I tapped my foot against the dark, oak floor of my office as I grew more impatient than ever. Today was different than all the rest, I would be met with the face of one of the people I despised the most, Jean Jacques-Rousseau. My breath hitched at the thought of his name, oh how I hated it. I knew there was no backing out of this meeting now. I began admired the view out of the large window, facing a great stretch of woods, with the leaves gently falling to the ground following the turning of the seasons.

Knock...knock…knock

My head whipped around and I saw as the heavy door slowly open to reveal Rousseau standing there with a uncomfortable smile plastered across his bony face.

“Why hello there Mary,” He muttered as he stepped closer to me. His eyes scanned across the endless amount of bookshelves lining the walls.

“Hello Jean, I suppose we should just start with what we came here to speak about.” I said motioning over to two love seats placed in front of the fireplace.

I smoothed out the length of my dress and sat upright as he took a seat right in front of me, our eyes locking.

“I have seen some of your work and I can’t say I agree with it.” I piped up after a moment of silence.

“I’m speaking the truth Mary, I don’t understand why you think that women should be independent…. It’s simply absurd! Who will do our washings and prepare meals for us men who do all the work and earn money?” he yelled as I became angrier every passing second.

“ LISTEN TO YOURSELF! You’re the one who sounds absurd, you never have considered maybe doing any of those things yourself. You can’t be catered to forever.” I trailed off as I let out a sigh, clearly frustrated by his stubbornness.

I rose from my seat, head hanging down in shame and anger, slowly rising up seeing Jean heading to the door, before turning the handle and a cloud of smoke quickly filling the large room.

He turned to me ,both of us giving equally confused faces as we walked out the door and looking for the source.

“Now where could this be coming fr-?” He paused momentarily before his face dropped into an utter look of shock and horror. He pointed to the grey sky where it appeared to be much darker than the other surrounding areas and quickly headed towards it to attempt to get a better look.

I stood frozen not sure if I should follow him or not, even though I was burning with utter curiosity as to what it could be.

I watched as Jean wandered down the road as I ran off the porch trying to catch up to him, slowing my pace down once I reached a long stretch of road, seemingly heading towards a more rural part of the area.

The city had changed, buildings got taller, people flocked to the now large city of London which used to be small and quaint years ago. I couldn’t say I was unhappy with it though, it opened up new opportunities with my job and allowed me to meet new people.

-time skip-

The walk was muveskew, I mostly expected to get lost as I strayed farther and farther away from the place I knew the best, and saw a faint outline of what looks to be Rousseau.

As I approached him, a loud sound was heard farther in the distance, leading down a narrow street which was lined with trees and grass. It sounded damp and muffled, although it was clear it was not from an animal or a possible sound a single person could make.

Farther and farther we trudged down this road until we saw it. A large brick building lying smack in the middle of huge clearing, seemingly the farthest point from the city.

“How did I not notice this on my way over?, I came from the same direction” Rousseau question baffled by the sight of the enormous building right in front of us.

My heart beated even faster than I thought possible and my mind wandering through all the things that could lie inside. Was it empty? What if it’s a laboratory for dangerous experiments?

I snapped back into the real world, slightly zoning out and noticed that Jean had disappeared once again.

SLAM.

I watched my surroundings, making sure I was not in any danger out here alone, and my eyes caught a small door in the very back end of the building and I quickly paced my way over to it. The metal was cold against my skin, burning at the touch as I swung it open hearing the squeak of the rusty hinges like nails on a chalkboard.

The air stinged with a sour undertone, but overall was extremely unpleasant as I pinched my nose and guiding my way through the dark and small room, where the noises from earlier I could hear through the wall and were at the loudest.

I kept walking through the room and turned the handle of the next door where there was a stream of light underneath and was faced with the last thing I would ever expect.

Women. Children and men drenched in sweat and working around the clock and using unfamiliar machines which are cramped and allow little movement for them.

My mouth was left a jar and I observed as the people run around and endure the horrible place they are being put in. A women close to me was furiously weaving and was 100% focused on the task at hand.

“Excuse me.” I asked her as she slowly raised her head up revealing her droopy and sad expression.

“Yes ma’am?” She responded

“ Why are you sewing with a machine? Why not do it by hand?” I questioned

“ I owned a tailoring shop not long ago, but once London’s population had its boost and more machines were advancing, the shop wasn’t able to keep my family afloat and went out of business” She replied looking at me with a confused expression. “Why do you ask?”

“ Well me and my ‘friend’ saw the smoke from the building and were curious as to what it was.” I replied adding sarcasm towards the ‘friend’ aspect of my answer.

“Mary!” I heard Rousseau say behind me, not wanting to confront him now. “Would you look at all these lovely women and children! This is exactly what we need in this country!” He exclaimed catching me and the woman completely off guard

My eyes widenened as I shot him a menacing glance and cleared my throat.

“ Please excuse me” I said, giving the woman a smile before grabbing Jean’s arm and pulling him off to a less crowded area.

“ What do you think you are doing?! That poor lady is working to keep her family afloat and you come and say insensitive comments like that?” I yelled

“ Why are you mad at me? She probably asked for it when she got the job.” he shrugged.

I turned back to look at the woman and noticed her pale and bony face, her noticable cheek bones covered in grease and sweat glissened off of her forehead from the mass amount of work that was put on her.

“Jean. Go apologize to her.” I asked stearnly

“No.” he scoffed

“YES!” I bellowed “What did she ever do to you? Maybe you can go be a decent person for once!” I rebutted as I shoved him in the direction of the woman who still had her eyes glued towards the sewn cloth.

Jeans POV

I heasitantly made my way over towards the worker and cleared my throat, catching her attention.

“Hello miss... I um… want to apologize for my actions earlier..what I said was out of line” I said slightly bowing towards her reluctantly.

“Thank you and please, remember that these people are here for their families and not for fun, just like myself.” She said in return.

I looked around at all the people here and noticed their sad, hollowed and emotionless faces. The grease stains serving as a mark of their service towards family and loved ones.