Page 39

I didn’t sleep well all night. When I am away from my house I find it hard to sleep. It was a shock that I fell asleep as easily as I did at the motel but whatever good karma was working for me then decided to take a hike.

I was tying up my braids with a scrunchie when someone knocked on the door.

Without looking I knew it was Nathan especially since he walked in without even waiting for me to respond. I glanced at him through the mirror and saw that he was dressed in jeans and a grey shirt- what is it with him and matching with me?

“I thought it was common knowledge but the whole point of a break is for you to be able to stay in,” he mused as he made his way into the room.

“That’s rich coming from the guy who is in my room by 8 a.m.” I finally turned to look at him, “What do you want?”

“Did you forget already? We need clothes, Adira, and breakfast.”

“Do you even know where to go for that?”

“If you had listened yesterday then you would have heard Darius list the best places to get everything.” he paused for a moment before adding, “Then again, you were too busy wallowing in your own self pity and debating throwing yourself out of a moving truck.”

“Fuck you.”

“Someone is a ray of sunshine this morning.” He tsked, “Come, Darius says they have killer waffles.”

I hate to admit it but they do have killer waffles.

They, in this context are a local café about three minutes away from the inn.

I was scowling the entire time so Nathan took our order.

If the food was horrible then I would have gotten a good enough reason to hate the place but so far I was coming up short.

“Glaring at the empty plate won’t get you out of this town, sunshine.”

I looked up at Nathan who was staring down at me with amusement in his eyes, “Don’t call me that.”

“What, sunshine?” he asked, “But it perfectly describes your cherry attitude, don’t you think? ”

“Call me that again and I will stab you in the eye with a fork,” I threatened.

“There’s a police man sitting right next to the door. I doubt you’d get far before they arrest you and then you’d never leave this place.”

I opened my mouth to speak but a waitress walked up to us and handed the bill to Nathan. I didn’t even realize he had asked for it. Before I could say anything, he took out some cash from his pocket and handed it to her.

He stood to his feet and when he saw me still seating he raised a brow, “Don’t tell me you’re suddenly enjoying the place.”

He didn’t give me a chance to respond before he turned on his heels and walked out of the door.

I wanted to be stubborn and refuse to follow him but if I did that then I would have no one to lead me around. That would mean me interacting with the people and from the way I have been scowling since I got here, none of them would be all too happy to help me.

I managed to catch up to him and I saw that same stupid smirk on his face. It took all my willpower to not punch it off his face.

We walked for a few minutes and every single person we passed greeted us. When the first few people did it, I was so shocked that I didn’t answer in time but then I realized it was a normal thing for them because everyone would stop and say hi and ask if we needed help.

I’m sure they all knew that we were outsiders and it was weird as hell because Nathan would greet back and then I would look like a horrible person so I had to say hi as well.

As soon as we walked in through the doors of a huge store I turned to Nathan, “Why are you so nice here but such an ass to me?”

“I’m not an ass to you,” he stopped me before I could respond, “And while I would love nothing more than to sit here and argue with you, I would like to not be thrown out of a store.”

“You irritating-,”

“Can we help you?” a worker interrupted me mid rant. She was glancing from Nathan to me, with concern.

“Can you show us where your toiletries are?” Nathan asked and she stared at us for a few seconds before nodding.

She gestured for us to follow her and I tried not to let it show how embarrassed I was that she had to see me mid rant. I never lose my composure like that but Nathan is such an asshole and he just knows how to bring out the absolute worst in me.

The girl led us to their toiletry aisle and as I looked at the rows and rows of products, I realized I was in a bit of a pickle. I debated asking Nathan for help but my pride wouldn’t let me. Instead, I watched as he made his choice of body wash and perfume.

“Aren’t you going to pick something?” he asked and I shrugged.

“I’m not picky, just take whatever and let’s leave.”

I tried to make my voice sound as nonchalant as possible but it must not have worked because he stopped and turned to face me.

I kept my eyes off him and instead stared at the various bottles of perfume that lined the shelves.

I wasn’t really looking at them but I hoped that if I pretended I was then he would ignore me.

“Normally we would go back and forth until I piss you off and you blurt out what it is anyway so why don’t we skip all of that and you just tell me what the problem is. ”

“Fuck you Nathan.”

“The more you say it, the more I think you might actually mean it.” He deadpanned, “Look, I know you hate it here and on a normal day you would rather be caught dead than getting your stuff here but you’re all out of options.”

“It’s amusing that you think my biggest problem is where I’m getting my perfume from,” I scoffed, “How fickle do you think I am?”

“Don’t change the subject.”

I debated ignoring him but I realized that I didn’t have a lot of options and although my pride was screaming at me not to admit defeat; defeat was a better option than smelling like a dumpster alley.

“I can’t smell.” I said after a beat of silence.

He stared at me for a second and then blinked once- twice, “What do you mean you can’t smell?”

“I mean exactly what I said. I cannot smell a thing. My olfactory organs do not work. I do not perceive scents. However you want me to say it, I mean the same thing and that is, I cannot smell.”

“Then how do you pick out your body wash or perfumes or air fresheners?”

“Marissa picks out the things for the office and Olivia picks out my personal stuff.”I avoided his gaze as I continued, “No matter how hard I try to inhale, all of them are the same to me. Growing up I was obsessed with smelling nice, maybe it’s the appeal of wanting something I don’t have.”

“Olivia usually goes perfume shopping for me. She can always tell what smells right for me. I don’t want to do it myself, because I’m fairly sure that I’m going to fuck it up and pick something that makes me smell like I haven’t showered in a week. ”

He stayed silent for a moment and I wondered if maybe I had over shared. I wondered if I should have kept the last bit of information to myself and simply ended the conversation at ‘I cannot smell’.

Suddenly, Nathan cleared his throat, “Come on.” He pulled me to one of the shelves, “Pick one,”

“What the hell are you doing?”

“We are on a time sensitive schedule sunshine, pick one,”

I stared at him for a second expecting him to say it was a practical joke but the longer I looked, the more I realized he was serious. I sighed in defeat and grabbed a random one then handed it to him.

“This one is a blue; not the light blue, but rather a dark, kind of turbulent blue.”

“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 the choosing 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.”