Lee turned around slowly as she felt the presence of someone
looking at her. A shiver ran through her
as she quickly dropped her gaze to the floor.
Her brief glance at the visitor left her blushing and shy. Narrowing the gap between them, the woman
walked confidently into the studio toward her.
She was all business as she extended her hand to Lee’s clay covered
hand.
“Uh, sorry, I was working. How can I help you?” was the best
she could muster.
“I am Lynne
Cleveland. I arrange wholesale contracts
for Rosti Gift Shops. I would like to speak
with someone about selling the Lightfeather line of figurines through Rosti.”
“That would be me.
I’m Lee, Lee Curtis. Can I offer
you uh…” Lee suddenly realized she had
no chairs, no beverages nor a clean place to talk in the working studio. “Sorry, I don’t usually have visitors in the
studio. There’s a coffee shop next door
where we can talk. Just give me a sec to
wash up.”
Lee disappeared behind a large shelf filled with plaster
ceramic molds. The best she had was a
bucket of somewhat clean water and a wet towel at the bottom of the
bucket. She quickly washed the clay slip
off of her hands and forearms. She tried
to dry her arms on the lower legs of her jeans and hurried back to her
visitor. What was she doing? She’d never heard of Rosti stores and she
didn’t usually accept wholesale orders.
She was busy enough as it was with her internet sales and gallery
showings.
With a sweeping motion she led Lynne out of the studio and
to the coffee shop. They sat at an
outdoor table and tried to make small talk until the waiter arrived.
“Lightfeather figures caught my eye at a gallery event in
Vermont and I knew they would be perfect for Rosti. We carry mostly New England artists but I
decided it was time to expand our search to below the Mason Dixon line.” Lynne described
the Rosti gift line as Lee shifted in her chair trying to break eye
contact. She felt herself being drawn in
closer as they talked across the tiny table.
Nodding and smiling unconsciously as she tried hard to listen.
“So, can you see how your work would be a perfect fit? If you are interested we would like to place
our initial order as soon as possible for the Easter season. Ofcourse there is the matter of contract
negotiation all of the logistics. I
think you will enjoy being a part of the Rosti family. What do you think?”
She paused to drinker her double chocolate mocha and waited
for a response.
“Absolutely, it sounds like a great fit.” She heard herself
agreeing. She could not make herself
decline. There was something about this
woman that both unnerved her and drew her in.
She again stole a glance at Lynne in full view over the top of her Chai
tea trying not to dribble it down her chin.
There was just something about this woman. Was it her khaki pants and crisp oxford shirt
or her stray whisps of hair escaping from her otherwise neatly pulled back
honey colored hair? She wore no jewelry:
no rings, no necklaces and no earrings.
Lee noted that she, too had never pierced her ears. She mused, maybe they were kindred
spirits.
“I am sure you will find our generous artists fees
acceptable. If you wish I can arrange
for you to talk with one of our most popular artists, Leroy Higgins. Are you familiar with is work?”
“He and I were studio mates until he moved up north. How long has he been with Rosti?” She made a mental note to email him right
away to see if this was legit. She
didn’t need anyone to arrange a call or a meeting with him. She just wanted to see Lynne again, and
soon! “Maybe you could send me a copy of
the contract to look over?”
I can do better than that.
I will stop by tomorrow morning with all of the paperwork. I fly back on Friday so if you could let me
know in a day or two that would be great.
If you need more time…” she trailed off.
Lee answered almost too quickly, “How about coffee tomorrow
around 10?”
“Sure, same table?” Lynne offered a sly grin and a
wink. “It was lovely meeting you,
Lee. I look forward to tomorrow morning
at 10 then.” She began to rise, stopping
short. “Can I have a bit longer tour of the studio after you review the nice,
clean contracts?” Both women laughed and smiled as Lynne left the table.
Lee got caught watching her walk away. Lynne waved and winked again. God, she was sexy. Her walk, her voice, her mouth, her hands,
sexy, sexy, sexy. The winks sent either
a panic or an electric shock all the way through her. She was not sure which and didn’t care. She continued to sip her now empty cup to
give her time to compose herself and exhale fully. She dismissed the idea of cleaning the
studio before tomorrow morning.
Nope. It is what it
is she decided defiantly. It’s my
studio. It’s supposed to be about clay, plaster, dust and work. She will just have to get over it. Her false bravado made her laugh out loud as
she made her way back to check the kiln.
