“All what?”
“The three kilns, the boxes of clay, the glazes, the paints. Unfortunately, I won’t take her finished products. You and your family might want them as memories of her.”
“I never thought of that. There are some beautiful pieces here,” Sara said as she picked up a bowl and studied it. “I’ll get the list Mother had made out for her asking prices.” They compared prices, and they finally settled after much haggling. Sara called her son and asked him to come over with a couple of friends of his to load everything up and take it to Willow’s house. She stayed to supervise the dismantling of the kilns and by three that afternoon, they were already set up and ready to be put to work. Willow spent the rest of theafternoon going over the e-mail orders and organizing them again, then she ordered more supplies over the internet and called it an early night. When she arose the next morning, she was well rested and ready to hit the ground running.
*****
Trish Bower stood at her desk looking down at the computer, and she was actually shaking in anger. She held out her hands and saw them tremble. She took several deep breaths, but it didn’t seem to calm her down. Unable to hold her anger any longer she threw her head back and bellowed at the top of her lungs,“AMY!”
“What’s wrong?” Amy came rushing into Trish’s office.
“I’d swear, but since it’s unprofessional I’ll ask what is that?” She pointed to the computer screen. She watched as Amy hurried around her desk and looked at it.
“I don’t see anything wrong. It’s Willow’s website.”
“Why is it changed? Who designed it and why is the lead time on her orders three weeks? Who the hell fucked with this website?” She actually screamed the words as she pointed to the screen.
“I did,” Amy admitted. “I don’t see why you’re so upset, she’s a hot item. If it weren’t for us, she wouldn’t be this hot.”
“You have ten seconds to change it back Amy. If you don’t, you’re fired.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Put that back the way it was, and I’ll tell you a few home truths as you do.” When Amy didn’t do anything, she pointed to her chair and actually growled. “Sit.” Amy sat quickly. Trish watched as Amy ended up taking five minutes to put the website back to the way it was, and Trish watched her every move. When she was satisfied, she pointed to the chair across from her desk. She took her own seat and studied the woman across from her.
“First, let me apologize for losing it on you. But you have it wrong. Willow doesn’t work for us. I’m her personal assistant, and through working with her, I’ve been able to obtain other artists to represent. That’s why I hired you as my assistant. In my contract with Willow and in yours with me, it’s an understanding that no one but me is to work directly with Willow. I’m the one to monitor her website. I had to ask her permission to allow you to take her items to the brick-and-mortar stores.
“When I applied to her advertisement, she gave a phone number for calling to set up an interview. We ended up talking for over two hours on the phone. Three days later I got a contract in the mail. In it, it was stressed on several occasions, that I had to put my initials next to each time it was mentioned, that Willow’s identity was not to be revealed at any costs. She’s so private that I can only contact her by e-mail if I need to talk to her then I have to tell her to call me. As I said, that is done through e-mail. Hell, I don’t even know if Willow’s her real name or if it’s her artist’s name.”
She reached down and opened her bottom drawer and pulled a file. “If you don’t believe me, this is thecontract I signed with her. Before this, I was nothing but an unemployed college student. I only answered their ad a little over three years ago. Selling her stuff is what put us both on the map, so to speak.
“As you can see from the contract Willow sent me, and I signed, her identity isn’t to be revealed. I’m only able to contact her through e-mail and then she reaches me at her convenience.” She watched as Amy read the contract and then she nodded.
“That’s what the clause in my contract was about?”
“Yes. No one but me is allowed to work with Willow, and as I’ve already said, I’ve gone from an unemployed college student to this office with ten clients in three years. So, if it weren’t for Willow, we wouldn’t be here. I ask you to please don’t mess with Willow’s website. If anything happened to lose her as a client, we wouldn’t be as successful as we are now.”
“I’m sorry, I just thought I was helping.”
“Any other client and I’d agree, but not Willow. She’s mine. Exclusively. I have the contracts to prove it. If you recall, there’s a clause in yours that you are not to have any access to Willow unless it’s through me and then it’s only her finished product.”
“Yes.” Amy sighed and leaned back in her chair. “I’m sorry, I thought she worked for us. I wasn’t aware we worked for her. But I did the website change because she’s so hot right now, everyone is demanding her work.”
“You thought by changing her lead time on the products she makes from scratch, by hand, to three weeks instead of three to six months would do what? Make her work faster? Make her burn herself out, and we lose her altogether? I have a suggestion. Go find alocal potter and have them talk you through the process of making something. I did when I first took the contract. It’s a daunting process. Nothing that can be rushed.”
“I’ll look into it.” Amy seemed contrite, but after Trish dismissed her, she had just opened the door when Trish called out.
“Oh, and Amy?”
“Yes?”
“Next time something like this happens, you’re fired.” She finally got her point across, and it was with a heavy heart that Trish turned back to the computer and actually deleted the entire website and spent the rest of the night rebuilding it again. Because it was made from her laptop, she passcode protected it, hoping that would deter Amy from getting to it again. She couldn’t be too careful with the safety of her client. Something about Amy seemed too pushy to sit right with Trish. Before leaving her office for the night, she was finally satisfied she had been able to revamp the website and keep Willow’s identity a secret.
Chapter 6
Christopher Evans was frustrated. He’d arrived in California over a week ago. The first thing he did was get a hotel room, and after crashing for the night, he’d woken with the intention of getting answers he sought. At first, he didn’t recognize anything around him. Armed with a list of addresses, he went to where he’d lived when he was five and that turned out to be a bust. Not only didn’t he recognize the neighborhood but the actual house was literally gone. Next on his list was where the Perkins family had lived. He’d found the house, but no one had been home. He’d moved on, but made not only a mental note, but also a written note to come back to talk to the new owners.
After that, it seemed like no one was home or a business was closed. When he realized the school was closed for a week for spring break, he thought the people at the houses might be on vacation. This morning he was heading back to where the Perkins family had lived and hoped someone was home. He was in luck because there was an SUV parked in the driveway when he parked on the street, and a man was unloading it with three children helping him. He parked on the street and walked up the drive.
