Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
“H ey, Kat.”
Blake’s booming voice pulled Kat from her task.
She resisted the urge to ask him again not to sneak up on her. After six weeks of working with this guy, he still couldn’t gently tap on the wall of her cubicle like every normal person did. She hit save on her document and swiveled from her computer to face him. “Yeah?”
“We’re going to need to provide lunch for that vendor meeting next week.”
Kat cocked her head. “Um… Okay, that makes sense. Eleven o’clock, right?”
“Right. So you’ll take care of that?”
Confused, Kat raised her brows. “Take care of what?”
“Lunch.”
“Oh, Sara does that.” Blake frequently confused Kat with Amy’s assistant.
“She’s not around. Can you just do it?”
“Blake, I would, but that’s Sara’s area. She knows the procedure.”
“You’re telling me you can’t figure out how to order lunch?”
She could ask the same of him. “Do you mean from the MoMA cafe?”
“Yes, that’s the one.”
“Okay, well, there’s a procedure. Probably a specific person or form or something. I’m sure Sara could do it in five minutes.”
The muscle twitched in Blake’s jaw. What was his problem? Caving to get rid of him, Kat held up a hand. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll get with Sara and let her know.”
She offered a polite smile then turned and picked up a notepad to jot down a reminder.
“Great.”
He disappeared without so much as a thank-you.
Kat closed her eyes as sadness enveloped her.
How long could she put up with this? She used to love her job.
She understood that change happened, but did it have to be so negative?
Her résumé was ready, but she checked every week, and there was nothing else available at MoMA.
If she wanted to escape, she’d have to go to a different museum.
And she wasn’t willing to let this overbearing bully her out.
She emailed Sara then slogged through the rest of the afternoon. The ride home did little to brighten her spirits. A few blocks from her stop, her phone buzzed.
—I’m bringing carryout. See you in a bit.—
Kat sputtered a laugh. Perfect. Mia had the gift of good timing.
—Yes, please!—
At her building, Kat pushed inside the entryway and was surprised to see her name on a package there. She scooped up the box. The Denver Art Museum? Probably a thank-you gift for her donation to the auction.
Inside her apartment, Kat kicked off her shoes and grabbed a pair of scissors.
She sliced the tape on the box and removed a layer of brown packing paper.
Nestled inside were a few blobs of bubble wrap.
She removed them all and set them on the table.
Then she peered into the box again—and gasped.
She recognized those bright-colored leaves on crystal blue sky. “Oh, my gosh.”
With a squeal, she pulled the banner from the box and unfurled it.
Amazing how big it seemed in her small space.
She wrapped it around her shoulders and picked up one of the bubble blobs.
“Wow,” she murmured. She had no idea. When Jim had mentioned promotional pieces in addition to the banner, she’d thought he meant the printed calendar of events. But these…these looked amazing.
She moved to the next item and the next until the table was dotted with her fall leaves on a ceramic mug, a canvas tote bag, and an insulated water bottle.
The ring of the doorbell made her jump. Oh, this would be fun.
Grinning, she buzzed Mia in. She flung open the door and waited for her friend to get to the top of the stairs.
“Hey!” Mia smiled. “Hope you like–”
“Get in here. I have something to show you.”
“Okaaaay.”
Kat tugged Mia’s arm and practically pulled her into the room. With a flourish, Kat gestured toward the table. “Look at this.”
Mia placed the carryout bag on the table and surveyed the items displayed there. “These are cool. Great colors. What are they for?”
“This is my artwork. I gave the Denver Art Museum permission to use it for their seasonal banner, and they did all this!”
Mia stared at Kat, eyes wide. “This is yours?”
“From college days.”
“Kat, this is fabulous. They’re selling these?”
“I guess so. Well, probably this fall.”
“Wow. These are going to fly off the shelves.”
Kat reached for the bag. “I can’t stop touching them.”
“Hahaha, I was soooo right.” Mia leaned close to Kat’s face and grinned. “Remember that conversation we had about you being the next Lily Pulitzer? I think I’ve been proven right. You’re welcome.”
With a laugh, Kat turned to the kitchen for plates and utensils.
But the wheels began spinning in her head.
Was Mia onto something? Could Kat’s artwork gain traction as decorative fashion or household items?
Pursuing a more commercial avenue for her work would be a major shift in direction.
