Chapter 7

2:05 AM

​The factory at night was a different beast entirely.

​During the day, it was loud and chaotic. At night, it was ominous. The vast metal structures cast long, skeletal shadows under the buzzing sodium floodlights. The air was thicker, heavier, and humming with the sound of a thousand cicadas screaming in the nearby brush.

​Lena Schuett stood by the loading dock, slapping her own arm. Smack.

​”Ow,” she hissed. “Nut, tell me that was a mosquito and not a vampire bat.”

​”It was a mosquito, Khun Lena,” Nut said sleepily. He was sitting on a plastic crate, his head bobbing. “A big one.”

​”This is abuse,” Lena muttered, checking her phone for the hundredth time. “I should call Human Rights Watch. Or Vogue. I’m wearing yesterday’s eyeliner. I look like a raccoon.”

​She hadn’t gone back to Bangkok. There hadn’t been time. She and Nut had spent the last eight hours sitting in a 24-hour KFC at a gas station down the road because it was the only place with Wi-Fi and air conditioning. Lena had eaten a Zinger Burger with a knife and fork, crying internally.

​The metal door to the production floor creaked open.

​Miu stepped out.

​If Lena looked like a raccoon, Miu looked like she had just stepped out of a spa advertisement. She was wearing a fresh black t-shirt, cargo pants, and her safety boots. Her hair was pulled back in a high, tight ponytail. She looked awake. Annoyingly awake.

​”You’re late,” Miu said, checking her watch. “It’s 2:06.”

​”We’ve been standing here for ten minutes!” Lena argued, stomping over. “Your door was locked!”

​”Security protocol,” Miu said, turning around and holding the door open. “Come on. The tank is heated to 75 degrees. If we miss the window, the emulsifier breaks and you get soup instead of lotion.”

​Lena marched inside, the blast of chemical-scented heat hitting her face like a physical slap.

​”Ugh,” Lena gagged. “It smells like… burning lavender.”

​”That’s the essential oil hitting the hot wax,” Miu explained, walking briskly toward a massive steel tank that was rumbling like a jet engine. “Put your gear on.”

​Lena grabbed the hated hairnet and jammed it over her head. She didn’t even care anymore. She just wanted this to be over.

​They reached the station. A team of three workers was monitoring a digital panel. They all bowed respectfully when Miu approached.

​”Khun Miu,” one of them said. “Temperature is stable. Agitation speed at 400 RPM.”

​”Good,” Miu nodded. She looked at Lena. “Okay, client. This is the critical part. We’re adding the active ingredients. You need to verify the scent profile before we cool it down.”

​Miu pointed to a small valve on the side of the tank. “Open that. Take a sample.”

​Lena stared at the valve. “Me? Isn’t that… dangerous?”

​”It’s lotion, Khun Lena. Not acid. Open it.”

​Lena hesitated, then reached out with a trembling hand. She turned the valve. A stream of hot, white, goopy liquid shot out into the stainless steel cup Miu was holding.

​”Whoa!” Lena jumped back.

​Miu closed the valve calmly. She wafted the steam toward her nose, sniffed it, then handed the cup to Lena.

​”Smell it.”

​Lena leaned in. The scent was overpowering-concentrated jasmine and rice milk. It was actually… really nice.

​”It smells like our product,” Lena admitted.

​”Now touch it,” Miu ordered.

​”It’s boiling!”

​”It’s 60 degrees now. It’s cooling. Dip your finger in. Check the drag.”

​Lena looked at Miu, then at the workers who were watching her. She grit her teeth. She wasn’t going to let this factory girl think she was weak. (Even though she was very, very weak).

​She stuck her pinky finger into the hot goo.

​”Ouch,” she winced, pulling it out. She rubbed the lotion between her thumb and finger. It was silky. Smooth. No graininess.

​”Well?” Miu asked, crossing her arms.

​”It’s… acceptable,” Lena grumbled, wiping her hand on a tissue Nut offered. “It’s smooth.”

