Samuel spends the next moment facing the mirror, his eyes growing hard as they stare back into themselves. What is within that pinprick black of the iris? If he looks closely enough, he can see himself reflected and Samuel supposes that if he could look further he would see reflections of reflections, an infinity of self that shines back from that pure black, the overriding constancy of nothing. Samuel's eyes travel over the terrain of his face and note the lack of stubble, the errant hair. He wets his face with a rush of warm water and cleanses it, exfoliating with a non-alcohol based exfoliating cream. He then rinses off the cream, feeling the warm tingle of his opened pores as they react to the stinging morning air, and soaps his face using a bar of soap from Sabon...it is deep sea mud and when Samuel closes his eyes to avoid getting soap in them, he can see the pale constructed memory of the desert, of Jerusalem with bone white buildings that stick up from the sand like fingers in clay. Finally, Samuel applies a light moisturizer - SPF 15 in order to protect his skin from the intensely harmful light of the sun. He looks at himself in the mirror once more and satisfaction becomes evident in the set of his brow, the slight widening of his eyes...the next step is clothing.
The closet in his bedroom is small but relative to the size of the total room it is rather large. It has two sliding doors, one behind the other, and Samuel has organized his clothing such that his work wear is on the right side and everything else is on the left side. Samuel understands the importance of work clothes - they are the armored protection that a manager uses to deflect concern from his subordinates. A suit might be the most important piece of clothing ever invented by man. Samuel is certain that suits were invented by men. He does not believe in the efficacy of female innovation. This is not something he would repeat out loud to anyone in a work situation; the consequences for being unequitable as a manager are dire and he has no inclination to risk his position for a single snide comment to an employee or, God forbid, to a higher up. Samuel shudders from the thought, or perhaps from the cold air that prompts him to make a sartorial choice quickly.
Samuel has several suits but each one is cut in the same severe fashion. There are three summer suits and two winter suits - the summer suits include one suit from white linen for informal gatherings. This particular white suit is from Joseph Abboud and has typically American styling, the barely noticeable darts, the offhand stitching...the suit is perfect for company functions along the water or held during the weekend someplace. The cut implies subservience to the higher managers, yet the material and obvious casual luxury shows that Samuel is important enough to be remembered and ready for advancement. This is the philosophy that he considered when purchasing this suit and it took him several hours of diligent comparison to find what he wanted; to complement his look Samuel owns a braided leather belt in a very light brown with a gold buckle whose prick slots neatly between any of the leather weaves, and a pair of white leather shoes, boat shoes to be exact, that were purchased from a discount shoe warehouse. Samuel believes in the appearance of wealth but understands the difficulty of having it. His position is as a middle manager in a financial firm, yet he is determined to display himself as a much higher aspirant.
-Rich
I can see where we were falling
