by Chloe Taylor
“It’s upstairs on the bed in our room. Thanks, Zo,” Aunt Lulu said. “I look forward to the day I can wear it!”
CHAPTER 9
Beary Cute!
Aunt Lulu’s shower was a blast—so many adorable little baby clothes and tiny little cupcakes. Still no clues about if I’m having a boy or a girl cousin—Aunt Lulu purposely picked a “gender neutral” color scheme of white and yellow for everything, from the table decorations, to the flowers to the cupcake frosting! Aunt Lulu and Uncle John loved the beary cute things I made for the baby, I’m happy to report. And I have learned something about Dad’s Mystery Lady, though—she has good fashion sense, at least in baby clothes. The outfit she picked out for my cousin-to-be was really cute.
Now that the shower is over, I’m full speed ahead getting everything made and ready for the gift fair next weekend. It’s going to be all sewing and accessory making, all the time. Wish me luck!
When Zoey checked her e-mail after school on Monday she was thrilled to see Daphne Shaw’s name in her in-box—and even more excited when she read the e-mail:
Zoey,
I LOVED the second batch of items you sent—so much so that I couldn’t just pick one thing to feature in the pop-up store: I’m going to have to feature two items instead. I really like the flared skirt and the origami-inspired top. What do you think? Can you manage to produce two pieces for me? I’d need five pieces in each size to start.
Best,
Daphne
Zoey e-mailed back right away.
Hi, Daphne!
When does the store open? As soon as you let me know, I’ll let you know if I can do it! But I’d do just about anything to make this happen!
Zoey
She was itching to start sewing, but figured she should wait to hear from Daphne. Luckily, the designer responded within minutes.
Silly me! The pop-up shop launch is in three weeks’ time—on Saturday evening. And I’d love for you to come to the grand opening! I think you’re ready for the red carpet.
Red carpet? That sounded amazing!
Zoey wrote back:
I think I can get the pieces ready in time. I have to see if someone can bring me to the opening. But I definitely want to come!
When Dad got home, she told him the good news.
“So, can you take me to the opening?” she asked. “I’d normally ask Aunt Lulu, because I know these fashion events are more her thing, but with the baby-to-be and everything . . .”
“Good thinking,” Dad said. “Let me check the football schedule.”
Zoey’s dad was a physical therapist for the local university team and had to be available to treat the players before and after games. He looked at his calendar and frowned.
“I’m sorry, honey, we’ve got an away game on Saturday afternoon. I wouldn’t be able to get back in time to get you up to New York.”
Seeing Zoey’s crestfallen face, he continued, “Why don’t you ask Lulu? I know she’s getting close, but knowing your aunt, I bet she’d enjoy a night on the red carpet before the baby comes.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Zoey said. “I’ll give her a call.”
Aunt Lulu was thrilled to hear Zoey’s exciting news.
“I’m so proud of you, honey. And I wish like anything that I could take you to strut down the catwalk at the opening. Or in my case, waddle down the catwalk,” Aunt Lulu said. “But I saw the doctor this morning, and he told me to take it easy and stick close to home. I guess just to be safe, since I’m getting close-ish to the due date.”
“Oh . . . ,” Zoey said, trying to hide the disappointment from her voice. “I understand.”
“I hope you find someone who can take you,” Aunt Lulu said. “I’d hate if you had to miss the chance to be there on your big day!”
Zoey sighed. “Me too!” she said.
As disappointed as Zoey was, she didn’t have any time to sit around and feel sorry for herself. With the gift fair opening in a few days, there was just too much to do. She spent Tuesday and Wednesday after school making more bracelets out of a variety of fabrics, and making scarves and headbands with fabric she’d screen printed with images of Ezra’s painting. She was so happy with the way they were looking that she wanted him to see. She asked Ezra if he wanted to video chat, saying that she had a surprise for him.
“So what’s the big surprise?” he asked when they were both on camera.
“Well, I felt bad about the fact that you couldn’t get a booth at the gift fair, and I loved the painting you gave me as a gift so much that it gave me an idea,” Zoey explained. “I figured out a way that I could have more accessories to sell, and you could get more exposure for your art.”
