Chapter 2
A week later
It was Friday afternoon, and I went to lunch and to run a few errands with my sister, Sara. I had an appointment with a paper and packaging store to pick out some new boxes and labels, and she was going with me to do that.
I had my branding worked out with a logo design that I loved. It was just the words Molly's Chocolates, but the lettering was designed where the the S in chocolates was used in a decorative way, underlining the words with a shape that morphed into a few chocolate squares under the M.
Most of my chocolates were square-shaped. I had several molds that I liked, but I used the square ones most. In my opinion, a small, flat-ish square with rounded edges was the perfect shape to deliver a bite of delicious chocolatey goodness. I loved that the shape of the chocolates on my logo looked like some I actually made. I could not wait to see the samples today.
Sara went with me to the appointment. It was all very official. The lady at the packaging store was approximately my mother's age with expensive taste in clothing and jewelry. She had big hair that was sprayed in place, and she looked and smelled like she should be working the perfume counter at Neiman Marcus. She introduced herself to us and showed us to an oversized desk in the corner of the store.
"These are some of the cutest little samples," she said, opening a box that she had set on the desk. "We have five different sticker samples to show you, and of course, we can make custom boxes and bags with your logo right on the packaging if you don't want to use stickers."
She was a professional, and she set out five stickers in a neat row. Behind those, she placed five different pieces of cardboard, examples of boxes, all of which had my name and logo professionally printed and embossed. Everything was gorgeous, and my excitement was obvious. I nudged my sister's leg, and she nudged me back under the table.
"They are all so pretty," I said.
The lady nodded proudly. "They came out great. Stickers will be the most cost-efficient route. I sent you the PDF with pricing, so you probably know that already. Both options are quite nice. You're welcome to pick them up and take a look. I think they came out really cute. I like it in gold, but the black and white one is cute, too."
"I know. I like them all. The brown is good."
"That one's great," the lady agreed.
"I like the gold and brown," Sara added. "And I like that brown sticker with the white words. "
"I like it printed on the parchment as well," the lady said, nodding.
I glanced at my sister with wide eyes.
"Are you doing stickers, or printing directly on the box?" Sara asked.
"I'm going to start with stickers," I said, looking at the lady. "But will you have all of these other ones on file if I want to place an order in the future?"
"Yes, we will, and you can take these samples with you today. I'll just need the reference number from the back when you call to order more in the future."
I nodded since that sounded great. I was still staring at all of them when she spoke again. I wanted them all.
"I was looking at your following on social media. Congratulations. What made you get started making chocolates?"
"Oh, I… I just love it. I enjoy eating good chocolate. I always have. I love to use premium ingredients to make fresh, delicious chocolate for myself. So, that's what drives me. I actually love perfecting recipes and eating chocolate. But I also like the packaging aspect of it, too, now that I'm doing that."
"I saw that on your site. You do a great job with the presentation. We're honored to make your new packaging. We were all hoping you'd bring us some chocolate today. "
"Aw, I should have," I said smiling. "Thank you for getting this together. These are beautiful."
"We have a lot of other options for you to look at… boxes, bags, parchment paper, tissue paper… foil. I know you were asking about foil. I have a few samples here, and others I can show you. We had also talked about cardboard boxes versus clear plastic. We have several options."
"Yeah, I am happy with the foil I'm using now, but I would like to see if you guys have other colors."
"Yes, plenty. We can get that same foil for you, and others, if you ever want to look at that."
"Thank you. I really am intrigued by this box right here, but I think I'm going to start with stickers. I like the brown and gold lettering."
"That's a great choice," she said. "It's an adorable logo. I think I might place an order for some chocolates."
"I'll bring you some when I come back to pick up my stuff."
"That's sweet of you, but the products will ship directly to you. I'll make sure we get your address before you go. Would it work out for you to make a little trade for a box of chocolates? I could offer some extras with your order."
"I would love to make a trade," I said. "I was planning on starting with the five-hundred-dollar package—the one with two different sizes of stickers. "
"I can give you fifteen percent off on that. And some extra boxes. Would that work for you?"
"Yes, that'd be great. I'll make you guys a box of chocolate for that."
"Oh, wonderful. Okay, well, I'll take you over here, and Josie will help get your payment information and place your order. Thank you, Molly, Sara, it was a pleasure meeting you both."
