She watched the Black man cross the limestone floor.
He stopped at the main counter.
“Good morning,” he said.
The clerk smiled professionally.
“Good morning.”
“I’m looking for a watch.”
Her smile held.
“Of course.”
He looked toward the cases.
“Your rarest one.”
The clerk paused.
Not because the request itself was impossible.
Because of the way he said it.
No hesitation.
No explanation.
No attempt to impress her with reference numbers or collector vocabulary.
Just:
Your rarest one.
The corner of her mouth moved.
It was small.
Barely a reaction.
But he saw it.
“Your rarest watch?” she repeated.
“Yes.”
“For purchase?”
He looked at her.
“That is usually why people come into a watch boutique.”
The security specialist near the door glanced over.
The clerk smiled more tightly.
“We have several highly limited pieces.”
“I’m asking which is the rarest.”
“That depends on what you mean by rare.”
“Fewest produced.”
She folded her hands on the counter.
“We carry pieces that are available only to established private clients.”
“I understand.”
“And some cannot simply be viewed on request.”
“I understand that too.”
She waited for him to explain himself.
He did not.
The clerk tilted her head.
“Do you already have a purchase history with the house?”
“Yes.”
“Under what name?”
The man gave his surname.
It was an ordinary surname.
Common enough that it meant nothing to her.
She turned to the tablet behind the counter.
Typed.
Nothing appeared.
She looked again.
“No profile.”
“There should be.”
“There isn’t.”
He glanced toward the tablet.
“Are you searching the domestic retail system?”
The clerk looked up.
“Yes.”
“My profile may not appear there.”
That annoyed her.
Not enough to show openly.
But enough.
“And where would it appear?”
“Private client services.”
The clerk almost laughed.
Almost.
The man saw that too.
“I see.”
She straightened slightly.
“Sir, private client services is not a separate database we open simply because someone asks.”
“I didn’t ask you to open anything.”
“You told me that is where your profile would be.”
“Yes.”
“So you are asking me to verify it.”
“No.”
He looked calmly at her.
“I asked to see your rarest watch.”