1
Amanda scrolled down her computer screen, checking the numbers. She knew that she’d gotten them right the first time, but she always checked. The first step of running a successful business was ensuring that she knew where all of her money went.
Once she was satisfied that her accounts were all balanced, she opened photoshop and checked all of her current projects. Her greeting cards were looking spectacular, if she did say so herself.
It was a new venture Amanda was on. Her Christmas tree farm was doing well, but that only kept her busy around the holiday season. She made enough money there to carry her through the rest of the year, but Amanda wouldn’t want to do nothing for eleven out of twelve months. She was always looking forward to her latest business idea.
Before she’d started the greeting cards, Amanda had made friendship bracelets and necklaces, but she hadn’t done those in months. It reminded her too much of Nicole.
Amanda grimaced as she found herself once again thinking of her ex-wife. She and Nicole had made the bracelets and necklaces together, and after Nicole left her, Amanda hadn’t been able to bring herself to keep the line going.
She had given over the rights entirely to Nicole. Amanda had been hurting too much to negotiate a good deal on the matter, so she had simply given that part of her business away. It wasn’t like she needed the money anyway.
Amanda closed photoshop, deciding that she needed a distraction. She opened Tinder and started scrolling through potential matches. So far, Tinder had been a frustrating experience. It wasn’t that there was a lack of attractive women there, but in the short interactions Amanda had had with a few of them, none of them had truly caught her interest.
It was six months since Nicole had left, and Amanda was ready to move on, but she was struggling to find someone who really thrilled her. Amanda knew that she deserved to be in a happy relationship with someone she found delightful. She was willing to wait for that to happen, but she couldn’t help but feel discouraged.
She knew she was torturing herself for nothing, but Amanda couldn’t help opening up Facebook and checking out Nicole’s business page. They weren’t friends on Facebook anymore, as things had ended rather badly between them, but Amanda still had access to Nicole’s public pages.
She scrolled through the pictures and reviews. It looked like Nicole was doing well. Despite how badly things had ended between them, Amanda still wished Nicole the best. She was glad that Nicole seemed to be doing well, though it hurt her a little to see how quickly Nicole seemed to have moved on, taking the business’ range even further than the two of them had when they had been working on it together.
Amanda forced herself to close Facebook and Tinder and open up photoshop again. Her greeting cards were doing so well that she had decided to do a special Christmas edition. Even though it was only mid-October, it was never too early to get started.
Most people were focusing on Halloween, but Amanda knew that Christmas was a far more lucrative holiday for greeting cards, so she was playing the long game rather than trying to rush things to make a few quick bucks off Halloween.
She started designing mock-ups of a couple of cards. She had her Christmas tree farm, and she had recently purchased a machine that would make fake snow. She planned to take multiple shots of both individual trees and groups of trees to use on her greeting cards, all covered in a fine layer of snow.
For some of the shots, she’d bring a Christmas tree inside under warm lighting and stack presents underneath. Amanda designed four cards before she decided she needed to take a break. She’d been at her computer for hours and the screen was starting to give her a headache.
She closed down photoshop and strolled out the back of her house, directly onto the farm part of her property. The trees ready for this season looked to be thriving. There was an automated sprinkler system, so Amanda didn’t need to worry about watering them, but she still needed to keep an eye on them. If any of them started to look bedraggled or diseased, she would have to cut down the defective tree so that it didn’t negatively impact the other trees.
The trees were all looking good. Amanda sank down to the ground with her back against one of the larger trees, sighing in satisfaction. When things became too much, a walk through her trees always made her feel better.
She closed her eyes and focused on the gentle breeze playing over her face.
She was pulled from her reverie by her phone ringing. Amanda answered it automatically without checking the caller ID. She was a businesswoman and had to answer her phone, as she never knew when it could be a potential customer.
She regretted not checking the ID the moment she heard the voice on the other end. “Hello, Amanda.”
Amanda grimaced. “Nicole.”
“I wanted to give you an update on our bracelet and necklace range. It’s doing really well, and I’m thinking of creating a category of spooky Halloween-themed bracelets.”
“That’s great, Nicole, but what does this have to do with me?”
“Well, since business is booming, I thought it would only be fair to share the profits.”
Amanda ground her teeth, a horrible habit that her dentist had reprimanded her for more than once. “I already told you. I signed over the rights to those bracelets to you. I don’t want anything more to do with them.”Or to do with you. But she didn’t say that.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Amanda,” Nicole snapped. “You’re supposed to be a good businesswoman, for God’s sake! You don’t just turn down free royalties. That’s a stupid move.”
“I raised my business from the ground up! I don’t need to hear it from you about business decisions, not when you got your start-up money from daddy’s trust!”
Amanda knew her words were a mistake from the moment they left her lips.
“At least I’mtryingto be civil about this! I left you, Amanda, but you’re acting like I killed your cat! What the hell is wrong with you?”
What was wrong was that after years and years of endless fights, Amanda had had enough. Nicole wasn’t a bad person, but they both had such strong personalities, it was no wonder they fought all the time.