The girl who bought the hair ointment was now in her living room, eating a box of chocolates.
Under each one was a paper with a message. "I love you." "Today is a good day." "You are special." She ate one after another. She read each thing. She chewed slowly. The papers piled up beside her.
Her mother entered the room.
"Daughter, you can't eat all that alone. And certainly not all at once."
"Why not?" said the girl, setting the box on the table. "I want to try them."
The table was full of other items. Bottles of oils. Liquor. Small bags of dried petals. A jar of honey. An unlit candle.
"Better help me put these things away," said the mother.
She took one of the bottles. On the glass, an engraved symbol. The symbol of the master's shop. She recognized it. She ran her fingers over it.
"Where did you get this?"
"From those who came the other day. The perfumer."
The mother put the bottle on a shelf.
In the shop, the master stood at the counter.
His gaze was dull. He watched as the carpenter removed his perfumes. He took them one by one. Put them in a wooden box. In their place, he put the same items. Liquor. Aromatic oil. Soaps. On the new shelf he had made.
When he finished, Lilith gave him some coins.
"Thank you," said the carpenter as he left.
Afterwards, she went to another shelf on the other side. To do the same. She removed the perfumes. Put them on the floor. Placed bars of soap. Lined them up. One after another.
The master approached. Apathetic.
"Do you need help?"
"No," said Lilith without looking at him. "But if you want to help, you can bring me the box of incense."
The master exhaled deeply. His shoulders dropped.
"Lilith," he said. "I need to talk to you."
She said nothing. She kept working. The bars of soap lined up on the shelf.
"We cannot continue with this."
She stopped. Her hands still on the soap.
"What do you mean?"
"This," he said, pointing around him. "The shop. I don't recognize it anymore."
"And what's wrong with that? You're diversifying."
"I am a perfumer," he said, his voice firmer. "You said I would be a renowned perfumer."
"You will be. Not for your perfumes. But you will be a renowned perfumer."
"It's not the same. Besides, none of this has anything to do with what I do."
Lilith began to grow impatient. She left the soaps. Turned to him.
"What do you mean, no? Look at how they are alike."
She took a perfume bottle. She took a bottle of aromatic oil. Put them side by side.
"They all have fragrance. Fragrance that you already have. They just needed different packaging. For the same thing."
The master frowned. He looked at the bottles. Looked at the soaps. Looked at the incense.
"I'm going out."
He closed the door.
Lilith was left alone.
She looked at the box of incense. She said to herself, smiling.
"This has to work. I am very close now."
---
It is night.
Lilith and the master went out for a walk in the public square of the palace. They held their events there. Cobblestone floors. Flowering bushes. Gas lamps lit. Couples strolling. Children running.
She sat on the edge of the fountain. Her hands rested on the cold stone. Water splashed behind her.
She watched the master. Too tense. Staring into nothing. Arms crossed. Jaw clenched.
"Is something wrong?" she asked.
He took a while to answer.
"Just that..."
He stopped for a second.
"So much has changed. Everything. Before, I only lived off my flower plantation. The one I was going to take you to. Selling sacks of petals. The perfumes were just because I had nothing else to do. And my wife didn't like my way of living."
Lilith just looked at him. Confused. She didn't understand why he was telling her all this.
"So?"
"So..." he took a step closer. "Lilith, why don't you come and live with me?"