A Swarm of White Bees

aries: when you’ve been ready to go for hours and everyone else isn’t even out of bed yet

taurus: when you wait happily for someone even if you’re tired but they can’t find the patience to wait for you

gemini: when you go to an antique store and want to look at everything but your friends get bored and leave you behind

cancer: that last bit of hope you hold onto even though you know something is going to go wrong

leo: when you give someone a really great present for their birthday but they don’t even remember yours

virgo: knowing exactly how something is going to play out but trying to convince yourself that it’ll go a different way

libra: when all your friends have relationship problems and you help them through it but you’re still single

scorpio: that sinking gut feeling when you see someone you like with someone else even though you know you’re better

sagittarius: when you want to ride the biggest roller coaster at the park but your friends are too afraid so you do it by yourself

capricorn: working on a project for weeks to make sure it’s perfect and someone else does better than you with half the effort

aquarius: when you feel manic or out of touch with reality but everyone else seems to be going along just fine

you walk in there for the first time thinkin’ I’m gonna buy some hand soap today and then some dude who smells like something impossible, like he’s being described by a YA author, he smells like lavender, leather, and the steam coming from hot pavement after a short summer rain,

That guy. He comes up to you and he asks if he can help you sample something. He leads you to a small, metal basin of water. It’s so pastoral, it’s so quaint. You can imagine it sitting beside your bed with a porcelain pitcher in your farm cottage for you to use to wash your face in the morning.

He rolls up your sleeve a bit, and you awkwardly apologize for not doing it yourself, and he says it’s fine.

Sir LeatherRain gently rinses your hand in the warm water, and then he dries it off attentively. Then he massages some of the product into your palm. It’s the cinnamon bean massage bar. He says “don’t you love how it feels warm as you rub it in?”

He’s making more direct eye contact with you than you’ve ever made in your entire life.

As he finishes, a woman who smells like coffee beans and pink-skied winter sunrises approaches and says “oh I LOVE that product.”

You know it’s about the sell. It’s transactional, but you’re in love. You can’t help it.

You’re also More uncomfortable than you’ve ever been in your entire life.