Page 45 of Famous for a Living

I’m not sure what the whole thing is, exactly, but the design itself is impeccable. At least a hundred different shades and patterns of fabrics are sewn together, tiny eighth-of-an-inch fabric here and triangles there that, when put together, form the most colorful scene I’ve ever seen of a bear reaching its arms up to the sky.

Like that mural I saw in a subway hallway once where hundreds of tiny individual headshots came together to form a single, enormous picture of the skyline with the word Unity.

This was like that. Only, even more impressive.

“It’s . . . incredible.” Still, I have yet to figure out what exactly it is.

Hastily, she picks up a mason jar and slides the piece over it. “A cozy for your cozy coffee!” she declares with pride.

“Ah!” I take it in my hands. “So it is!”

“I thought you’d like it for taking your cold brew to work.”

“For me? That’s so thoughtful.” I turn it around, seeing another design of an arrow on the back. “This is really stunning, Mina. Like, you could sell these.”

She shrugs. “I sold out last year at Powwow. I’ve thought about setting up at winter festival too—Kevin’s mom sells antique spoon wind chimes—but I don’t know about going into all that.”

Maybe it’s because I just got off the phone with Serena talking business, or the fact that the walls in the office are impressively thin and I discovered just how tight of a shoestring budget Uncle Terry, and consequently everyone, is on, but the wheels in my head start turning.

“Winter festival? Mina, you could do a lot better these days than standing at some booth pitching to one customer at a time. I’m talking widespread. With a little bit of branding, I think you could get a nice little business going on Etsy. People do it all the time. Call it Cozy Cans or something. I’m sure it’d do well.”

“You really like it?”

“Like it?” I press it to my chest. “It’s quite literally the most beautiful piece of artwork I’ve seen in my life. I mean that. You are really talented.”

Mina’s eyes do that thing they do when she’s really adorably happy.

And then, just as suddenly, they give off a mischievous twinkle.

“Then maybe I’ll just have to hire you to advertise.” Mina stands up with all the enthusiasm of a nineteen-year-old armed with a fresh business plan.

I tilt my head. “What was that about advertising?”

“Well . . . the walls are thin. I . . . sort of heard everything.”

Everything?

“You know.” She looks at me a bit sheepishly. “What you charge for posts. The twenty dollars.”

Twenty dollars?

“That’d be the cost of probably three of these beauties, but I couldn’t go into this without supporting my roomie and her business too.” She slips her arm through my elbow. “Roomies supporting roomies. Hey. I’ll have to sew that on your next Cozy Cup.”

Her glee is positively contagious. I dazedly follow her as we move into the living room and set up for the romcom of the night.

Twenty dollars for a post.

I smile every time the thought flitters in and out throughout the movie.

So sweet.

So utterly oblivious to both the perks and the pitfalls of the business.

And so sweet.

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You look like u r feeling down. Pls take care of yourself. We love you!!!