01-01-2021(04)

At night, Tom and Messy sit on the top of the apartment building and chat for a long time quite often just like they are doing right now. 

"You heard the name Fashions and Styles, right?" Messy asks Tom. 

"Yeah! It's one of the top ten magazine companies in the city! Why do you ask?" Tom asks back. 

"Do you know who owns that?" Messy asks. 

"No!" he replies. "What's with your questions? This a quiz or something?!" 

"Melissa fox. She is the owner of that company." Messy says. 

"Am I supposed to know that name?!" Tom asks annoyed. 

"You idiot! Try to use your brain once in a while! She is our new captain Kate's mom!" Messy scolds Tom. 

"What!? So, she is a spoiled bitch born rich?!" Tom gets surprised, saying, "If she had all that fortune, why did she even bother going through hell to become a captain?!"

"Exactly! And that's not even the best part!" Messy says excited. 

"I don't believe you!" Tom says shocked. 

"Our new captain is the CEO of Fashions and Styles." Messy reveals the spoiler to Tom, saying, "After getting transferred to this city, she turned this city's branch of theirs into their head branch and is running the company making time from her busy captain schedule."

They both are chatting when both receive a message from the precinct that everybody should attend roll call at eight in the morning from tomorrow onwards. 

"Who does she think we are?! Tenth graders?!" Tom says pissed. 

"Honestly, I haven't seen anyone like her in my entire life till now! What a sadistic weirdo!" Messy's pissed too. 

"I bet she would be sound asleep by now without any tensions and fears, tormenting us like this!" Tom says angrily. 

Back at Kate's place at the same time, 

Locking herself up in her bedroom, Kate sits trembling in a corner thinking about her dreadful encounter with her dad. 

"Kate! Please open the door, baby! I can understand what you're going through right now! Please let me in, Kate!" Melissa repeatedly bangs Kate's door worried about her, saying, "he's your dad, Kate! You don't have to fear him! But don't worry! He's gone now and I won't let him near you ever! Please open the door! Let me embrace you, Kate! You don't have to go through it alone! Let me help you! Please, Kate!" 

But Kate can't hear any of it, going through a trauma and just sits there shaking with fear all night. 

Next day at nine in the morning, 

"That idiot is still sleeping!  He missed the roll call again! I called him twenty something times but he didn't respond even once! Does my phone call have no value at all! You answered my call then why didn't he, Jack?!" Messy calls Jack from Piper and Baker. 

"That Kate is the right one to teach that lazy guy a lesson it seems!" Messy says on the call when Jack gets annoyed and places his mobile over Tom's ear who is sound asleep. 

Hearing the word Kate, Tom wakes up, jumping out of his bed and throws that mobile at Jack. 

"Oh, no! What's the time? Shit! I missed my roll call today and what's more Kate can drop a bomb on me saying that's the second test and that I failed miserably in it! Why didn't you wake me up, Jack?!" Tom shouts at half asleep jack, getting ready quickly. 

He takes a shirt from his cupboard and asks Jack to press/iron it, trying to shake him out of his sleep when Charlotte knocks on the open door, holding an ironed shirt,saying,"it's yours. I pressed it for you."

"But that's not what I was thinking of wearing today." Tom says awkwardly and when she is about to leave after hearing his words, he stops her and gently takes his shirt from her, saying, "it's okay. Anyhow it's pressed, so." 

Charlotte feels very happy and leaves from there with a smile on her face. 

When Tom reaches the precinct and enters the parking lot to park his jeep, he sees a different security guard there. 

"Hey, where is that other uncle that was here yesterday?!" Tom asks the new security guard to know. 

"Ma'am fired him for not doing his job properly. I heard he had bad luck meeting a real asshole because of whom he lost the job." the new guard explains to Tom. 

"That daughter of a bitch!" Tom says in his mind and parks the jeep and enters the precinct. 

"Hey, Lisa!" Tom greets the woman at the attendant's desk before seeing her face and realizing she is not her. 

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me! This is nuts!" Tom says out loud shouting. 

"You alright, sir?" the new attendant asks Tom. 

Tom clears his throat and says, "yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for worrying, gorgeous!" 

"Are you Sergeant Thomas?" the new attendant asks Tom with doubt. 

"Wow! You know my name! Guess I'm just that popular with girls, eh!" Tom gets full of himself. 