And she’d just sent out dozens of postcards to galleries all over the country.
Would gallery owners see commercial popularity as confirmation that her work had value?
Or would they see her as a sellout—mass producing for money?
She placed the plates on the table and studied the fall designs again.
She could imagine a silk scarf offering a pop of color to more muted brown and rust fall sweaters.
But where could she sell them? How would she get them into exclusive boutiques with clientele that would appreciate the artistic quality?
Even though she worked with vendors at the museum, she didn’t have expertise in retail sourcing or manufacturing.
“Just think how valuable your original pieces would be if they were inspiration for a whole line of fancy accessories.” Mia heaped pad see ew onto her plate. “I’m telling you, one of these days your art is going to be hanging in the MoMA. Take that, Blake from Boston.”
“That might be a stretch, but it’s a nice thought,” Kat said.
Ugh, a thought that brought her around to Nick’s comments about reaching too high, expecting too much too soon.
In all this time, she couldn’t seem to shake Nick’s words.
Determined not to fall down that rabbit hole again, she filled her plate.
“Thanks for picking up. This smells delicious.”
“So the Denver Museum has the original that goes with all these in their Modern Art exhibit?”
“No. They have the original, but it’s not on display. It was a gift to the guy who was my boss when I was an intern there. As far as I know, it’s hanging in his office.”
“Maybe they’ll put it on display now. I bet people will want to see it. Speaking of Denver, when do your mountains go up for auction?”
“Couple more weeks. June first.”
“And you’re not going?”
“No. It’d be awkward. Nana will be there, probably with my parents.
If the painting only gets a couple hundred bucks, I don’t want to see it.
” Nick would be there as well. Of course, she was supposed to be there.
Supposed to be Nick’s date. Supposed to meet his family.
But that was before the break-up. Before Nana had asked Kat to donate a painting.
Thankfully, she’d never gotten around to booking flights.
“Okay, I just don’t want to see you avoid kudos and fun times on the chance you might run into that guy .”
“It’s not a chance. It’s a definite. The man’s being auctioned off as a date. That I can do without. Anyway, I’ll go in a few weeks to spend some time with Nana. She is my only reason for going to Denver.”
Kat hadn’t heard from her parents since the weekend her dad visited. Her mother was probably still fanning herself from all the accolades of the Symphony Homes Tour.
Kat gave herself a mental slap. Not wasting a millisecond thinking about that. But she did wonder how Nick’s wall and fireplace were received. Had he printed new information that included his big win with HBTV? Was he already getting new business?
“Boy, I’d love to be a fly on the wall in that ballroom,” Mia said, pulling Kat back to the topic at hand.
“Me too. But don’t worry. I’ll get the scoop from Nana.”
Thinking of the museum brought Kat’s thoughts back to the products she’d received.
They reminded her of her early attempt at giftwrap…
consumables. An idea began to form. What if she launched her own business?
She had no clue how much it would cost to source and produce, to put together a business plan, but maybe worth exploring…
“Hello?” Mia waved a hand. “You here?”
“Just thinking,” Kat murmured.
“And?”
“You have your jewelry in a few retail shops, right?”
“A very few.” Mia pulled a wry face.
“I’m thinking about your Lily Pulitzer idea.” She spread her hands. “How would I do it? How do I source the stuff or find the buyers? How do I get into the right shops?”
Mia shook her head. “I don’t know, Kat. Maybe the people at the Denver Museum who had all this made can point you in the right direction. All I can say is get ready to be exhausted and frustrated. It’s a lot of work—that may or may not ever pay off.”
“So just like getting into galleries.” Like a bolt of lightning, her list flashed in her mind.
The top galleries. That’s what she’d focused on.
High-end shops . Nick was right—she automatically sought the best. When she’d targeted The Loft and other New York galleries, she’d concentrated her efforts on the top dozen, not the bottom.
Had she assumed her credentials would launch her to the top?
“Would probably be like starting over. But, hey, nothing ventured; nothing gained, right?” Mia nudged her.
Kat swallowed hard. “Right.” Starting over .
She’d told Nana she needed a reset. Maybe that was coming into focus.
Maybe that meant a new approach and some new goals.
Small gift shops might be the place to start.
As thoughts tumbled through her brain, she turned to Mia.
“I’ll need samples. I can’t paint a hundred original scarves.
Do you know anyone who does screen printing? ”