She would call her best friend Cindy to brief her immediately. She decided she might want to give it a
moment until she cou
Lee had trouble focusing on her current onezee twozee orders
for figurines that afternoon. She rolled
few thought around in her head about getting back into wholesale
production. It was less profitable than
her ETSY orders as she made less than half her normal pricing on
wholesales. She kept revisiting her
vintage plaster molds wondering if they could retain the original level of
detail if she attempted to pour all of those individual pieces.
“Impossible” she said out loud to no one in particular. It was all she could do to keep herself from
scrubbing the studio from head to toe in preparation for Lynne’s studio tour
tomorrow.
“It is what it is.” she mumbled as she found herself
spilling far too much precious clay slip down the sides of her favorite mold,
the Wise Jefferson figure. “Crap!” She hurried over to the bucket and towel she
had used earlier when Lynne was just few feet away from her. She slid across the floor on her way back to
clean her puddled mess. “Double
Crap! Maybe even Triple!” again, to no one in particular. “Am I nuts and stupid?”
Cindy walked into the studio just at that moment and
provided an answer to her question.
“Yes, dear, you continue to be both, is that a
problem?” Cindy tossed another towel at
her feet.
“Oh, Lordy! What am
gonna do now? I just tentatively agreed
to a new wholesale order. I don’t even
know how many pieces they want or anything!”
“Yep” Cindy answered Lee’s original question, “nuts and
stupid sound about right. Or are you all
a twitter over some female again?”
How did she always know without being privy to a single
detail that Lee was completely twitterpated?
“Oh, shit! I gotta go
check the kiln again. Been having some
trouble with it. It ruined a whole batch
last time when it never turned off.!”
“So, again with issues being turned on too long, Lee?” Cindy has been her studio mate long enough to
support Lee as she weaved in and out of relationships.
“Shut up and weld something, wouldja? Fine, you are psychic, go, go, go!”
###
New page/chapter???
Lee tossed and turned half the night. Again, her head busy with chatter about
Lynne, the wholesale order.
“Maybe I need to hire myself a helper monkey. I hate to send the order to China but it may
be the only reasonable solution. “ Lee
finally dozed off until her poodle jumped on her bed to be let out at 6:30 the
next morning. She still had no answers
as she burned her lips on green breakfast tea.
She mused, “I may need my lips in tip top shape later, do be careful!” A shiver ran through her. “Lynne, Lynne, Lynne, Lynne” she repeated
until it sounded ridiculous and unrecognizable as a word or name of any
kind. She could not shake those pesky
shivers. She knew she was not cold. She knew what it meant. She felt a familiar rise of excitement in her
breasts and she dressed. “Lordy! Get a grip!”
She checked for circles under her eyes and clay under her
short fingernails and headed off to the coffee shop.
ld breathe normally again.
Lee was getting the molds laid out, stirring the slip and
putting a little more kiln wash on the shelves of her super-duper Skutt
kiln. She loved that kiln and took
excellent care of it. No one was allowed
to touch it or even get too close to it.
She was like a guard dog about it sometimes. She moved easily around the studio and felt
like she was getting into her groove again.
Lightfeather is something she had built literally with her
own two hands and was pleased that her work was getting more attention than
ever before. She was looking forward to
an income that did not force her to live hand to mouth every month. She had even moved into the studio full time
after she built herself a fairly cozy little loft above the gas station style bathroom
to cut costs. She had added on to the
bathroom to allow for a small tub and shower.
It was what she called ‘cozy’.
She made sure she closed the plywood door to the loft and
stuck the screwdriver back in the gate hinge as a makeshift lock before her
company arrived. Lynne and the girls
would be there soon and Lee wanted to look more like the confident woman she
was than an odd version of the village idiot.
She found herself looking forward to the girls helping out. It was nice to have more female energy around
the place.
She almost forgot about the contracts she was supposed to
return to Lynne this afternoon as if the whole ‘business thing’ was merely an
excuse to embark on what felt like a new adventure. She quickly wiped her hands and looked for a
pen. She was doing one last read of the
contract when they arrived. She didn’t
look up when Lynne greeted her.
“Hey arteeest lady!” She waited to be acknowledged but all
she got was an index finger in the air indicating she was almost done with the
paperwork.
“WOW! A real ceramics
studio with real clay! Look at all the
cool stuff!”
