Authors: Lori L Clark
People often believed that The Perfumery was either a blessing sent from above or the work of the devil himself. There were the select few who didn't care how it worked; they just knew it was no less than miraculous and who were they to judge.
The non-believers were often small-minded individuals who saw everything as either completely black or completely white. There was no such thing as gray, and anything unexplainable that didn't fall under the label of good had to be bad.
Even the people who benefited from Francesca and Juliette's little shop of miracles couldn't explain how it worked or what had happened. Back in the days when they burned witches at the stake, it was typically for unexplainable things thought to be the work of something evil and otherworldly.
The women had worked many miracles over the years, but as with anything in life, there were no guarantees. Sometimes, things didn't go exactly as planned. The instances of failure were few and far between, but there were times when something went haywire and the exact opposite of what was supposed to happen, happened.
Francesca and Juliette were revered for the things they did right. Unfortunately, it was the mistakes that people remembered. Goof-ups were the reason they had to leave town in a hurry. Maybe witches weren't burned at the stake anymore, but facing daily scorn wasn't exactly a walk in the park, either.
The Duchesne sisters got most of their business through word of mouth, and it was vital they did everything in their power to make sure The Perfumery clientele was one hundred percent, completely satisfied.
With each passing day, more and more women -- and a few men -- trickled into the little shop, and business slowly began to pick up, and when Nearsighted Nancy breezed through the front door, out of breath and wearing a mile-wide smile, Francesca was pleased as punch.
Francesca glanced up from the crossword puzzle she was working, and her eyebrows shot up when as she recognized her latest customer. Judging from the sparkle in the woman's eyes, and the bounce in her step, Nancy had returned for more perfume.
"Good morning, Nancy." Francesca smiled warmly and came out from behind the counter to greet her.
Nancy threw her arms around Francesca and pulled her into a tight hug. "I've come back for more of that perfume. If I didn't know better, I'd say that stuff was pure magic in a bottle."
Francesca extracted herself from Nancy's grip as politely as she could. "Oh, what makes you say that?"
"Well, you might think this is darn near the craziest thing you've ever heard," Nancy started. She lowered her voice, and her eyes darted around the store to make sure no one was within earshot to overhear her wacky confession. "I got out of bed the other morning and made my way all the way downstairs to the kitchen before I realized I didn't have my glasses on."
"Is that right?" Francesca said.
"Yes, and, well, you saw how thick my lenses were. I am -- was -- nearly legally blind!"
"That's wonderful news!" Francesca laughed, to downplay what she already knew. "Have you been to the optometrist?"
Nancy waved her hand in the air and frowned. "No, that old coot. I know what I know, and I know I can see better than … well better than I
ever
have in my whole life."
"And you think the perfume sample Francesca gave you had something to do with that?" Juliette asked as she came out of the back room with a stack of boxes filled with empty perfume bottles.
"Oh, it
had
to be the perfume! It's the only thing it could be," Nancy said matter-of-factly. "Anyway, that's why I'm back. I'm afraid that if I run out of that miracle in a bottle, I'll revert to Nearsighted Nancy."
Francesca tapped her finger against her lips and went to the glass enclosed shelves that lined the back wall. She reached for a larger version of the cobalt blue bottled sampler Nancy had walked out with the week before.
"Ah, here we are," Francesca said, handing the bottle to Nancy.
Nancy held the bottle tenderly, reverently, almost. "How much do I owe you?"
"This one's seventy-five dollars. I do have a smaller bottle for fifty, if that would work better for you," Francesca said.
Nancy dropped the bottle into her open purse and pulled out her wallet. She plucked out a one hundred dollar bill and handed it to Francesca. "No, I don't want the smaller bottle. I can't afford to ever want to run out of this stuff. You have no idea what it's like to be able to see something without having to be right on top of it."
Francesca handed the money to Juliette so she could ring up the sale. Juliette handed Nancy her change and thanked her for stopping by today.
