Chapter 295 Scent Crush
Miller Street in Washington was a lively and hectic place, especially at night, which made it so popular. Lots of bars were located on this street, welcoming all different kinds of people.
Less than one mile away from it, there was a secluded street, which was not that popular. People could find small bars here, and also some other small shops.
People might get interested in going into small shops that attracted them, and might happen to come across someone with the same interest.
As mentioned above, this street was small and quiet, which made it special. Few people came here, and those shops that were running businesses would put on signs to welcome customers.
Someone with a slim figure appeared in front of a shop and looked at the sign with “Fragrance Shop” on it.
She researched beforehand that this little shop was not known to so many people, but for perfumers, it was the best place. Perfumers who loved their job, or someone interested in perfuming business would come to this little shop. It was open only at night.
Besides, this little shop had some extraordinary perfuming materials that others didn’t have.
Therefore, the shop owner was confident that his customers would come. He had no worries. His
products would be sold out without any effort. He had no agenda for saving his products for some perfuming masters just because they were famous or anything.
She didn’t search for the owner. She just found it meaningful to come and see the mysterious place by herself.
Once she stepped in, she sensed the fragrance coming out of this place, which was faint but pure and amazingly beautiful.
The light was dim. There was classical music playing around the shop. Small groups of people were in a conversation here and there, whispering. She found the atmosphere delightful.
But she was not sure if this place was full of perfuming enthusiasts.
“Welcome! Nice to meet you. Is this your first visit, Miss?” A waiter with an old blouse came to greet her as if he was walking out of an ancient store.
“Yes.” Silvia thought for a while and assumed that they valued their regular customers.
“Do you want something to drink?” the waiter asked,
“Orange juice, please,”Silvia replied, looking around her shoulder.
She knew she promised Simon that she would never drink alcohol, orange juice was her best option.
The waiter came and said. “Sorry, Miss. We’re out of orange juice. Would you like to drink
something else?”
Silvia was at a loss. She said, “How about mango juice or coconut? Or milk?”
The waiter implied that the shop didn’t have those beverages. So she asked, “That is fine. I’ll have what you have. Tell me what you have.”
“We have water. The waiter replied with a smile.
“Just water?”
“Yes, Madam. We only prepare water for our customers. Water temperature could be adjusted to your liking though. We have minerals, hot and regular temperature water, ice water…” Silvia went silent.
For the first time in her lifetime, she got to know water could be divided into such categories. She
asked the waiter about the difference.
“They are all water, but there is a difference accordink to their temperature, you know. Like ice
water tastes different from hot water.”
Silvia didn’t know what to say to this. Some nonsense would make sense sometimes, she thought.
She smirked, “Give me a cup of every kind. Thank yoll.”
She decided to differentiate the taste by trying them all.
“Ok!” The waiter turned around and left. She found a seat near the bar counter.
Silence settled in, which made the whispers in the corner audible.
“You lost! You lost big this time!”
“Don’t rush to conclusions! We don’t know yet!”
“We are sure you lost! We know which one is the best!”
Silvia heard the noise and looked over. At that instance, the waiter put her water on the table. She asked, “Do you know who those people are? I mean, those who are making noises?”
In bars, people made noises all the time over drinks, But here, she could not figure out what they were doing
The waiter cast his glance at them and replied, “I think you know why they are making such a fuss as a perfumer yourself. They are competing for who has the best spices and stuff like that. They call the game Scent Crush.”
“Scent Crush?” Silvia was in bewilderment hearing the game for the first time. She thought it was
weird. And she asked the waiter, “Is that even an official game?”
“Yeah. It has something to do with perfumes, but it is a game.” He waved his hand and began to clean the counter while he kept talking.
“Oh really?” Silvia said.
Seeing her puzzled face, the waiter began to explain the game with a passion, “Let me talk you through how you play the game. Just like a usual game, you will set up a time and gather here. Folks who want to participate in this game will bring their special spices. And there will be a mediator who will decide which of your perfumes is the best. It is not easy to pin down the best of the best.”
She waved her hand. The waiter sensed that he didn’t explain the game to her full understanding “Why don’t you go and play? You’re a perfumer. It is just a kind of competition if I put it simply,” the waiter suggested
“Other folks play all kinds of different video games or some sports to have fun. But in our shop, we
play this game,” he added.
He saw some customers coming in and went to greet them.
The waiter’s brief explanation made Silvia interested in trying the game by herself.
She hadn’t heard of this game, not in LA, not in any other place.
It was the first time she heard of the name of this game, which, unlike other competitions, encouraged only the fun part instead of competing
She drank her water while she kept her eyes on the table where people were playing. She got interested in those spices that people bring with them.
As a perfumer, she wanted to know these spices. She wondered if she would name all of them.
In a big and resourceful world, she knew there were a lot of different fragrances and perfumes. She liked the idea of searching in this world endlessly for the special perfume, which made her happy and gratified.
And she was hopeful that she would come across some special fragrance someday.
The wood candle from Charles was a special kind of spice material. She was planning to use its ingredients to produce oil, but the material was so rare and special that she stopped her plan. She remembered Charles saying the rarity of it, which made it even more special. And she cherished the gilt dearly
“Just admit it. You are out! What kind of perfume have you got? It smells like air!”
“That’s right. I feel the same way. I thought my nose had a problem.”
“Just admit it! is that sohard?”
Those people said in unison.
Silvia sawa girl coming out of the crowd who was playing. She flushed and was angry, “You guys know nothing about this game!”