She held the bottle up to the customer's nose. "This is our newest, Gold, from Chanel. Lovely, isnt it? A few drops, and it will transform you into the woman he has always wanted." It was one of his earliest memories of his mother and father. She was sitting at her vanity, carefully opening a small bottle and dabbing a bit on her neck as she smiled at him. "Your father loves this." Later that evening, when his father came home, he embraced her and deeply inhaled the scent, so close his unshaved cheek made her laugh in ticklish delight. And as he watched his parents, he thought to himself how he wanted that kind of moment as well. "We also carry a new eau de toilette, Charmante, from Fragrance de Paris. Subtle, shy, winsome. Let me put a bit of this on your wrist." The next night, when his father came home, he happily lifted his son high in the air, then sniffed. "What've you got on?" his father asked with a perplexed smile. His mother laughed. "That little scamp must have gotten in my perfume." "I did it for you, Daddy," he grinned. His father's smile became more grave and uncertain. "Dont do that again, son. That's for ladies, not for you." "I know: sometimes the sheer number of scents becomes perplexing. Think of them all as doors that slowly open to reveal you in a new and tantalizing guise, the woman you may not be during the day, but the one he dreams of at night." His first years in college were marked by confusion and desire for those he could not have. He wanted to feel their stubble against his neck, but he knew that they never would grant him that. He was different, he knew, but he also knew that in order to capture their hearts, he could change. And change he would. "There is also this one: Sunset, by Lancome. Pale, mysterious. Apply it to your skin, and it changes. It is different on every woman, and its effects are different on every man." At the end of her workday, she gently covered the counters with dustcloths, then raced home to her apartment. She was meeting him tonight, and she knew, as well as she knew anything else, that tonight was the night. Tonight he would propose to her. And she was more than ready to say yes. She just hoped he was ready for the surprise she had in store for him as well...