Why Not Tonight (Happily Inc. #3)

She passed it over to Natalie. “Do you like making the flowers?”

“They’re fun. I enjoy trying different techniques.” She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t think I’d want to do this for every wedding coming to town, but now and then, it would be interesting.”

“Have you thought of doing something like this on a grander scale?”

“I haven’t,” she said even as she began to consider the idea. “It’s possible, of course. If the flowers got much bigger, they’d need to be reinforced. Or I’d have to use a different weight of paper. I’ve been thinking it would be interesting to use pages from a fashion magazine instead of the comic book paper. All the colors and the thickness of the pages could add dimension. The stems would also have to be different. Stronger. Maybe something with bamboo. I like working with bamboo.” Her voice trailed off. “Sorry. You wanted a simple yes or no, didn’t you?”

“Not at all. I enjoy hearing about the creative process. Your work is unique. You’re starting to find your style. It’s never going to be just one thing with you. Not all artists are like that. Nick likes to do different things.” She sighed. “I blame myself, but he’s starting to talk about working with metal again.”

Natalie tried not to look guilty. The previous year Atsuko had bought some used welding equipment and had offered it to the guys to experiment with. They’d quickly realized they didn’t have the training to create anything and had nearly set the studio on fire. Twice. Everyone had been relieved when the equipment had been put in the storeroom.

“I wonder what inspired him,” she murmured, avoiding Atsuko’s knowing gaze.

“I have a suspicion that it was cutting up your car, but we’ll discuss that another time. Back to your flowers. The other day I noticed the shelf you have behind your desk. The one with your origami. There are a few glass pieces there. Ronan’s work, I presume?”

Natalie nodded.

“The paper and the glass are an unexpected combination, but they work. You are familiar with his vases of flowers.”

Not a question, but Natalie responded. “Of course. They’re beautiful.”

“I agree and they sell very well.”

Despite the mid-six-figure price tag, Natalie thought, wondering what it must be like to be so talented and successful and, well, rich.

“I’d like you to create a floral piece on the same scale.” Atsuko pointed to an empty pewter vase in the corner of her office. It had to be at least three feet high. It was slightly battered, but elegant, and had a beautiful patina.

“Do you think you could create flowers big enough for that?”

Natalie’s mouth opened, then closed. There was no reason she couldn’t scale up, she thought, eyeing the vase. As for the paper, she was starting to love the idea of using pages from a magazine. Maybe she could buy the unbound, uncut paper directly from the printer. It wouldn’t even have to be a fashion magazine. Anything with colorful pictures would be great. Ooh, a travel magazine would have amazing photographs.

“I definitely could do that,” she said eagerly. “You wouldn’t happen to have any contacts in the printing business, would you?”

“As a matter of fact, I do. Would you like me to make some calls and see about getting you uncut overruns?”

“That would be fantastic. Thank you.”

“I’ll find out what I can right away.” Atsuko smiled at her. “I’m glad you’re excited about the project.” She touched the flower she’d set on her desk. “This has real potential, Natalie. I’m not making any promises, but if it comes out as well as I think it’s going to, I’d want to price it somewhere in the five-figure range.”

F-five figures? Five! “That’s both inspiring and terrifying,” she admitted. “I’ll start thinking about what I’d want to do and wait to hear from you on the paper.” If Atsuko didn’t have any luck, Natalie would talk to her friend Wynn and see what she had to say.

“Excellent. I look forward to seeing the final project.”

“Me, too.”

Natalie did her best to walk sedately down the hall. Once she cleared the gallery, she ran across the parking lot and practically floated into the studio.

The guys had country music blasting out of the speakers. Natalie started for her desk only to be intercepted by Ronan. He was hot and sweaty, but with a satisfied air of a man who had worked hard and worked well.

“Everything okay?” he asked. “You were gone a while.”

“I’m fine.” She showed him the flower she’d brought back. “Atsuko took one of these and was thinking about having me do a piece for the gallery, only on a larger scale.”

She told him about the vase and using some kind of magazine print for the paper. “I’ll have to make a bunch of practice flowers. I need to see if they’ll require supports. I don’t want them to look good for a couple of weeks, then droop. Anyway, it’s so exciting.” She glanced around to make sure no one else was close, then lowered her voice.

“You have to swear you won’t tell anyone.”

“I swear,” he said, his green eyes bright with humor. “What?”

“She said she thought she could get five figures!” Natalie spun in a circle, then clutched the paper flower to her chest. “Do you know what that means? If she got ten thousand dollars, I’d get five thousand. That’s amazing. That’s months of rent. I’d been hoping to take a minisabbatical after I was done helping Pallas with the wedding and all, but that was for maybe two or three weeks. If I could sell something for that much money, I could do two more sabbaticals. Or take a longer one.”

He continued to smile at her. She knew he was thinking something, but had no idea what.

“Just say it,” she grumbled. “Whatever it is. You know you want to.”

“She said five figures.”

“I know. That’s where I got the ten thousand from.” She rolled her eyes. “You know she gets half of the commission. I’m not like you. I can’t negotiate a special contract or anything.”

“That’s not my point. You’re assuming a five-figure price tag is only ten thousand. There are a whole lot more numbers you’re not considering.”

“What? No. Really?”

She stared at him. He was right, of course. There were all the numbers between ten thousand and ninety-nine thousand.

“But I just assumed...”

“That she was talking ten grand?” he asked, lightly touching her cheek. “Maybe she was. Maybe she meant twenty or fifty instead. You could ask her.”

Natalie couldn’t begin to absorb the possibility. Twenty-five thousand dollars? That would mean she would get twelve thousand five hundred. Anything higher than that was unbelievable. Anything higher than that would mean she could... She could...

The thought wouldn’t fully form.

“You could quit your job,” Ronan said quietly. “Be an artist full-time.”

Yes, that!

She knew it would be complicated. Her job provided steady income. If she was on her own, she would have to put money away for when her art wasn’t selling. It was daunting to think about but also thrilling.

“I’m scared,” she admitted. “And excited, and I don’t want to hope too much, but wow. It’s a lot to think about, savings and planning taxes.”

“It is. I’ll help.”

“While that’s a really nice offer, you don’t handle any of your own money. You have Atsuko and an accountant.”

He laughed. “True, but I know the basics. It wouldn’t be hard to come up with a budget for what you need to live and a plan to put money away in savings. Then you’d be able to figure out how much you’d need before you could quit.”

She was about to agree when the meaning of quitting sank in. “I couldn’t leave the gallery. What a horrible way to thank Atsuko for believing in me.”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but your office skills, while excellent, are not unique, and in that respect, you can be replaced. Atsuko is smart. She knows what’s going to happen. My guess is she’s more interested in you as an artist than you as her part-time office manager. Don’t forget she gets half. You’re worth a lot more to her out here than back in your office.”