"Oh, you got it all wrong, sir! Actually ma'am told me that a hyperactive flirt will show up late and asked me to inform you that you have been summoned to Fashions and Styles photo studio." the new attendant says straight to Tom's face. 

"Haha! You got the wrong guy here, ma'am! I'm not even a cop, ma'am! I'm just an anxious citizen who loves checking out interior designs of the precincts, ma'am! And the ones you got there are unbelievably fabulous!" Tom says, staring at her chest. 

"You pervert!" the new attendant chases Tom out of the precinct but luckily he's able to escape from her in the nick of time.

On the way to the photo studio, he stops by at his place and packs his camera into his bag.

On entering that big studio with a lot of female models, Tom gets excited to show his photographic skills.

"What's the matter, god? You're taking care of me real fine today!?" Tom says to himself staring at the female models getting dressed up. 

He takes out his camera and starts ordering around everyone in the studio including models, capturing the photographic stills they give, and awesome expressions they make exactly as he tells them to when one of the technicians asks him who he is on behalf of everyone. 

"Me? I am the Fashions and Styles new photographer! I come here to take this company to the next level. That crappy nonsense you guys have been selling to the people in the name of fashion is no longer allowed in my presence. Got it!" Tom says arrogantly. 

"But Kate ma'am!" that technician tries to say something but gets interrupted by Tom, saying, "Kate! Kate! What's with that freaking name?! Why's everyone fixated on that name! Whoever I ask, they say Kate, whatever I ask, they say Kate! I'm fed up with her bullshit! Don't you dare fear her when I am the one standing in front of you, you piece of shut!" Tom scolds that technician without realizing that he was actually trying to warn him that she was standing right behind him the whole time.

"Look at me while I am talking to you, asshole! What the fuck are you looking at behind me?!" Tom finally turns around to realize it but it's already too late. He already spouts enough nonsense for her to get pissed at him on a whole new level. 

"Hello there! Ha!" Tom says to Kate awkwardly. 

"Kate? You didn't tell me that I am replaced by some joker!" a senior photographer who comes along with Kate mocks Tom, saying, "it seems Fashions and Styles has no quality control hiring an incompetent roadside passerby as a photographer!"

"True! Maybe that's why they hired me to try to bring some change in the so-called quality control that you blabbers about!" Tom gets back at him. 

"You? A photographer in Fashions and Styles?! Don't kid yourself! You're not worthy enough even to be an intern in my company! Now you are responsible for our deal to be friends to go down the drain! Now get out of here before I kick you in the nuts!" Kate embarrasses Tom before she walks away from him and sits in her chair and starts drinking coffee. 

"Sometimes it happens. A dog thinks it's god and dies a dog's death. You know the way out, right? Be on your way then." The senior photographer humiliates Tom. He is so angry he's about to beat that guy up but holds back and lets him leave, controlling his anger. 

Tom walks toward Kate and crouches beside her chair, saying, "if you treat everyone like this, who would want to work with you, eh?!" 

"Those who want to fulfill their dreams. Those who love and respect their work. Those who believe in their talent more than their ego. Those who would do anything to achieve their goals." Kate says to Tom. 

"Hmph! Go and get yourself a dog then!" Tom mocks Kate, gets up and starts walking toward the exit when he gets a call on his mobile from Messy. 

"What the fuck do you want?!" Tom shouts at her on the call. 

"Now what happened? Why are you shouting at me?" Messy shouts back. 

"What else?! Kate happened like she's been happening from the past two days." Tom says, "she humiliated me and told me to leave, that bitch. I'm done with her and her fucking deal. I'm leaving here now. We'll talk later." Tom says angrily. 

"Wow! Never listened to anyone in your life before then what changed now suddenly?!  Oh! I get it! You've become a wuss being afraid of losing to her, haven't you?" Messy taunts Tom. 

"Yeah, you're right! Now that I think about it, why the fuck was I about to leave listening to that bitch. To hell with her and to hell with her desperate cunning acts to make me drop from the challenge. Haha. It's my turn now. Get ready to face my stupendous act, you crazy queen bee." Before Tom says all this, the call gets disconnected from her end due to network problem but that doesn't stop him from being stupid and talking to himself with nobody on the other end of the call, and to top it off, he hangs up without saying goodbye to her while Messy on the other end who doesn't get to hear any of that self centered shit of his, thinks he is leaving from there and hurries to that photo studio to convince him against it. 

