Chapter 19 #2
‘Yes, yes,’ Celia tutted. ‘Now, I’m not going to run through the full list of events we have planned, as that would take far too long, but a draft program is available if anyone would like to see it.
’ She held up a pile of paper briefly. ‘But to give you a brief idea, the opening ceremony will take place on Friday, July 19th at 10.00 a.m. at the waterfront. Stallholders and food vendors will already be set up on the boardwalk, in Northspire Park and the surrounding side street loop. Over the three days there will be live music on the boardwalk and dock area, as well as live theatre performances and residents sharing their stories of life at sea and in this town. Megan and some of the high school students have been granted permission by the council to paint a mural on the side of the old Johnson building, so they will be doing that over the course of the festival.’
‘What’s the mural going to be of, exactly?’ an older lady asked. ‘That wall is right next to the town square. We don’t want to be looking at an eyesore every time we drive past, and you know what young people consider to be “art”.’
Megan stood up to answer her. ‘We’re keeping the design confidential at this stage, Betty. But don’t worry, it’s nothing too out there.’
‘The committee have already sighted and approved a draft mockup of the design,’ Celia agreed. ‘And I can promise you that it will enhance main street, not detract from it.’
‘I hope you’re right,’ Betty grumbled.
‘She’s a cheerful sort,’ Ray said, and the hypocrisy was so great I couldn’t even rustle up the words to respond to him.
‘Moving on.’ Celia consulted her clipboard.
‘There will be the children’s section again, with activities and crafts.
A sunset picnic on the first night, starlight dance on the second and a closing toast on the dock at 5.
00 p.m., Sunday. We’ll have sunrise yoga, parades, competitions, hands-on workshops and, of course, food and drink tastings.
Copies of the full program are available here but just bear in mind it’s not a finalized version yet, as we’re still waiting to hear back from a few artists and performers. ’
She put the clipboard down and ran her eyes over the room.
‘To summarize, it’s all come together nicely, thanks to a huge amount of work behind the scenes by the committee.
I have a proposed set-up map available for those of you who will be setting up art or food stalls, so please collect one before you leave tonight and if you have any questions or issues with your placement, flick me a message.
Bear in mind, please, that I can’t put all of you around the square in the high-foot-traffic area.
I have tried to be fair and alternate with those of you who were in the side street loop last year. ’
‘Where were you placed last year?’ I whispered to Jack as Celia carried on talking.
‘No idea,’ he whispered back. ‘That was before my time at the restaurant, so this is all new to me.’
‘Oh right. Are you nervous?’
‘No.’ He shook his head. ‘My staff have done this festival before, so I will bow to their superior wisdom and let them take the lead.’
‘Wait, they don’t actually need you at all. That’s what you’re saying?’
‘I’d like to think I can be of some help and maybe even bring something new to the table,’ he said defensively.
‘Right, but they could do it without you if they had to.’
‘They could.’
I smiled smugly. ‘Which makes you one of those managers.’
‘What managers?’
‘The ones who look good on paper and on LinkedIn and are paid the big bucks, but really, when it comes down to it, they’re pretty much surplus to requirements.’
‘Hey,’ he protested. ‘First of all, big bucks is a wild overstatement and factually incorrect. I’m not in this for the salary; I’m here to help a friend. I take a basic living wage and that’s it.’
I shrugged. ‘OK, that’s admirable I suppose.’
‘Thank you. It is. And second of all, according to you I don’t just look good on paper…’ He paused to grin at me. ‘I look good in real life too.’
‘Excuse me?’
‘You said I was buff, remember?’
‘I was in shock, remember?’
His grin turned into a pout. ‘Wait, so that’s the only reason you said it?’ He leaned his head down closer to mine and when he spoke again, I felt his breath warm on my shoulder. ‘You have no idea how many times I’ve replayed that conversation in my head over the last few days.’
I swallowed hard, on edge by how close he was. I could smell the fresh, clean smell of his hair. It reminded me of green apples. If I turned my cheek, our faces would probably touch.
‘Seriously?’
‘Of course. And now you’re telling me you didn’t actually mean it. I’m crushed.’
I turned my head, risking contact. Our faces were merely inches apart. One small lunge and my lips could be on his. His green eyes sparkled with mischief, telling me he was thinking the same thing.
‘If you’re trying to get me to say it again,’ I said softly, lowering my eyes to his mouth suggestively, ‘it’s not going to work.’
