Ana's POV

Shutting my entrance door, I put on a pair of gold sandals and stroll past the veranda in a black kaftan-like dress with gold drawings on the body, wrists, and collar. My attire screaming 'Ike' thus these are his two best colors if I'm not mistaken.

I beam as I catch sight of the male and female sharing giggles as they lounge on plastic white chairs in the compound, two cups of orange juice on a matching table as they exchange silly jokes in the morning.

Quietly trudging to them, I almost succeed in my plan to scare them but that gets destroyed as the ever-present alert Oluchi whirls backward as she senses my presence drift towards them.

"You are set to go already," she observes my clothing, smiling at me, pure happiness radiating on her face as she feels contented sitting beside the man she loves.

"Oh, good morning Ana," Joe startles, noticing me and glancing at his phone's screen, raising his head to peer at me in concern. "It's only 8:06 am and you are leaving for work?"

"Yeah, and how is that bad?" I question, lending him a baffled stare.

"I don't know, I just feel like you should rest more if possible quit work for the moment hence you are due in a month or less," he continues in a worried tone.

"Joe, there's no need to worry," I blurt, touched and having the urge to laugh at his concern as he pouts in a sleeveless orange shirt and khakis, assumably never had his morning shower.

"I'm your friend, it's my responsibility," he grunts.

"Joe, it's fine," Oluchi consoles, chuckling as she rubs his muscle shoulders striving to ease his stress. "She's a woman, not a child."

"But, but---"

"No buts," I laugh, stopping his statement. "You heard her, it's fine."

"On a serious note though, why so early?" Oluchi quizzes gaping up at me in a red hoodie that exposes her toned thighs.

"Today is the first day of the week duh," I scoff, proceeding with my answer. "And we are taking on the production of the lotion today."

"Oh, no wonder," she understands, offering me an encouraging glance. "Good luck my dear."

"Still that doesn't make you go early, you are the manager," Joe argues.

"She has to be on the ground during the production process thus the CEO is always absent," Oluchi counters.

"True that," I concur, clutching the bag on my shoulder and ready to depart.

"Can I drive you?" Joe invites, rising.

"No, there's no need, I'll book an Uber," I decline his help.

"It's more convenient if I drive you, you know you can't trust most of these drivers," he insists.

"Dude let the lady have a breathing space for goodness sake," Oluchi groans, tugging on his arm to sit.

"Okay, at least let me walk you," he suggests in a pleading stare.

"No problem," I sigh, not having the heart to reject him. "See you when I get back Olu,"

"See you later love," she waves and I nod in acknowledgment as I bring out my phone from the pouch that's the same shade as my dress.

"Ana wait," Joe halts me as I want to go through the gate he opens for me.

"Whatsup?" I query, doing as he says.

"I just want to say thank you, Ana," he flushes. "I've thanked Ike but I also want to thank you for looking out for me and joining me back with the love of my life, though I was denying it, I'm thankful, and I appreciate the gesture."

"Meh," I giggle. "Don't sweat it, you are welcome."

"You've been a great friend from day one and never expected anything from me, you don't even allow me to pay rent, plus other little things you did and are still doing, I'm grateful," he sniffs.

"Hey, don't get all mushy on me," I cackle. "But you deserve it, you've been good to me too in your own way, always concerned and acting like a big brother to me despite our sex phase."

"Uh, don't bring that up," he quivers and I shake my head muttering a 'men' inside my head before he continues. "Speaking of that, I thought things would be awkward when Nancy and I began dating, instead you convinced me you were truly different by acting mature about it."

"Y'all should learn to believe me whenever I say I'm different," I chuckle and push him playfully. "Out of my way dude, I've got a job to get to."

"Break a leg!" He calls after me, and not a moment later when I'm ordering a ride I hear a patter of footsteps as he seems to rush back, panting. "Not literally."

"I know goat, I'm not dumb," I throw over the latched gate and place my ride, the device in my hand ringing immediately. "Hello? Yes, I can wait for five minutes, house number five, okay, bye."

The call ends as quickly as it came and I think about random things to keep my brain occupied which works as I'm brought back to reality by a horn, the driver winding the passenger window to call me over.

"Ana right?" He asks in confirmation and I nod. "Come in."

Before I do so, I take a quick peek at the plate number to be sure, convincing myself as I enter. "You know 'Steph Cures' right?"

"Yes ma," he responds and drives off to the location of the pharmaceutical company.

'You can't break my heart again,
You can't steal my heart away,
You can't----'

I cut the ringtone which is 'Over You' by Benjackson Troy when I see the caller as Glory and answer it.

"Hello babe," I blurt in greeting.

"Morning dear, where are you?" She requests. "It's less than thirty minutes to the production time."

"I'm in an Uber, I'll be there in less than ten minutes, tell the factory workers to get everything prepared," I state through the phone.

"Yes boss," she responds. "We'll await your triumphant entry."

"Shut up and get out of my phone," I cackle, as the line goes dead.

True to my words the driver parks at the entrance of the building in eight minutes to be exact and I pay him his charge and alight. Bobbing my head at Tony the gateman as he opens the gate to allow me to pass.

"Come on, let's get a move on," I say to Glory whom I spot heading to our office building probably from the factory area.

"Give me a moment," she says and runs in, returning with a clipboard and beaming at me. "Lead the way."

