Carmen rose out of bed with a tuft of messy hair draped over sleepy, half-lidded eyes. Her phone's alarm had been put on snooze several times in a drowsy attempt to delay the call to action of starting a new job. Or at least, a promising new internship. When she finally managed to pry herself from the warm comfort of her bedsheets, Carmen cursed under her breath at the time. It looked like her morning routine of hitting the gym first thing in the morning had been put on hold for today, she would be lucky enough to not be late for her first day as is. Freshly ironed clothes were thrown on without time for care or grace, her collar uneven and a button on her blouse left undone. An innocent granola bar was sacrificed to the impatient breakfast ritual as Carmen finished getting herself ready, assessing the hallway mirror and fixing the rushed errors before slamming the apartment door shut behind her. 

She finally took a breath on the subway, her journey now at the mercy of the rails. The internship was both exciting and nerve-wracking to her, the first day would surely be the hardest. Working as Rose's personal assistant meant being close to her through most of the day, every day. She hoped that she would not feel so lightheaded today, figuring that the two things were likely unrelated anyway, she had skipped lunch the day prior and was probably just a little malnourished. At least, that makes more sense than the alternative narrative, that Mrs. Grew's strange scent was making her dizzy. 

Public transport had not let Carmen down on her first day and she made it into the building a few minutes before she was slated to start work. The receptionist handed her a card with her name on, used to access the offices and identify her. She furrowed her brow at the picture on the card, her expression was so out of it she looked like a major dork... when was that even taken? Did they take one after the interview? All she remembered was wanting to get outside after leaving Rose's office, the rest was a blur. Carmen's photo was so embarrassing, she looked high in it... huge pupils, flared nostrils and rosy cheeks. She looked vulnerable and lost. 

Deciding to stop looking at the horrible ID card, Carmen stepped into the elevator and rode it up to her new boss's office. It was a much easier elevator ride than the one from the day before, though she did notice that Mrs. Grew's scent faintly lingered, she must have taken it recently...

The office was empty. Carmen was already remembering that unplaceable, redolent odour that permeated throughout the office like a bioengineered distraction. It was sabotaging every thought Carmen strung together, the attention seeking smell wanting to be the one thing on her mind. And it was, as much as she hated it, as much as her nose crinkled at the harsh change in atmosphere. She knew she couldn't just ignore it. Her eyes flicked over to the private gym and she sighed, ashamed of herself for missing her daily workout. She knew as much as anyone that missing the odd one can tear down the entire program, so made a note to be hard on herself later. Curiously, it looked like the personal gym equipment had been recently used. In fact, the unmistakable scent of Rose Grew was coming in strong from that corner of the room. 

She could hear the sound of a shower from the door on the right side of the woman's office, remembering that Rose even had an ensuite bathroom. At this point, she remarked that her boss could live comfortably in this office and never leave, should she want. 

As if on cue, the shower stopped and Rose's voice called out from the other side of the door. "Is that you, Carmen? I'm afraid it's a slow one today, so we can ease you in stress free. I'm stuck in meetings for the next couple hours so you're off the hook making me a morning coffee." 

Carmen was grateful that she could adjust to the office without Rose around, but wondered what she was supposed to do with herself if her boss was going to be absent all morning. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Rose showed her the morning's task once she had emerged from the shower. The intern noticed that Rose's trademark scent was weaker than the day before, did the shower have something to do with that? She was a little envious of the woman's turnaround, getting ready for work in half the time it took Carmen while being twice as presentable. 

"Shredding." 

"Um, shredding?"

Mrs. Grew smiled, placing the brand-new shredder down onto her desk along with a huge pile of old paperwork. "That's right, Miss Green. Easy and dull, I'm sorry to say your first task isn't exactly going to thrill you, but I do find some satisfaction in watching the little shreds of paper curl into kindling before my eyes. Just try not to put your fingers in it, or get your hair caught!" 

Well... the job was easy enough, though Carmen wondered if it was common practice to dispose of such large quantities of paperwork. While it did seem more than a little shady, she decided to play the good intern and held back the questions in the back of her throat. 

"Good, well, just get through what you can, I find it surprisingly time consuming. I'll be back in no time, no doubt ready for a cuppa when I return. Have fun."

With that, she was gone. The woman had a dry sense of humour, Carmen thought. Now she was alone in the office, she took to Rose's desk and let the shredding begin. It as a slow, monotonous task that she could run through on autopilot. Her body moved by itself, while her thoughts began to wander. She wondered when her boss arrived to work today, how long she had been sat on that exercise bike before taking her shower. The woman was definitely fitter than Carmen, she thought, so she probably took her workouts more seriously. Carmen swallowed drily and realised how thirsty she had gotten, lowering a sheet of paper into the shredder before sluggishly getting out of the chair and heading to the water cooler. 

Ice cold water poured into her plastic cup, but all Carmen could think about was, once again, her boss's heady aroma. She was closer to the corner now, that private gym which carried Rose's strong scent. What did that mean? It's strongest where she just worked out and weakest after a shower, so does that mean... is it a natural smell? Carmen practically watched her boss get ready after her shower, but curiously enough never saw the woman apply any sort of aftershave or perfume. She had considered the possibility of it being an incense of some sort, but a quick glance around the office instantly dismissed the theory. So was it natural?

