It was raining when Douglas arrived at the lapidary. His silver hair was soaking wet, and his blue jacket was dripping water onto the floor. He normally didn't make spur of the moment trips like this, but one of his most loyal customers had commissioned a custom piece of jewelry- one that needed a two carat alexandrite as the center stone. The request seemed ludicrous at first, but the man was willing to put down three hundred suns in advance to cover the cost of the gemstone. There was a catch, however- the man wanted his ring to be ready in a week.
Stepping up to the counter, Douglas smiled at the stone vendor, a bald man named Bernard. The two didn't have a very good working relationship- differences in political opinions had strained whatever good blood was between them. Bernard was the best lapidary in Altas Verde however, so finding another vendor was out of the question. "Alright." Doug said, crossing his fingers behind his back. "I need alex, two carats. Do-"
"Eight hundred suns." Bernard said, cutting the jeweler off.
Douglas stared at the stone vendor in disbelief. "That can't be wholesale." he said, crossing his arms. "Are you positive?"
"Well, I don't have any two carat stones." the gemcutter replied curtly. "I have a three carat stone. I'll cut it to be smaller if I must, but I need to charge you for the profit I'd be losing, too."
Doug threw his arms into the air. "That's absurd!" he said angrily. "This is just because of your suppliers in Falliel, isn't it?"
"So what if it is? It doesn't change a thing." Bernard said, eyes narrowing. "You're still paying eight hundred. That's my price now."
Doug's eye twitched. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it. "Stupid asshole, trying to overcharge me like that..." he thought agrily as he stormed away from the counter. "Just source your stones locally like everybody else!" Positively fuming, the man threw the door open to leave...
...and walked face first into somebody else.
