“Hi, Mei-Ling. It´s Anne Stilwell.”
“Oh, I´m glad to hear from you. How are you? How´re things?”
“Good. Very good. School is good, business is good, the guys are good, so am I. Haven´t talked to you since New Year´s. What´s with your kids?”
“They´re fine, Anne. Sally had an ear infection, but she´s over that now.”
“You know I really didn´t focus on their names when we were there. Sally and Joshua. Why not Chinese names?”
“We´re not Chinese, Anne, we´re American-Chinese. Americans first, by birth and loyalty, Chinese in culture. And Sally is Sally Mei Lin, Josh is Joshua Peng Lin.”
“Well, that makes sense. Jimmy well, too? Saul sends his best to you both, by the way.”
“We´re all well. Even mother, who likes to complain now and then about her aging problems. She runs rings around us. Comes of chasing the children, I guess.
“Makes me think,” she went on. “When can you come out here and spend a whole weekend? Get to know us all?”
“I´ve got a better idea, Mei-Ling. As soon as it gets warm and we get the pool open again, you and Jimmy and the kids come here. We´ve got lots of space, a pool, sauna. All kinds of privacy. There´s a riding stable next door. And that way, you could meet all of us, too.”
“Let´s make that a real project, Anne. I want to do that. Think about Memorial Day weekend.”
“Mei-Ling, I´ve been watching how your jewelry is moving. It´s really selling well, almost all of the pieces have been moving nicely. I´m beginning to wonder about your policy of limiting the editions. We may sell out of some very good items.”
“Okay. Um ... I really didn´t expect to have that large a market, Anne, when I started limiting the editions. I think Jimmy and I need to talk about that. See if there´s some way we can protect the investment of people who have bought limited editions, and still continue to sell the pieces.”
“You have the number on the pieces, right? Could you just start leaving them off? Any piece that isn´t numbered isn´t limited.”
“Well, that´s the simplest way, but I´m not sure. Let me think about it.”
“I´ve had some requests, Mei-Ling. Some of our customers are really fond of the breast ornaments. I got a call from a lady the other day who said she loves them, but can´t wear such fancy stuff all the time. Could you design a line of beast ornaments for, as the fashion people say, ‘daytime wear´?”
“You think there´s a market?”
“Absolutely. I´ll be the first. I´d really like to wear something all the time, but what I have is too nice and too precious. So I just use the pins.”
“Are you naked all the time?”
“No. Heather´s the only one who´s really a nudist. But lots of times I wear just panties, or tights, you know, like you do. I have a little hip skirt that gets attention when I don´t wear anything else. Sometimes just a shirt. The other day, I put on a blouse to wear to a meeting outside and realized I still had a pair of disks on my breasts. I could see them through the material – it really looked wild.”
“You wouldn´t go to a meeting like that.”
“No, though I like to wear a sheer blouse under a suit – well, you remember. But have you noticed how many women wear blouses that show off their bras? Why shouldn´t I show off my breast ornaments?”
“Well, of course I can do some ‘daytime wear´, Anne. Let me make a few samples and send them to you.”
“Good. Got another request. Same ladies want dangly stuff. Things that hang from their nipples and wiggle. Jewelry, of course, but one gal got talking about a dangle that could be a little snake or something. She sounded really turned on by the idea.”
“I´ve already got some of those, they´re really just a kind of earring. You want ‘daytime wear´ for those, too? And samples?”
“Yes, I would. Uh ... do you need to have the samples back?”
“Wear them, silly. You know you can have them.”
“Thanks, I will ... Now … I also have something I don´t know if you want to do. Mary´s mother, Lucy Travis, wants some breast ornaments, too. But she wants to commission some stuff. Exclusive.”
“Fine, what´s she want? Why wouldn´t I want to do it?”
“It´s not oriental, Mei-Ling.”
“Hey, I just told you I´m an American. Tell me what you want, then let me decide.”
“Oops, sorry. Lucy wants conchas for her breasts.”
“I´ll bite, what are conchas?”
“They´re silver disks that cowboys put on their saddles and on their chaps. They´re usually round with two rectangular openings in the center so you can fasten them with a leather strap. I´ll fax you a picture of some.”
“Think I´ve seen pictures. Sounds interesting. I´ll do some research and get back to you with a design or two.”
“Great. She also wants a squash blossom, maybe two. I´m not quite sure what she has in mind there.”
“I know squash blossoms, Anne. It´s a question of how large she wants them, how she´s going to wear them. Can you get more information on that?”
“Well, Lucy´s family, Mei-Ling. Why don´t you call and talk to her about it? I´ll give you her number. If she were a customer, I´d handle it, but you might as well get it from the horse´s mouth.”
“Thanks, I appreciate that.”
“Well, you´re family, too, Mei-Ling, at least as far as Saul and I are concerned. Now, speaking of that, I want to tell you about something we´ve developed that I want to see if you´re interested in. I´ll have to send you and Jimmy a non-disclosure agreement to sign, but as far as I´m concerned, that´s a formality.”
“Must be big.”
“I think, for us, it´s going to be very big. That´s why I want you to know about it and give me your input. I also want to see if there´s an application for your markets there, as well.”
I described Virtual Jewelry and Virtual Clothing to her, told her how Heather had pushed this so hard and so effectively.
“Heather´s your nudist, isn´t she?”
“Well, she always liked being bare. Now, all she wears is VeeJays and VeeCees.”
“What?”
“That´s our nickname and our brand names.” I took a moment to explain. “… Anyway for Heather, it´s almost a matter of principle. She´ll put on some new idea and wear it for a couple of days, wash it off and try something else. She´s a riot. It´s partly her creativity, partly the colors and patterns. It´s spectacular. And she´s got a really glorious body.”
“Sounds fabulous. What do you think of this stuff?”
“Oh, naturally, I love it. And not just for business reasons. It´s a real kick to walk around with a canary on your breast, or a frog on your tummy. The other day, we all sat on top of Saul and put “C-O-A-C-H” on his back. He´s been telling us all what to do lately, and it was time to make him pay.”
Mei-Ling laughed merrily. “Wish I´d been there. I would have sat on his face.”
“Fortunately, I got that duty. It´s how we caught him by surprise. Of course, then we had to turn him over ...”
“Anne, this stuff is interesting. Can I see some of it? Can you send me some samples? I´ll even send them back.”
“I´ll do better. I´ll send you Heather. And Will. How about they come out for a day and show you what we´ve got and leave you some stuff to work with?”
“Just tell me when they´ll get here.”
.oOo.
When Heather came home, I told her about my talk with Mei-Ling. “You want to go out there?”
“You bet. I´ve always wanted to see her stuff, get to know her. She´s an incredible artist.”
“You are, too, in your medium, Heather. I´d like you to go out with Will, if he´s got time, and take with you a lot of stuff Mei-Ling could use to design stuff in her own style. A sort of Development Kit, as the programmers say.”
“That´s a challenge in itself. Sure. I´ll do it.”
“Can I make a suggestion?”
“Sure, what?”
“Before you go, let´s talk about what you wear. I mean, Mei-Ling knows a little about you – I´ve told her how you run around here like an ever-changing rainbow. She´s going to have your britches off before you get in the door, and it might be fun to plan ahead for impact. What do you think?”
“It´s a good idea. Let me do a little scheming and show you what I have in mind.”
“Great. I´ll talk to Will about his schedule and get flights and hotels.”
“Didn´t you stay over when you and Saul were there?”
“Yes, but I think it´s a good idea to leave the decisions to her.”
“As Sigrid says, ‘Play it safe and certain´.”
“You got it.”