Chez Aphrodite

by Leanne Baugh-Peterson

You jumped into my revolving door. Your Greek warrior shoulders and Adonis face. A delicious moment of whooshing, twirling, swirling bliss. Then you escaped in a gust of wind.

If I were a colour I’d be beige, like oatmeal, or the colour of change-room walls.

There’s a sign on the cracked window:
Chez Aphrodite School of Sex Appeal – Awaken the Seductress Within

“Un, deux, trois… now follow me daw-ling.” Madame, a fifty-eight-year-old Barbie doll with a gypsy face, ran her hands seductively down her thighs. “You must swing your bottom. Like zis.”

I strutted and swayed and caressed my thighs but you walked past me on the street as if I were a crumbling stone statue.

“Promise me you will buy a sexy pair of high-heel sling backs. Have you not heard of toe cleavage, dawling?”

Days pass. I finally spot you leaving your glass tower. I wobble up to you in my new stilettos. So close I’m lost in the maze of your navy herringbone. I smell your cologne, like steaming chocolate with cinnamon. Your pheromones cling to me like a wet bathing suit. You turn and bump me. You say, “Sorry.” To me. You couldn’t identify me in a police line up. But you spoke… to me.

I move in front of you, stop you in your tracks. I nudge your Hawaiian sunset tie with my index finger while I drown in your surprised, deep-sea eyes.

“With your lips parted, give him a smouldering look that tells him he’s yours. Then walk away. After all, daw-ling, anticipation is the key that unlocks the door of desire.”

See you around.

During our recent Love Month, a few people contributed stories and reflections that were far too good to keep hidden in a Comments section. The piece above is one of them. Leanne Baugh-Peterson of Victoria, BC., has had a passion for screenwriting for several years. She was awarded a development deal in 2003 to co-write Tokyo Nights, a TV movie for CTV. In 2004, her script Chasing the Stars was optioned and is presently in development. In addition to screenwriting, Leanne occasionally dabbles in short fiction.