Nancy turned to leave, but before she got out the door, she spun around and said, "I've got a book club meeting tonight. I'm going to be sure to tell all the ladies to be sure and stop here first chance they get."
"Why, thank you, Nancy. That's awfully kind of you," Francesca said. "Juliette and I appreciate that."
As soon as No Longer Nearsighted Nancy had disappeared around the corner, Juliette held her hand up for a high-five. "Another satisfied customer."
It was a slow morning, and Francesca spent a lot of time poring over the spell book getting fresh ideas. Generally, the pre-made perfumes on display were what she liked to think of as being one-size-fits-all. A few of them had been specifically formulated for things like acne, or indigestion, but love potions seemed to be the most popular. Without knowing the details of a person's situation, it wasn't always easy to get the precise mixture necessary to solve their problem.
Sometimes Francesca picked up the scent of a lonely man or woman who claimed to want romance in their life, but as soon as she got a good whiff of the energy surrounding the person, she saw the real issues beneath the surface. People often claimed to be lonely and that they wanted a person in their life, but most of the time, they were never going to get it without first dealing with the underlying issues going on.
Francesca knew instinctively whether the customer truly wanted love, or if they just thought they did. With one whiff, she knew if someone was destined to sabotage love due to some deep-seated issue or issues. Sometimes, people just needed a dog to keep them from being alone.
She looked for something she could sprinkle around the entrance to help attract more paying customers. So far, they had built up a pretty good business, and what Francesca sought was to keep it that way.
She put some business drawing oil on the sidewalk outside the front door and went back inside to wait. She slid onto the stool behind the counter and took out her crossword puzzle to work.
It wasn't long before the bell over the door jingled, and an attractive woman who appeared to be in her mid-thirties walked in.
Francesca smiled politely and asked, "Is there anything special I can help you with today?"
"I'm just looking," she said.
Francesca stepped close enough to pick up on the woman's scent and sensed that she was low on energy, but as far as she could tell, no dis-ease clouded her aura.
"I'm Francesca," she said and extended her hand. "And you are?"
"Elizabeth. But you can call me Lizzie," she said.
"Lizzie, I think I have something over here," Francesca said, walking toward glass case on the back wall. She reached for a pewter encased vial on the shelf and handed it to Lizzie. "Tell me what you think."
Lizzie pulled out the stopper and inhaled deeply. It was a pleasant orangey-ginger scent that made her eyes pop open a tiny bit wider. "This smells almost good enough to eat. What is it?"
"It's just a little energy in a bottle," Francesca said, smiling. "External use only."
Lizzie sniffed again. "This is great. I'll take it."
"Sure. I'll ring it up for you," Francesca said. "Do you want a bag, or would you like to put it in your purse?"
"I'll take it with me. I want to go home and take a bath in it right now," Lizzie said.
Francesca watched her leave the store with a lot more energy than she came in with. It was this part of her job that she loved.
Starley started seeing the strange creatures with increasing frequency. She didn't understand what it all meant and thought maybe she might be going crazy. If seeing people with feathers and horns was the extent of her sixteenth-year gift, she decided she'd gotten the short end of the stick. What the heck good could that possibly do her? She hadn't bothered to tell her sisters about the weird visions. What would she say?
Rue had told her to chill, adding that once she got used to seeing the strange beings, it might actually come in handy.
"Yeah, think about it," Rue said one day during lunch period. "A boy asks you out on a date. He's got a bad reputation for being an octopus, and you wonder if you can trust him. You climb in the car with him, and if he looks like a normal dude, you're good. If he suddenly sprouts extra arms, then you're probably better off not going."
Starley's eyebrows pinched together. "You're weird."
"Takes one to know one," Rue said with a giggle. "Besides, you know I'm right."
"No, I don't know that, at all," Starley murmured. "So far, I've only seen it work on grownups. I've yet to see another student morph into anything weird."
"That's because you're still a newb. Trust and believe, it'll happen," Rue said.