His lips parted and for a moment I thought he was actually going to kiss me this time. But then the next second, I almost got whiplash from how quickly he pulled away, sitting up straight in his chair and throwing up his hand.
‘Celia,’ he called out, waving his hand around.
She stopped talking about insurance and frowned at him. ‘Yes, Jack?’
‘Taylor and I have just had the most brilliant idea for a stall that will tie in perfectly with the art theme, make us stand out from the other towns and their festivals, and, I think, draw in quite a crowd.’
‘What are you doing?’ I hissed.
‘Give me a call tomorrow,’ she said dismissively. ‘We can discuss it then.’
He stood up. ‘Why can’t we discuss it now?’
‘I feel like we’ve held people up enough tonight already,’ she said, looking around the room for support.
‘I’d like to hear what their idea is,’ Megan said, turning in her seat to smile at me. I saw her eyes flicker over Jack, and she gave me a pointed look that clearly translated to Ooh, he’s hot!
‘Yes, let’s hear this big idea,’ Ray said, and there was a chorus of agreement from a few others.
Celia visibly sighed, her emerald green, satin ruched-blouse catching the light. ‘Fine,’ she said tightly. ‘Go ahead, Jack.’
‘OK. I was thinking…’ He looked down at me. ‘Sorry, we, that is Taylor and I, were thinking, how about a tattoo stall?’
Celia’s nose crinkled up in distaste. ‘Oh, no I don’t think that’s a good idea.’
I’d been about to hiss at Jack to shut up, but as soon as I knew that Celia was against it, everything changed.
Suddenly, I wanted nothing more than to have a stall at the festival.
I needed to do it. Had to do it. She’d never bothered to make it a secret that my choice of career was not to her liking.
In her opinion, it wasn’t a career, rather a hobby, as she’d once said condescendingly.
And a disgusting one at that. No matter how many awards I won, she was still too ashamed to tell people what I really did for a living.
When I’d opened my own studio five years ago, she couldn’t even bring herself to congratulate me.
Made some snide comment about how I was lucky Adam made enough money for me to indulge myself.
Never mind the fact that in the last three years of our marriage, I’d made more money than him and now employed four people.
In fact, when he’d first left me and the affair had come to light, she’d told me that it was probably because I made him feel emasculated.
I had to do it, if for no other reason than to annoy her.
‘Why not?’ Jack said. ‘Think about it. We have, in our midst, one of this year’s one-hundred-most-influential tattoo artists, according to Under the Needle magazine.
A woman with over two hundred thousand followers on Instagram, and who Inkspire magazine named as one of their top-ten female artists who are changing the industry.
Not to mention she’s also appeared on the TV show, NY Ink. ’
‘Whoa, that is seriously impressive,’ said Megan, whistling. ‘Nice one, Taylor.’
I stopped gaping at Jack long enough to flash her a smile. How did he even know all that stuff? ‘Thanks.’
‘Yes, very impressive,’ Celia agreed reluctantly. ‘But I still don’t think it’s suitable for our festival.’
I stood up beside Jack, crossed my arms over my chest and stared at her defiantly. ‘And why not?’
‘Because it’s an art festival.’
‘Tattoos are art.’
‘I suppose so,’ she conceded. ‘But not the kind of art that we typically showcase here though.’
‘Then maybe it’s time for a change.’
We stared at each other, both aware that this was about more than the festival and tattooing. This was bigger than that. This was about control, specifically me reasserting mine.
‘I agree,’ Megan chimed in. ‘Tattoos are hugely popular right now. This could be a big drawcard for the festival. Really set us apart from the other towns.’
‘Exactly,’ Jack said.
Celia stared at him. ‘Fine. I’ll think about it.’
‘You could do that,’ I told her. ‘Or… excuse me, gentlemen, can I just squeeze… thank you. How about we put it to the committee and the community,’ I suggested, edging past Jack and Ray’s knees and striding up the aisle. ‘Let them decide. Or are you the only one who has any say around here?’
Her eyes narrowed. ‘Of course not.’
‘Good.’ I reached the top table and turned to face the room. Seeing all the faces staring at me, a lot of them familiar, I nearly lost my nerve. Public speaking had never been my thing, but I’d come this far, so I took a deep breath, slapped on a smile and went for it.
‘Hi, some of you might remember me, although maybe not. It’s been a while,’ I admitted. ‘Fourteen years, in fact. I’m Taylor Calderwood.’
