Searching for (Akhtar/Open)

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Nicholas stepped out of his town car after his driver had opened it. He was on the phone with his newly hired General Manager about interviewing for the club. La Pesadilla was opening in two months and. Nicholas was determined to have everything worked out and under control well before then. His first appointment for the day had been with a local liquor distributor. Nicholas wanted to make sure that their order had been placed and to find out a delivery date. This would be his first time working with this distributor, so he wanted to be there to personally check the order. While the company came with great reviews, he never took anything for granted and wanted to make sure he was indeed getting all too shelf liquor. The rest of his day would be used for interviewing staff and meeting with the decorator, DJ and club promoter.

Nicholas had decided to squeeze in a quick stop at this men's clothing store. He had a few promoting parties and then the eventual opening night for his club so he decided to pick up a few new suits. His driver had recommended this spot and he trusted Ray's judgment. He finished setting up the interview schedule and put his phone back into the jacket pocket of the grey pinstripe suit he was wearing. He had on a dark purple dress shirt along with his silver necklace that had the black diamond engraved with the Eclipsed royal crest, the obsidian stud in his left ear and his silver Rolex.

Nicholas stepped into the shop and pulled off his Oakley sunglasses, looking around the different suits, shirts, ties and shoes displayed. He was pretty well pleased with what he saw and was pretty positive he could find something he'd like.

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Today was a rather busy day for the young prince. Today was a stock day for him and he was unfortunately working alone. He had to send the few hands he had over to his women's boutique, Luna. He preferred working alone wither way but he didn't mind the extra hands. He had to count and make sure all of the orders had come in correctly. He missed Gil working there with him because the hellhound took care of everything. Akhtar had a bit more free time then but now he was all about his business. He sighed as he sat in his office as he finalized the shipment he would need for next week.

Rio was the premiere upscale men's store in New Orlands. Prom season was coming for the local high schools so he had to be sure to have extra pieces in stock. His in house tailor, Giancarllo Federici, was an old school Italian suit maker. He was the best tailor in the city and many would come to pay top dollar to have their suits fitted by him. Akhtar had really come across a gem when he hired him. The older male had very specific demands and Akhtar made sure to fulfill them. He never took a day off either.

As he pressed submit he saw a notification popup on the screen reminding him of a conference call he had to be on later in the afternoon. He made a mental note to have one of his employees sit in on it. He didn't want to listen to people drone on all day. He HAD to hire himself an assistant. He just couldn't seem to keep them. He sighed, it was part of having super naturals as assistants he guessed. Being a wizard prince himself he understood all too well. Looking at the security monitor that hung above his door he saw a customer walking in.

Akhtar was a money shark nor did he harass people into buying things. He appreciated all customers who came into the store because word of mouth could help him. Being a high end store didn't exempt him from going belly up. In fact it made him a higher risk. He stood from his desk and pulled his jet black mid-back length hair into a ponytail. He normally had his hair covered by a keffiyeh but this particular day he didn't. He rushed out of his office leaving the door open to go and greet his new potential customer.

He wore a simple black polo with casual dress slacks on. As it was shipment day he made sure to dress comfortable. He hated to dress up all the time unless he was going out or taking care of other business. It was too pretentious for him. He saw the male and said in his thick Egyptian accent, "Welcome to Rio. My name is Akhtar, I am the owner here. If there is anything that you may see or need my help with let me know." He stood at the counter restocking the special order catalogs while the man looked around.

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Nicholas liked the products that were on display, though he had no intention of buying anything premade. He had grown accustomed to tailored, well, everything. He like his suits, shirts, shoes and even his belts custom made for him. His style wasn't about to change anytime soon, unlike the rest of the world, so why get something made for the generic public? Nicholas like his things made to his requirements and he liked them made well.

Nicholas asked liked the prompt customer service. As a business owner himself, incompetent, lazy or disrespectful service would immediately lose his business. He also liked that the owner was a visible worker. Nicholas didn't need or require fawning and groveling from owners or managers, but it did spark confidence to see the owner actively taking a part.

If the display items were any indication, Nicholas had found the right store. The materials were of the utmost caliber and even the displays were not just generic mannequins or fold up tables. Having decided he was going to spend his money here, there didn't seem to be any reason to keep perusing the items he knew he wasn't going to buy. So, Nicholas made his way over to the counter where the owner was.

He stopped a few inches from the counter and, with his hands in his pockets, inclined his head to say hello.

