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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Drama / Human Interest
- Subject: Memory / Reminiscence
- Published: 11/18/2019
Ooh That Smell!
Born 1947, M, from Oceanside, United StatesOoh That Smell!
When I was in high school, there was a girl in my study hall named Elizabeth Harrison. She smelled absolutely delicious! I found out later the perfume she wore was called Emeraude by Coty. It had sort of a combination lavender and vanilla smell. It drove me crazy! Afterwards, whenever I’d smell it on someone, my nose would shoot up in the air as if I was a hunting dog sniffing out its quarry. Since then, women have been using it less and less, so that now, some thirty-five years later, I never smell it anymore.
So you can imagine how amazingly surprised and delighted I was when recently, while coming out of the local Barnes & Noble where I had gone to see what new books had come in, someone passed me going inside wearing what I was sure was Emeraude. Like when I was a teen, my nose immediately shot up in the air, and I swiveled to follow her back into the store.
From the rear, she reminded me a lot of Elizabeth. She had the same long, straight brown hair Elizabeth had back then, plus a slender figure, which was nicely packed into a pair of tight-fitting jeans. And, of course, there was the smell.
Watching her from a distance, I saw her stop in front of the shelves that held the newest hardback books, and pick out the latest James Patterson collaboration. After opening the cover, she began to read the flyleaf.
That, I decided, was my opening.
Coming up beside her, I also grabbed a copy of the newest Patterson book, then said, “So you like Patterson, too.”
She turned to look at me and that’s when my stomach, as well as my heart, did a flip-flop. It was her! It was Elizabeth!
“Excuse me, but do I know you?” she asked.
“Elizabeth Harrison?” I said.
“Not any more. It’s Elizabeth Banks.”
“Yeah, but it used to be Harrison.”
She nodded, and once again asked, “Do I know you from somewhere?”
“You did once. We were in study hall together back in high school.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “That was so long ago. How did you even recognize me?”
“By your smell.” She frowned. “I mean your perfume,” I added quickly. “It’s Emeraude by Coty, isn’t it?” She nodded. “I sat close to you in study hall. Your perfume used to drive me crazy. It still does.”
“I guess I should thank you; that sounds like a compliment.”
“It is,” then I continued. “No one seems to wear Emeraude anymore, but for the longest time, it always reminded me of you.” Once again, she looked at me curiously. That’s when I realized I might be scaring her, so quickly changing the subject, I asked, “So what are you doing these days . . . besides reading James Patterson?”
“I’m a lawyer.”
“Criminal?”
“No actually corporate law.”
For a moment, she looked down at the book she was holding, and I could tell she was thinking about leaving. Desperate to have her stay a little longer, I said, “I know you probably have somewhere to go, but would you like to join me for a cup of coffee?”
She turned her wrist and looked at her watch. “I guess I have some time left to kill.” Then with a smile replied, “Why not?”
Alright!
While we stood in line at the Starbucks counter waiting to order our coffees, I asked, “So did you always want to be a lawyer?”
“Actually, I did some modeling after high school.” That caused a teenage girl ahead of us in line to turn and glance at Elizabeth, then face front again.
I could believe it about the modeling. She always did have that Brook Shields kind of look. Besides the long straight hair, she had thick eyebrows, amazing-looking eyes, high cheekbones, and a killer figure, which she still had. She must work out a lot.
“So what made you quit?”
“Oh, mostly things got too crazy; always living out of a suite case, constantly being harassed about my weight . . .”
“Well, you don’t have to worry about that now.”
“Yeah, but that’s because I work out a lot.” I had been right!
It was time to put in our orders. Both of us requested small coffees with cream, at which point I asked if she wanted anything to eat? “No, I’m fine with just the coffee.”
After getting our drinks, we took them over to one of the small round tables. All during our standing in line, and now sitting in front of her, I couldn’t help but smell her perfume. It was like being immersed in a bath of vanilla and lavender. As far as I was concerned, we wouldn’t even have to talk, as long as I could just sit there and catch a whiff of her, but I knew that wouldn’t do, so I said, “When you were modeling, did you ever make it into the fashion magazines?”
