The Silk Warehouse

Author: * cesca Roca - 5 Posts on this thread out of 5 Posts sitewide.
Date: Feb 22, 2004 - 08:15

Cesca wandered around the tables laid out in the warehouse. They were piled high with bolts and swaths of silk fabric from the eastern kingdoms. In the store rooms were bundles of raw silk for sale to weavers and shops. The warehouse was a new building and had been started by her father a few years ago. His untimely death had caused a delay in its completion, but together Cesca and her sister Kahina had finally been able to find the money to get the building finished. Now it was opening in a new location and even bigger and better than before.

Cesca loved the feel of the silk against her skin. But she was no seamstress or salesperson. Her forte within the business was doing the accounts and running the ships that brought the bolts of fabric and the raw silk bundles from Tripolitana and Damascus.
She spoke several languages that allowed her to negotiate contracts with the ships captains, and they had quickly learned that she was not a person who could be "ripped off". Her punishment was quick and simple. If a captain tried to take Cesca "for a ride", they lost their contract as a supplier to her warehouse permanently. Cesca had a reputation of ruthlessness, but she needed it if she was to be taken seriously by the sailors.

Kahina on the other hand was the designer and saleswoman. She could make a costume design that showed off the body to absolute perfection, making you feel like a king or queen, and then charge an astronomical price that the customer always paid. Kahina spoke only Latin and Greek. But those two languages were sufficient to deal with all the customers and clients. Kahina was also in charge of keeping the customer details up to date, and finding new customers as well.

Basically Cesca dealt with the wholesale side of the business and Kahina dealt with the retail side. Cesca shook her head and opened the door of the warehouse. She flipped the sign on the door to OPEN and smiled as the Silk Importers Warehouse was finally open for business. Kahina was already out in the streets, talking to customers and retailers, drumming up new business, and persuading their old clients to return.