His Perfumes Had No Me, He Begged

Chapter 2

Chloe was severely allergic to fragrance ingredients.

To make the set safe for her, Matthew had it cleared three days in advance and replaced every soft furnishing that carried a scent.

She sat inside a glass-walled room for the interview. A stylist placed the original bottle of Chloe on the glass table.

Chloe didn't touch it. She only looked at it for a moment.

"Is this one only for me?"

"The version going on sale is the commercial release," Matthew said. "There's only one original."

She smiled. "Good. I don't like anyone else having what I have."

I stood outside the glass-walled room and tested the perfume that carried her name.

Melissa raised the script. "Ms. Parker, look at Mr. Reid. After he explains the inspiration, we'll get a shot of the two of you making eye contact."

The cameras started rolling.

Matthew stood beside Chloe with his white shirt buttoned to the collar. His expression remained cool, but his voice was gentler than usual.

"I wrote the first version of Chloe when I was 17. That year, someone gave me a sprig of white plum blossom in the snow. She left soon afterward, and I was never able to finish it."

Melissa nodded in satisfaction. "That was perfect. Grace, let's get the drydown."

I sprayed the sample on my left wrist.

The cedarwood, white plum blossom, and crisp musk came through quickly, but the scent stopped developing before it reached the drydown. The gardenia never emerged.

Matthew came over, leaned toward my wrist, and inhaled once before frowning.

"You're not in the right emotional state today."

"I can't do it today."

"You can."

He stopped the cameras, leaned in, and removed my mask. His fingers brushed behind my ear and came to rest over the pulse in my neck.

"Grace, look at me."

A long time ago, when he first discovered that my body temperature could change a fragrance, he had said my name in exactly the same way.

The studio had lost power that night. We were crammed into the narrow materials room, and he held my hand as he promised that once he made his first real profit, he would build me the largest fragrance room in the city.

He eventually built the room, but it was his name on the door, not mine.

Now he stood so close that his breath brushed my lips.

"Do you remember our first kiss?"

My fingers trembled. As my skin warmed, the white plum note opened up, and the gardenia slowly surfaced through the cool cedarwood.

Matthew didn't kiss me. He stepped back and signaled for Caleb to record the result.

"The floral note appeared at 3 minutes and 40 seconds, after her heart rate increased. Collect the scent for 30 seconds, then seal the sample."

Caleb held a thin tube close to my wrist and captured the lingering scent.

Matthew would use the data to recreate the drydown that appeared only on my skin and incorporate it into a formula that could be mass-produced.

The cameras started rolling again. Through the glass, Chloe watched us, and the smile on her face faded slightly.

When filming paused, she called to me.

"Ms. Bennett, does the gardenia in the drydown come from you?"

Before I could answer, Matthew handed me a bottle of water.

"She only handles the skin testing."

Chloe glanced at my engagement ring.

"You're keeping the original for me. Is she really okay with that?"

"Work and personal feelings have to stay separate," he answered without hesitation.

Chloe gave a small nod. "Then thank you, Ms. Bennett. Matthew says only your skin can bring back the scent of that snowy day when we were 17."

I took a sip. The bottle's rim clicked softly against my teeth.

Melissa brought over the launch schedule and reminded Matthew that he was supposed to present the perfume to Chloe onstage that afternoon.

"Once Ms. Parker comes onstage, you'll personally present her with Chloe. The prelaunch campaign is already number one on the trending list. That moment is guaranteed to go viral."

Matthew skimmed two pages.

"Keep the fragrance concentration in the venue as low as possible. She's allergic."

Melissa agreed, then turned to me.

"You should go onstage too, Ms. Bennett. You're Mr. Reid's fiancée. It'll look strange if you're sitting in the audience."

"She isn't going," Matthew said as he removed the scent blotter from my wrist. "She gets headaches after prolonged exposure."

He wrapped my scarf more tightly around my neck, covering the spot where fragrance had splashed onto my skin.

"There's food in the car downstairs, nothing with a strong smell. Eat, then go home."

When filming resumed, I stayed out of the camera frame.

I peeled the monitoring patch from my wrist and placed it in his palm.

"Matthew, I didn't write that termination letter on a whim. I'm not attending the launch this afternoon either."

He looked down at the patch. His thumb brushed the cold sweat on the adhesive side.

"You're afraid."

"Yes."

"Are you afraid of losing your sense of smell, or of Chloe coming back?"

I studied him for a long time.

"Can't you tell?"

His brow tightened slightly.

Melissa called from outside the glass-walled room, urging him to finish the reshoot. Matthew handed the patch to Caleb. Before turning away, he said, "Exposure to high concentrations of fragrance ingredients can heighten anxiety. Don't make a decision like this right now."

The glass door closed.

Chloe sat in the fragrance-free room with Matthew beside her, while the gardenia taken from my skin was sealed inside a bottle with her name on it.