Page 28 of Game On

Jamie leaned against the doorjamb. “I hope you didn’t pay an artist thousands of dollars for it.”

“Forty bucks at HomeSense.”

“Nice.” Straightening, Jamie joined Dorian where he stood in front of a corkboard hanging on the wall next to his desk. It hadn’t been there earlier. It was divided into three sections with a label for each section: fall, winter, and spring. The first two had six images pinned beneath, while the third only had two. “What are you working on?”

“I’m trying to choose items for the spring box.”

“Not fall? Isn’t that your inaugural box?”

“Yeah, but that’s done. See?” Dorian rapped a knuckle under the six product images under fall: cheese and garlic biscuit mix, a crocheted pumpkin, a scented soy candle, organic sandalwood-scented soap, pumpkin pie and maple-roasted pecans, and a linen tea towel in shades of orange and red. Each image included the maker’s name as well as the town or city they were from in the province. “The products have been selected, the contracts signed with the makers, and the products are being delivered the first week of August. I’ve also selected the products for the winter box; I’m just waiting on a couple of signed contracts to be returned to me.”

“You’re already planning ahead for spring?”

“And summer,” Dorian said. “I didn’t have room for it on my corkboard.”

Under spring were a rose-scented vegan dish soap and an ethically harvested tea blend.

“What says spring to you?” Dorian asked.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Jamie squinted as he thought. “Flowers. Birds. Butterflies. Hanging out outside. Camping. Putting out patio furniture. Muddy hiking trails. Baby animals.”

Something Jamie had said must’ve triggered a thought because Dorian began sorting through his product samples. From his pile next to the couch, he extracted a cream tea towel with wildflowers embroidered on the front.

“That’s cute for spring,” Jamie said.

“But I have a tea towel in the fall box. I don’t want to do the same thing two boxes later.”

“Can the artist do the same pattern on something else? Stain-resistant fabric coasters? Tissue-box covers? Pencil cases?”

Dorian snapped his fingers. “I like the pencil case idea, but for next fall. To coincide with the start of the new school year.” He made a note in a notebook on his desk.

Since the couch was covered in random products and a couple of thick file folders, Jamie sat on the floor and grabbed the bag of soft sea salt and maple popcorn Dorian didn’t like. “What got you into this?” Jamie asked, the bag crinkling as he opened it. “You’ve got a job, right? So why all this? What inspired you?”

Dorian grabbed his notebook and sat across from him, his fitted, tan fleece pants stretching over his thighs and crotch.

Jamie looked away.

“One of my university friends has an older sister who does soy candles.” Dorian pointed at his corkboard. “That’s her sweater-weather candle that’s going in my fall box. It smells like cloves and cinnamon and brown sugar and pumpkins. Anyway, she does a lot of craft markets and fairs, and she was doing one in Squamish in my second year of university. Her husband was away and she didn’t have anyone to help her set up, so my friend dragged me along to help. We stayed for the whole thing to help her pack everything away at the end, and I ended up spending hours talking to small business owners and artisans. And let me tell you...” He let out a humourless laugh. “They don’t have it easy. Some of them are lucky enough to make a living doing what they love, but for most, it’s a hobby that occasionally supplements their primary income. I mean, look at Charlie.”

Jamie crunched on popcorn. “Your cousin?”

“Yeah. He works for your NHL team as the resident baker. But he also bakes on the side. In fact, he did his first market a couple of weeks ago and he sold out of his cake jars.”

“Wait.” Jamie let the bag drop onto his lap. “The chocolate hazelnut cake jar I had my first night here... that was Charlie?”

Dorian’s smile was very proud papa. “Yeah. Good, right?”

“I’ll say. But how did a day at a market turn into—” Jamie gestured. “—this?”

“I had to write a business plan for one of my university marketing courses, and I chose to focus on a subscription box featuring small businesses from the province. I’ve wanted to do it ever since, but I didn’t have the capital for it until a few years ago, and even then, I sort of... sat on the idea for a while.”

“How’d you get your investors?”

Dorian stared at him. “What investors?”

“The ones who pay for all this?” Jamie said slowly. “The products and web hosting and... you need boxes for shipping too, right? And?—”

“I pay for it.”

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