Scent Stories: Coco Mademoiselle

She tiptoed quietly into the room in her pale pink dressing gown, the morning sun streaming in from the window and caressing her skin. She sat at her dressing table and perused it, wondering what jewellery to wear and which powder to apply to her nose. She crosses her legs, then uncrosses then recrosses. She's slightly anxious, it's her fiance's surprise party and everything needs to be perfect. The caterers have arrived and the decorations have been done, the live band and the DJ are setting up. She's always had a flair for throwing exceptional parties and this one was to be no exception. She opts for her pearls and slips into her white slip dress and white louboutins, a slightly sexier version of what she's imagined of herself as a bride.

She went down to the living room to do her final checks as she awaited the 20 invited guests, a glass of rose in her hand to calm her nerves. It felt like their wedding day all over again. The food was laid out, the candles were lit to give a romantic feel and the doorbell buzzes announcing the arrival of her first guests. They are greeted at the door with bellinis by cocktail waiters and ooh and aah at what she's done with the place while she fusses over them and makes them feel welcome. It's 7.20 now, 10 minutes before her husband is due home, all the guests have arrived, thank goodness. He thinks he's coming to pick her up for dinner at a nearby restaurant, little does he know. She hears his horn and compels all the guests to be still and silent as she hurries outside to meet him. "Mademoiselle" he calls to her, as he's always done since the day they met, even though neither of them are French.

She smiles a wide smile at her dashing fiance and kisses him softly on his lips and urges him to come in briefly as she grabs her purse. They enter the house and the dim lights flicker on as all the guests scream "Surprise!". She sees the looks of shock, then confusion and finally realisation pass on his face as she turns to him and says "Happy birthday, my love"

Scent Stories: Attimo

You can hear her long before you see her, the office automatically transforms from a place of ordered chaos to a place of order. Plain order. The fast paced clack clack clack of her black leather Feragammo pumps remind everyone that she's a woman on a mission. A woman with a job to get done and get done excellently. I met her on the very first day of my internship at the bank, I walked right up to her feeling self-confident and assured. After all, I had heard that she herself had made the selection of the top 5 candidates and I was one of them, I wanted to formally introduce myself, to tell her how grateful I was for the amazing opportunity she had granted me. She didn't even notice me, she breezed straight past me clack clack clack, leaving a flurry of personal assistants and other subordinates in her wake, everyone wanting to say something or the other to prove themselves.

Disappointed as I was I was strangely elated. Surely being in the presence of such a great woman could only mean greatness for me. I was determined to follow her lead and emulate her in any and every way that I could. I even traded my flat black shoes for low-heeled pumps so I could also practice the clack clack clack that seemed to scream authority. I listened to her speak and saw the way she dealt with high end clients in a manner that was at once firm and feminine. I never knew such a compromise existed, all through business school I had been taught to be tough, to think and act like a man whenever possible yet here she was, the perfect blend of stern and sexy. 

During my three months at the bank, I got to see her a few times and physically be in her presence even less. She seemed to never be in the country, one day China the next Hong Kong and then sometimes America. On the last day I was giving a presentation to some management when she walked in to the meeting room. Apparently some half-wit had double booked the room. Instead of kicking us out though she decided she would quite like to listen to all the presentations her interns had to give and choose who should be offered the graduate role. My heart stopped beating for a moment and then fired up instantly. Here she was, in her Feragammo pumps and her Birkin bag wanting to listen to us, to me! I looked at her and instead of being met with the cold eyes I had come to expect, she smiled warmly and said "How would you like to go first Aisha?" The fact alone that she knew my name made me feel on top of the world and I was glad I was dressed appropriately and with minimal make-up unlike Selena who was now fidgeting with the hem of her skirt.

After the presentation she called me outside saying "Attimo, prego". Then and there, I got the job!

Scent Stories: Candy

I will always hold dear the memory of my little girl running down the staircase of our rather small house somewhere in the city as she heard the front door unlock. "Daddy! Daddy!" she would scream and her tiny arms would wrap themselves around my leg and hold on tight as if willing me to never go to work again. I would pick her up and throw her up in the air a few times and tickle her till she squealed, her mouth open in laughter displaying her missing front tooth. My wife would always be closely behind her, cautioning her not to run down the steps but she never listened and each day at 7pm, my baby girl ran down the staircase and into my arms.

I was her world, her superhero called "Daddy" who could lift her in the air and throw her up, high enough that she could fly and catch herself a shining star. Even when she was way too big to be lifted up high she would still run down the stairs everyday for a kiss on the cheek and a tight hug. It became our own daily ritual, the same way my wife and I often drank coffee together in the mornings before I set off and she stayed home. My daughter and I would meet at the front door and share a hug and fill each other in on our days until my wife called for dinner. The stories I heard evolved from best friends at nursery to difficult subjects and sometimes even crushes and boyfriends. She was the centre of my world; bright and bubbly with infectious laughter she got from her mum.

They say you never notice the hours turning into days turning into years and I must admit that it's true because although I always noticed the time passing by and I noticed her getting bigger and heavier, I never noticed my daughter turning into the beautiful young lady she is now. So now as she squeezes her arm tightly against mine as we walk into the grand cathedral, I cannot help but tear up but I don't let the tears fall. I try to look at her to see if she’s transformed. Perhaps her mousy brown hair has all of a sudden turned blonde, or the beauty spot above her left eye has disappeared. We reach the altar where my son-in-law to be stands and waits for his bride and I look into my daughter’s face and see it has changed, the once chubby cheeks have now transformed into contoured lines but it has also remain the same, her eyes are still the brightest shade of blue. She mouths to me “I love you Daddy” as she releases my hand but all I can see through my silent tears are the Candy-coloured petals of the flowers in the bouquet she's holding.

Presenting "Scent Stories": A miniseries

So to the people that know me personally I'm sure it will come as no surprise that I decided to do a whole miniseries on perfume! I love perfume and various scents and I'm not sure when this love started all I know is that it's done nothing but cultivate a bad perfume-buying habit in me! Lol. The last time I went through duty-free was the very first time that I didn't but myself a new fragrance and it wasn't for a lack of trying but for a lack of time!

When I was packing up my flat in Manchester at the end of last year an idea to do something with all the scents I currently owned came to me and I thought; why not try and describe in words the way each of the perfumes made me feel? Or what I felt they embodied. I decided not to do a story on every single perfume I have ever or currently owned because the list would have been endless so I narrowed down my cast to 7 characters.

Presenting to you..... Scent Stories!

Starring in no particular order:

Prada- Candy

Britney Spears- Twisted Fantasy

Guerlain- La Petite Robe Noire

D&G- The One

Chanel- Coco Mademoiselle

Ferragmo- Attimo

Armani- Si

The plan is to have a different story come out every day from this Sunday till I'm all out of characters, they're going to be quite short and unrelated to one another which is why I've called it a miniseries. I really do hope you enjoy it because I love drawing inspiration from all around me and have many more ideas to come. See you on Sunday and don't forget to share and follow if you enjoy :)

Reni xx