Sunday, December 11, 2005

Smelling You Closer

A man and a woman, sitting several feet apart. The man turns to the woman and deeply smells.
Woman : uh - I'm sorry?
The man turns away quickly, his face is red.
Woman : Did you just -
Man : Yes? What?
Woman : Uh- Nevermind.
The man coughs violently and subtly scoots closer to the woman. He turns and smells deeply again. The woman stands up.
Woman : You just smelled me.
Man : I'm sorry. I've got - it's this sinus thing. I can only breath through my nose if I turn my head right.
Woman : Really?
Man : I know. It sounds kind of silly.. but it's a medical condition I've delt with for years. I'm sorry if it creeped you out a little.
Woman : Well. Maybe a little. Can I ask, how does this happen?
He moves closer, excited to tell his story.
Man : Well, it happened when I was younger. You see I -
He stops talking and turns to breath deeply. It is a deep long smell.
Man : I was kicked on the left side of my face by a horse as a child.
Woman : And it caused that? How bizarre.
Man : I kind of deserved it. I was harrassing the horse a bit. Kind of a hellraiser as a child. It wasn't until I turned 15 that I realized the direction I was going. As far as I can tell, I'm the only person who this has ever happened to. Kind of an anomoly, but an interesting story to tell at parties.
The woman laughs. They look at each other.
Man : I'm Matt.
Woman : Sally.
Man : Would it be weird of me to ask you for coffee? You aren't doing anything right now are you?
Woman : Actually. I was going to go to the clinic for a check up, but I can go another day.
Man : Oh. A check up. We can meet later if you want?
Woman : Well. It's not a real checkup. I'm really just getting a presciption renewed.
Man : I see. For your depression?
Woman : For my herpes.
Man laughs. Woman just stares blankly.