It is common knowledge that the more one looks at their watch while they are working, the slower the workday will go. Jack’s work went especially slow because his job was to repair gold watches all day that he could not even afford to buy for himself. Sometimes he had easy days and no repairs needed to be done in the shop, but today was not one of those days. He had in his hands the State Senator of Illinois’ eighty thousand dollar diamond encrusted watch that stopped working for an unknown reason.

Jack opened up the watch and found what at first glance appeared to be flour caked onto the gears and preventing the second hand from moving forwards. Jack took his smallest tool in his bag out, which was basically a thin metal toothpick for situations such as this and removed the obstructing substance from the gears of the watch. By the time he was finished fixing the watch, he had accumulated a small pile of white powder on his desk. He looked up at one of the wall clocks and both its hands were on the 12.

 

“Just in time for lunch” Jack whispered to himself as he got out of his chair and walked out of the repair shop to the food court a block away.
When he returned, his grey-haired manager was waiting near the front door with his arms folded.
“We need to talk, into my office, now.”
Jack was a bit nervous at his boss’s stern tone of voice, but he couldn’t think of anything that he had done wrong, at least not lately.
“What’s the problem Sir?”
“Can you tell me what that line of white powder is doing on your work desk?”
Jack’s heart jumped into his throat and his stomach sank into his shoes as he put together the pieces in his head.
“That’s not mine, I took that out of the watch that I was repairing.”
“The senator’s watch you mean?”
“Yes, the senator’s watch.”
“How stupid do you think I am Jack? I heard about McKlinskey’s watch repairman’s cocaine problem, but I never thought you would be a cocaine user too. Get out of here and don’t come back, you’re fired.”
“This is bullshit, you think I do cocaine?”
“Explain to me how cocaine would get into the governor’s watch.”
“It’s not a water proof watch, all he had to do was spill it on the back of the watch and it would make it into the gears.”
“Well, we’ll just ask him when he comes to pick up his watch.”
“He’s not going to admit to something like that, just give me a drug test, that would prove that I don’t do cocaine.”

 

The manager moved his head to the left to make sure no customers could hear the conversation and then closed the door to the repair room.
“I told you that you’re fired, get your things and leave.”
“First of all, how do you know that it’s cocaine?”
“I think I know what cocaine looks like.”
“How? I don’t know what cocaine looks like, it could be powdered sugar for all that I know.”
The manager looked at Jack and then looked back to the pile white crumbs on his desk. He then walked over to the desk, put his finger in the pile and touched it to his tongue.
He looked up at Jack then he put his finger back in the pile and dabbed it on his tongue again.
“It’s flour” the manager said.
He looked up at Jack, whose mouth was hanging slightly open because of the ridiculousness of the current situation.
“Do you want the rest of the day…”
“I’ll see you next Monday” Jack interrupted.
Jack stormed out of the complex.

 

“Flour, are you kidding me? Flour. Jesus Christ” he muttered as he walked out of the watch shop. The wind nearly pushed him over as he walked outside. He took a few steps and then landed hard onto the ice.
“Do you need any help?”

 

Jack looked up, it was the same college girl that he bumped into the day before.

 

“Well hello again” Jack quipped.
“Do I know you?”
Jack thought about this question for a few seconds before he answered.
“No sorry, I guess I thought you were someone else” he lied.
“Quite a nasty spill you took there.”
“Yeah, you’ll never believe what just happened to me.”
“Do tell” she spoke through a smile. “Do you want to drop in and get a beer? You look cold.”
“You know, beer only makes you think you’re warmer.”
“As long I think I’m warmer, that’s all that really matters then” she replied. “I’m Jennifer by the way.”

“Nice to meet you Jennifer.”