I was only in that store for a few more minutes, and then I made my way outside. Sara had gone out before me, and I met her out front when I was finished. She said she wanted to go outside and space out. That was a normal thing for Sara to do. Of us four siblings, she had always been the dreamer. You could usually find her wandering off, looking for four-leaf clovers or watching a bird or butterfly.
She had grown up with her nose in a book, and now she was trying her hand at writing one of her own. It was mostly the true story of our parents' property, Camp Eden. Her idea was to write a romantic novel with true events and some fiction for fun. It would tell the story of our parents meeting there and then years later, their children meeting their own spouses at the property.
She would use my mom and dad's real story, and also tell two of my siblings' love stories. My brother and sister had both really met their soulmates at my parents' property, and that was what had given her the idea for the book in the first place. She had plans for fictional spouses for my story and hers since we didn't have anyone in our lives yet.
She had been planning the book for weeks. We had talked about it a bit today at lunch, and I encouraged her to write whatever she likes about my future spouse. We laughed about the different attributes I wanted my guy to have, and she assured me he would be wonderful.
All this to say that it didn’t shock me at all when I found Sara outside staring at the grass. I wouldn't have been surprised to find her out there doing any number of daydreamer activities. She was squatted down, staring down at a patch of grass near the store. She stood up when she saw me.
"There was a roly-poly, and I picked it up to see if it would make a ball, and it did, but it never went back. I was watching to make sure it unrolled and started walking again, but it will… don't cha think?"
"Are you worried about a bug?"
"Yes, a roly-poly."
"You picked it up?"
"Yeah, it's just a little roly-poly. What happened with the lady? Did you get the discount?"
"Yes, and they're sending me some extra stuff—boxes, tissue paper, and foil."
"That's great. How much chocolate do you have to bring up here?"
"She said she was hoping to get the small sampler, which is sixty bucks, and my discount worked out to be seventy-five, plus all those extras. I'll probably add more chocolate to the box since they were so nice. The lady who checked me out said they are planning on ordering more sometime. I'll put a lot in their box. It's good business to give some away—let the chocolate speak for itself. Hang on, my phone's ringing."
Sara and I stopped on the sidewalk near my car. It was a cool, sunny day, and we stood in the shade under a small tree. "Hello?" I said putting the phone to my ear.
"It's Salem," I said to my sister.
"I know it's Salem," Salem said on the other end.
I laughed. "I'm standing here with my sister, and she was looking at me, asking who it was. Hey, Salem, what's up?"
"I had one of my guys putting together your piece this week. I have some more to do on it, but, uh, yeah, I think we'll have it ready next week."
"Oh, my gosh, are you serious? I am so happy right now. How do I get it? Do I need to get my brother to come pick it up from somewhere? I can get my landlord, too. Darren has a truck. I guess we can work all that out when it's finished."
"Yeah, I'll get one of my guys to help me get it to you. I'm going to keep it for a few more days, but I'll bring it over when I'm done. You're going to like it."
"Oh, Salem, I'm so pumped right now. Thank you so much." I grabbed my sister's arm excitedly and she looked at me with a confused expression .
"I was wondering if you wouldn't mind coming by the house. I need to decide about the floors in my bathrooms."
"Yeah, for sure. When?"
"Today, is that possible? I have samples already."
"Yes. I'll meet you over there. Just tell me what time."
"Four-thirty or five?" he asked.
"Of course. I'll text you when I'm on my way."
"Thanks, Molly."
"Thank you, oh my goodness. And I need to know when and how to pay you, too."
"We'll deal with all that later, once you get the piece."
"Okay, thank you. See you in a little bit. I'll meet you out at your property."
"Thank you. See you in a little while."
I pushed the button on my key fob, unlocking my car. Sara followed my lead, and we both got into the car.
I said goodbye and hung up with Salem before I closed my car door. It was nice out, so I wasn't in a hurry to turn on the car. I smiled at my sister with excitement.
"Can you believe it? So much is happening today. I ordered my stickers, and my counter is going to be done soon."
"Your counter? It sounded like you were making plans with him. "
"I was. Remember? I was telling you I ordered a counter through Salem."
"Yeah."
"Well, he's building a house right now, and part of my deal about that counter is that I'm going to help him pick out stuff for his new house. I’m going over there today."