Monroe Craft had built a major hospitality pitch around my studio’s designs. They had assumed I would renew the license and had already been presenting the work as part of their future business plans.
I told him to withdraw the proposal.
Sandra called within minutes.
“You’re trying to destroy your father’s business because you’re embarrassed.”
“No,” I said. “I’m refusing to let you sell work you don’t own.”
She became quiet for a second.
Then she threatened me.
“People in the design community talk, Rachel. You know that.”
I almost laughed.
“You’ve been telling people what kind of person I am for five years.”
Then I hung up.
The next morning, Sandra asked to meet me alone.
She arrived wearing the professional expression she used at business events, the one that made every conversation sound like a negotiation between reasonable adults.
She said we had both handled things badly.
“We’re both strong personalities,” she told me.
I knew immediately what she was trying to do.
She was turning a deliberate choice into a personality conflict.
I refused.
She slid a revised licensing agreement across the table.
Less than a day after throwing me out of Thanksgiving dinner, she expected me to sign another document that would allow Monroe Craft to use my work.
I looked at the paper and then at her.
“Are you sorry you hurt me,” I asked, “or are you sorry I stopped being useful?”
She did not answer directly.