Suit and Tie

Chapter 1

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Tom sat up in his bed with a groggy look in his eyes. He heard the chirps of the birds and the sound of people and cars passing by.

His room was a mess of clothing sprawled across the floor and balled up pieces of paper. Before he could have any thoughts of cleaning (which will not happen for a while), his phone buzzed.

He felt for it under his cover, but couldn't find it until he dug farther up to his pillow. His phone continued to buzz.

He answered his phone.

"Hello, this is Tom speaking.", he said in a casual manner.

The phone went quiet for a moment, before his supervisor spoke.

"Tom, I know it's your day off, but we have a project for you to do.", his supervisor said.

"What? I'm already-", he began.

His supervisor interrupted him, "I'm sorry, but I just got an email today recommending some one with knowledge of music leading this project- you were the only on our with a minor music degree. I asked Edd if he could take your spot on the [Baskenette's commercial] project and he said yes."

Tom groaned and flopped back onto his bed. His said nothing as he thought about.

"Tom, I promise to make it up to you if you agree to head this project.", offered his supervisor.

"Do I even get to know what this project is about?", questioned Tom.

"I can't say much until you agree but I can say it's a request from the Scarlet Records company.", said his supervisor.

".... Wow, I hate to say this but I fxcking hate Scarlet Records. They are shxt, please excuse my language.", admitted Tom.

Tom blinked and pressed his lips in a thin line.

"What? They have an impeccable-", Tom cuts his supervisor off to list a number of inconsistencies about the record label.

"Well... if you're sure....I'll just ask someone else.", said his supervisor.

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Tom walked into the kitchen after doing his morning routine. He looked into his pantries to find it empty and his fridge bare except for a single celery stick.

Tom picked up the celery stick before putting back down. He sighed and closed the fridge.

Tom scratched his head and mumbled that he had to go shopping.

"I don't even want to go out today.", he complained.

Tom walked into his room to get dressed. He wore a blue hoodie and white pants. He had a pair of black sneakers and sunglasses.

He checked if he had everything before locking his front door and going down the elevator. One of his many neighbors was in the elevator with him.

Tom lived in an apartment complex that offered breakfast and dinner, but he never tried it. He always opted for nearby restaurants.

Not feeling up to trying it, again, Tom walked to the grocery store. He grabbed a plastic, yellow basket instead of a cart and walked over to the frozen section of the store.

He grabbed a few microwave dinners and ice cream. Then he got a bag of milk and went to the cereal section.

The cereal section had two people in it already. He took his time until he spotted the brand of cereal he wanted. The moment he tried to grab it, his hand knocked it down.

Someone picked it up for him and handed it to him.

"Oh, thank you.", said Tom.

"No problem... you look familiar.", they said.

"Nah, probably not. I have that kind of face no one really looks at.", he denied.

"Awe don't sell yourself short.", they said.

Tom huffed before waving them off and walking a way. Tom had to hurry before he got so hungry he couldn't function anymore.

He probably should have bothered to get breakfast at the apartment complex.

Now that he's thinking about it, it's actually more a hotel than an apartment complex. There was a dinner room, rentable rooms, a Landry room, and a game room.

There was also the fact that some of the floors were dedicated to conferences.

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Tom managed to get to his apartment while on low energy and stuffed his groceries in the fridge for the moment.

Tom grabbed a microwave dinner to heat up as he goes to the bathroom.

"Ugh... I'm so hungry.", said Tom.

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The next day of his days off, he gets a call from his supervisor again.

"Yes? Tom speaking.", he said.

"So about what you said about Scarlet Records...", his supervisor started.

Tom raised an eyebrow and pursed his lips in question.

"Yeah?", he replied.

"Could you make a full, detailed report on them? I'll give you til the end of next week! Your opinion on them was surprisingly helpful and we decided not to accept their request- which is one of the reasons why I wanted you doing this.", his supervisor rambled.

Tom rolled his eyes as he jumps onto the couch and turn the TV on before lowering the volume.

"Sure, I can do that- it's in my job description anyway. Could you send me an outline of things you need to know and who to give them to?", asked Tom.

"I'll give you an email. Expect it around 5pm tomorrow tops.", they said.

Tom hung up after that began to relax. He fell a sleep on the couch.

———-
Bye.