I steer the path to the works department/factory area where the production will take place. I pick up a hairnet from a dish at the door, Glory doing identical after which I drop my bag there as we stride into the interior to see everyone present, gloves and hairnets on.

Glory hands me a pair of gloves and I snake my fingers into them, clapping my palms to alert everyone's attention. "Hello guys, today is the day right?"

"Morning Ana, and yea," they all respond, excitement in their smiles as I note the materials needed to be arranged, done neatly as I ordered.

The distilled water is seen retained in a transparent 50-liter jar in a corner hence water should make 70% of the output. Walking to inspect more of them, I see the Base Oil which is represented by Sweet Almond Oil a medium oil to prevent any sort of reaction whatsoever.

Going on, I notice the mango butter in a smaller container than the sweet almond oil because it makes up 5% of the formulation process while the sweet almond oil takes up 15%.

The soft and silky emulsifying wax and stearic acid that is going to serve as a thickener are kept in separate dishes as they carry 5% and 3% respectively. Fragrance/essential oil is resting in a jar, its size adding 1%to the process aside from opitiphen plus which is the preservative that makes 1.2%.

"Good work everyone," I commend, nodding at the accuracy of what I've observed. "It's time to get cracking."

In accordance with that, we all get moving, the water and oil mixture (oil, butter, emulsifying wax, stearic acid) are then transferred into two heat-safe containers and carried to the double boiler mounted at the side to heat for twenty minutes under a temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

"Chuka, you and Dike monitor that and make sure it doesn't heat for more than twenty minutes," I urge the two men in lab coats who nod, and put on their goggles as they go close to the boiler.

"The boss lady is serious," John says, materializing in my face, glistening in sweat as usual. "You seem tensed."

"This is our only shot," I exhale in response, peeping at him as he holds my arms. "We don't have the resources to sponsor another testing phase."

"Don't worry, it'll work out," he assures, smiling down at me, and swerves to his girl. "Glory please try to guarantee her that it'll surely work out."

"Who would believe I've tried that," she snorts, her lips meeting with that of John in a hasty kiss.

"Eew, no kissing in the factory, we wouldn't want our product to get contaminated by your spit," I tease, shoving them apart.

"Ma, it's ready!" Dike calls from his position and I'm left stunned at that realization.

"It's twenty already?" I implore.

"Yes Ana," Chuka affirms.

"Alright then," I bob my head and turn to the two new female workers we recruited about a week back whom I've forgotten their names.

"You and you, go help the boys out and put that into the oven to hold at a temperature of--" I pause, checking the clipboard Glory passes to me. "170 degrees Fahrenheit for another twenty minutes."

"Okay, ma," they reply, eager to get into the game, their attitude to work refreshing.

Glory, John, and I continue our conversation and soon the holding period elapses and it's time to emulsify using an immersion blender.

They carry it over and the heated and holding water and oil mixture is plopped into the blender to blend for five minutes. That gets done and the blender is opened afterward, the mixture now cloudy and white but remaining quite liquid.

"Oooh, this looks creamy," Glory gleams, taking in the sight, same as the others who bob their head in affirmation.

"It should," I shake my head at her utterance, hiding a smile and turning to the rest of the crew. "It should settle for ten minutes before we put it to blend again."

"Should we remove it from the container?" Gladys a female IT student asks.

"No, it better remain there," I answer, and check the time. "Anyone needing a bathroom break should go now before it's time to continue."

Murmurs are heard as some shuffle out, a majority for fresh air due to the congestion in the room than to go visit the restroom. Thankfully they all return just in time to see me turn off the blender seeing as the ten minutes had passed and Glory and I set it to blend while Joe serves as our timekeeper.

"It is time to let it cool a bit till it attains 117 degrees Fahrenheit," I instruct and we all relax, Kevin, monitoring the temperature drop now and then.

"It has cooled," he informs after an hour, and Glory and I go to verify, noting it's true.

"It's time to add the heat-sensitive ingredients," I declare and I catch a glimpse of confusion on their faces. "I meant the fragrance oil, preservatives, and hydrosols."

This drives them into motion as they bring and add them to the blended mixture in their various measurements. When I'm satisfied all is put in the mix, I fix it to blend again for a while to ensure a smooth emulsion.

"Someone get the freezer bag so we can transfer them into containers after they have cooled," I order, discarding my gloves and putting them in a wastebasket. "Make sure it has cooled considerably before bottling them up, and also remember to wipe the bottles with alcohol to prevent any mess."

"We did it right?" John inquires, smiling.

"Yep, let's hope there's no reaction after it's tested," I convey. "Also, Glory is going to be the scapegoat this time."

"No buts," I assert and John grins as I sense her want to argue. "It's your turn to suffer."

********

I walk to the balcony of the house, perplexed as to why Joe was eying me discreetly. That doesn't dim my gleeful mood one bit because the lotion production was a success, no side effect whatsoever was recorded after it was tested on Glory and two other willing employees when they were told they'll get a free product if there are no side effects on them.

Discarding my sandals, I discover the door to my apartment is slightly ajar. Not thinking much on it thus it's more like Oluchi's second home, I trudge into the living room without for once reasoning anyone might be present, so imagine my shock when a deep voice I can predict asks me a question.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He interrogates, causing my heart to nearly fly out of my existence if I didn't calm myself immediately.

"Tell you what Ike?" I counter, lifting my head to gaze at him, observing how he is situated, tense, anger radiating off him.

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