Page 69 of Scent of Desire
It was nice to talk to someone. Truth was, I hated being alone even if I was in my definition of paradise. The house was beautiful with its lavender-and-citrus drapery, its forged cornices, mosaic elements, and tiled stone walls. And most importantly, I only had to open my wooden shutters to discover the majestic landscape of my flower fields and let the sliding windows open so that the floral notes would infuse my nose in a blessed draft.
Sometimes, I even heard the barks of Cerba and smelled the scent of the Devil’s Corpse, but they were all gone with the Devil.
“We all have a part of madness inside us, and I believe that’s good. The world isn’t boring this way.” Hugo positioned his elbow against the cerulean couch and leaned over me. “You know I’ll always be here for you, right? Even if you’re in need of more than my business services.”
My eyes widened, and he grinned in response, his eyes sparkling with mischief.
“I’m joking. Don’t get any ideas. No offense, but you’re not my style.” He rose up from the couch. “I know you miss him, but what I meant is that you can count on me. Not because Radcliff asked me to.”Obviously, he did.“But because we’re friends,doudou.”
“Thank you, Hugo.” I escorted him toward the exit. “You’re always welcome here if the city ever gets too loud.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, but it’s never too loud for me.” He crossed the arched doorstep, entering his playboy sports car. “By the way, what name did you choose for the perfume?”
“Obsession.” I didn’t hesitate, and a beam tilted my features. “Obsession by the Flower Queen. The brand name is a tribute to my mother.”
Obsession was what brought Radcliff and me together and what tore us apart.
A cocktail of love so magical and deadly.
A perfume that had paid the price for his creation.
“Love it.” Hugo cranked the engine of his car until it roared. “We got a lot to do together,doudou. The first step is the launch of Obsession—”
“The second, to get No. 27 back.”
Day 67
Dear Radcliff,
The world’s alive again, but you’re not in it.
The world’s colorful, but you went back to the dark.
Don’t worry, I’m not waiting for you. I’m living each day like death is chasing after me. But I have a chase of my own.
Eternity.
Obsession will overcome the barriers of time, you’ll see.
Just like us.
I’m not giving up on you. Stop ignoring me, Radcliff. Stop hiding. I need you.
We are bound to—
A cracking noise startled me, and a splash of ink spread at the end of my word.
“Damn it!” I cursed, dropping my pen on my letter sheet.
I glanced up to see above the flowering buds from where I was lying on my field of flowers, wondering who was here. I inspected the life around me. The butterflies flew. The bees were working. And near the apple tree a few meters away, the doe had returned.
Our eyes locked from afar in the same mimicry. She was holding a red apple inside her mouth. I rose up, dusting away the herbs on my white linen dress, and squinted my eyes back to her under the heat of the sun. It had tanned my skin to a golden hue, and its rays now burned my shoulders, so much so that I longed for the shadow.
The doe dropped the apple as if she knew I craved to use the shadow by the apple tree and departed to her enchanted forest. The guards hadn’t seen anything, walking the hundreds of steps around my field.
I chased after the doe, running through the flowers, holding the long length of my dress to the side. I interpreted her presence like a sign from the Devil. The air brushed my hair into a magical breeze, and facing the tree, I scooped down to seize the apple only to see that it wasn’t an apple.
My lips parted, a drop of heat descending along my forehead to loosen onto the fruit.