Wait. Lee knew that
voice from somewhere. It began to rise
up from somewhere happy inside her when she finally looked up.
“Winnie! Is that
really you?”
She thought the whole
thing was just surreal. Winner was her
step daughter so to speak from her first lover more than ten years ago. She was just 9 when her cozy little family
was ripped apart at the seams. Winne’s
mother Sharon had cheated on her with some ditzy blonde causing absolute
turmoil in Lee’s happy little life. The
worst part was leaving the little girl she had come to think of as her
own. Sharon
Winnie stood frozen and in shock for a moment while Lynne
introduced Lee to her new helpers. All
Lee could do was hurry over to Robbie and hug her tightly. The still nine year old heart began to cry
into Lee’s shoulder. “Oh, Winnie, I
missed you so much!
“Momma Lee, I missed you so much!” she said through her tears. “Why did you leave me?”
Lynne and her niece looked very confused but they politely
wandered to the tall shelves of plaster molds to admire them being careful not
to touch anything.
Lee felt her heart sink and absolute despair overtook
her. The memories all came flooding back
in a tidal wave. Winnie’s, tattered
school picture from the fifth grade had remained in Lee’s wallet. It used to make her sad but by the tenth year
apart it she allowed herself to remember the good times like raising her from a
toddler, sending her off to kindergarten and making school lunches she carried
in her Winnie the Pooh lunchbox until Sharon took her away. Took away her very heart.
‘I can’t believe it’s
you! Look at you, all grown up! I missed you too!” She said trying to show a brave face for Winnie’s
sake. She did not want this to be sad,
it should be a joyous occasion rather than a sad one.
She said with a grand sweeping gesture of her arm, “Welcome
to Lightfeather studio, my dear. I hear
you and your friend are going to be my helpers for a few days!”
“I am so excited!
Missy and I will be working with you and I promise we will work really
hard for you Momma Lee.” They called to
Lynne and Missy to join them on the grand tour.
Lee greeted Missy flair, “Hello, my lovely assistant. Happy to have you here,” she gave a gallant
bow and then greeted Lynne.
“Hello, good to see you again.” They did not shake hands
this time.
“I see you were looking over the contract, are the terms
agreeable to you? Do you have any
questions or concerns? I would love for
you to join the Rosti family so much that I brought you free labor.”
Her laugh was lovely as was the rest of her. Lee quickly finished signing the generous
contract and handed the folder to her saying “Scoot now, we have work to do
lady!” The girls were already
discovering the studio by themselves.
She heard her punkin explaining the workings of mold straps to her
friend. Lee just stood back admiring her
long lost little girl. She had
apparently learned quite a bit in her classes.
Missy listened intently.
“This is my beloved kiln.” She said carefully raising the
heavy lid. Before she could begin
showing off her aging kiln Winnie noticed the kiln shelves on the rack beside
it and remarked that they needed more kiln wash on them and quickly volunteer
to take this on as her first task. Lee
trusted her immediately with her kiln completely as well as her heart.
“Ok, now Missy, what shall we have you do first? How about watching me remove the leather hard
figurines from their molds and we can work on that together. Sound like a plan?”
“Sounds great!” Missy was excited to be here and felt like a
real craftswoman when she began to get clay under her short fingernails. Both girls were in heaven and Lee was too.
Lynne called Missy to let her know she would be bringing
pizza for everyone. “You girls must all
be famished by now. How does a super
huge pizza sound?” No one could refuse a
pizza after working all day.
“Lee, Winnie, come out come out wherever you are! Pizza is coming! Good thing I cleaned off the table.” Proud of her efforts today, she dragged some
stools over to the table. Both girls
were smiling and giggling as their clay and plaster chunks on their tattered
jeans.
“This is the bomb! I
got all of the kiln shelves done and scraped the globs of dried slip off the
floor and then I scrubbed that awful bathroom.
I even scrubbed the yuck off the toilet.
This is the best day ever!” Winnie beamed. This day would live in her soul and begin to
fill the void she felt inside. She was
not sure why she never quite felt whole and happy but she hints of happiness
started to hit her over the head like the rubber mallet Lee used to chase the
air bubbles from the slip. She wanted to
stay here for days, weeks, months and years.
