Page 127 of Not Looking
“Ok.” He took a deep breath, held it for several seconds, then blew it out slowly.
The phone on the conference room table rang, and he plastered on the fakest smile I’d ever seen. He reached out and hit the button. “Hello, Susan,” he said, saccharine dripping from his tone. “You’re on speaker.”
“Well, it sounds like your attitude has finally improved,” she said in a needlessly shrill voice.
I turned to Simon.What the fuck?I mouthed.
He rolled his eyes and slid the pad of paper from in front of me. He scribbled on it, then pushed it back.
‘She called to complain to Dad about Ollie not sounding grateful enough. Dad told Ollie to just fake it until this is over with’read his note.
I raised an eyebrow.
Simon grabbed the pad to scribble again. He paused in the middle as he seemed to want to add on to his thought, then slid it back.
‘Dad says it’s easier to play nice than deal with a lawsuit for a broken contract.’A line break seemed to be where he’d decided to explain.‘We’ll be talking with our attorneys about revising the contracts after this.’
I shook my head and pinched the bridge of my nose, wondering if the job was even worth it. The money would be nice, along with the work during my slow months, but I had the option of walking away before anything was signed…
I glanced at my notes and tacked on a ten percent ‘pain-in-the-ass’ fee.
Simon saw and had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing. He used his free hand to give me a thumbs-up.
The sound of a throat clearing, and I looked up to see Ollie glaring at both of us. He motioned at Simon to speak.
“I’m sorry, Susan,” Simon said. “I was checking my notes and missed your question. Would you mind repeating it?”
She let out the kind of sigh that would have kids and pets scrambling for cover, and leave retail workers concerned about a write-up for something out of their control. “I said…”
I did my best to tune her out as she and Simon seemed to go over an almost absurd list of requests.
Fireworks at the end of the reception? Yes, if she paid for the permits, technician, and there weren’t any bans.
Silencing motorboats during the ceremony? The resort’s private dock didn’t mean they controlled the whole lake. There was nothing they could do about boats.
No, signs to be quiet would probably make people drive their boats even closer just out of spite.
Fairy lights in the trees around the lawn, yes. Up to the heart-shaped spring, no, there was no infrastructure for it.
I was again questioning my life choices, even as I tried to roughly estimate my inventory of dried wood that had come from the resort.
Then it was my turn.
I felt bad for Simon and Ollie. I made it clear that I wasn’t a member of resort staff, but I had the feeling they’d catch flak for me not being accommodating enough.
No, I wasn’t going to shell out ten grand on a lathe just to make bigger bowls for the wedding, and I didn’t have wood that size anyway. No, the wood I had already dried was all they were going to get—unless they wanted to postpone the wedding for several years while we waited for more to dry.
I didn’t want to even give her the option of kilning wood—out of fear that she’d demand everything to come from trees grown on the resort and start trying to pick and choose which ones.
I did manage to find some things to make her happy, though. I had a burl the resort had cut off several years prior that was dry, which I could probably make two bowls from as a set for the sweetheart table. And I had a lovely piece of wood from near the heart-shaped spring that would make a nice vase for the welcome table—if they were ok with a few vases instead of wide bowls.
And she loved the idea of cheese knives instead of turned honey dippers—then got right into haggling about price.
I slumped in my chair when Ollie finally disconnected the call. I’d been sitting on my ass for two hours, but my body felt as if I’d spent the day turning ironwood.
“That was…” I started, then trailed off.
“Yeah,” Simon agreed. He turned to Ollie. “Do yourself a favor and put in for some time off right after that wedding. We’ll figure out whatever we need for the others, even if I have to coordinate them myself. I don’t want you running on fumes all summer because you didn’t get a break to recharge.”