Tom gets back to the same crouching position beside Kate and imitates a dog's bark with an innocent face. 

"I'm ready to do whatever it takes to win your friendship." Tom says to Kate. 

"Whatever it takes, you say?" Kate asks Tom. 

"Sorry. I mean whatever you say." Tom says with a fake smile. 

"Alright then. Bygones are bygones and the deal is still on. And one more thing. Welcome to Fashions and Styles. I'm making you an intern in my company and arguing about it is not up for any discussion." Kate says to Tom. 

"You think you are the only one who can work two jobs at the same time, you narcissistic bitch. I'll show you just how capable I am and how inferior you are in front of me." Tom thinks in his mind. 

"What?! That's not at all fair! But since you don't give me any choice, I guess that's it." Tom says to Kate. 

"Now, you're my intern. Go assist the models with their costumes." Kate orders Tom. 

"Wow!" Tom mouths sneaking at the female models. 

"Thank you very much, ma'am! I knew that deep inside you care about me!" Tom stands up and starts walking toward the female models when Kate stops him, saying, "not them. Male models."

Tom's bright face turns into a sad one full of despair with slight signs of anger. But he controls his anger and starts assisting the male models, trying his best to take his eyes off the female ones but he just can't. 

Kate sits there enjoying torturing Tom with her orders bossing him around with an evil smirk on her face. 

"Excuse me! Can you help me with my back zip please!" one of the female models asks Tom. 

He rushes toward her from what he was doing and when he's about to get close to her, another male model orders him to help with his costume. 

"It's okay. I will ask someone else to help." that female model gets away from him making him feel so wretched. 

He gets so excited and happy just for a second though, before returning to the hell which is the male models dressing spot. 

That senior photographer shows the pictures he took in today's shoot and Kate appreciates him saying, "good job." and when she's about to leave to the precinct, standing up from her chair, that senior photographer extends his hand expecting a shake hand from her but she leaves without giving him one. 

A few minutes after Kate leaves the studio, Messy comes in barging through the door looking for Tom in a hurry. She calms down only after seeing Tom there assisting the male models. 

"Hey, Elijah! Check her out! She is your type, isn't she?!" one of the male models says to the other, looking at Messy. 

"Hey there, I'm Elijah." he says to Messy, approaching her and extending his hand. 

"Thank god, Tom isn't watching! Or else he makes a scene out of this, beating the shit out of this poor guy for trying to flirt with me." Messy thinks looking at Tom before extending her hand saying, "Hey. I'm Messy."

But just when their hands are about to meet, Tom horns in and shakes hands with Elijah, saying, "hey, I'm Tom."

"Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't know!" Elijah says to Tom and Messy, thinking they are seeing each other. 

"Yeah! I didn't know either that she is interested in you!" Tom says to Elijah with his arm around her neck.

"You were about to shake hands with him, weren't you?!" Tom whispers in her ear before he approaches Elijah and whispers, "it seems she is really interested in you, man! I'm so jealous! You have fun with her! All the best!" and falls back from them.

"So, Messy. Tea or coffee." Elijah asks her out. 

"Actually I just remembered I have an urgent matter to attend to. Thank you for the invite though." Messy says to Elijah, getting away from him when he stops her, grabbing her arm. 

"Excuse me!?" Messy says to Elijah slightly angry. 

"We just started. Why don't you stay a little while and get to know me better." Elijah says to Messy, placing his hand over her shoulder making her feel uneasy. 

Seeing Messy getting uncomfortable, Tom rushes to her and pushes Elijah away from her. 

"What are you doing, man? You were the one who told me she is interested in me!" Elijah shouts at Tom. 

"She says she is not interested. Listen to her, asshole." Tom scolds Elijah before he turns toward Messy and asks her whether she is feeling fine.

Elijah taps on Tom's shoulder from behind and when he turns toward him, he throws a sudden punch at Tom's face making him fall on Messy but she manages to keep both of them firm from falling down because of her strong legs.

"Now I'm really pissed." Tom says angrily to Elijah. 

"Let it go, Tom!" Messy says worried. 

"Don't worry, Messy! I'll be nice to your boyfriend!" Tom says to Messy looking at Elijah with a menacing smile. 