She held up one of the silk-screened scarves. “What do you think?”
“Wait—that’s my painting,” Ezra said.
“I know!” Zoey said. “That’s the surprise!”
“Oh.” Ezra’s face looked blank.
To Zoey’s dismay, while Ezra did seem genuinely surprised, he didn’t seem all that happy.
“What’s the matter?” she asked. “I thought you’d like it.”
Ezra hesitated. “I . . . well . . . I think of my paintings as art. Not as decoration for other things.”
“It is art,” Zoey said. “But you can buy clothes and T-shirts and scarves with famous paintings on them at art museum gift stores, right?”
“Yes, but . . . I guess I’m also kind of upset that you didn’t ask me first.”
“The only reason I didn’t ask you was because I wanted to do this as a surprise,” Zoey said. “And because you seemed to think copying is a compliment. But I guess I should have asked you, now that I think about it. And the other thing is that I plan to give you all the profits from the headbands and scarves.”
“I don’t know,” Ezra said.
“Also, I can get my brother, Marcus, to make a stack of postcards to hand out at the booth—he’s really good at graphic design,” Zoey said, hoping to make Ezra feel better about everything. “That way people who like the painting on the accessories will know where to find you to buy original artwork.”
“Look, Zoey, I get that you were trying to do something nice for me, because of the booth thing, and that’s really sweet,” Ezra said. “But I’m still not sure how I feel about my paintings being used on accessories. I have to think about it.”
“Okay, I understand,” Zoey said, although she wasn’t sure she did. “Just . . . Can you let me know soon? Because if I can’t use these, I have to make something else and the fair starts on Friday.”
“Yeah. I’ll let you know tomorrow,” Ezra said.
When Zoey hung up, she panicked. Why if Ezra said no to the scarves and headbands? She’d already made a bunch, and then she’d still need something else besides bracelets to sell as accessories. And time was running out!
By lunch the next day, Zoey still hadn’t heard anything from Ezra, and she was starting to freak out.
“Why hasn’t he let me know yet?” she wailed. “The gift fair setup is tomorrow! Even if I can think of something else to sell, I’m not going to have enough time to make enough of whatever it is!”
“I know you wanted this to be a surprise,” Kate said. “But you really should have asked Ezra first.”
“Yeah, I can kind of understand why he’s miffed,” Libby said. “How would you feel if Allie had taken one of your designs and put it on a tote bag without asking you?”
“I would be upset,” Zoey admitted. “Listen, I know now that I should have asked Ezra first.”
“But it’s too late now,” Priti said. “He’s already upset.”
“And I have to set up my booth tomorrow after school,” Zoey said. “What am I going to do if he says no?”
Her friends all looked at her sadly.
“I wish I had a great idea to help, but I don’t,” Kate said.
“Me neither,” Libby agreed. “Not on such short notice.”
“I just hope he says
yes,” Priti said.
“You and me both,” Zoey said, hoping like anything that he’d let her know—soon! She decided to make some infinity scarves and headbands out of fabric from her stash after school, just in case.
Zoey had just finished sewing her third infinity scarf out of conflict-free fabric when Ezra finally called.
“Oh, hey, Ezra,” Zoey said. “I’ve been on pins and needles waiting to hear from you. So . . . have you made a decision yet? What do you think? Are you okay with me selling the scarves and headbands?”
“Well, I guess it’s okay this time,” Ezra said, and Zoey felt a huge weight of worry disappear. “But I still wish you’d asked me first.”
“I know! So do I!” Zoey said. “I realize now that it was kind of silly of me not to.”
“For one thing, I probably would have chosen different paintings if I’d known they were going to be on accessories,” Ezra said. “It would have been good to have some input.”
“I understand,” Zoey said. “And I’m really sorry.”
“So I was thinking—it’s not really fair for me to take all the profits from the silk-screen accessories,” Ezra said. “I mean, yeah it’s my painting, but making the accessories was your idea. Plus, you had to spend all the time designing and silk-screening and sewing. So, I say we split the profits.”