​”Acceptable?” Miu raised an eyebrow. “That is the finest emulsion stability in the country. But fine. Write it down.”

​She handed Lena a clipboard.

​”I have to document it?”

​”Every fifteen minutes,” Miu said with a wicked smile. “We cool it down by 2 degrees every ten minutes. You have to check the texture at every interval until it reaches room temperature. That takes about four hours.”

​”Four hours?!” Lena shrieked. “I have to stand here and poke lotion for four hours?!”

​”You wanted the sample, Khun Lena. This is how you get the sample.”
​Miu pulled over a high stool-the only one in the area-and sat down, pulling out her phone. “I’ll be here supervising. Let me know if the texture grains out.”

​3:45 AM

​Lena was going to die.

​Her feet were numb. Her back was screaming. The heat from the tank had made her hair frizz up under the net, and she could feel sweat trickling down her spine.

​”Sample check,” Miu’s voice cut through the haze.

​Lena groaned, zombie-walking to the valve. She took another glob of lotion. She rubbed it.

​”Smooth,” she croaked.

​”Mark it,” Miu said, not looking up from her phone. She was playing Candy Crush. Lena heard the Delicious! sound effect and wanted to scream.

​”Can I sit down?” Lena asked, leaning against the railing. “Just for a minute?”

​”Safety regulation,” Miu said. “No sitting in the splash zone.”

​”You are sitting!”

​”I’m the supervisor.”

​Lena hated her. She hated her beautiful, calm face. She hated her cargo pants. She hated her stupidly perfect ponytail.

​5:15 AM

​The tank was finally silent. The cooling cycle was done.

​Lena was leaning against Nut, practically asleep on her feet.

​”Wake up, Princess,” Miu said, hopping off her stool. She walked over to the main output valve and filled a small, sterile glass jar with the finished white cream. She screwed the lid on tight and slapped a label on it.

​BATCH: SILK SKIN 001. APPROVED BY: LENA S.

​Miu held the jar out.

​Lena stared at it. It was just a jar of face cream. But right now, it looked like the Holy Grail.

​She reached out and took it. Her hands were shaking slightly.

“We’re done?” Lena whispered.

​”We’re done,” Miu said. She looked at Lena. Really looked at her.

​Lena was a mess. Her white suit was wrinkled and stained with sweat. Her mascara was smudged. She looked exhausted. But she was still standing.

​For a second, the smirk vanished from Miu’s face. Her expression softened, just a fraction.

​”You didn’t quit,” Miu said. It wasn’t a compliment, exactly. But it wasn’t an insult either.

​”I don’t quit,” Lena lied. She wanted to collapse. “I just… persist.”

​Miu made a small sound in her throat. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, silver packet.

​”Here.”

​She tossed it to Lena. Lena caught it. It was a wet wipe. A cooling, mint-scented face wipe.

​”Wipe your face,” Miu said, turning away to power down the control panel. “You have lotion on your nose. You look ridiculous.”

​Lena tore open the packet and wiped her face. The cold mint felt like heaven. She almost moaned.

​”Thank you,” Lena mumbled, shocked that the words came out of her mouth.

​”Don’t thank me,” Miu called over her shoulder. “Thank the inventory supply. Now go away. My shift is over.”

​”Wait,” Lena stumbled after her as Miu walked toward the exit. “The contract. We have the sample. Will you sign the contract now?”

​Miu stopped at the door. The morning sun was just starting to crack through the windows, bathing the factory in a grey, early light.

​”I run the floor, Khun Lena. I don’t sign the big checks,” Miu said, opening the door.

​”Then who does?”

​Miu checked her watch. “The CEO arrives at 9:00 AM. If you want that signature, you’ll have to wait for him. And good luck… he’s very particular about who he works with.”

​Miu pushed the door open and walked out into the sunrise, leaving Lena clutching the jar of cream, exhausted, smelly, and realizing she was trapped in this industrial hellhole for another three hours.