AITAH for not reminding my client that I need some information in order to keep going?

Hi everyone. Sorry if this is too long, will try to keep it as short as possible.

I am an interior designer and I have this client. Let’s name her Lisa. Lisa is an industrial designer and her business is to do custom made furniture. She offered me a job in 2022 that I declined, but we have been working on and off since then with some projects, as collaboration (freelance). Let’s say a new client comes to her, if she is too busy, she subcontracts me, and after I’m done with the design, she moves forward with the client with construction. Let’s say, she isn’t my favorite type of client, and every project we have I always “promise myself” it’s going to be the last one, but I make good extra money.

About a month ago, she contacts me about a new project. She texted me a Sunday night for a meeting early the next day. I moved some stuff to be available. I thought the meeting was just to talk about the project, but it was to take measurements (something I don’t do for free). She asks me an hour before the meeting to bring my iPad (that had no battery and I only use it to make notes while taking measurements) and 20min before the meeting she texts me I needed closed shoes (I was wearing sandals, and already in traffic). We saw the project, and I told her it would take me about 5 weeks to do design, and that I would like to start asap as I have some holidays booked in mid July and I prefer to finish before I’m gone. She says timing is fine.

I send my economic proposal around June 9th, as she told me the clients were having some issues with her accounts, but because the first payment (12.5% of the total) is not that much, she could use money from her business to pay so I could start asap. She asked me to wait for June 15th, and because of that, I agreed to work without the first payment. By June 18th, I had no news from her, so I told her I was going to stop working. She asks me to come and pick up the check the next day. (Not to mention, the check wasn’t complete. She paid 10% instead of 12.5% that was in the contract)

On June 28th, I sent my first proposal. She says she likes it, but she made some corrections regarding other stuff. That same day, I sent the corrections and I didn’t hear back. Because of that, I decide to move forward with the next phase.

On July 2th, she sends me a very aggressive text, asking me why it was taking too long, why it was delayed. I told her it wasn’t delayed, that because I didn’t hear any feedback, just a positive, general one, I decided to go to the next phase. She obviously didn’t see my email (I’m assuming she was on holidays, as she said she was out of the country) and asked me to send my proposal on the group chat she created with her Project Manager. I sent it there and she says: “I appreciate the proposal, but we are going to stick to the design we made in 2020(*) and the client already has some furniture they would like to use in this project”. I replied, “I would’ve appreciated if you told me that a week ago, not a week later, after you told me you liked the proposal.” I sent some other texts, but she hasn’t opened the chat group since then. I was so angry that I calmed myself down, and wrote an email, asking for all the specific information I need in order to keep going: What they liked. What they didn’t like. What the client already has it, etc. I send a copy to Lisa and her PM. And I texted them in the group chat, and her PM replied: “I’ll get back to you either later today or tomorrow”

I haven’t heard from any of them since then, after I included in both, my email and my text, that I need that information in order to keep going with the project.

It going to be one week tomorrow since I stopped completely working on that project. Of course I’m not going to finish it before my holidays, but I made it very clear that I won’t work, nor be available that week. So of course I know Lisa is going to go all crazy after she finds out this project has been on pause, basically since I started, because she thinks I can read her mind and guess what exactly she wants, without saying a word.