“Are you sure?” Zoey asked.
“I’m one hundred percent sure that I should only get fifty percent of the profits,” Ezra said.
“I’ll agree to that if you agree to come keep me company at the gift fair,” Zoey said.
“Fine—as long as I don’t have to wear a scarf or a headband!” Ezra said.
“Well, then,” Zoey said. “You’ve got yourself a deal!”
She breathed a sigh of relief when they hung up, and made a few headbands out of the stash fabric, too, so the display would look balanced. She was finally getting excited!
Friday after school, Zoey packed up all of her merchandise, and Dad and Marcus drove her to the gift fair location to set up her booth. Allie was already there, having driven straight from school, and her booth was mostly set up.
“Wow, it looks great, Allie!” Zoey said as she passed, carrying a box of accessories.
“Thanks,” Allie said. “Good luck setting up yours.”
“Where do I get all my display materials?” Zoey asked.
“Whatever you ordered should be in the booth,” Allie said.
Then Allie spotted Marcus, who was helping Mr. Webber bring in more of Zoey’s boxes of merchandise on a hand truck. Zoey saw Allie quickly turn away to rearrange some handbags that were on hooks attached to the side of the tent.
Awkward, Zoey thought. Will it ever get less weird between Allie and Marcus? Maybe they need a No Weirdness Pact of their own! But she didn’t have time to worry. There was too much to get done setting up her booth.
But when Zoey looked in her booth, there wasn’t much there in the way of hooks and display shelves. Everything she ordered definitely wasn’t there.
“What am I going to do?” Zoey asked Dad and Marcus, her voice rising in panic.
“The first thing you’re going to do is not freak out,” Dad said. “And then we’ll go over and ask the organizers what happened to the rest of your order.”
At the organizers’ table, Dad nudged Zoey to do the talking.
“I don’t seem to have all of my display order,” Zoey said. “And it’s a real problem, especially because I didn’t get a clothing rack, so I’m not sure how I’m going to display my garments properly.”
“I know. We had a problem with the delivery,” Mrs. Perry said. “The display company didn’t deliver our order in full, so we’ve had to cut back on what we’re giving people based on what they ordered. I’m really sorry for the inconvenience.”
Zoey realized that she should have ordered more display items like Allie told her. Trying to save money on display materials now meant she was going to be extra short.
“What am I supposed to do?” Zoey asked.
“You might try asking around to see if any of the other vendors have stuff they’re not using,” said Mrs. Perry. “Sometimes they order more than they need, just in case.”
“I’ll go back and help Marcus unpack the boxes while you go talk to the vendors,” Dad said.
Zoey felt embarrassed having to ask people she didn’t know if they had spare display materials. She decided to ask Allie first, because she was her friend. But when she explained the situation, Allie said, “That’s why I said to order extra.”
“I will next time!” Zoey promised. “But can you help me out now?”
Allie looked around her booth.
“I suppose I can combine these key chains and change purses on to the large display shelf,” Allie said. “Then you can have the small shelf. And I have one small hanging rod to spare. But I can’t really spare anything else.”
Zoey felt mad, even though she knew it wasn’t Allie’s fault that she was short on materials. If anything, it was her own. But Allie didn’t have to be mean about it. That wasn’t like her; at least not like the girl Zoey had become friends with.
“Well, thanks for that,” Zoey said. “I’m going to ask other vendors to see if I can scrounge up anything else.”
After a begging tour of the booths, Zoey had managed to come away with an odd assortment of display things but was still way short of what she needed. She came back to the booth, and with Marcus and Dad’s help, tried to arrange what she had so it looked good.
“The booth still looks half empty, and I don’t have anything else to display my stuff with,” Zoey complained. “What am I going to do?”
“How about if Dad and I go to the hardware store and see what we can pick up there?” Marcus suggested.
“Isn’t that going to be expensive?” Zoey asked. She was beginning to wish she’d never signed up for the gift fair.