She took a sip of her coffee and nodded. “Actually, I was in all of them.”
I felt a little twinge of regret. “If I had known,” I said to her, “I would have read them all, but at the time, I was too busy reading car magazines.”
“So was I.”
My heart skipped a beat. “You were into cars? I asked amazed.
She nodded and smiled. “When I was younger, I used to help out at my father’s garage.”
I shook my head. “Somehow I can’t quite picture you all greased up.”
She chuckled. “Actually, if I had gone to school for it, I might have made a decent mechanic.”
Wow, I thought! If we had dated we might have had something in common, but I knew that could never have been. She was a senior while I, at the time, had been a junior. Guys could go out with someone younger than they were, but a girl back then would never have dated a younger guy.
She took another sip of her coffee and said, “By the way, you never said what you do these days.”
“I’m a new car salesman over at Joy’s Toyota.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “So is my husband.”
That one hit me like a punch in the face. “What?” I said, feeling both confused and shocked. “You said your last name was Banks?” She nodded. “Your husband’s name wouldn’t happen to be Robert Banks, would it?” Once again, she nodded.
She went on to explain. “He used to be an engineer, but lost his job when his company went belly up. Since then, he’s been selling cars at another dealership, but he didn’t get along with his boss, who was a real prick, so now he works for you guys.”
“Yeah, he started with us about two weeks ago.” And as I said that, Robert Banks walked up to our table.
I looked up when he arrived. He didn’t seem surprised to see me. He just nodded and said, “Hank.”
That’s when Elizabeth explained, “Hank and I were in high school together. I ran into him here.” Again, Bob looked at me, and without any emotion nodded.
“Come on,” he said to her, “We have to meet the lawyer.”
Lawyer? What lawyer, I wondered? And for what purpose? But I didn’t say anything. Instead, I just watched as Elizabeth got up from her seat, and hefting the book she had brought with her, said to me, “It was nice meeting you again, Hank.” If she only knew.
“Same to you,” I said, as I watched her turn and follow her husband over to the cashier where, after a couple of other people, she paid for her book. Next, with a sad heart, I watched them leave the store. By now, both our coffees had probably cooled off. But even if they hadn’t, I decided I didn’t want mine anymore, so getting up, I pitched both cups into the nearest trash bin, then brought my own book back to the shelves where I had found it. I had two of his previous novels back home yet to read. I had only picked this one up so I could approach Elizabeth, if it had been her.
All the way to my car, I had her scent still in my nose, which was another reason I kept thinking about Elizabeth and Robert Banks together. Somehow I couldn’t quite picture it. He wasn’t exactly handsome with most of his hair gone, a growing belly, and a complexion that was pasty to say the least. Meanwhile, she still had her model-like looks and complexion, which was one of the reasons I couldn’t stop wondering: did she still find him attractive?
Monday, I found out the truth.
After having talked to a perspective customer, I returned to the sales office. That’s when I found Banks seated in his cubicle. I said to him, “I hope you didn’t mind me talking to your wife the other day?”
“Ex-wife,” he explained. “When you saw us, we were on our way to the lawyer’s office to finalize our divorce.”
I didn’t know whether to feel excited or sad. If they were getting a divorce that meant it was possible I had a chance with her. Oh, boy!
He must have read my mind, because he said, “If you’re thinking about asking her out, you can forget about it. Her and her new girlfriend are already living together.”
My world just came crashing down. Her new girlfriend! That meant . . .
Banks nodded when he saw the look on my face. “Yeah, she is.”
The rest of the day, I felt as if I was walking around in a kind of semi-fog. That night, I went home and got on the internet and ordered a small bottle of Emeraude perfume. If I couldn’t have Elizabeth in my life, maybe I could at least have a tiny bit of her scent. Yeah, I know that sounds a little bit sick and creepy, but what can I say? There’s nothing like even the tiniest whiff of a pleasing smell to evoke all kinds of pleasant memories, and for me, Elizabeth Harrison was one hell of a pleasant memory!
