Chapter 3: Stranger (Sebastian/Kimi) Part 1/4

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I intended this to be a Simi one shot, but when I started writing it got a bit bigger because I wanted to include a few more characters. The second part will include more Simi though!

I try to finish the last part soon. I hope you'll like it though :)

It was another long day at work and Sebastian sighed when he looked at the clock hanging on the wall. It had already gone past seven and he wasn't even finished yet. He closed the file he was reading and rubbed his eyes as they had gone rather dry from staring at the sheets of paper. He had promised himself to never get a desk job, but he somehow ended up with one anyway. Judging from the faces of his colleagues, so had they. Everyone looked rather gloomy and he could hear people curse Helmut Marko under their breaths, as it was he who kept them in the office this late. With fresh reluctance Sebastian opened his drawer and neatly placed the folder back where it belonged. He was one of the only ones who was this organised and his colleagues often teased him because of that. He didn't really mind, no matter what he did, he always wanted to be as prepared and motivated as possible. He didn't like to slouch and always wanted to get the most optimal result and the best out of himself.

Sebastian let his eyes wander through the room and grinned when he spotted one smiling person among all the long faces. He shared his cubicle with this eager young aspiring journalist, although he wasn't that much younger than himself he had found out recently, and he didn't think that the guy had ever stopped smiling since his first day in office. Daniel was scribbling something down and in the meantime drummed his fingers on his desk on the rhythm of the music blasting in his ears. He stopped writing for a minute to demonstrate his air guitar skills and his smile widened when he spotted Sebastian looking at him.

He removed the headphones and peddled his office chair to Sebastian's side of the cubicle. 'You have to stay motivated somehow,' he said and shrugged his shoulders while spinning his chair around.

'I'm always motivated,' Sebastian said with raised eyebrows and he used his foot to stop Daniel from spinning, as it made him feel dizzy.

Daniel grinned and leaned back in his chair. 'I forgot you were Helmut's favourite for a minute,' he chuckled. He quickly moved his chair backwards as Sebastian had tried to kick him in response. 'Now now Seb, don't let Helmut see that!' Daniel mocked his colleague and he laughed. 'Not that you can do anything wrong,' he added in a more serious tone.

Seb scoffed and he looked at Daniel in disbelief. 'You've got the best results this year, the best ideas and everybody likes you while doing that. My last project failed, remember? I couldn't get the right sources and Helmut didn't like that. Also everybody hated me for always getting the best stories, I don't know how you do it,' he said while looking at the awards he had won hanging on the wall behind his desk. A sinking feeling in his stomach made its presence and he closed his eyes when he remembered all his successes the past years. The last four years he had ended up being the top employee with the best news stories and scoops that year. Christian Horner, his boss at Red Bull News, had even told him that he was the best employee the company had ever had. However, since Daniel had replaced Mark this year he had immediately impressed everyone, leaving Seb in the shadows.

A look of empathy was visible on Daniel's face and he put one of his hands on Seb's arm. 'Hey mate, don't talk yourself down like that. You mean a lot to Marko, to Red Bull even and without your help and guidance I wouldn't have been anywhere! We work together as a team, you know that right?' he said trying to encourage Seb. He ran his fingers through his brown curls and scratched his neck, while his eyes were still on his colleague.

Seb smiled weakly and he put down the pile of papers he had tried to rearrange. 'Thanks Dan,' he said and he really meant it. Although they were competing with each other for the best new stories, they were actually good friends. He was the hard worker, but Daniel had this natural ability to find the right people to use as his sources. Together they worked really well as a team though and when they were off work Daniel was really fun to hang out with. Working at Red Bull was hard work and it meant that they all didn't really have friends outside the office. Which meant they were all really close and Seb would almost call them family.

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