10 - A f...ing Suit!

The Suit (a.k.a. what the actual hell)

So… I’d literally just gone to bed after that night with Evan — head still spinning, body still cold in my bones — and then four hours later:

Knock knock.

Door opens.

Edwin walks into my room grinning like he’s won the lottery. And he’s holding a parcel.

“Time to get up, Callum,” he says. “Work.”

I’m half asleep, blinking like an idiot. “Work?”

He plonks the parcel on my bed. “Work clothes.”

I just stare at him. “What work clothes?”

He’s got this massive grin on his face like he’s about to reveal a prank.

“Open it.”

So I open it… and yeah.

It’s a suit.

A proper suit. Jacket, trousers, the lot.

I look at him like, are you taking the piss?

He goes, all innocent: “You’ve got to look the part.”

“Where the hell did you get that in five hours?!”

Edwin shrugs. “It was on the doorstep this morning. Note through the door. Shoes as well.”

Shoes.

Of course there’s shoes.

I’m moaning, but I’m not gonna lie — when I put it on?

Mate… the suit was unreal. Like it had been made for me. Light blue shirt with it too, fitted perfect. Proper clean. Proper sharp.

No tie either. Thank God. I’d have been finished.

I walk downstairs and Edwin’s sat on the sofa waiting like he’s watching a fashion show. Looks me up and down with that grin.

“Wow. You look important.”

I told him to fuck off.

He just points to the kitchen like a proud mum. “Toast and Marmite. Coffee. Get it down you. We leave in a minute. You start at eight.”

So I’m sat there in a full suit, eating toast like I’m about to go and run a bank, and Edwin will not stop staring at me like it’s the funniest thing he’s ever seen.

Then he goes, “Shoes are on the table.”

I go through, open the box.

Perfect fit. Soft leather. Proper expensive-looking.

And yeah… that’s when it hit me again: Evan wasn’t joking about money. Not even a bit.

The Place

We get in the car and I’m asking Edwin loads of questions like, “Where are we going? What am I doing? What’s the company called?”

Edwin’s just like, “Nope. No clue. Me and computers don’t mix. You’ll find out.”

Helpful. Cheers.

We pull off just off the A38 onto this industrial estate and stop outside this scruffy, boring, nothing-looking building. No sign. No branding. Nothing.

I’m thinking, this is it?

Edwin knocks.

Door opens.

Bloke in a suit, tie on — proper professional.

He looks at me. “Callum?”

“Yeah.”

Then he looks at Edwin. “And you must be Edwin.”

Edwin just nods once and goes, “Look after the boy.”

And that’s it. No hug, no goodbye, no “good luck.” Just drops me like a parcel.

Door shuts behind me and I’m with this guy — Mike.

And as soon as we walk inside…

Mate.

The inside is like a different world. Clean. Modern. Quiet. Like… expensive quiet.

Mike’s pointing things out like it’s normal:

“Toilets there. Canteen there.”

The toilet door’s open and it’s spotless, fully tiled, looks like a hotel bathroom.

Then he opens the canteen door and I actually stop walking.

It’s huge.

Pool table. Table tennis. Vending machines. Microwaves. Air fryers. Fridges. Coffee machines. Like an actual chill zone, not a sad little break room.

My mouth is hanging open and Mike just goes, dead casual:

“Yeah. The owner looks after us.”

And I’m like, “Who even is the owner?”

Mike goes, “Never met him. Only the general manager — Graham.”

“Graham runs it then?”

“When he’s here,” Mike says. “He pops in now and again. Mostly leaves us to it. Just expects the work done.”

Then he looks at me, proper serious for a second:

“If you crack on, you’ll get no bother. And I’m telling you now — you won’t find a better place that’s as good as this and pays like this.”

That made me sit up a bit. Like… okay. This isn’t just a cover story. This is a real operation.

What I actually did

Mike takes me through to the office area. It’s not massive — maybe ten people — each in their own little booth/work pod. Some have music on. Some are fully locked in with headphones.

I ask, “You can play music?”

Mike laughs. “Mate, it’s your booth. That’s your world. As long as you get done what you need to get done, nobody cares how you do it.”

Respect.

So first day I just shadow him — watching what he does. A mix of online selling, listings, marketing stuff… basically making products look good and getting them in the right places.

I’m not gonna go into too much detail because I’m not trying to dox anything or give the game away, but yeah — it’s online sales, marketing, product pages, that kind of thing.

Mike said this place is just one of a bunch — like one of ten subsidiaries round the country under the same umbrella. I might get sent somewhere else later for training, but for now it’s basics here.

By half four, we’re done. And I won’t lie — the day flew.

Oh — and they do this thing where everyone chips in £20 a week and they get food delivered every day. That day it was Chinese. Not loads, but proper decent. And unlimited coffee basically.

So yeah… compared to my apprenticeship?

It’s like I’ve been promoted into a different universe.

The rest of the week

Tuesday and Wednesday I’m still mostly shadowing Mike, because he covers loads of areas. Then he starts training me properly — adding products, loading listings, sorting images/artwork, putting stuff onto different sites.

And honestly? I picked it up quicker than I thought. Once you get the pattern, it’s just… process. Like a weird calm grind.

By the end of the week I had my own list: items, images, artwork, upload here, check there, publish, move on.

It’s not glamorous, but it’s solid. And it’s a legit “job” that I can talk about without sounding like I’m making it up.

Driving lesson: Thursday

Thursday at half two — boom — first driving lesson.

Instructor turns up in a Vauxhall Corsa. I jump in and off we go.

And I’m not even gonna act humble — for a first lesson? I did alright. I thought I’d be a mess, but it was actually… kind of fun.

Got dropped back at home after, buzzing a bit, and Edwin’s like, “So?”

I obviously told him I’m basically Lewis Hamilton now.

He told me to shut up and start learning my theory.

Fair.

Why I’ve been so quiet

I’ve been absolutely wiped. Getting up at six, getting home just after five… and sitting at a computer all day is way more draining than I expected.

It’s not like gaming. Gaming’s fun-tired. This is brain-tired.

I’ve been going to bed at like eight or nine most nights and the lads have been raging because I’ve not been on FIFA much. I’ve told them give me time to settle and I’ll be back.

Don’t know if Evan’s been round this week either — if he has, it’s been when I’m asleep. Which… fine. I’m not chasing him down.

Where I’m at now

It’s Saturday — the 14th — and I’m writing this in the afternoon because Edwin’s gone out for a bit, so I’ve actually got a window.

Camille’s coming to stay soon as well — can’t remember the exact date off the top of my head, but it’s coming up. That’s gonna be… weird. Not bad-weird. Just… weird with everything going on.

But honestly?

I’m feeling alright at the moment.

Things are settling. There’s routine. There’s a plan.

And yeah — I can’t lie — that suit is unreal.

Oh, and Evan dropped off like five or six more shirts as well. Different colours, all proper nice.

So yeah… I’m walking into work looking like I own the place.

I don’t. Obviously.

But it feels like I do.

Anyway — that’s where I’m up to.

I’ll post again when I’ve got something worth adding.