Ooh That Smell!(Tom Di Roma)
Ooh That Smell!
When I was in high school, there was a girl in my study hall named Elizabeth Harrison. She smelled absolutely delicious! I found out later the perfume she wore was called Emeraude by Coty. It had sort of a combination lavender and vanilla smell. It drove me crazy! Afterwards, whenever I’d smell it on someone, my nose would shoot up in the air as if I was a hunting dog sniffing out its quarry. Since then, women have been using it less and less, so that now, some thirty-five years later, I never smell it anymore.
So you can imagine how amazingly surprised and delighted I was when recently, while coming out of the local Barnes & Noble where I had gone to see what new books had come in, someone passed me going inside wearing what I was sure was Emeraude. Like when I was a teen, my nose immediately shot up in the air, and I swiveled to follow her back into the store.
From the rear, she reminded me a lot of Elizabeth. She had the same long, straight brown hair Elizabeth had back then, plus a slender figure, which was nicely packed into a pair of tight-fitting jeans. And, of course, there was the smell.
Watching her from a distance, I saw her stop in front of the shelves that held the newest hardback books, and pick out the latest James Patterson collaboration. After opening the cover, she began to read the flyleaf.
That, I decided, was my opening.
Coming up beside her, I also grabbed a copy of the newest Patterson book, then said, “So you like Patterson, too.”
She turned to look at me and that’s when my stomach, as well as my heart, did a flip-flop. It was her! It was Elizabeth!
“Excuse me, but do I know you?” she asked.
“Elizabeth Harrison?” I said.
“Not any more. It’s Elizabeth Banks.”
“Yeah, but it used to be Harrison.”
She nodded, and once again asked, “Do I know you from somewhere?”
“You did once. We were in study hall together back in high school.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “That was so long ago. How did you even recognize me?”
“By your smell.” She frowned. “I mean your perfume,” I added quickly. “It’s Emeraude by Coty, isn’t it?” She nodded. “I sat close to you in study hall. Your perfume used to drive me crazy. It still does.”
“I guess I should thank you; that sounds like a compliment.”
“It is,” then I continued. “No one seems to wear Emeraude anymore, but for the longest time, it always reminded me of you.” Once again, she looked at me curiously. That’s when I realized I might be scaring her, so quickly changing the subject, I asked, “So what are you doing these days . . . besides reading James Patterson?”
“I’m a lawyer.”
“Criminal?”
“No actually corporate law.”
For a moment, she looked down at the book she was holding, and I could tell she was thinking about leaving. Desperate to have her stay a little longer, I said, “I know you probably have somewhere to go, but would you like to join me for a cup of coffee?”
She turned her wrist and looked at her watch. “I guess I have some time left to kill.” Then with a smile replied, “Why not?”
Alright!
While we stood in line at the Starbucks counter waiting to order our coffees, I asked, “So did you always want to be a lawyer?”
“Actually, I did some modeling after high school.” That caused a teenage girl ahead of us in line to turn and glance at Elizabeth, then face front again.
I could believe it about the modeling. She always did have that Brook Shields kind of look. Besides the long straight hair, she had thick eyebrows, amazing-looking eyes, high cheekbones, and a killer figure, which she still had. She must work out a lot.
“So what made you quit?”
“Oh, mostly things got too crazy; always living out of a suite case, constantly being harassed about my weight . . .”
“Well, you don’t have to worry about that now.”
“Yeah, but that’s because I work out a lot.” I had been right!
It was time to put in our orders. Both of us requested small coffees with cream, at which point I asked if she wanted anything to eat? “No, I’m fine with just the coffee.”
After getting our drinks, we took them over to one of the small round tables. All during our standing in line, and now sitting in front of her, I couldn’t help but smell her perfume. It was like being immersed in a bath of vanilla and lavender. As far as I was concerned, we wouldn’t even have to talk, as long as I could just sit there and catch a whiff of her, but I knew that wouldn’t do, so I said, “When you were modeling, did you ever make it into the fashion magazines?”