Lynne came in with the pizza as Winnie was caught in her
revelry of personal discovery. Missy
took charge of the pizza arrangements while Lee crossed the studio to greet
what was a beautiful vision in worn, soft Levi’s and grey Rosti
sweatshirt. Lee thought how she looked
incredibly huggable and cuddly in her comfy clothes. She was not quite sure how to greet her. A handshake was too formal and a kiss to
forward. She did not have to think any
further on it as Lynne hugged all three of them proclaiming how wonderful
everyone looked happy and dusty from their day.
The girls dug into the pizza as Lynne offered up a bottle of beer to
Lee.
“Ah, how did you know I could use one of these right about
now?” Lee opened the twist off caps and
handed one back to Lynne. Her previous
fumble fingered demeanor now overcome by chivalry. She was in her element and too tired to put
up any false front. She was relaxed and happy
to see her. None of them were what you
would call dainty or polite about digging into the pizza. Lynne chattered on about her discovery trek
through the small town and surrounding areas as she drank her beer. The girls finished eating and wandered out of
the studio to explore a bit. The rest of
the six pack was offered up and Lee focused on Lynne’s happy stories.
“And then I found a gallery filled with local art of all
kinds. I had no idea how many working
artists lived here. Everywhere I walked
there was another studio of some sort. I
can’t believe all of the interesting creations I saw. Anywhere from functional metal art to
abstract painted canvases that must have been 8 feet high! I made an appointment for another studio tour
tomorrow morning. An artist named Gary
Winthrop makes a line of vases that just call out to be held and touched. Smooth lines, colors and designs. I simply have to go touch them all in
person!”
Lee joked “Are you cheating on me already? I hope I will still be your favorite after
tomorrow!” She found herself talking and
teasing her as they both laughed and enjoyed the witty banter. A bright and funny woman talked animatedly to
her for what seemed like moments that turned into hours. The girls returned to the studio and plopped
themselves on the old worn couch with a puff of dust. They yawned and sunk into the couch even
further. Lynne said her goodbyes and
they headed back to the motel. They both
looked sleepy but content dropping their dirty duds in a heap.
“Oh, no, no bed till you each shower. You can’t get everything all dusty and gritty
in here!” Lynne led her niece out to sit
on the private balcony only wearing her undershirt and boxers. Missy had always been a rough and tumble girl
and now a woman who made her own style that made her feel comfortable in her
own skin. Her best friend was another
story. She seemed a bit like a puppy
that went unloved for too long. She had
a subtle sadness with a soft underbelly.
Lynne and Missy had adopted her right after the girls met in
college. They spent holidays in Vermont
“Are you awake enough to talk about something?”
“Yep, I have a little oomph left Auntie. At least enough to thank you for letting us
have a blast with Lee today.” She wanted
to chatter on about all the tings she had done today but instead listened for
whatever was so serious.
“Miss, I spent part of the day today thinking about
Winnie. She looked so happy when she saw
Lee. I was thinking it would be good for
both of them to be able to spend time together.
You two have at least a month before your first semester at grad school
and … she paused to consider her wording for a moment.
“Please, please, please!
Tell me we can stay work in the studio till we go back to school! Can we?
Please? Oh, Auntie! Do you think
Lee will let us keep helping?”
“We would have to talk to her, of course and see if both you
girls can stay somewhere near the studio and lots of other things to see if it
would work out for everybody. One of the
things I stumbled on today while I was a little lost was a boarding house for
artists. The rent is cheap and the place
looks safe. You can tell there are
artists trying to make it living there.
You should see the incredible yard sculptures and huge wind chimes. I thought of you and the idea sort of fell
into place. I know are excited now but
want to make sure both of you want to think about this. I think it would be a good experience for
you. I trust Lee to look out for you and
I can drop in from time to time to make sure things were working out. I know, it seems like a crazy idea but
sometimes those are the best.
Yeah, especially for budding artists me and Winnie!” Missy laughed as she exaggerated the name
Winnie. She had never heard anyone call
her that and never heard her refer to Lee in any way. This whole day was just an odyssey she
concluded.
“You’re up! I am all
scrubbed and ready to konk out!”
She was asleep before her head hit the pillow. Lynne would make some time in the morning to
talk to her privately to gage her interest in staying here for a while and
spend more time with Lee.
Lynne was third in line for the bathroom and by the time she
got out both girls were snoring loudly in the queen sized bed opposite
hers. She had walked through what had to
be most of the town and was happily tired turning the events of the week over
in her head.
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