Professionally, it always takes me to the USA, especially to the West Coast and there especially to Los Angeles.
So it's no wonder that I have already discovered my "Favourite Hotspots" for myself. One of these spots is Café Berlin in Long Beach: A small, hip and so cozy café with the best avocado fried egg toasts you can get in LA. So there I sat on this beautiful sunny Friday morning and had just helped myself to two of the highly touted toasts, "tan picante como siempre" as I had instructed Jorge, the Mexican waiter. I was taking another indulgent sip of that perfect Colombian coffee when a young lady sat down at the table opposite.
The sight of her literally flashed me: light brown, straight, long hair, brown eyes with a slight tinge of green, and such a beautiful, no, flawless and innocent face. I must have literally stared. She looked at me and returned my gaze immediately. I looked away, embarrassed. Had she noticed my far too intense gaze?
I couldn't stop looking at her over and over. How could a person be so beautiful? And by beautiful, I mean really beautiful. Not pretty, not sweet, not cute. No, just naturally beautiful.
One more time she looked at me. I gestured to Jorge that I wanted to pay, and Jorge, as usual, brought the bill with a casual quip "Carbron, cuando regresas?" (When are you coming back?) - "Te veo otra vez el mes q viene".
"Why is your Spanish so perfect?" - She asked. "Cos I grew up in South America" - I said.
[The following conversation is in English.]
"Wow, you don't look particularly South American" - she replied.
At that moment, a huge cloud of bitter orange and bergamot wafted over to me. The cloud was so strong, so intrusive, that for a moment I even regretted answering her. Actually just about to leave, I sat down at her table for a moment, unbidden.
I'm just a scent person, a man who immediately notices all smells. And on her, I noticed this extremely strong bitter orange-bergamot note, paired with a slightly alcoholic note, kind of like a disinfectant. Mind you, all of this takes place in 2017, well before Corona.
In addition to the citrusy and alcoholic notes, I also detected cumin and a slightly cooling cardamom, plus some pepper. Whereas the pepper could have come from the fried egg she ordered, which she just generously crammed in.
"This is delicious even without spices" - I said. "Greg uses chili oil to fry it" - I added.
"You come here often?" - She asked, looking at me with her beautiful brown eyes. Had I already told you that they had a slight green tint?
Like freshly harvested pistachios. About that green.
I told her that I'm always here when I'm in LA. "What city are you from? London?" - She asked me with her golden accent.
"Originally yes, but I live in Zurich. And you?" - she stared at me. Her innocent smile suddenly turned into a wide grin all over her face, "Vo wo chunnsch seisch?" - she said in perfect Lucerne German.
She was also from Switzerland. So that was the solution to the mystery of why she had that accent.
We talked for a while longer, she told me about her job as a flight attendant, about how she was constantly traveling the world and which places she loved the most. And I told her about my life, about the encounters and about my favorite places, in and around Los Angeles.
As we talked, our eyes kept meeting. And with each glance, it became clearer to both of us that we were in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.
"Glaubsch as Schicksau?" - I asked her. "Söllemer go?" - she replied.
She paid and we went out the door, walked haphazardly for a few blocks through Long Beach, talking about how wonderful Los Angeles just was.
As a matter of course, I took her by the hand and as I did, I noticed soft notes of orange blossom, jasmine and tuberose. Very subtle, very loose, very light. Those powerful notes from the beginning were gone and all that remained were those seductive floral notes, that light freshness, that lightheartedness like a glorious summer day. Only the pepper, which I now clearly attributed to her perfume, paired with some citrus background melody still gave the fragrance something wicked, something provocative, some sexiness, if you will.
We walked down to the beach, to Long Beach.
While we were talking like this, realizing that we have so incredibly much in common, she stopped at one point and looked me straight in the eye. "Gseh mer üs, wenn mer beide wieder i de Schwiiz si?" (Will we see each other when we are both back in Switzerland?).
I just smiled, pulled her to me and went to give her a kiss. During this move, I realized how rushed that would actually be and just hugged her lovingly. As I did so, I noticed how seductive her perfume really smelled. On top of the fresh citrusy notes and the light-hearted floral summery notes and the subtle wickedness, I now noticed warming amber and extremely seductive vanilla.
When I let go of her again, she looked at me and I couldn't help but kiss her.
Even though the kiss didn't last long, it went on for what felt like an eternity to me. And when I opened my eyes again and looked at her, she just said casually "I thought you would never kiss me".
Without comment we moved on, holding hands, watching the waves, stopping every now and then to kiss or hug and I never wanted this moment to end.
But it did end. And so so soon, at just before 2pm to be exact.
She glanced at the clock and was horrified to find that she had to get back to the hotel urgently, as she had to get ready for her flight.
Realizing that we had almost run all the way to Huntington Beach from all the talking and romance, I offered to order her an Uber. On the side of the road we waited, kissing again and again, and I just never wanted that Uber to arrive. Once again I held her, smelling all the gorgeous notes, but now especially the amber and deep vanilla that now seemed to dominate everything.
When the Uber arrived, she got in with her head almost bowed, "I'll see you in Zurich" - I assured her, closed the door for her and knocked on the roof of the car.
She drove off.
A hint of floral citrus with some vanilla and amber still clung to me now. The rest was gone, Evi, the scent, all the magic and somehow the hope of ever seeing her again.
An unexpected, beautiful date I had experienced, five hours with Evi in LA, a hot summer flirtation, romantic, provocative, attractive and outrageously sexy.
What happened next?
We met again in Zurich, only the magic of the moment was gone. It didn't last long.
Unlike her, however, her scent moved in with me: Tom Ford's Eau de Soleil Blanc.
Like our romance, it doesn't last long - but every time I wear it, it grabs me with the same force as my feelings for Evi in Los Angeles.
Top Notes
Bitter orange zest
Bergamot
Petitgrain
Caraway
Pink pepper
Cardamom
Pistachio
Heart Notes
Morrocan orange blossom
Jasmine
Tuberose
Comorian ylang-ylang
Base Notes
Amber
Vanilla
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Notes
ChicoRoch1
Hermesh
Syzygy73