She took a sip of her coffee and nodded. “Actually, I was in all of them.”
I felt a little twinge of regret. “If I had known,” I said to her, “I would have read them all, but at the time, I was too busy reading car magazines.”
“So was I.”
My heart skipped a beat. “You were into cars? I asked amazed.
She nodded and smiled. “When I was younger, I used to help out at my father’s garage.”
I shook my head. “Somehow I can’t quite picture you all greased up.”
She chuckled. “Actually, if I had gone to school for it, I might have made a decent mechanic.”
Wow, I thought! If we had dated we might have had something in common, but I knew that could never have been. She was a senior while I, at the time, had been a junior. Guys could go out with someone younger than they were, but a girl back then would never have dated a younger guy.
She took another sip of her coffee and said, “By the way, you never said what you do these days.”
“I’m a new car salesman over at Joy’s Toyota.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “So is my husband.”
That one hit me like a punch in the face. “What?” I said, feeling both confused and shocked. “You said your last name was Banks?” She nodded. “Your husband’s name wouldn’t happen to be Robert Banks, would it?” Once again, she nodded.
She went on to explain. “He used to be an engineer, but lost his job when his company went belly up. Since then, he’s been selling cars at another dealership, but he didn’t get along with his boss, who was a real prick, so now he works for you guys.”
“Yeah, he started with us about two weeks ago.” And as I said that, Robert Banks walked up to our table.
I looked up when he arrived. He didn’t seem surprised to see me. He just nodded and said, “Hank.”
That’s when Elizabeth explained, “Hank and I were in high school together. I ran into him here.” Again, Bob looked at me, and without any emotion nodded.
“Come on,” he said to her, “We have to meet the lawyer.”
Lawyer? What lawyer, I wondered? And for what purpose? But I didn’t say anything. Instead, I just watched as Elizabeth got up from her seat, and hefting the book she had brought with her, said to me, “It was nice meeting you again, Hank.” If she only knew.
“Same to you,” I said, as I watched her turn and follow her husband over to the cashier where, after a couple of other people, she paid for her book. Next, with a sad heart, I watched them leave the store. By now, both our coffees had probably cooled off. But even if they hadn’t, I decided I didn’t want mine anymore, so getting up, I pitched both cups into the nearest trash bin, then brought my own book back to the shelves where I had found it. I had two of his previous novels back home yet to read. I had only picked this one up so I could approach Elizabeth, if it had been her.
All the way to my car, I had her scent still in my nose, which was another reason I kept thinking about Elizabeth and Robert Banks together. Somehow I couldn’t quite picture it. He wasn’t exactly handsome with most of his hair gone, a growing belly, and a complexion that was pasty to say the least. Meanwhile, she still had her model-like looks and complexion, which was one of the reasons I couldn’t stop wondering: did she still find him attractive?
Monday, I found out the truth.
After having talked to a perspective customer, I returned to the sales office. That’s when I found Banks seated in his cubicle. I said to him, “I hope you didn’t mind me talking to your wife the other day?”
“Ex-wife,” he explained. “When you saw us, we were on our way to the lawyer’s office to finalize our divorce.”
I didn’t know whether to feel excited or sad. If they were getting a divorce that meant it was possible I had a chance with her. Oh, boy!
He must have read my mind, because he said, “If you’re thinking about asking her out, you can forget about it. Her and her new girlfriend are already living together.”
My world just came crashing down. Her new girlfriend! That meant . . .
Banks nodded when he saw the look on my face. “Yeah, she is.”
The rest of the day, I felt as if I was walking around in a kind of semi-fog. That night, I went home and got on the internet and ordered a small bottle of Emeraude perfume. If I couldn’t have Elizabeth in my life, maybe I could at least have a tiny bit of her scent. Yeah, I know that sounds a little bit sick and creepy, but what can I say? There’s nothing like even the tiniest whiff of a pleasing smell to evoke all kinds of pleasant memories, and for me, Elizabeth Harrison was one hell of a pleasant memory!
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