hourglass | h.s.

iii

As soon as Harry stepped foot out of his car and looked at his new workplace, he wanted to leave.

He couldn't believe it.  Of all the places that his pristine company could have chosen for a new store, they chose Kentford. Hell, if Harry hadn't known any better, he would've assumed that he was driving through the middle of nowhere on his way into town. But, alas, he had a job to do, and potential to prove. So he sucked it up, took out the keys from his pocket, and made his way to the new clothing store.

It wasn't anything much to him, but it was easy to see that it was the biggest piece of property in the whole town square. It was an old brick building with many windows and a flat above it, which is where he assumed he'd be living. The only thing that brought him any sort of remote comfort was the large sign that read Caplin Co.  Other than that, he was utterly alone.

Harry would be lying if he said that he wasn't surprised about the fact that the store was completely set up.  Racks and racks of clothes were lined up, the interior had been completely redone, and there were even large screens mounted on some of the walls.  It was identical to every other one of the stores he'd frequented in his day.

"Don, you old bastard..." Harry mumbled to himself, taking it all in. "You've really outdone yourself this time."

The sound of his boots clicking against the solid concrete floor was the only sound Harry could hear, and he hated it.  He was used to the bustling noise of London.  The traffic, the people, the different cultures, all of it. Kentford was... silent.

Shaking his head, he continued up the second story, and then the third, to which was his flat. And upon unlocking the door at the top of the stairs, he was pleasantly surprised. His new (temporary) home was actually quite lovely. Don (or Annette, rather) probably knew that he'd have a hard time adjusting to the new atmosphere, so they made his flat as modern and as London as possible. Either that, or it was just included in the renovations already being made. Either way, he couldn't say that he was too upset with the place.

Dropping his bags down and his key on a nearby counter, Harry sighed deeply. Kentford was his home for the time being whether he liked it or not. Glancing over, he saw that a stack of papers were on the coffee table. He walked over to it and picked them up, reading it to himself.

Mr. Styles,

We hope you're enjoying your new flat so far, and hope you're enjoying Kentford even more.

"Fat chance of that one, mate." he muttered, continuing.

The grand opening of this location is in exactly a weeks from today. We have taken the liberty of setting everything up and hiring some employees for the store, so you needn't worry about a thing except doing your job.

"Or, dying of boredom."

The rest of this packet contains details of the store and its future goals, all of which help Caplin Co. achieve. And we trust that you are more than capable of completing the task.

"More capable than Reynolds, that's for fucking sure."

We're excited to hear about your progress!

Fondly,
Caplin Co.

"'Fondly'?" Harry chuckled. "Yeah, Annette definitely wrote this."

Harry sighed once more and located his room, which had a rather large mattress in the centre of it. Other than that, it had a large, fancy light fixture, and a chic clothing rack in front of his new closet. And although the room was to his liking, he felt like something was missing. It just felt... cold, in a way.