Unicorns and Doves

The courier walked in Allie’s direction, pushing a cart full of boxes and bubble envelopes. He steered the cart with one hand and in the palm of the other balanced an elaborately wrapped box.

Allie recognized the squeaking of cartwheels and looked up from her keyboard. She zeroed in on the stylishly wrapped box—same as the two previous ones delivered in the two previous months.

Her body stiffened.

“Nooo.” The word came out in a sudden and unexpected burst. In a Nano second, she clamped her hands over her mouth, muffing the end of her scream. No need to alarm her cohorts or set off a panic that would evacuate the room.

The courier smiled and bowed as he handed her the box. “Another present for you, Miss Thompson. Have a wonderful day.”

Allie laid the parcel on her desk and quickly glanced around the room. All were still busy on their computers or phones. She pulled a tissue from the box on the far left of her desk and held it in front of her nose.

“Mmm, I think it might be Gucci this time.” The voice came over the divider. Suddenly a face popped up where the voice spoke. The face twitched and inhaled deeply. “Yup, definitely a flora scent with gardenia taking the lead.” Melissa leaned her elbows on the divider. “I take it you haven’t told him yet?”

“No, I don’t have the heart to disappoint him,” said Allie, sitting at her desk staring at the box an arm’s length away and clutching the tissue.

“What are you going to do with all these perfumes? Three so far?”

“Four.” Allie fingered the glittery white bow and smoothed her hand over the shiny, white wrapping paper flecked with gold stars.

“You should have told him at Christmas, when he gave you the first one, that you’re allergic to fragrance.”

“I know. I know,” she whimpered. “I made such a big fuss over the Chanel Coco Mademoiselle at Christmas that I gave him the wrong impression. He thinks I love perfume of all kinds.”

“Who wouldn’t love that Chanel perfume? To die for. Now, he’s sending you a bottle a month. That reminds me when I was a kid and my mom belonged to this book club and they sent you a book of the month without fail. My mom couldn’t wait for the book to come.”

“I’d gladly exchange this perfume for a book a month.” Allie let out a long, deep sigh and looked at Melissa with a twisted smile.

“Too bad they couldn’t just send a whiff of perfume electronically—through the air waves.” Melissa waved her hands like a magician’s. “Most women would be excited to get a perfume a month. And it’s not cheap perfume he’s sending. This is the real stuff—imported from Italy and France or wherever.”

“That complicates the problem, too.” Allie wiped her fingers in the tissue and threw it in the basket under her desk.

“How hard is it to tell him you’re allergic to fragrance?” asked Melissa.

“He was a new boyfriend at the time and I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. Now it’s into the fourth month.”

“Hmmm. I guess, being a male, he doesn’t realize how long a bottle lasts. Women have—what—two, maybe three bottles? Depending on the occasion or season. And you have four already?”

“Yeah, I do,” she said wistfully.

“Eight more to go.” There was a pause before both women burst out laughing simultaneously. Several cohorts raised their heads from their computers causing Melissa and Allie to stunt their laughter.

“Are you going to open it and see if I’m right?” Melissa whispered and pointed to the box. “I’m certain it’s a Gucci perfume?”

“I think you’re right. I haven’t got a Gucci yet. How does he know all these perfumes anyway? Is he some kind of connoisseur?”

“I’m sure the retailer fills him with the details and what each smells like and who would like what. Or he’s prodded by someone at his place of work.”

Allie carefully unwrapped the box and pulled off the lid. Inside lay a bottle in the shape of a winged horse. Alongside it lay a spray attachment with a small pump at one end.

“Oh, that’s so beautiful. Pegasus, isn’t it?” asked Melissa. “From Greek mythology. He was superior to other horses because he had wings and could fly."

“What’s Adam trying to say—that I can fly?”

“Maybe you make his heart flutter and fly.” Both women looked at each other trying to read meaning into the glass figurine bottle. “Is that possible?”

Allie shook her head. “I don’t know. What else do you know about this mythical horse?”

"I know that Pegasus was regarded as a gentle, helpful creature. Does that describe Adam?”

“Maybe. I don’t know. Yes… I guess he’s helpful…and certainly kind.”

“Pegasus was eventually made into a constellation,” added Melissa.

“What’s that significance?”

“Well, he’s always visible at night. A beautiful constellation at that.”

“Interpreted, that means…?”

“Maybe he thinks you’re beautiful? Or… you’re always there on his mind? Or…he’s always watching you?”

“Ewww,” wailed Allie. “That’s creepy.”

“I’m sure he means it in a nice way.” Both women stared at the bottle of perfume laying in white tissue paper.

“It is beautiful,” said Allie. “An all-white, winged, unicorn horse.”

“The opaqueness of the bottle would keep the fragrance true to its smell and not evaporate quickly. Refresh my memory—what were the other bottles like?”

“The one last month was in the shape of a dove.”

“Oh, yes. Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty. We decided that Adam was trying to tell you he loves you because he sent it on Valentine’s Day. Did he ever confess his love after that?”

“No, not at all.” Allie slumped her shoulders. “Besides, I’m not trying to lead him on.”

“Then he was telling you that you’re beautiful.”

Allie screwed her nose and covered it with another tissue. She brought the glass figurine closer to her and eyed it from all angles. “Too bad I have to keep these perfume bottles below the bathroom sink to keep the smell from lingering in my bedroom.”

“What a shame,” exclaimed Melissa. “They’re decorative pieces even if you dumped the perfume out and displayed the bottles.”

“I could never dump out the perfumes. Remember I couldn’t even tell him I’m allergic to them.”

“Maybe you could sell them on eBay.”

Allie turned to her friend, a pained and winced expression on her face. “No, I couldn’t do that either.”

“Does he ever mention these gifts to you or look for the bottles around your apartment?”

“Never. Nothing. And I don’t say anything because I don’t want to tell him after-the-fact that I’m allergic.”

“So this will merrily go on month after month? Because you were too polite to begin with.”

“Probably.”

“And what if he continues the whole year?”

“Maybe we won’t be going out the whole year.”

“He must think you both will or he wouldn’t be ordering you a gift every month. So far.”

Allie gasped and her mouth hung open. “You think a guy would think like that, a whole year ahead.”

“I know that’s not typical of guys to think ahead in relationships but he must have warm, cozy feelings for you. Which he probably hasn’t expressed yet.”

Allie wrinkled her brow and rubbed her eyes. “This is getting worst the more I think about it.” She sneezed into the tissue she was holding.

“The relationship or the allergy?” asked Melissa.

“Both.”

The End