Do your dressing in the boudoir in order to keep your allure.
I suppose this means that plan to open the door clad in lingerie is null and void. Regardless of whatever confidence and sex appeal the act may give off, the message should be conveyed another way. I admit, there is a certain female empowerment in quickly smudging rouge upon my lips and opening the door with an effortless smile and a polished look that says, "Why yes, I always look like this." We are hardly adults, but we are those big kids the little ones hope to be. Everyone's eyes glisten and sparkle. Why do ours look so dull? There is a coldness in our world that we must strive to melt away. It is too big a job for one person. Are we what everyone perceives us to be?
And the holidays have arrived, which is too much to face alone. It's the crispness in the air. Our visible breaths. The shorter days. It stirs up a longing that mimics those glossy Hollywood holiday movies. Suddenly, the idea of living through November, December, January, February alone is entirely implausible and impractical. It's the season that requires your company and your silence and your warmth. As I grow older, the feeling grows heavier. We are still young, but I feel old. It's almost time for things to start shifting shapes. For sparks to glow crimson. It's almost time to take a running jump off this stale plateau. Baby, we'll climb mountains.

Perusing the aisles of a library. Carrying a stack of picture books about ecology. The phone rings, creating a struggle to keep a firm grip on the dozen or so books and suavely answer the call. Frustrated, disheveled, slightly self-conscious, "What?"
"I'm at Longs."
"Okay."
"Do you need the coconut shampoo?"
"No, I need conditioner."
"They don't have coconut shampoo or conditioner. They have vanilla, shea butter, pomegranate..."
"Shea butter is fine. I have the shampoo already. How much are they?"
"Five bucks. So you want the shea butter conditioner?"
"Yeah, and maybe the pomegranate shampoo. I want to try that next."
"So, you want the pomegranate shampoo and the shea butter conditioner?"
"Yeah."
"Why not get two of the same?"
"What?"
"Why not get two of the shea butter."
"Because I already have the shampoo. I don't need the shampoo."
"But why would you get a different shampoo and conditioner?"
"No, I already have a shea butter shampoo. I just bought a bottle. I'm running out of conditioner."
"Oh, so why do you want the pomegranate shampoo?"
"Because that's the next one I want to try after I run out of this one."
"Oh."
"Just get the shea butter conditioner."
"You don't want any shampoo?"
"No, just the conditioner."
"Okay."
"Kay, bye."