"You're telling me you've seen kids our age do that … that … whatever that thing is?" Starley asked.
"Almost," Rue said.
Starley was going to ask her what she meant by
almost
when Beau strolled by and nodded at her. He never stopped to talk to her, and she didn't know if it was because he wasn't interested, if he didn't want to be seen talking to her or what his deal was.
"I don't get him," Starley said as soon as he was out of earshot.
Rue took a bite of her turkey sandwich and chewed slowly. "What's not to get? He wants you."
Starley's eyes rounded. "He sure has a funny way of showing it."
"Boys like to play games. Just pretend you're not interested. Ignore him long enough and he'll be groveling at your feet in no time," Rue said.
"Seriously?" Starley asked.
"I promise," Rue said.
Lunch period ended, and the girls stood to dump their trays and make their way to chemistry class. Starley loved chemistry. Mixing things together ran in the family genes. She tried not letting the fact that her chemistry teacher looked like a giant slug bother her. She thought it was kind of funny. It had taken some time, but Starley had begun getting used to the teacher creatures.
At the end of the school day, Starley invited Rue to come with her to The Perfumery. Well, technically, Rue invited herself.
"What? Are you ashamed of me? Don't you want your sisters to meet your new best friend?" Rue asked.
"No, of course I'm not ashamed of you. I just didn't think you'd be interested, that's all," Starley said.
"Not interested? You're kidding me, right? The whole town has been talking about The Perfumery, and you didn't think I'd be interested?" Rue shook her head. "Just shoot me now."
"Where'd you learn to be so melodramatic?" Starley asked.
"Drama class." Rue giggled.
On their way to The Perfumery, Rue suddenly clutched Starley by the arm and dragged her across the street.
"Ouch, what are you doing?" Starley said rubbing her arm.
Rue pointed. "Pastor Byrd gives me the heebie-jeebies."
"Pastor
Byrd
?" Starley said.
"Yeah, Beau's dad," Rue said looking back over her shoulder. She nudged Starley. "Look at him."
Starley turned to get a glimpse of the man. "Oh, crap. He's a werewolf?"
Rue rolled her eyes. "No, there's no such thing as a werewolf. He's just your plain old run-of-the-mill wolf."
"Right, what was I thinking?" Starley's voice dripped with sarcasm. She chanced another peek at the pastor and shocked to see he'd morphed into a wooly sheep. "What the heck? He's a sheep now."
"Haven't you ever heard the saying about a wolf in sheep's clothing?" Rue said.
Starley knew she'd have to get used to this strange new world she was living in, soon, for her own sanity.
The Perfumery was quiet when the girls arrived. Starley chewed on her lip and hoped that it was just a lull in business and that things weren't starting to fall apart for them already.
"You must be Rue," Juliette said, clasping the girl's hands tightly. "I'm Juliette, Starley's sister. I've heard so much about you."
Rue pulled free of Juliette's grasp. "Hello," she said quietly.
"Where's Frank?" Starley asked.
"I'm right here," Francesca said popping her head up above from behind the counter. "I'm happy to finally meet you. Juliette and I were beginning to wonder if you were a figment of Starley's overactive imagination."
"Wow, like that's not embarrassing," Starley groaned. She glanced around the empty shop. "How's business?"
"Business is fine," Juliette said.
'Yes, Pastor Byrd even stopped by a few minutes ago to welcome us to town. Wasn't that nice of him?" Francesca said.
"I thought I smelled wet dog," Rue mumbled.
"My sentiments, exactly," said Juliette.
"
You
smelled him?" Starley asked.
"I didn't, but from the way Frank wrinkled her nose, she must've. I didn't get within three feet of the guy. Something about him doesn't sit right with me," Juliette said.
"I hope he got a good whiff of my new perfume," Francesca said.
"Unless it was Eau de Pork Chop, I doubt he even noticed," Rue whispered.
Starley snorted and took Rue by the hand. "Come over here and sample some of these new scents."