This story has been knocking about in my head for years, and is based (very loosely) on a real experience I had.
As always, thank you to shorterversion for all her help and endless patience in getting this one over the line.
Ratings are all good (and I do like a good rating!), but constructive feedback is always welcomed. Also, if you have a suggestion for a topic then please do share.
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Phil turned the business card over in his hands again, checking the company name and address.
"Turner, Smith and Lawrence - Bespoke Tailors" the gold writing announced on the black background of the card. The address and phone number were on the back in a calligraphy-style typeface.
Phil checked the address and looked up and down the street, the buildings seemingly unchanged since Victorian times. He spotted the shop he was looking for and crossed the quiet street before heading up the steps to the entrance.
As he opened the door, a little bell rang just above his head, and a rather portly if well-dressed man looked up from his newspaper and looked Phil up and down with an eyebrow raised.
"May I help you?" the gentleman asked, looking at Phil over his glasses. His accent had that perfect clipped English tone that you would only expect to hear in these sorts of places.
"Yes," Phil stammered. "I have an appointment for a suit fitting. The name's Carter, erm, Phil Carter." He noticed the brass name tag attached to the breast of the man's waistcoat. It said that man's name was "Albert".
"Hmm..." Albert opened a leather-bound book and ran his finger down the page. "Ah yes! Mr. Carter! I see we have you booked in to be measured for a tuxedo. 11:30, if I'm not mistaken."
"That's right!" Phil looked around the dark wooden panelled walls of the room and realised that the inside looked rather more Victorian than the outside. "Sorry, I'm a few minutes early."
"That's not a problem, young man. You can take a seat in our waiting room." Albert nodded in the direction of a room off to his right, and Phil followed his direction to see an open door with a small brass plaque on it that clearly read 'Waiting Room'.
"I believe I'm correct in saying that you've never used our services before. Is that correct, Mr. Carter?"
"That's right," Phil replied. "You've been recommended to me by a work colleague."
"Excellent! Now, as I said, if you just pop into the waiting room, Monica will be through to take your measurements shortly." Albert gestured again towards the room, and as Phil turned to the room, he went back to his newspaper, almost as if Phil was no longer there.
Phil entered another low-lit, wood-panelled room. This room had a line of green, leather backed chairs down one wall and a large glass showcase on the other. The showcase was filled with watches, cufflinks and tiepins, along with a selection of show styles and colours. Suits of varying designs and colours hung on the wall above the show case.
Phil took a seat and took in the room around him. It was everything you would imagine a Savile Row tailor's shop to look like, and Phil chuckled to himself at the absurdity of his surroundings.
As his new role had meant that he was going to more and more functions, having to hire a dinner suit every other week was becoming not only awkward but very expensive! He'd looked for an off-the-shelf suit, but none seemed to fit as well as he liked. Either the arms were too long, or it was too tight around the chest, or it made him look like a bouncer in a nightclub rather than the executive he was aspiring to be.
He'd asked one of his colleagues, who had passed him the card that he was now turning in his hands. "Excellent service!" his colleague had added. "You won't get a better fitting suit anywhere in London for that matter."
Phil had never had any sort of suit fitting, other than the type you got at the hire places, and that usually went no further than the assistant holding a selection of jackets in front of him until one looked about right. Even once they had his details on record, there was usually a bagged-up suit waiting for him when he went to collect.
"Mr. Carter?" A voice came from the doorway, shaking Phil out of his daydreams and causing him to look up at the figure standing in the waiting room doorway. Wearing an outfit not dissimilar to an air stewardess stood Monica, according to the brass name badge she was wearing.
Phil stood, and Monica offered her hand in greeting. "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Carter."
Her hair was swept back into a tight bun, and she had a green and red scarf tied around it. The only thing that didn't fit the image was the small notepad on a lanyard around her neck, which Phil assumed was for making notes. She had the same clipped accent as the gentleman at the front desk, but Phil was sure he could detect an underlying accent, possibly Eastern European, he thought. Monica couldn't have been more than 5'3" in Phil's estimation, and her delicate frame matched her stature. He would have put her age in her late 20s, if he'd had to place it.
He reached out and shook her hand; she had a surprisingly strong grip for such a slight woman.
Releasing his hand, Monica gestured out of the waiting room. "If you'd please follow me, then we can get started."
Phil followed her out of the waiting room and across the reception area. Albert never looked up from his paper as they passed his desk and entered the room marked 'Measurement and Fitting'.