AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"I would be interested to see these," he said.
"Sure. Anytime. I can show you pictures on my phone whenever you like."
"Oh, okay, we might have a minute." Mr. Mori hesitated, staring at Beau.
"Now?" Beau asked, causing Mr. Mori to nod.
Beau took his phone out of his pocket and went to the photos he had helped her take at the lake house. He had emailed them to himself so they could use Photoshop on his laptop while he was in Arkansas. He accessed his sent folder where he found the edited photos that he had mailed back to her. There were about thirty in the bunch, and he clicked on the first one and then handed the phone to Kai's grandfather.
"You can scroll down if you want to look at any more," he said.
"Oh," he said thoughtfully as he regarded the screen. He pinched the screen to cause it to zoom in on the first tag. He adjusted his glasses, inspecting it thoroughly. "Hmm, does she make these by hand?"
"Yes, sir. She's got tools that she uses to stamp the metal, and lately, she's been doing paint with the acrylic coating. They're really nice."
"Are you talking about Holland's collars?" AJ asked from the other side of the table.
"What collars?" Mr. Mori asked, looking at Beau.
"Holland," he answered. "That's her name."
Mr. Mori nodded, remembering the conversation at the table earlier.
"She calls them Buddy Gear. She's got good branding and everything," Beau added. "One of her friends is a graphic artist, and he made the logo. It's in there, on one of the photos."
Mr. Mori kept scanning the email, scrolling down and looking at the photos one-by-one while Beau was talking. "I like this idea a lot," he said. "The dog's name is right on the collar."
"Yes, sir. That's what most of her business is. She just recently started making those other tags—the ones that hang loose."
"Oh, that's really nice with the stripes," he said, going to the next picture. "I like that. Does she make these by hand?"
"Yes, everything's by hand. She has metal stamps. On these newer ones, she paints and pours acrylic over the top."
"A lot of work goes into this. The price point has to be high."
"Yes, sir. But she enjoys it. And they look way better than a dog tag you'd get at the store, so people are willing to pay."
"I like this product," he said. "I have a little dog at my house, and I think my wife would love very much to get one like this for her." He handed Beau the phone. "We could put this idea into production—something small-scale with that custom feel. I like this a lot. I would buy this."
Beau smiled. "You'd buy the company, or a collar?"
Mr. Mori smiled back at him. "Both."
***
It was a little over an hour later when Beau called Holland.
"Hey," she said, picking up. "I was going to text you soon."
"I actually only have a minute," Beau said.
"That's okay. I can let you go now if you need to."
"No. I came back to my room so I could call you without everyone standing there, but Mr. Mori, the older one, Kai's grandpa, he loves your collars. Apparently, his wife has this little dog that she takes everywhere, and he wants to order some of your—not only does he want to order some, but, Holland, he wants to work with you. He wants to open a division of your brand over here in Japan. He loves it. We ate lunch, and he looked at the pictures, and then later in the meal he asked me to see them again. He couldn’t stop thinking about it. He's serious. He and his son started talking about options. He thinks there's a market for this with pet owners here. I think he's going to have someone call you."
Beau paused and a second of silence passed where Holland didn't say anything.
"Are you there?" he asked.
