Sexy(Marla) Mark stopped at the display of colognes. He wanted something new, but he wasn’t sure what he wanted. He knew only that he didn’t want to linger too long picking something out. He saw several brands that he recognized, a few that he had tried and few that he hadn’t. He saw his dad’s favorite…he definitely wouldn’t buy that. Not that it smelled bad, he just didn’t want to smell like his father. He saw one called ‘Sexy.’ He picked up the tester and gave it a quick sniff. It was nice. He made his decision.

The next day was Saturday. Mark used his new cologne and left his house. It was a strange but wonderful day. Never before had he received so much attention. Never before had so many women noticed him and flirted with him.

He wore it to work. Suddenly others were very much aware of his presence. It was quite nice, and he enjoyed it. He continued to wear it everywhere he went. Soon he had a girlfriend who within the year became his fiance. Thanks to his newly-found confidence, he did a better job at work, and he was promoted. Life was very good.

But then one day (because of course, there had to be a one day - surely you saw it coming!), Mark stopped at the store to get yet another bottle of the remarkable cologne. He was almost out (again). The little space on the shelf where the cologne should have been was empty! His heart seemed to stop for a second. This couldn’t be! He needed that cologne! Feeling sick, he went to the counter to speak to the cashier.

“Excuse me, but do you know when the cologne called ‘Sexy’ will be in stock?” he asked.

“Oh, I’m sorry. It was discontinued,” she said.

Discontinued. Dis con tin ued. Mark hated the way the word sounded. It was a terrible word! The past year flashed by in his mind. Would he lose all of it? Would he go back to his normal, average self? (Here, it should be said that Mark was actually a bit better than average. Mark didn’t think so, but he was.)

But the girl at the counter was saying something else.

“I’m so sorry. What did you say?” asked Mark.

She smiled, not at all bothered with the fact that she had to spend another minute or so with Mark. “I said, they made a new one. It’s called ‘Very Sexy,’ and it should be on the shelf tomorrow.”

“A new one? Called ‘Very Sexy’?” Suddenly Mark felt calm again. Two days later, he was wearing the new cologne…and you might think that it didn’t work, that it had no effect, or worse, that it had the opposite result. But this story is a grown-up fairytale of sorts, and so, the cologne still had its wonderful effect.

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