The warm steam of the shower invigorated Rachel. She soaped herself up thoroughly, trying to wash away the perfume's insistently flowery smell. It had become more pungent from the heat in the shower, but seemed to slowly fade as she continued to lather her smooth skin. She took a moment to admire how smooth it was today. Like she had just taken a trip to a day spa.
She carefully massaged her butt while washing it. It was still sore from her fall in the kitchen, but was already feeling better.
Minutes later, she was toweling off when someone knocked on the bathroom door. "Rachel?" her mom said from the other side. "Are you all right this morning?"
"Yeah mom, fine," Rachel said as she dried her hair.
"I was just a little worried. You're never off your routine. Not that I expect my breakfast promptly or anything. It just struck me as unusual."
Rachel shouted a brief version of the events with the perfume bottle as she finished drying off.
"Well, if you threw that bottle in the trash it'll smell up the kitchen in no time. I'll go down and take care of it right now."
Rachel continued with her usual grooming ritual, brushing her teeth and combing her shoulder-length hair. Something seemed a little off to her, but she shrugged off her feeling as a delayed reaction to falling down earlier. She threw her clothes back on and headed downstairs.
"I took the entire garbage to the bin outside," her mother said, standing over the stove with a fresh batch of pancakes cooking. "That flower smell combined with the burned pancakes was too much." Rachel noticed that all of the windows to the kitchen were now open to let the warm morning air through.
During breakfast, Rachel noticed her mom looking at her funny.
"What's up, mom?"
"Did you do something new with your hair?"
"No, I just brushed it like usual."
"Did you put on makeup?"
"I didn't do anything different."
"Oh," her mom said. "I just thought you look...prettier."
Rachel almost choked on her mouthful of buttery pancakes from a laugh she tried to catch in her throat. "I'll take that as a compliment," she said once she had finally swallowed.
A short while later, Rachel washed the dishes, wondering to herself if something really was different about her today. She thought she noticed something in the bathroom, and then her mother...
Forget it, she thought. She must be getting so bored that she's starting to exaggerate any small thing that's out of the ordinary.
As she dried the griddle, her mother came back in.
"Rachel, I'd like you to run a few errands for me today," she said. "You probably remember me telling you I'm hosting my hobby club this afternoon and I'd like to get the house ready and have a few snacks prepared."
Rachel's mother was part of a small group of stay-at-home moms who used their free time for creative pursuits. Some did the usual knitting and sewing, others made carvings, picture frames, ornaments, and even wrote poems and songs. They all got together once a week to show off their latest projects. It was the one thing her mom had to look forward to all week, though Rachel preferred to spend the time in her room listening to her MP3 player or chatting on the internet.
Here's everything I need." Her mom stretched out a hand with a piece of paper, and Rachel took it. "Please try to be back by noon so we have enough time."
"Sure thing," Rachel said. She looked at the clock and saw it was already 9:40. "I'd better take off, then." She headed for the front door, where she began putting on her shoes.
Her mother handed Rachel her purse. "Drive safe. Love you," she said, kissing her daughter on the forehead.
"Love you too," Rachel said, then walked out the door to her car.