The Fifteen Minute Novel is an attempt to take a single prompt and use the last sentence written each day as a start for the next day. This year I had several prompts circling around a similar story, so I have combined them. However, the story starts the same way each day, with the last line from the day before and a timer set for fifteen minutes. The hope is to end up with a complete, if very rough draft by the end of the year. Some stories are better than others, but I always learn a whole lot about my own writing when I do this so for me it is not only a nice way to work out a story, but it is a tool for helping my writing get better. And so, we continue this story for 2024 with…
, Day 71: Sophie smiled back.
Sophie smiled back. Someone looks as though they have some good news,” Sophie said as she watched Janine approach.
“I was going to wait until you got settled after work, but I saw you pull up and couldn’t resist,” Janine said.
“That good, huh?” Sophie asked. “Why don’t you come in and tell me all about it.”
Sophie opened her front door and Janine followed her in, closing the door behind her.
“Well,” Janine said as Sophie set her bag down. “You know the company that is buying the sleep sets?”
“I do,” Sophie said “Have they decided they don’t want anymore?”
“Of course not,” Janine said. “The sets are selling for them even better than they did for me because they have a wider market. Plus they can sell them for more which is even better. No I showed them the first of the winter dressing gowns you made. The limited edition ones? And they want to make a deal to purchase several for a limited holiday release. They wouldn’t need them until October, but they want to have them for the November/December sales.”
Sophie nodded. “I was already making them for that time anyway, just handing you the ones as they are finished to make room and so you know how many you will have to sell. Do you know how many they want and the specific details?”
Janine held up a folder and waved it in the air. Unlike the folders everyone else tried to give her, this one caused Sophie to smile and hold out her hand. Janine placed the folder in it. “I’ll leave it with you to look over. Its all the information they sent so if you have any questions I will have to pass them along. Is there anyway I could get a decision by the end of the week?”
Sophie thought about her week and how it was shaping up. “I’m sure I can,” she tld her friend.
“Excellent. Then I will leave yo to unwind from work.”
Janine left and Sophie opened the folder. The details were simple and neatly arranged. They wanted the dressing gowns for the holiday sales. There was a break out of what she would be paid per garment, how many garments they needed and of course Janine’s commission. It was pretty straightforward.
Sophie set the folder to the side, her stomach reminding her that she had not eaten lunch. She went to the kitchen and quickly assembled a simple meal, her thoughts still turning over the offer. With her hours reduced to more normal working hours, Sophie was able to keep up with the contract for the sleepwear sets and still work on her own items. It was easily manageable without adding stress or worry.
‘The dressing gowns are something else though,’ Sophie thought. They required a little extra time and work. ‘Mostly because of the embroidery and extra bits.’
Still she was finding that doable as well. She was already working on the items she planned to pass Janine for the same season. ‘It is just a few extra.’
She thought of the money. It was good, more than she would have gotten if Janine sold them. ‘And her commission for working with the company is the same percentage it was when I made them for just her site. Sophie thought of the office.
Ten til Midnight 