“You are simply too much of a tom boy and very much in control of yourself. It scares men away you know.”

“Well it’s not my fault if the men I encounter are blind and cannot see me past my looks. And honestly I don’t care either.”

It was one of the oft debated arguments between Max and Cindy. Max and Cindy were best friends since kindergarten. One would begin a sentence and the other could effortlessly finish it. Max had always been popular among girls owing to his irresistible good looks. Cindy was popular among boys for a different reason. She could easily attach herself with them than the girls and the boys always treated her as one among them.

At 23, Cindy was tall and lean, and single. Max dated girls on and off but never seemed to find the perfect match he was looking for.

Rachel, the pretty blonde that Max was dating seemed different. He saw a streak of intelligence in her that he had not found in his other women. He started spending more time with her and found they shared many things in common. They would talk for hours on end and he started to brag about her to his friends.

Cindy was happy for him but she seemed skeptical about the relationship for no reason. She was easily irritated when Max bragged about Rachel and quickly cut him off. But Max remained oblivious to this. Though she wished the best for Max, she could not comprehend why she was reacting this way. And then it dawned on her that she was in love with her best friend. She knew though that she could never tell him this and slowly withdrew herself from him.

Josh, a friend of the two was throwing a formal party to celebrate his engagement to Cathy. Max was in attendance with Rachel. It had been a while since he had seen Cindy and looked forward to see her.

She arrived half an hour later, looking gorgeous and sensual in a white strapless gown. For the first time in his life he realized how beautiful she was. And as if to disprove his earlier theory of her scaring men away, most men in attendance wanted to be with her.

Max realized that he was looking at the soul mate he had pursued, without realizing that she was always there for his taking. As he went close to her he inhaled her fragrant Princess Perfume by Vera Wang and couldn’t understand how he had been blind to her sensuality all along. Cindy saw in his eyes all that he didn’t have to tell her.

Years later as they strolled through the beach they remembered the day of the party and Max breathes in her Princess that she still uses as Cindy affectionately leans on his shoulder.