“Yeah, obviously we’re going to collaborate on this.”
“We are?” That was fast.
“Don’t you want to?” I don’t need to see her hopeful expression to know that yes, I do want this.
“I might have a few ideas for scents,” I say.
She laughs. “I thought you might.”
“You really like it?” A relaxed feeling licks up from the depths of my chest.
“Love it, and more importantly, it’s unique. Stands out.” She puts down the duster. “I thought you were going to say you were moving back to Vancouver.”
“Why would you think that?” I’d never mentioned that as an option.
“I don’t know, you were being all mysterious and mopey! I thought it was bad news. This is great.” She looks over. “What gave you this idea?”
“I told you, looking at your drawings.”
She shakes her head. “A few months ago, there’s no way you’d be interested in a partnership. You’re the epitome of a lone wolf. The ultimate sigma female.”
“That theory on power dynamics has been totally debunked.”
“I don’t care and you know what I’m saying.” She runs her hand through her hair and swears when it gets caught thanks to the hair spray.
“I had an idea,” I say dismissively, not wanting a therapy session. “Nothing deeper.”
“Sure, Jan.”
I make a face at her and she makes one back. I tap a sketch of an earring. “Behind the ears is a traditional place for women to put fragrance. What if we did a collection that’s all around the pulse points? Earrings, a choker for the throat, and bracelets for the wrists. Everywhere a lover could smell it.”
“Don’t forget anklets.”
“Anklets?” I frown. “That’s not really one of the usual spots.”
She raises her eyebrows. “Trust me on this one.”
We go through the designs, and within half an hour, we have the basics. We’ll go simple and offer a choice of three fragrances: a light floral, a sexy amber, or a delicious gourmand, all of them gender neutral.
“They can also customize a fragrance,” I say. “For a price.”
Ana notes that down. “I love this.”
“Me too.” I beam at her, happy to be doing a project that gets me away from Mom’s moli focus and distracts me from Rafe. Something just for me, but with a partner. It’s nice.
22
Hua Aiai
655 CE, early Tang dynasty
Imperial Palace, Chang’an
“There is no trusting a man,” Empress Wu said to Aiai. They were,unusually, alone in her rooms without any attendants, and Aiai was hard at work creating one of the scents her mistress demanded be changed daily. “Especially one with no power of his own.”
“Yes, my lady.” Aiai took some tangerine peel she had dried and sniffed it carefully. She had access to so many materials of exquisite quality in the palace it sometimes boggled her mind. She was often in the kitchens to take spices and fragrant fruits and herbs for her experiments, such as the time she had steeped star anise and chrysanthemum in tea, then dried the liquid and ground it. She had added it to a wax, which the empress tried on her skin and disliked, ordering Aiai to keep to incense and sachets. She took her mortar to crush the peel with jujube and a dry magnolia bud, hoping to alleviate some of the bitterness.
The empress seemed satisfied with her answer and did not botherto explain herself. Aiai expected nothing else. She had been with her mistress for five years and feared her as much as she had the first day they met at Ganye Temple. The nun had quickly become Consort Wu and, only months ago, had maneuvered herself to be elevated from consort to empress. Aiai had heard low-voiced talk about the people who suffered if her mistress felt they were more obstacle than person. Although she knew some of it was due to envy, Aiai had long decided safety lay in being the smallest, quietest thing in the empress’s rooms, much the same way she had survived in her father’s house.
