Page 96 of So This Is War
“Right. Not sure what else I can put him through. When I was talking to him while he was out on the ice, I was playing with his jersey, and he didn’t tell me to stop. It felt . . . real.”
“Real?” Sandie asks with a raise of her brow. “I thought we were trying to teach him a lesson.”
“We are.” I curl under my blanket. “But I don’t know, even with all of the running around I had to do today, I just felt like it was nice to help him out.”
“Those tasks aren’t from him. Those are from your dad. What’s happening to you?”
I look over at Sandie as the game goes to commercial. “Okay, don’t judge me, but we had a moment this morning in the car. He wasn’t fumbling around all nervous, and he was the same man I met at the hotel. He was charming and smooth and intriguing. He asked me questions, and it just felt like . . . like that night.”
“But you remember what you’re supposed to be doing, right?”
“Yes.” I sigh heavily. “It was just nice for a second, you know?”
“Yes, but we have a goal. That goal is to prove to your dad that you can be self-sufficient, that you don’t need his help, his career directives, or anything to make it on your own. You can’t get caught up in ‘moments’ with Levi.”
“You’re right.” I nod. “You’re very right. Ugh, I’m sorry. I’ll be better.”
“Don’t apologize to me. Apologize to your future self who’s reaching for the stars.”
I chuckle. “Okay, Sandie, don’t be lame.”
“Lame? I’m inspiring.”
“Okay, Miss Inspiring, tell me what you thought of the logos.”
“I’m surprised it took you this long to ask.”
“I was trying to be patient. But guess what, my patience is up. Do you think they’re good?”
“I do,” she says, but I can hear a but coming along. “They are great, but . . .”
“And there it is.” I chuckle. “Let me have it. How can I improve?”
“I liked the silhouettes that you made. I thought they looked like her, and they were sexy, but I think you could do better with the font. It felt either thriller or old-school romance, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but I think she needs something more modern.”
I nod. “For me, font is the hardest. I hate that part of the job. I just don’t feel I have a solid grasp on what works.”
“That’s okay, it will take time. I was showing Dale your designs, and do you know what he said he does when he’s deciding on fonts? He’ll go to Creative Market and look through all the fonts and how the artist pairs them with designs. He was telling me that you can get a strong feel for how they imagined their font being used.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea. I’ll do that tonight.”
“And maybe offer her up some new colors for her brand. I know she’s into black and pink, but maybe show her something else. So keep to her branding but offer her something unorthodox.”Unorthodox. That’s exactly what I should do. I’m strong at creating things outside of the box.
“Good idea. Thank you, Sandie.”
“You know I’m here for you. Have you been working on anything else?”
“I’ve been waffling between opening up an Etsy shop or not. I know exposure would be good, but a lot of time and energy and ad spending goes into it. I’m sort of leaning more on UpWork at the moment and interviewing for side jobs.”
“Yeah, I’d focus on UpWork and continuing to update your profile, making sure you have the most up-to-date designs. Once you score a few jobs from there, then hopefully word of mouth will pick up the rest. And I’ll keep an eye out for any job contests I see floating around. Just want to be clear, but you want to stay freelance?”
“Yeah. I know that’s riskier, but I like the idea of being able to do a variety of jobs rather than one particular thing. Like there’s a girl in one of my classes and she got a job working for a triathlon company. It is great money and has benefits, but she said all she does is photoshop triathletes and put them against a banner. She hates that there is no creativity involved. I don’t want to be stuck like that. I’d rather continue this assistant farce and build up my portfolio than take a job remotely related to design just because it pays well. If I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it right.”
“I think that’s really smart. And you’ll get there, but it definitely won’t happen overnight.”
“I know that.” I sigh. “I don’t think my dad thinks I know that, though.” I glance at the TV, where I catch Levi slamming someone into the boards right before he shoots the puck behind the net and right to Eli, who flicks it down the ice to OC. “He probably assumes that I’m living in some fairy-tale land where I’ll find success overnight with one job. But I know what it means to work hard. I’ve worked hard at maintaining a relationship with him my entire life. And sure, that isn’t job experience, but it’s tenacity and goal setting. It’s made me realize that nothing comes for free, even my father’s love.”I’m not sure I’ll ever forget those words he wrote to Levi, though. How can a father be so blasé about how his daughter is treated?I’ve dealt with his gruff exterior for over two decades. But toinsistthat Levi make my life a living hell...
Do not let her off the hook. Don’t let her skate by. I want you to make her life a living hell, got it?
