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A Bad Day To You, Sir

Summary:

Thomas is beginning his new life in London, new job, new friends. New life. But the big London Life wasn’t all it cracked up to be when he gets hit with the harsh reality that not everyone is a ray of sunshine. Because of his new revelation, him and his new colleagues become detectives and try to find out why their grouchiest office inhabitant is so grumpy.

|| DISCONTINUED ||

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Chapter 1: The Suspect

Summary:

On Thomas’ first day he meets an unfriendly character.

Chapter Text

His alarm went off with a shrilling sound, the sun beamed through a gap in his curtain and his eyes felt as if they were sealed shut with concrete. Gradually, his eyes opened and adjusted to the light of his room; there were still silhouettes of boxes in the corners of the room. 

Only recently had Thomas moved to London, but despite the large change in size he had never felt happier, finally he had escaped the clutches of his small minded father and his soul-sucking business. His father, Rick, had given a small deadline of only a month and a half to find himself a new life outside of the family. Even though a month and a half was a short amount of time to start a new life somewhere else, he still appreciated that his father had granted him more than a mere three weeks like he’d awarded his sister. 

Thomas had always wanted to travel, so when his mother, Paula, had persuaded his father to give his son a chance to make a life of his own; he took the sign and accepted the challenge that came with moving to a new country. He was thankful for his mother sometimes.

Finally, he got the motivation to get up, he went to the toilet and brushed his teeth before getting into his running clothes. Despite London being one of the easiest places to get lost in, Thomas had picked up his old hobby of running once more, his bodily care had increased since he'd become independent. His running gear consisted of a pair of black shorts, a yellow luminescent t-shirt, a black running jersey and some trainers. He strolled into the kitchen and grabbed a breakfast bar to give him small boost of energy for his run which he ate whilst picking up his keys.

As he turned around from locking the door, he noticed how empty the usually full corridor was, probably from the time being before six o'clock. People slept in apartments and hushed breakfasts were being eaten behind doors. He hopped down the concrete stairs to act as a pre warm up in the slightly chilled air of the harsh corridors. The glass door was slightly cracked from years of constant abuse from drunks in the night. He pushed the door open and began to jog on the stop as he turned his stopwatch on. 

Running to his left he started his workout.


 Stopping once more infront of the apartment block, he stopped his watch, 8.5 minute miles. He was running at his fastest speeds he’d ever remembered being at. 

Even though it had only been half an hour, the corridor was a lot busier that it had been before. To save his legs he hurried into the elevator and huffed as the fatigue kicked in.


 As he tredded to the bathroom for  a shower, his legs began to ache, he’d taken a rougher route- he was regretting that now. The door creeked open as he entered, the radiator had been on and was heating the towel. 

The heat of the shower soothed his aching calves, a small groan of pleasure escaped his mouth.

”That is pleasure right there,” he mumbled getting a mouth of hot water. He washed his hair and body and stepped out of the shower. After drying his body speedily, he walked into his bedroom to clothe himself in the plainest clothes he’d ever had to wear. 

A grey blazer.

Grey trousers.

A white shirt. 

A black tie and socks.

And to top off the rainbow of greys, black shoes- shined thoroughly. 

He turned clumsily in the mirror to check himself out. 

“Not to sound narcissistic, but damn! I look fine!” Thomas blurted as he saw the time on his watch. 

7.15. Time for breakfast.


 The kitchen was the most modern part of the small apartment, it was clad in white with red accents of the toaster, kettle and microwave. Opening a cupboard, he pulled out two pieces of toast and a mug which he made his morning coffee in. 

Hopefully the caffeine would heal his aliments.

Hopefully.

As he waited for the toast to pop up, he reminded of his route to work. He was starting his first day in the Tourism Temporary Visa Department. It was only a few tube stops away from his home in Clapham and his father had been over the moon to hear that his son was working in the US Embassy. 

The toast popped up and, surprisingly enough for him, Thomas caught it. 

“I definitely have Ninja skills,” He sang as he buttered the toast and sat at the breakfast bar to hurry down a simplistic breakfast. The luxury of the bread sunk into his mouth as he realised how hungry he truly was. Combined with the coffee, he was truly satisfied. 

