Tiny House in the Trees
Page 23
“That sounds pretty interesting.”
“It was, but most of the time it was the same old, same old. You can’t just keep your fingers crossed that a wine collection is going to come along every now and then.”
“I guess not.”
“So, I decided it would be cool to travel around, instead of staying in one city,” Vivien said. “I put a new spin on the whole business model. I’m going to provide personalized service. I’ll take on a client, they’ll explain their problem and I’ll see what they need right away. That’s why I call myself the Organization Oracle.”
From the look on Bale’s face, Vivien could tell he wasn’t a fan of her new name.
“I was also thinking of calling it ‘Vivien Orlando! I put the O in Organization.’”
“I think the Organization Oracle is a great name,” Bale said.
He smiled at her. Which was very different from laughing at her. She smiled back.
“I can’t find your paperwork,” Bale said, throwing up his hands. The stacks of binder-clipped papers settled into place after being disturbed by his quest.
“It’s five contracts down in the left-hand pile…well, the right-hand pile for you,” Vivien said.
Bale stared at her for a second, then thumbed through the stack. Five contracts down and there it was. The final contract for Vivien Orlando.
“That’s a miracle,” Bale said, holding up the contract and staring at it. He smiled at Vivien. “You really are an oracle.”
Vivien shrugged shyly.
Should she tell him she’d seen her name, recognizable even upside down while he was frantically flipping through his untidy stacks?
“Maybe I can hire you,” Bale said, looking around his cluttered office. “I could use the help.”
“Thanks,” Vivien said sincerely. “But I’m headed to New Mexico to my first client as soon as I pick up the house.”
“New Mexico?” Bale said, sounding impressed. “Sounds exciting.”
“The lady who is hiring me lives in a place called Casa de Promesas,’’ Vivien said, knowing she shouldn’t be giving away anything so confidential, but wanting to up the “exciting” ante.
“House of Promises,” Bale said, now looking for a pen among the rubble of his desk. “Sounds like a good omen.”
She knew she shouldn’t give away any of her organizing secrets. But she liked Bale and wanted to make up for her little subterfuge about spotting her name. She offered Bale a little advice.
“You should use color-coded binder clips,” she said. “I mean, you use paper clips anyway, so why not sort them with various colors? One color for advertisement, one for bills—that sort of thing.”
“That’s a great idea,” Bale said. “I bought a label maker to use on black binder clips, but…”
“But,” Vivien said, “you never get around to actually making the labels.”
“Exactly!” Bale said.
“If you want to take it one step farther,” Vivien said, eyeing the wall behind his desk. “You could paint that wall with magnetic paint. They have magnetic binder clips, you know. So everything would be off your desk, but easy to reach and—”
“And not put away in a filing cabinet,” Bale said, staring at the wall as if he’d never seen it before. “Because as you’ve probably guessed…filing is never going to happen.”
“One thing about getting organized,” Vivien said. “It’s not one size fits all. You’ve got to know what you’ll stick with. You know what I mean? You have to know who you are.”
“Funny you should say that,” Bale said, finally locating a pen. “I say the same thing about living in a tiny house. You really have to know who you are before you take it on.”
Remembering what she’d learned in her college course on Start Your Own Business and Soar!, Vivien quickly added, “I can call you when I’m finished in New Mexico. Maybe we can work something out.”
“Sounds good,” Bale said. “Want to go see your house?”
Vivien nodded, too overcome to speak. She was giddy with possibilities.
Maybe she was going to soar!
Meet the Author
Credit © William Christoff Photography
Celia Bonaduce, also the author of The Venice Beach Romances and the Welcome to Fat Chance, Texas series, has always had a love affair with houses. Her credits as a television field producer include such house-heavy hits as Extreme Makeover: Home Edition; HGTV’s House Hunters; and Tiny House Hunters. She lives in Santa Monica, CA, with her husband and dreams of one day traveling with him in their own tiny house. You can contact Celia at www.celiabonaduce.com.
Website: www.celiabonaduce.com
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Media: www.celiab.name
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