want me to figure out which materials I’d use to represent these things in a perfume?” I say.
“Exactly.”
“Alright, well, I’d want to represent the river if I can, so maybe some sort of ozone material, but more of a mossy style than ocean.”
Daniel doesn’t say anything. He just watches intently.
“And Brisbane is a sub-tropical city, so I’d probably put in some coconut. Whenever I go to Southbank, someone is always wearing coconut tanning oil.”
I go and collect a few mixing jars, strips and toothpicks. Then I inspect the amber bottles on the shelves to find the materials I need.
“Definitely something spicy to represent the cultural diversity…and patchouli for the alternative crowd…” I have no idea if this is going to work, but I’ll just have to wait and see. I collect a few other bottles and put them all on the table together.
“I’m not keeping you from anything you need to do before tomorrow, am I?” I ask Daniel.
He shakes his head. “No. Everything’s ready apart from loading the van in the morning.”
“Let me know if you need to go.”
“I will.”
I slowly start designing a fragrance for myself, adding a couple of drops of each material to my mixing jar and writing down the quantities as I go.
My first attempt smells like a cheap toilet freshener. I won’t even let Daniel smell it. My second has too much anise in it, but when I tone that down, I find I’m pretty happy with the result. But I am terrified at the idea of asking Daniel to judge my creation.
He seems to sense this. “If I don’t like it, I promise I’ll be honest, but not harsh,” he says sincerely.
I hand it over and hold my breath.
Daniel dips a strip into the mixture and then inhales.
He seems to stay silent for an eternity. He must hate it. I knew it.
“This is pretty good, Chloe,” he says softly.
I exhale and beam. “Really? You’re not just saying that?”
“No. I’m not just saying that.” He opens the ozone bottle and adds a couple more drops to the mixing container. He then does the same with some musk.
“What do you think now?” he asks, handing me a new strip.
I breathe in.
“I love it! It smells like a real perfume!”
“It is a real perfume!” he laughs.
“Yeah, but…you know what I mean.”
“I’m not saying you’re Michel Almairac, but you do have some natural talent.”
I don’t know who Michel Almairac is, but I assume he’s a famous perfumer. “I can’t imagine you telling anyone they weren’t any good.”
“Believe it or not, I do not dish out praise lightly. When I told Gan the other day that he was a good perfumer, I meant it. Most of my staff have a little talent, but Gan is the best. And I’d say you could be as good as him with a little practice.”
I look down at the floor. “Thank you,” I say quietly.
There’s an extended moment where we both don’t speak. And then Daniel stands up. “Anyway, we should probably get everything tidied up.” He’s suddenly all business-like, and starts putting away some of the bottles.
I notice someone has left out a few canisters that belong in the lab. I pick them up and carry them out the back.
The first few are easy to return to the shelf, but the last one needs to go up high near the ceiling. I reach up, but can’t quite get there.
“Here, let me.” Daniel appears out of nowhere and steps in close behind me. He gently takes the canister from my hand, and a jolt of electricity shoots between our fingers. He places it on the shelf for me, his body pressing up against mine.
As he lowers himself back down, I can feel his breath near my neck. And he seems to linger, though I may just be imagining things.
He steps away and continues to pack up, not looking in my direction. After a second, he speaks. “What are your plans for the next few days?”
&nbs
p; It sounds like a casual enough question, but it almost feels like he’s trying to learn more than my answer will provide.
“Um, I’m not sure, really. I fly home on Friday night, so I was just going to help Rosie for as long as she needed me, and maybe do a bit more sightseeing.”
“I’m not back until Monday, so I won’t be able to see you off…”
“That’s OK. I understand.”
“It’s a shame you’re leaving so soon.”
I study his face. He’s still avoiding eye contact. I feel my whole body flush, imagining what he might be—
No. I have to cut that thought off right now.
We finish packing everything up and head to the front door.
Daniel looks at me like he still has a million things left to say but doesn’t know where to start.
“Thank you for all your help, Chloe. You don’t know how much I appreciate it.”
“Don’t be silly. I’m getting the best part of the deal here.”
He shakes his head emphatically.
“No, you aren’t. Believe me.”
I give him a little wave and head out. I turn briefly to see him lock the door behind me and flick the open sign to closed.
His gaze is so intense I think I might combust.
Damn.
***
I head back to the apartment, feeling slightly anxious. It’s Tuesday, so Aaron will have tried to call already. I think that’s subconsciously why I stayed late at the perfumery…so I didn’t have to think about him or deal with his crap. I’m feeling torn. I do love him, and he is still my boyfriend, but…I don’t know. I feel like I’m in limbo—dedicated to him, but still glad I went back to the perfumery and Daniel’s apartment.
I switch on my laptop and sit in front of it, staring dully at the screen. I need to know if Aaron has written or tried to call.
Yep. Several missed calls.
The Skype tone rings just as I’m about to shut the program down. I don’t press answer for a few seconds. I’m so conflicted.
Click.
“Hey, Aaron.”
I can’t really describe the expression on his face. It sort of looks like a combination of anger, sadness, bewilderment…and something else I can’t quite decipher.
Perfume Therapy Page 14