The Man in Black [Kas]

Dust. It was edible... right? She stared at the feather duster.

"KASEY, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?" his yelled at her, again. It was her last week at his shop. All she had to do was finish the seven suits she had taken up. Anything else she could finish, was extra pay to her. "AGAIN, REALLY?"

She looked down at the sewing machine. Again, she had begin to stitch her hand. It was unpleasant, but her mind was not focused on the constant pain, instead, she was thinking about food. She looked back up to the man, with an even so blank expression.

"THAT'S THE FOURTH TIME TODAY." he yelled at her again. Threads covered the back of her left hand. It was almost common in this place. She was the last to go home. And beside, she was the fastest worker.

"Yeah, but I finished my suits, also I finished the dresses, I also cut the fabric for the pants, cleaned the bathroom and dusted all the shelves. she had stuck her hand in the machine making some small thing. It wasn't really clear what she was making, but it was from scraps. Nothing worth money. The old man would sigh, before resting all of his weight on the front counter again. It was the late afternoon, the sun was on its way down, but the light of it still held the sky.

"That means I won the bet right? So I get double pay?" she asked. She was not only the fastest, but did everything according to the notes he left. Of course, his notes weren't always exact, but she did the best she could.

He was happy to get this airhead out of his store, but still, she had caught him up on a lot of work.

She peeked over the counter from her table to see the man that walked in. He had coughed, letting the both of them know he was there. Maybe he was a rich man. Kasey hoped so. Rich people always spent the most, which in turn, meant more money for herself.

He asked what the highest quality suit they could produce, in materials alone, would be in his price range. He did not smile, he simply stood up and looked around the shop, glancing at Kasey for a moment. Before he could open his own mouth to speak, she would.

"We got that Persian Silk, or that weird refined pure cotton stuff in the back." Kasey pointed with her thumb, threads hanging from it as she did so. "Silk? Or was it leather... It was foreign." she spoke a bit softer to herself, biting her thumb, almost chewing on the threads. She wasn't sure what any of the materials were called. All she could read were the pictures and the countries of origin. Other than that, she guessed on touch alone.

"Oh please, even if we did, I don't have enough practice with it. Would take a week at the minimum." he said it, turning back to the man, "Sorry sir, even a rush order can't happen overni-"

"Yeah, but I got a lot of practice with it." she spoke, pointing to her rose colored bag that sat next to the man's foot in the shelf, hidden away. He knew she had made it from scraps from his shop, but never considered the materials she actually made it with. "So I'll get the stuff?" Kasey would ask, only to look at her boss a bit confused as to what he wanted to do.

"Well, it looks like it's your lucky day. My best tailor is going to spend extra time just for you. Let me get your measurements while she gets read." he would begin to walk from around the counter, motioning to a nicer area of the shop, with plenty of lighting and mirrors. His measuring tape and all of the pins where there. He was going to get this done. With a budget like that, he could close up shop for the rest of the year.

Kasey, herself had taken to looking at the man's own structure, as well as the coat he walked in with. It was a good generalization of his own style, as well as how he liked it all to fit. She would begin to head to the back, only to stop before vanishing for good. "Hey mister, what colors do you want?" she would ask. She would head into the back after, with or without his answer. She would grab whatever he would request and more. She would set it the the counter beside her table. And perhaps with the measurements she could get it done tonight. He just just had to be faster than his record fifteen minutes.

"Alright Kas, double or nothing." he would say, "If you can do this in less than an hour, I'll double what I already owe you. If not, then I'll give you base pay."

Oh.

Oh it was on.

Kasey was focused. Even Setsuna would not speak a word until it was absolutely necessary. Kasey would look up at her boss, and then at the man and at the fabrics she possessed.

"Light red?" she wondered, to her it was the opposite of a maroon. Pink? She reached to her hair and ran her fingers through it. So be it, she would quickly think of something.

"He looks just like the same as Alberto." Setsuna would say, "That is where I would start."

But he would not obey the man, but instead would follow Kasey into the back. He was someone of some stature, surely he had the money to throw around. A light red? Saying red meant the far end of pink. So it was not a dark pink, but a light red. So be it. She would get three materials, all of the brand new shipment they had gotten. One would have little small patterns, while the others had pinstripes and other designs. If he was a man who dressed in black often, then she should mix it in with other colors to both compliment itself, as well as match the rest. She would get a off-white, light gray pattern, as well as a dark gray pattern. She figured that cutting him a white shirt with the light red suit would be good enough. Inside the coat she could use either the white, or gray. After all, it was probably to lighten his collection.

"Is that a bet, or a threat?" she would ask. She would take up her shears while looking at the man. She would set down at her table, observing his movement and how his clothes moved with him. That would allow her to at least copy what he had, but in a different color. "So you're either going to offer one hell of a tip for getting something perfect without even a test fit, or you're gonna shut down a bidness you haven't even bought anything from yet." She would continue, looking at her boss as she would fanatically move between two machines trying to please the strange man.

Her boss would make his way to the man with his measuring tape, trying to get the precise numbers for Kasey to make his suit. If he didn't allow it, it was only going to make it more difficult. But if he did allow, he would scribble the numbers fast on their note card and pass it to the girl, only to fetch her the proper threads afterwards, with, or without the numbers.

He was a strange man. She liked that. It was much more fun to be employed by a weirdo than a boring man. She didn't know anything about her boss, but he was definitely a vanilla. Oh, how the internet taught her a many things.

"Well that's fine, I think my last day is probably going to be tonight anyways." She would smile, spinning around to face their customer. Her boss had a look of major disapproval, as well as shock. "Also, I'm done."

She would have two coats, two shirts and two slacks all sewn. The only thing left to do for them was to iron and press them, and perhaps steam if he desired. They were stitched and woven to his exact specifications, before the man even so much as handed her the note card.

"How did... Alberto." He shook his head. He would simply walk over back to the counter and took a seat on his stool. He was amazing that anyone had been able to do that. How the needle never broke at that speed, or that pressure, was something he just couldn't comprehend.

"Wait, are we still using your needles?" the voice asked, following her eyes, staring at the man. He would have turned to see the machines, but he had no skills of his own.

"Like I would trust any metal weaker than my own bones, Pah-leeeese." She laughed to herself, all the smile holding a smile on her face. If not to prove the rich man wrong, then to take home a paycheck that was long overdue. With this many bonuses in the same night, she could quit all of her other jobs the following morning, or at least turn in her last two weeks.

On one side, was a blush scarlet red suit with white on the inside with gray pin striping, and slacks to match. The other side held a more strawberry crimson feel to it, with a similar pattern to the first, but of a floral design. With the two of them were a light gray dress shirt and a white one.

I watched you come in, that's enough to see what you were wearing and how you preferred it. So I made all of the same stitches and stuff. Plus, it's a month special that if you get one custom shirt you get one free, so I did that as well. Also a lot of the inlay were off pieces I was gonna toss out or eat later, so even if you don't want the second suit, it would come at no loss to us, so we can throw that in. She would smile, kicking her feet. Watching her boss measure him was enough for her to get her own measurements.