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'.
As he passed through the door Phil saw what he assumed to be three large changing cubicles, each with a dark green velvet curtain across the front. Monica opened the curtain to the second cubicle revealing a white panelled interior with a full-length mirror on each of the walls. A stool stood in one corner; the other corner had a low cabinet with shelves above it.
Monica gestured for Phil to step into the cubicle and followed him in, drawing the curtain behind them.
Taking out a pencil and fabric tape measure, Monica spoke. "Now Mr. Carter, if you'd just like to remove all items of your clothing and place them on the shelf over there, then I can take your measurements." Her voice was calm and business-like.
"I didn't realise I had to be naked for this!" Phil's voice waivered a little as his nerves started to rise. "Are you sure this is strictly necessary?"
"Oh course, Mr Carter," Monica said flatly. "We pride ourselves here at making the best fitting garments that we can, and clothing can throw out our measurements. So, if you wouldn't mind, we can get started."
Monica stood behind him, and through the mirror, Phil could see a level of impatience cross her face. He certainly hadn't been expecting this, but he remembered what he had been told, and with a shrug, he started to undress.
Monica's expression never changed, even when Phil bent down to pull his boxers over his ankles. He then placed them on the shelf with his other clothes and watched his naked reflection look back at him through the full-length mirror.
In his defence, he didn't look too bad for his 50 years. Standing just shy of 6', he'd kept himself in shape, although his stomach wasn't as flat as it was 20 years ago. He'd just started to show signs of grey in his hair, and unlike a lot of his contemporaries he still had all of it and kept it cut in a short but shaggy style. His body still bore a few traces of the summer tan, and he kept his body hair to a minimum.
Monica wasted no time. "Arms up please, Mr. Carter." Again, that pure business-like tone as she popped the pencil in her mouth and unfurled the tape measure.
She started by measuring from his shoulder to his wrist, and then between his shoulder blades. After each measurement, she would flip the tape measure over her shoulder and take the pencil from her mouth to scribble down the last value.
All the time, Phil kept his eyes focused forwards, trying not to make eye contact and keep things on a professional level. Monica took measurements from his neck to his waist and then sank to her knees behind him as she noted the length of his legs.
Monica stood back up and moved round Phil's side, then in front, between his physical and reflected self. "If you'll excuse me, I'll need to take some more measurements." She looped the tape measure round his neck, then around his chest and then around his waist, all the time stopping to make a note in her pad each time.
Again, she sank to her knees in front of him. Putting one end of the tape measure just below his ankle, Monica ran the measure up the inside of Phil's left leg. He jumped involuntarily as she pushed his balls to one side in order to get the tape measure the full length of his inner thigh. Monica didn't flinch or waiver, instead just making a note before repeating the process on his right leg. Even though he was expecting it this time, it still sent a shockwave through his core as the back of her hand brushed against his ball sack.
Monica made another note and then stood before reaching into the cabinet. "Thank you for your patience, Mr. Carter." Monica sat on the stool and pulled a wipe from the pack of antiseptic wipes she had retrieved from the cupboard. "I have one more measurement to make, and if you could remain still then it would make my job much easier."