Carmen had not noticed herself drift closer to the private gym, to the freshly used exercise bike. She looked a lot more like the girl on her ID card now, staring at the shiny bike seat like it held all the answers to the questions that only grew. Grew. Grew's scent had a sway over her, like a chemical weapon designed to confuse her, mystify her. The woman had made an offhand joke about pheromones during their interview, the word just kept growing in Carmen's mind, the puzzled intern unable to shake it. Like a strong scent, it just stuck. 

She told herself that this was just a silly delusion, a childish distraction meant to give her a break from the mind-numbing monotony of her morning task, but still, Carmen drew closer to the exercise bike. With one hand, Carmen took a much-needed sip of the cool water she had just poured, while the other tentatively traced over the bike seat. Warm.

Closer and closer she drew, like the seat was a trap and she its ensnared prey. Every inch closer gave her thicker breaths of Rose. It became less harsh the more she breathed in, her nose no longer scrunched at the strength of each inhale. She knew what she was doing was weird, wrong, intrusive... but the curiosity of what she would find at the base of that seat had her on rails. She was at the mercy of those rails, of where they chose to take her. Her nose was going to touch the shiny material and Carmen was powerless to stop it, what came after was impossible to know. Unimportant at this time. 

A loud knock sounded against the door behind her and Carmen instantly snapped out of her tunnel visioned state, jumping up from her hunched posture and spilling the cup of water down her blouse and skirt. "Shit... uh, I mean. Come in?" 

Mrs. Grew entered her office, heels clacking against the hardwood flooring as they demanded Carmen's attention. The intern stood up straight and stepped away from the gym awkwardly, tracing her eyes back up her boss's legs accidentally before guiltily making eye contact. 

"Carmen, how have you been getting on?" Rose smiled effortlessly, pretending not to notice anything strange about her subordinate's location or state. Carmen was grateful, ice-cold water dripping down the front of her clothes and her cheeks burning with embarrassment. What had gotten into her? Was she trying to lose this job on the first day? 

"I ah..." The intern took a breath, cleared her throat and then continued. "I'm um, I'm doing well. Did you forget something, ma'am?"

Rose laughed, walking past Carmen and around her desk, wafting that familiar scent that had distracted Carmen once again. "Again with that? No need for such formalities, silly, I'm your boss not your commanding officer." 

Carmen nodded submissively, her boss was right. Since when was she so fixated on honorifics anyway? She had common courtesy but was never usually this decorous. 

"So uh, were your meetings cancelled?" 

Mrs. Grew looked amused again, shaking her head and swinging her feet onto her desk again as she pushed the shredder aside with one. "I wish. On the contrary, I'm afraid I had to sit through every one. We shared a slog filled morning, looks like it bled into the afternoon too. Well there's always tomorrow to get our heads on straight, right Carmen?" 

"Huh?"

"It's already five, I know you love it here already, but I suggest you head out before you miss your train. I'll see you in the morning, Carmen."

Carmen's head was spinning, she had spent the whole day in the office by herself and it only felt like half an hour at most. No wonder she was so parched, she had not even stopped to take her lunch break either. 

"Oh by the way, I can see you're taking a look at my little workout corner, do you exercise Carmen?"

"I... yes, I try to go to the gym first thing every morning, to keep up a good routine."

Rose grinned and dangled her heel again. "My, that is very dutiful, Carmen. Or, it would be... Try, did you say?"

Still reeling from the fact it was so late, Carmen just went along with the conversation without thinking too much, starting to enjoy standing so close to her boss. "Well I, I sorta woke up late today."

"I see, well you are welcome to use my personal facilities at your leisure, I also try to keep up with a quick workout every morning so we can exercise together if you'd like?"

Considering how she had just lost control of herself at the aftermath of one of Mrs. Grew's workouts, Carmen could not imagine using the equipment alongside the woman. Not until she got her head on straight and stopped acting like some gross pervert... 

Before she could politely refuse her boss's kind offer, Rose waved casually. "No pressure, just sleep on it alright?" 

"...alright. See you tomorrow, Ma'am... I mean uhm... Rose. "

"Likewise, good work today, Carmen."

Carmen could not sit still on the subway, too distracted by thoughts of Rose and their interactions to even notice the leers from passengers looking at her drenched blouse. It actually felt good to have something cool her down. She felt a certain amount of panic at her own behaviour, was it possible for a person's body odor to be an aphrodisiac? Is... is that what it felt like? She stealthily checked between her legs and pulled her finger back up, a bead of dewy arousal staring back at her from the tip of her finger.

She was being paranoid, Carmen realised quickly how ridiculous she was being. It had just been a while since she had any relief and this was some seriously messed up projection, Mrs. Grew did not deserve such conspiracies nor her unkempt lechery. Tomorrow, she vowed to do better, control herself. Maybe the offer Rose made would be a great way to build a more innocent rapport.