Aroma

"OK, I'll give it a shot", he said, and the noise startled her.
She hadn't heard him approach. She looked up at him, the line of
jaw and the depth of his eyes catching her by surprise, as they
always did.

The wintergreen on her breath grabbed his attention, as the
swirl of her hair and the curl of her dimple, told him she
grasped what he was talking about.

She had been busy trying to design the amusement park, and
the positioning of the malt shop among the rides, pizza shacks
and arcade booths had seemed like a sticking point. The shop had
too big a footprint because of its booths with mini-juke boxes,
the counter and its stools. It didn't fit between the ferris
wheel and the kiddie rides in her current layout. But George had
a sublime sense of space and arrangement.

He could see she was still struggling with it. He cherished
the look on her face, even as he desired to ease her mind, and
change that expression. He whisked the cutout of the shop from
the too-small space, and placed it near the souvenir shop.

The onion on his breath wafted into her nostrils, as his
confidence and quick movement unnerved her. She was afraid now,
that this one more little failure would push her over the brink,
that he would cull her from his staff. What had she produced for
him in the past week? The rest of the staff always put on a show
for him, like flamenco dancers whirling and clicking around
his office, their latest creations in hand, while she quietly
slaved over her work. Beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, as
he looked over her mock-up.

He glanced at her, and he could see she was worried. "Look,
Lisa, you're doing great. This is an important project, but not
an easy one." He paused and she smiled wanly at him. "I don't
expect you to do it all on your own. These things take a lot of
trial and error to get them right. Most parks re-arrange several
times the first few years, checking the success of each
attraction and gauging the effects of their placement. Even
circuses take these things into account. But I think you are
going to give them a great start. Don't let this deflate your
ego- I've seen your other work, and your instincts are marvelous,
your work, impeccable. Carry on." And he strode away to other
concerns, even as he took a deep breath and tried to forget her
silken hair..


More writing: 'Morass' go to Tom's home page Other Writing


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