Chapter One: A New Job
Matthew Williams was, to put it truthfully, kind of bland. At least in his opinion. He was generally passed over by people. He was invisible. No one seemed to pay him much attention, and 20 years of it had taught him how to deal with it.
Today was much the same in that aspect. He continued walking to his new workplace without so much as a glance or an eye in his direction. Matthew swerved through the crowd to avoid bumping into anybody, when his eye was caught by a flashing sign in a shop window. It was one of those neon "Open" signs, he noted, and his eyes trailed up to the larger sign above the doorway.
"'The Empty Crow bookstore'." Matthew read quietly to himself. Looking down at the small piece of paper in his hand, he confirmed that this is where he needed to be. His hand took the doorknob and he opened the door.
Upon walking in, he immediately ducked as a large book flew across the room and landed on the sidewalk behind him. Looking up, he was greeted with the sight of two men who seemed to be fighting about something...
"You bloody frog, what did I tell you about bringing strangers home!?" roared a man who had the furriest eyebrows Matthew had ever seen. He was an average height, with sandy blonde hair. His face twisted into an expression of frustrated rage, he glared at the man standing across him.
Matthew's eyes looked to the receiving end of the verbal assault, and he first noticed that this man was... sort of really handsome... He was taller, and his wavy hair was a lighter color that went to his shoulders. He had some stubble on his chin, and he looked completely exhausted.
"Ah, you,are overreacting, mon ami."
Since neither of the two seemed to realize Matthew was there, Matt reached behind him and picked up the book that was tossed outside. Stepping inside of the store, he closed the door loudly, and the two quarreling blondes abruptly stopped shouting to look at him.
"You dropped this." Matthew said quietly, holding up the book. His eyes trailed the room. It was small and filled with bookshelves that were overflowing with various books of all sorts. Matthew saw a staircase behind the counter in the back corner of the room with a cat lounging on the bottom step. He moved his gaze back to the two men in front of him, both of whom looked rather surprised to see Matthew.
The shorter one with the... the eyebrows... slowly raised his hand and took the book from Matthew's. The previous fury was gone from his face, and was replaced with a look of stunned mortification. "T-Thank you..." he mumbled.
"No problem." Matthew mumbled in reply.
"Well... what- what brings you here? Are you um... interested in anything?" stuttered the man slowly, taking the book and placing it on the counter in the back of the room.
"Actually, I'm supposed to be the new employee... I was wondering if I had the right place?"
"Are you Matthew?" questioned the taller one.
"...Yes?" Matthew replied warily.
Both men went from embarrassed to ecstatic in an instant, turning and grasping Matthew's hands in their own.
"I'm Arthur-" the shorter one started, being cut off by the other man.
"Je m'appelle François." stated the taller one, shaking Matthew's hand enthusiastically.
"I uh..."
"I'm so sorry about the book, it was aimed at that wanker over there." Arthur apologized, nodding his head in Francis' direction, and Francis laughed quietly.
Matthew was lost, and Francis seemed to realize this. Turning to Arthur, he said "I think we should show him the ropes around here, oui?"
Arthur's face looked confused and a tiny bit... scared? But it was only there for about a second when he realized what Francis had said. His face then lit up again, and he began rambling excitedly.
"Oh, yes, of course! Blimey, I nearly forgot that you have no clue what to do here. Well, this is, of course, the store Oh, and back here is the register and those stairs go to our flat- I mean, our apartment... And then back here is the storage and the employee lounge..." Arthur carried on with his tour cheerily, leading Matthew through the building. It was actually a fairly decent size, there was even an extra room for having tea. Arthur showed him the whole floor, minus his upstairs apartment.
After his brief tour of the shop, Arthur led Matthew back to the front counter, where Francis was seen leaning against a wall, book in hand, looking completely uninterested in the words he was reading.
"Ahem." Arthur coughed into his fist, glaring at the frenchman. This succeeded in getting Francis' attention, and Francis glared back. His blue eyes were narrowed and angry, though Matthew had seen him so happy only a few minutes before? This would take some getting used to.
"Oui, Arthur?" Francis said.
As Arthur opened his mouth to speak (or, more likely yell) to Francis, a loud crash sounded from above them, and a cry of pain was audible. There was silence as Arthur's breath hitched and his face went white. Matthew was confused, Francis looked slightly concerned, and in less than a second Arthur was tearing up the stairs, yelling something about sick people needing to bloody stay in bed, god dammit.
The cat on the bottom step meowed, stood up, and walked away into the lounge, tail swishing behind him in a rhythmic motion.
...
This was going to be a fun place to work.
A/N: This is my first story that I've published of any kind. Please tell me if it's any good, thank you!