Tom extends his right leg and kicks Elijah in the belly making him stoop down holding his stomach in pain. And before he recuperates from that posture, Tom holds his head and thrusts his knee into his face, sending him flying, crashing into one of the dressing mirrors. 

While they are fighting, the senior photographer calls Kate who is on her way to the precinct in her car and informs her about it. Hearing it, she orders, "driver, turn the car around" and reaches the studio within a few minutes. 

When she steps into the studio, she sees Tom pounding Elijah's head on one of the dressing tables.

"Thomas!?" Kate yells his name out loud angrily to which he responds by letting go of Elijah. 

"When a dog tries to become a human, it gets welcomed into the family as a member. And when a member tries to become a dog, he gets thrown out of the family." Kate says to Tom, approaching him. 

"You're fired from your intern position in my company. Have a nice day." Kate says to Tom, "also, forget about the stupid deal of ours." and leaves the studio in a bad mood. 

"I'm sorry, Tom! This all happened because of me! You just wait a minute! I'll clean this mess!" Messy tries to go after Kate when Tom stops her, saying, "Are you out of your damn mind?! You plan on wasting an apology on that bitch?! She'll chew you up raw along with your bones!"

"Because of me, your chance at friendship with the new captain is gone now. You tried real hard this time for the first step in fulfilling your dream. Now it's on me that all your hard work is ruined." Messy says, sulking. 

"Who said it's ruined, eh?! All these years and you still think naive that I'll let a bitch get the best of me!" Tom smirks at Messy before dashing out of the door. 

"Don't do anything stupid, you idiot!" Messy shouts at Thomas, making a run for him. 

"Go home, Messy!" Tom says to Messy. 

"What are you up to, halfwit?!" Messy asks Tom anxiously. 

"I'll just pay a visit to our queen bee." Tom says and leaves in his jeep leaving Messy hanging in suspense. 

Late that night in Fashions and Styles main office building, Kate enters the elevator on the top floor and presses the ground floor button after finishing all her work at the office. 

The building is as quiet as a baby sleeping soundly and as empty as a covid red zone. 

As the elevator descends, Kate is busy with her mobile, monitoring her mom at home through the cameras installed at every corner of the house before she gets startled by the abrupt halt of the elevator just entering the first floor. 

Clicking the lift buttons again and again, she tries to call the security despite the poor signal reception but has no luck. 

Outside the elevator in the first floor lobby, chuckling viciously, eavesdropping her, is Tom, whispering to himself, cursing her, "Now I'll show you who's the boss, bitch! All your spitefulness ends today, right here and right now! Scream, bitch! Scream in despair and maybe I'll make it easy for you !" while she starts sweating, squeezing her hands feeling trapped inside. 

Waiting for her to break, Tom gets bored and angry and rushes to the elevator control room for the second time and pulls the lever controlling the lights in the elevator making them flicker.

Kate crouches down in a corner, hyperventilating while he damages the main circuit board shutting down the power in the entire building. 

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Tom runs to the elevator and tries opening its door by force with his hands. 

"Hold on, Kate! Hang in there! I'll get you out of there!" Tom shouts, being worried about her as she didn't respond to him even once before he opens the door and finds her cowering in terror, rapidly banging her head against the elevator wall.

"Kate? Kate, you alright?" Tom asks Kate. 

"Can't... can't breathe! I can't breathe! I can't!" Kate mutters, choking on her words. 

"Everything's alright now! Just close your eyes and concentrate on my voice alone! Give me your hand, Kate!" Tom stretches his hand and reaches out to help her out of there when she continues to mutter, "I'm all alone! I'm...I'm alone and scared! Help!" 

"You're not alone, Kate! Listen to me! I'm here with you! Don't be scared! Come to me and give me your hand, Kate! Let me help you!" Tom tries to calm her down. 

Hearing his words, Kate stops banging and extends her arm toward Tom and he pulls her out of there straight into his arms. 

He embraces her firmly and gently strokes her back, cherishing her, saying, "there, there! You're fine! There is nothing to fear! Everything's alright!"

The minute the generator power kicks in and lights come back on, she pushes him away from her all of a sudden, looking angrily at him, as if she is a completely different person.

"You alright?! You got stuck in the elevator and I helped you out! Kate?" Tom tries to explain but she leaves hastily without paying attention to his words.