‘Hamilton,’ Celia corrected, without thinking. ‘For now, anyway.’
I grimaced. ‘Yes, legally. But not for much longer. I’m Moira’s daughter, Moira Calderwood. I grew up on Bayside Drive. Raymond Owens…’ I pointed at him ‘…is my great-uncle. A lot of you probably know him, whether you want to or not.’
‘Get to the point,’ Ray said.
‘Yes, thank you for that, Ray. Uh, I think Jack’s right, and a tattoo pop-up studio would be a great addition to the festival. I specialize in ocean and marine tattoos, which is obviously quite fitting for the town and for the festival theme.’
‘Can you do them outside though?’ someone asked. ‘Don’t you have to be in a shop?’
‘I can do them anywhere,’ I answered. ‘I can have all the gear I would need sent here from my studio back in New York. We have portable machines. I could also offer tattoos to the kids,’ I added, warming up to the idea and spitballing on the spot.
‘Absolutely not,’ Celia snapped.
‘Fake tattoos,’ I clarified. ‘Stick-on, temporary ones. Kids love that sort of stuff.’
‘That’s true,’ a blonde woman in the front said, nodding. ‘My kids would definitely be up for something like that.’
‘Mine too,’ another woman agreed.
I gestured towards her, grateful for her support. ‘There you go then.’
‘I’m still not convinced this is a good idea,’ said Celia.
‘No one’s expecting you to get one,’ I snapped back at her. ‘So I don’t really see how it affects you.’
She drew her five-foot-two body up straight. ‘This is my festival.’ Then she remembered where she was. ‘Our festival, I mean. Pine Harbor’s.’
‘Then I think it’s only fitting that the people of Pine Harbor should decide.’ I faced the crowd. ‘Show of hands. Who thinks we should have a tattoo stall at the festival?’
Almost every hand in the room went up, except for Celia’s, of course. And Doug’s. And another lady on the committee whose name was Mary, according to the sticker stuck to her chest, but she looked about ninety-eight years old, so I wasn’t sure if she’d even heard the question.
‘Looks like the people have spoken,’ I announced, unable to keep the grin off my face. ‘I’ll get onto my studio straight away, get them to courier over everything I need.’
If looks could kill, I’d have been dead. ‘Fine. I guess we’re having a tattoo stall.’
I searched for Jack’s face in the crowd, and when I found it, he gave me a thumbs up, his face grinning as broadly as my own.
‘So, Mr. L.A.,’ I said to him, a few minutes later after the meeting had ended and we were joining the queue to file out of the hall. ‘You’ve been looking me up, huh?’
‘I might have typed your name into a search engine,’ he admitted. ‘Purely for research purposes.’
‘Researching what, exactly?’
‘I just like to know who my neighbors are.’
‘Find out anything interesting?’
‘Plenty. You’ve made quite the name for yourself in the tattoo world. You even have your own Wikipedia page.’
‘I do?’
‘Yeah. If that’s not making it, I don’t know what is.’
‘Well, if you put me on the spot like that again,’ I told him, ‘And they’ll be needing to add a criminal record section to it.’
‘Duly noted.’ He bumped into me with his hip. ‘You should be thanking me, though.’
I gaped at him. ‘For what, embarrassing me in public?’
‘What have you got to be embarrassed about? I thought you handled yourself well with Celia. No, you should be thanking me because now, thanks to me, we get to hang out at the festival.’
‘Who says I want to hang out with you?’
Ray poked me in the ribs with his bony finger.
‘Ouch.’ I rubbed the spot. ‘What was that for?’
‘Do you think you could stop flirting long enough to take me home? My hip hurts. I don’t want to stand around all night watching you drool over this guy.’
Mortified, I glared at him. ‘I am not flirting, or drooling.’
‘As good as,’ he replied. ‘If you like him, just say so. Stop playing silly games.’
Jack grinned. ‘Yeah, Taylor. If you like me, just say so.’
Ray swiveled his body so he could scowl at Jack.
‘You can wipe that smug look off your face, because you’re no better than she is,’ he informed him.
‘Staring at her with that soppy look on your face all night when you think she isn’t watching.
I saw you. In my day, if a man fancied a woman, he asked her out on a date. ’
‘I don’t… we’re not…’ I stammered.
‘Yeah, we only just… I mean we don’t even…’ Jack added.
Ray sighed. ‘Pathetic.’