Chapter 3: Getting Comfortable

The days went by. The condos were three quarters sold, and the building was almost complete. Sherrie and Norma were swamped. The purchasers were all well to do, and demanded the best. David and Charley were spending long hours on furniture designs.

Luckily most of the customers were inclined towards traditional furniture and were easy to satisfy. About one out of ten wanted something different, a few were really demanding.

Sherrie, Norma, David, and Charley had many meetings to stay on the same page. They grew easy in their relationships, making it easier to have differences of opinion without worrying about bruised feelings or hurt egos. They all realized it didn't matter what they thought past a certain point. Whether or not they liked the end result, it was the decision of the customer.

"They're not always right" Charley summed it up, "but they are the ones footing the bills, and it will be hard for them to complain if we give them exactly what they want."

Norma had gone out twice more for lunch with Charley, both pleasant experiences. Then they got really busy, and lunch became sandwiches in their offices as they struggled with their workloads.

She did get to see his house. To say she was impressed was an understatement.

Made of logs harvested from the property it sat on, it was an impressive two story affair with a rambling porch that wrapped completely around it. It had a roof of treated oak shingles, also of trees off the property. It was a man's house, no doubt.

He welcomed her in the shop out back, his design studio. She was there to bring him the specs for their latest client's demand.

"This guy is a pain in the ass. He wants us to be done in ninety days, but he keeps changing things. We did exactly as he asked and now it's not what he wants."

She knew there had been a heated exchange between Charley and the client a few days ago. Charley had sent him notice they were not going to be able to meet his demands and they were not going to work with him any longer.

The customer was one of those super rich guys who thought his word was law and everyone should scramble to please him. He was furious, threatening to sue for breach of contract.

"Look at your contract, sir. It plainly says that our services are part of the package as long as both parties agree. You have the right to use anyone you want, we have the right to refuse you if we don't think we can work with you. Sue if you want, you'll get nowhere. If you like, I can recommend several firms who would be happy to work with you."

"I'll ruin you!" he screamed.

Charley actually laughed at him.

"How? I carry no debt, and besides this project I have two to three years of work I'm committed to. You'll splash around, spend money and end up looking foolish while I continue to prosper. There are no skeletons in my closet, so if you try to slur me I'll be the one doing the suing. Goodby, sir, I hope you can find someone who can give you what you want."

The wife was furious when they got dropped. David and Sherrie had shown her the plan for her son's room. The six year old loved frogs, so David had designed a dresser whit a curved top that resembled a blue pond with lily pads. Small metal frog sat on the pads, and the drawer pulls were frogs that chirped when the drawers were opened. The walls were painted with a meadow motif, with cattails prominent in the foreground. His bed was a large lily pad that made a splashing sound when he lay on it. Sherrie had even designed the comforters, and an alarm clock that looked like a frog, and gave mighty croaks when the alarm went off. Now she was going to lose that, even though Sherrie had assured her that she could have all the plans for the next designer.

They had also designed the ceiling to look like a night sky, with embedded lights. It changed into a sunrise glow when the alarm went off.

She actually threatened to leave him if he didn't stop being such an asshole. He backed off, practically begging them to resume their work.

They had one more meeting, with the wife in attendance. He said little except to apologize, and she assured them there would be no more changes.

Sherrie asked her to take the final drafts and some suggestions out to his house, he was working in his home studio that day.

He took her into the shop to show her the project he had been working on.

It was a dining room suite. The table was massive, designed to seat twelve people. The top was made of black walnut and holly in six inch boards two inches thick, the rails were holly, and the legs walnut. The black alternated well with the white of the holly. The chairs had legs and rails of black walnut, with seats made of holly, and backs made of the walnut, with a four inch strip of holly in the middle. Very impressive.