"Come on Jace."

Jace faced Chiara with a raised eyebrow.

"You know, for a girl, your shopping..." he gestured with his hand, looking for the right word, "...tolerance, stamina, is really low. Look how impatient you are. How do you do your shopping?"

Chiara sighed. "Enough with picking on my shopping habits. I didn't think that agreeing to come with you would..." Chiara in mock search for a word, gestured with her right hand. "...entail this. Perfume shopping?" She said incredulously.

"Come here." Jace replied, pulling Chiara to him by her hand. "Smell this."

"Oh God Jace. What do I know about men's perfumes?"

Jace, seeming deaf to everything Chiara had said so far, took the perfume bottle from the girl in a suit. She was eyeing the two of them with amusement. He opened the bottle filled with the concentrated fragrance and very slowly lifted it to let Chiara smell it.

"Just tell me if you like it."

Chiara sighed again before taking a whiff of the perfume. It smelled, like all men's perfume, like men's perfume. The smell was very strong, burning Chiara's nose.

"What?" Jace asked, letting out a laugh at Chiara's expression.

Chiara frowned. "You're really enjoying this."

"No -- I'm sorry. It's just that...you look really...I don't know." He replied, laughing again, but trying to hide it this time.

"Why are you asking my opinion then?"

"Come on, it's been more than a year since we last saw each other. Least you can do is to help me with this now." Jace said seriously.

Chiara forced herself not to roll her eyes. True, it had been almost two years since she last saw Jace Colten. It was mainly her fault of course, it was she who avoided him at all costs. She had promised herself she wouldn't see him again, if she could help it. It had been a long time ago, and still here was Jace Nicholas Colten, the same guy, still perfect as ever, still the person she loved all those years ago.

It wasn't easy to avoid him. After all, they had been friends all through out school. Even communication through emails and calls, Chiara wouldn't have any of it. It was her choice; she didn't want to see him, it would have complicated things. She gave tons of reasons, she was very busy, or rather busied herself; she was sick, she wasn't in the city, she couldn't leave the house, any reason just so she wouldn't meet Jace. Eventually, like she predicted (and dreaded and looked forward to at the same time) he grew tired of it, of her, and stopped any means of contacting her.

Today was very different. Jace had suddenly turned up on her front door, asking her if she would like to go out and help him out for a bit. Chiara couldn't see any way out of it. Besides, as much as it was a big surprise for her, it couldn't have come at a more "crucial" time. Chiara was finally leaving for Paris.

Eventhough she didn't have contact with Jace for years, she couldn't avoid him completely. He took over her thoughts most of the time and she lived with a constant fear of bumping into him or just seeing him. Finally deciding it was time to leave the place completely, Chiara accepted the invitation from a friend living in France. It took a while for everything to be processed. Papers and documents, money, work. Of course, she prepared quietly, only telling her friends within immediate contact.

Chiara tried not to think of the few possessions she still needed to sort and pack, agreeing to Jace's invitation. He took her out for brunch first, outside a really good cafe. They talked a bit, tried to catch up with what's happening with their respective lives. Chiara let Jace talk mostly, afraid of the conversation steering into her life. Especially since she had been hiding a very important fact from him. Paris was important, wasn't it?

Chiara turned towards the glass displays of different perfumes, not wanting to look at him any longer. Jace couldn't be any more right. It was the least she could do, to help him now, when she knew she couldn't, after today.

"Why don't you just buy what you usually had on?" she asked. "You still use that, don't you?"

"Well...I wanted something new. For a change."

"Oh."

"Oh what?"

"I liked that smell. What brought this on? Are you...going somewhere? An event? Important meeting?"

"..."

The absence of response made Chiara look up at him again. "What?"

Jace shook his head. "Yeah, you can say it's an important occasion."

"I see." Chiara said, turning back to the displays."Well... I'm not really sure about guys' perfumes. Usually with girls' you get the same ones, you know... fruit smelling ones, flower smell, vanilla...things like that. Guys' perfumes usually smell really strong. I don't know, something to do with being muscular? No idea." She said it more to herself than Jace. When she felt uncomfortable, Chiara tended to rattle on and on. She felt awkward, Jace had looked at her very peculiarly just moments ago.

"How about trying this one?" Chiara asked. "Dunhill." she read.

"Maybe I'll just get my old perfume." Jace replied.

"What, Calvin Klein?"

"...Y-Yeah."

"Thought you needed something new?"

In the end, Jace purchased a new scent Chiara liked. They went to the suit section after, where Chiara also helped in picking which set looked best on Jace. It was very hard work, it seemed like everything he tried on looked good on him. After about an hour of changing shirts and pants, putting on (and off) vests, striped, plain, black, blue, suit, lapel, collar, they finally found the right suit.

"I'm leaning towards the darker colors more." Chiara said, frowning at the shirt Jace currently had on. "Lavender doesn't seem like the best choice for you."

Jace smiled before turning back to the dressing rooms again. While he dressed, Chiara walked around the store, looking at the different coats and long sleeved shirts. Finally, she reached the display of neckties. With the help of one of the attendants, Chiara picked a tie that complemented the shirt color and design she had earlier chosen for Jace. She also chose a cufflink for him. It was square with a small cross engraved on its lower right corner. She paid for them herself, not waiting for Jace to come out of the dressing room. She figured she would give it to him as a gift, for the past birthdays and Christmas she had missed...and will miss.