The Crimson Shade

The artisanal boutique 'Vermilion' is famous for a red lipstick that never fades, allegedly made by crushing rare, unblemished rosebuds imported from the East. Customers rave about the color's vitality, joking that it looks 'alive.' I was hired to replace the rotting floorboards in their basement workshop, and I found it unsettling that for a shop dealing in flowers, the soil beneath the foundation smells intensely of copper and is packed with white chips instead of roots.