“Don’t worry,” Dad said. “I’ll cover it. Or maybe we can ask the organizers to reimburse us, since they didn’t get everything you needed and they still charged you. But really, honey, I’m happy to buy it.”
Zoey stayed and laid out the bracelets neatly in the wooden trays she’d made in industrial arts and tried to decorate the booth as best she could.
While Dad and Marcus were gone, Mrs. Perry came around to see how Zoey was doing.
“Not so good,” Zoey said. “But my dad and brother have gone to the hardware store to find some racks and shelves.”
“Oh dear. . . . These booths are made such that the shelves and display racks fit in a very specific way,” Mrs. Perry warned. “I’m not sure if other racks and shelves will work with it.”
“Should I call Dad and tell him to forget about it?” Zoey asked, worried.
“I don’t know,” Mrs. Perry said. “They might work. Give them a try. In the meantime, I’ll see if I can call around to get you some more things locally—and also see if I can convince the other vendors to share a bit more.”
“Thank you,” Zoey said.
“It’s the least I can do,” Mrs. Perry said.
Dad and Marcus returned forty-five minutes later with hooks, racks, clothing rods, and shelves.
“This should do the trick,” Dad said. “We’ll have the rest of this set up in no time.”
At least that’s what they thought . . . until they tried to hang the first shelf.
“These hooks won’t fit,” Marcus said.
Dad examined the small shelf that Allie had let Zoey borrow.
“It looks like there’s a special fitting on the end of this that matches the wall of the booth,” he said. “I didn’t see anything like this at the hardware store.”
“Thanks for trying, guys. But Mrs. Perry said it might not work,” Zoey wailed. “And she was right. Now what do we do?”
“I guess maybe we could try affixing the clothes with duct tape,” Dad suggested. “Maybe it would look cool in a gritty way?”
“What?” Zoey exclaimed. “No
way! That would look awful!” She didn’t mean to snap at her dad, but the idea of taping clothes up with duct tape made her cringe.
“Yeah, I’m seconding Zoey on vetoing that duct tape idea,” Marcus agreed. “It would look really unprofessional.”
“Well, any other ideas?” Dad asked. “ ’Cause I’ve got nothing.”
“I know! Let’s call Aunt Lulu,” Marcus suggested. “She’s done lots of trade shows. I bet she’ll know how to improvise.”
“Good thinking!” Zoey said. She pushed the speed dial for her aunt.
“Hey, Zo!” Aunt Lulu said. “How’s the booth looking?”
“It’s a bit of a disaster at the moment,” Zoey said. She explained about the delivery shortage and the problem with hanging the shelves and the clothing rods on to the booth wall.
“They’re supposed to have a special bracket in order to fit on to the booth,” Zoey explained. “And the ones from the hardware store don’t.”
“I bet zip ties would work for the smaller shelves if they have predrilled holes in them for brackets or nails,” Aunt Lulu suggested. “And they’re a lot more discreet than duct tape. Tell your dad I’m with you on that!”
“I know, right?” Zoey said. “Black zip ties are a great idea.”
“But those probably aren’t strong enough to hold the clothing rods,” Aunt Lulu said. “Especially once you have them loaded up with clothes. I’m not sure what to do about those.”
“Well, thanks for the zip ties idea,” Zoey said. “Hopefully, we’ll figure out to do with the rods.”
“Oh! Or you also could use twine to make a clothesline cross the booth, and hang things from it with wooden clothespins,” Aunt Lulu suggested. “It’s a simple solution that looks cute and rustic.”
When Zoey hung up, she explained to Dad and Marcus what Aunt Lulu said about the zip ties, clothespins, and the clothing rods.
“I can run back to the hardware store and pick up some zip ties,” Dad said. “And the wooden clothespins and twine. But the clothing rods are still a problem. Do you really need them?”
“Yes!” Zoey said. “The twine is a great idea, but clothes are heavy, so I can’t hang too many pieces on each line. And if I have too many clotheslines in the booth, it’s going to look messy instead of cute.”
