Warm winds blew the early morning chill away leaving an unexpected bright afternoon. Maria’s doctor appointment was cancelled so she walked coat open with nowhere to go in a neighborhood she didn’t know. Fancy boutiques and bistros, Maria window-shopped taking in the new and the different. A sudden sweetness caught her fancy.

Maria followed her nose. Past a cupcake bakery and a tailor shop, Maria followed the smell of buttercream frosting and roses after a light rain. Her nose led her to the door of Dulce, Bespoke Perfumes.

A bell tinkled as Maria nudged open the shop door. She was never a girly girl into makeup and things. She thought the shop would be overpowering. Instead Dulce was peaceful. Heartwood floors and white washed brick walls, the perfume shop was bare except for a crystal cut glass vase filled with coffee beans and a lady wearing a purple cardigan watering a pothos.

“I’ll be right with you, dear heart. I’m trying not to kill this thing but it’s all floppy,” the lady with the watering can said.

“Oh I’m sorry. I thought this was a shop,” Maria stammered.

Her face flushed as she turned to leave. The woman continued watering.

“My name is Olive. I’m a nose.”

“What?” Maria asked.

Olive climbed down from her stepladder.

“Well a blind nose now. For years I studied to be a perfumer, honing my olfactory, learning to layer scents becoming an artisan. Then I had an car accident.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Maria said feeling more confused with each word from the shopkeeper.

“I lost my sense of traditional smell but now I taste and hear and feel scents,” Olive said. “You look like a person with a found afternoon. Let’s have an adventure. Samples are free.”

Maria thought wondering if she should leave or stay. She could smell sun-ripen tomato, the pine bite of rosemary and something she couldn’t quite describe. She closed her eyes and inhaled.