Almost dropping his coffee, he realised the time. 7.35. How could he be late? It was his first day at a new job and he was running late after appreciating some toast?

”Unbelievable,” he muttered under his breath as he poured the coffee down the sink and dumped the ceramics in the sink. “Now where’s that briefcase?” 

Trotting around was not helping his calves but it helped him find his briefcase easier. Now all he had to do was run to the door, the easiest part of the journey. Getting his maps on his phone, he managed to leap into the elevator without falling over. 

Running to the train station around the corner, he quickly swiped his Oyster card and managed to catch the appropriate train for his journey. He’d double checked the signs and he was 99% sure that he was correct.


 He was thankful that there were no delays on the trains because he’d made up for lost time and was back on track. Now all he had to do was take a short walk to the US Embassy and get to his floor. 

The building stood tall infront of him, being slightly intimidating if he was honest. All he had to do now was walk in and get to the right floor. 

“Huh,” He breathed out as he took in the modern interior whilst heading towards another elevator. ‘If I want to stay fit then I need to start taking stairs’ he thought as he stepped in and pressed the button for the sixth floor. Gradually the space became more cramped as he attempted to stay at the front. A light bing alerted him that he had arrived, anxiety now kicking in. 

The reception of this floor was similar to the one below, if not smaller and less staffed. Suddenly he stopped, confused about where he was, all the doors looked the same and the signs weren’t helping. He placed his stuff down as he gathered his bearings, a gentle tap on the shoulder broke him of his daze.

”Where are you trying to go, Sir. You look lost,” a smiling woman stood behind him with her long, pale blonde hair in a tight ponytail and a crisp blue dress. He was thankful for the given help.

”I’m starting my new job today and I’m trying to get to the Tourism Temporary Visa Department,” The woman’s smile only grew in length, mirroring the Cheshire Cat’s. He couldn’t decipher whether she was laughing at him or whether her smile was purely fake.

”If you go through the glass doors at the bottom of that corridor,” She pointed forwards. “Then turn right, it will be the third door on your left,” 

She left him with a smile and a soft push in the right direction, he began his trip once more. The corridors were surprisingly short for how the large the building looked.


 Taking a deep breath, he opened the door to see a taller, asian looking man heading towards him. He gave off a shocked look before breaking into a piercing smile that seemed to fill the air.

Eyadiya! Hey Teresa, I told you they wouldn’t be late on his first day!” The enthused man shouted to a brunette women at a computer near by, she reminded him of a girl he used to know back in Minnesota. “Anyway, I’m Minho, want me to gift you with a compulsory tour?”

”Sure, I’m Thomas by the way,” He laughed slightly, glad with the relaxed atmosphere. 

“So the break room is though there,” He pointed to a room the top right corner of the office and continued to speak whilst pointing to the workers of the office. “This here is Brenda, she’s a tech nerd who couldn’t get the technician job,” 

Brenda smiled, she wore a simple white blouse with a pair of flared navy blue trousers, her hair was short brown and her desk was cluttered with pictures of family.

”Winston, a first aid wiz who knows all the biz!” 

Winston looked like a small dude whose desk was covered with sticky pom-pom maskots with googly eyes. He wore a simple red shirt and black trousers.

”Teresa on the Visas,” 

Teresa looked like a strict woman as she was dressed in a sharp blue and grey dress with black blazer and black wedges and her hair was pinned up in a bun. Despite all this though she warmly smiled and continued to work. 

The rest of the office consisted of: Frypan, a Michelin Star Chef to be; Ben an athlete in training; Alby, the department manager.

“Finally, here’s Newt, the man with no capability to smile,” Minho gave a teasing smile before showing Thomas to his desk. “Just ignore Newt, he’ll ignore you anyway,” 

Thomas returned his gaze to Newt, the man had replied to Minho’s comment with a roll of the eyes and a middle finger. Now, his headphones were replaced over his ears and he was tapping on the desk whilst filling in a form on the computer. His hair was messy and the dark bags under his eyes made him question his time-keeping skills.

Thomas opened his briefcase and brought out two photos of his family and his turtles, secondly he placed all his stationery in a pot with his flag of the Minnesota Vikings. Sitting down, he logged onto the computer with the login Minho had put on the desk and readied himself for his first day.