"Good morning, Akhtar. My name is Nicholas. I am very impressed with your business here but require something a little more personalized than what you have on display. I'll be needing three custom suits of gray, black and white fabric with shirts of white, black and very rich purple color. I would also like two new custom belts of black and white leather and two pairs of black leather dress shoes. Do you have an in house tailor to take care of all this, or do you refer to another business?"

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Akhtar nodded his head as he was greeted by the then nameless man in his store. He stopped what he was doing as to not come off as dismissive and rude to his customer. He took in the man's compliment and his very direct approach. He reminded him of his best friend. The difference was that this guy was little more reserved if you will. Akhtar looked the man over and knew he preferred the European cut suit over the more American tailor standard, it seemed the Italian cut was his preference. Akhtar gave the man a smile and said, "It is very nice to meet you Nicholas. Thank you for your kind words of my store. To answer your question I do have an in house tailor. I have designed this store to make it fit for a royal."

Akhtar had to chuckle at his own joke inside of his head because he was a royal so he made it suitable to himself as if he were a customer. He returned his attention to Nicholas and said, "I have one of the world's master tailors actually here working with me. Unfortunately you have come in on one of his rare off days. He does not come in on the stocking days. Reaching over to one of the books he had just placed on the counter he picked one up and placed it towards Nicholas. If the other man stepped closer to the counter he would be able to open it up and look through it.

The wizard continued, "I can assure you however once you have your suits made by Giancarllo you will never want to go to another tailor. This catalog is actually designed for my store specifically. These items are all unique to my store and my store alone. In the book you can go ahead and find all of the basic things you will need. You have fabric samples for shirts and suits, tuxedos, whatever you desire. Unfortunately the leather samples are in store only. When you come back for your appointment with Giancarllo he will size you and you can give him the fine details that you would like added. This book is just to make the process a little easier. It will also help us in the case that we need to order a specific fabric because we do not have it in stock. I hope you do understand. If you're available Giancarllo is available tomorrow morning for a fitting at 9:00."

With him being as particular as he was about the suits he needed Akhtar didn't take this man as one of the people to miss appointments. Having to deal with so many stuck up individuals who felt they were entitled to certain treatment was draining. They would come 30-45 minutes late for established appointments and would become enraged that Akhtar or Giancarllo had seen someone else in their place. Some threatened to take their business elsewhere but Akhtar wasn't worried because he didn't really need their business and they always came back less than satisfied with the quality of the other work.

Thinking of this Akhtar decided to ask the man a few question. He was pretty well established with the elite of the city and they all knew one another and he had never seen the man before. He said, "Forgive me if I come off as rude because that is not my intent but, where are you from? I can't say I have seen you around before. I have been here for about three years now and I know a lot of the people within our circle. Your name doesn't necessarily ring a bell either. You appear only a bit older than myself. Are you a business owner?" Akhtar hoped he wasn't too forward with the man. He and the guy appeared to have quite a bit in common and would probably become fast friends.

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(Sorry for the extreme delay in posting a reply.)

Nicholas listened politely as he continued to look through the catalog in the counter. Based on what he was hearing and what he had observed, Nicholas felt that he could trust Akhtar and this Giancarllo to do a swift but professional job. While he needed the outfits fairly quickly, Nichols would have no problem waiting for better quality but in his experience, it didn't hurt to keep a little pressure on people.

His phone was buzzing once again inside his jacket but he ignored it for now. Waiting a few minutes wouldn't kill whoever was calling and more than likely it was just one of his staff overreacting to a trivial problem. While they were all very competent and trustworthy, there tended to be an unusual amount of drama with his employees and he got tired of playing mediator.

Nicholas nodded as Akhtar explained the schedule. He wasn't one to insist or throw a fit if things had to shuffled around, everyone needed a few days off especially if they were working for high end clients. He could only imagine what Akhtar and his tailor had to put up with. Based upon what Nicholas had experienced at his restaurant, the more only a person had to spend, the harder they were to deal with. He purposefully tried not to throw his money around and tried to always be understanding and cooperate with people.

"Yes, I understand about the scheduling. Let me check my own schedule and see what I have open."

Nicholas pulled out his phone and studied his calendar for a bit as he answered Akhtar's other questions.

"And yes I am fairly new around here, just a little over half a year. I have my own restaurant called La Sombra and am in the process of opening by new nightclub called La Pesadilla. Looking at my schedule, it appears that I have interviews for most of the morning. Im not sure what time you and your tailor start the day, but I can come in either at 7 AM before my first appointment or at 1:30 when I have some free time in between interviews. Would either of those times work?"