General

Occupation.

Entrepreneur

Business.

The Black & Bloom

Appearance

Height.

185 cm

Build.

Athletic

Eye Colour.

Grey

Hair Colour.

Brown

Thijs usually looks effortlessly good. He doesn’t put that much work into his appearance, but somehow it works for him. He has dark brown, wavy hair that he keeps at medium length. His dark hair stands in stark contrast to his light blue-greyish eyes. Most of the time, he cannot be bothered to shave and sports a full beard. Arguably, he does look 85% better with a bared compared to without one.

At his fanciest, he will wear something that could be described as business casual, but usually he wears relatively simple clothing. He has a very open and inviting attitude, making him a pretty approachable guy. His voice is relatively low and calm, and most will find him pleasant to be around.

Personality

Traits.

Carefree, doesn’t take things too seriously, humorous, morally questionable, possibly charming, sarcastic, unintentionally helpful.

Thijs finds humour is one of the best ways to cope with hardship. He always tries to find some absurd silver lining in everything and doesn’t take other people and himself all that seriously. After all, life is a lot duller if you do. Sometimes, however, when people actively resist his somewhat sarcastic approach, he can become a little more stand-offish to the point that he ends up just taking the piss out of someone. Others might enjoy his carefree, humorous attitude, but not everyone may be as charmed by him.

He is always open to new experiences and is willing to try anything twice. Maybe thrice. There is little that he won’t do. Despite his recklessness with regards to his own safety, Thijs is very fond and very protective of the people around him. He cares for them a lot, even if he tends to pester them a little.  He definitely has a heart, although it is oftentimes buried underneath a sarcastic, somewhat annoying attitude.

Family

Father.

Peter van der Linde

Mother.

Marian van der Linde

Siblings.

???

Other.

???

History

Place of birth.

Nijmegen, the Netherlands

Date of birth.

September 1st, 1989

Thijs was born as the eldest son to Peter and Marian van der Linde in 1989, in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. From an early age onwards, he appeared to be a bright and extraverted young kid who tended to get along with most people in his neighbourhood and school. He was very much a doer instead of a thinker, sometimes getting into trouble when he was younger because he sometimes broke rules in order to satisfy his own curiosity. He grew up alongside his siblings, who were twins. While he got along swimmingly with his sister, his relationship with his brother had never been great due to the ever-present rivalry between them.

He was popular in school, always keeping busy with all kinds of side projects of his own in his free time. Thijs was always very business-minded, from running lemonade stands in his youth to organizing his school’s gala with his fellow students. During high school, he also got into his very first relationship, which ended up lasting two years. His girlfriend broke up with him at the time because she wanted something more serious, which Thijs clearly couldn’t give her at the time. At the time, he also seemed dead-set on leaving the Netherlands someday.

After graduating high school, he moved on to study International Business Communication in Nijmegen. For his minor, Thijs ended up studying abroad in Paris for an entire semester. He greatly enjoyed his time there, picking up a job as a barista in an authentic Italian coffee shop. While Thijs was only given the unimportant, dull tasks at first, he learned a lot about brewery during this time. After returning to the Netherlands, he missed life in France so much that he decided to move there permanently after graduation. He learned the language, started working at the coffee shop again, and eventually took over from the previous owner.

Business was going well, and Thijs ended up reinvesting his profits in some other businesses. He made quite a living for himself and eventually started dating a woman he had gotten to know in Paris. Victoire was her name, and while the relationship seemed almost idyllic at first, their personalities later clashed. Thijs was still too focused on himself and his business, rarely taking his significant other into account whenever he made important decisions. They started fighting more and more, to the point where the relationship was suffering rather than loving. They ended up breaking up after several years.

Thijs decided to leave Paris, moving to Italy in the hopes of refining his knowledge and starting anew. He bought another business there, which took off after some time. Everything was good and well until Natalie entered his life. He was quick to fall for her, even when he learnt about her controversial occupation. Desperate to help her get out of that life, he gave and gave to her, until the day she took nearly everything from him. Natalie disappeared without a trace, with a great deal of his hard-earned money.  After that, Thijs hit a rough patch financially, and he never saw Natalie again.

With his new business in ruins, he had little choice but to return to the Netherlands for a while. Life abroad hadn’t treated him very well, but he was not ready to give up yet. He took out a sizeable loan, moved to London, and bought a coffee shop named The Black & Bloom. He completely revamped it and it quickly became a hotspot for people from all walks of life to grab quality coffee together. Finally, he started recovering from his financial devastation, but little did he know that he moved to a city where both his exes would be…