I was startled to discover that behind the front counter, the most unusually handsome man stood smiling right at me.

 

He was tall and wide-shouldered and his glossy, salt and pepper hair (much more pepper than salt) was swept back in an immaculate haircut. Even from where I was standing, I could see how pale and smooth his skin was. It was a striking contrast to his dark hair and his full mustache/goatee. A beam of sunlight through the skylight above charged his large aqua eyes and reflected off his perfectly white teeth, displayed in the most mischievous, but welcoming grin. The sight of him filled me with such a tempting curiosity, I knew then what it must feel like to meet the devil in a friendly form.

 

"Come in." he said simply with a nod of his head. Although he was inside the store and I was out, I could hear him as clearly as though he were standing right next to me.  I quickly scanned around me thinking there must be some security PA system but couldn’t see any immediate evidence of one.

 

"Oh, no... That's o.k." I replied through the glass door, suddenly unsure of the strength of my curiosity. "I’m not really an artist..."

 

Without moving a muscle, the man must have pressed a hidden button for the door buzzed. The little bit of weight I had on it easily pushed it open and I suddenly found myself inside where I felt I had no right to be.

 

"Hi. I'm..."

 

"Bryan. Bryan-with-a-Y. My, what a handsome young man you've grown up to be."

 

"You remember me? You know who I am?"

 

"Of course Bry. My wife and I enjoyed watching you grow up in this neighborhood. We lived very near you."

 

How can this possibly be? I thought to myself. There's no way this guy could be that much older than I am. "Have we actually met?" I asked, unconsciously backing away from him ever so slightly.

 

"Oh our paths have crossed many times, you probably just don't remember Bry-Boy." he said using the nickname I shed oh so long ago...

 

"No, I'm sorry. I guess I don't. Um... You have a wonderful store. It's nice to see a business doing well here." I said from the tentative safety of my place near the door. Part of me wanted to make a quick exit after this polite "hello" but the rest of me wanted to stay and explore this oasis of color and motion. I didn't know which side was going to which only served to make me even more anxious.  Another thing that was truly unsettling was that something was missing from the picture and I couldn’t figure out what it was. Then I realized it was the scent! The place should smell like paints, erasers, chalks or solutions. Instead, the store smelled like a bakery in full progress...