A/N: It'll be a while before I can finish Away From the Sun. In the meantime, I decided to post a story about the jewelry store owner from a previous story. Enjoy.

Adventures of a Jewelry Store Dealer

Chapter One
A Slow Day at the Shop

A newspaper slammed into the glass door of the shop, startling Rex. Aside from the howling wind outside it was the first bit of noise he'd heard all morning.

"Damned weather," he mumbled.

He went back to his books, subtracting the expenses and adding the profits for the week.

The store was doing remarkably well this winter. Tourists were coming from every corner of the country, many of whom had heard of his store through past customers.

Rex was amazed at how swiftly word of mouth passed in this day and age, and wondered if exploring the option of a website wouldn't be such a bad idea. Many of his colleagues used the Internet for their business and the investment more than paid for itself. He wouldn't have to pay much, he figured. All he needed was to find some computer-savvy kid who wanted to make a quick buck. Maybe he'd even take one of the offered courses at the vocational center so he could become more familiar with modern technology. A computer was quite a stretch from the typewriters he was used to. For that matter, even the computers that were coming out in the late seventies-to-eighties were quite archaic compared to these smaller, faster devices.

When he'd finished the adding and subtracting Rex took a good look around the store. Using a bottle full of hot water and vinegar, he wiped down the glass cases full of his diamonds and precious stones. He'd learned that a customer of his was quite allergic to the stronger chemical cleaners, and since vinegar did the trick just as well as any store bought agent, Rex made the switch.

The floor was quite muddy from people tracking mud and wet snow. But since most of them were paying customers he didn't complain. A quick run over with the mop and hot water now and he'd arrange to have the floors buffered later in the week.

When he the cleaning was done he went into the cases and lightly dusted some of the larger pieces. The three-stone diamond engagement rings in their cases, the ruby necklaces, the birthstone rings and pendants glimmered beautifully beneath the light of the bulbs. When they were sufficiently cleaned Rex checked each light bulb to see that it was working. One of them sputtered as he clicked it on and off and he made a note to buy replacements when he made his trip to the bank.

A sound even louder than the wind itself got Rex's attention. He was long overdue for a lunch break. He grabbed his coat, locked up the register and placed the Out to Lunch sign on the door.

The BLT and fries at Marky's Diner hit the spot quite nicely. So far Marky's was the only place one could go if you didn't want to find any of that healthy garbage. Turkey bacon wasn't bad, but this new low-fat soy bacon was absolutely awful.

It was still windy out so instead of his usual after lunch walk, Rex drove out to the vocational center. It was attached to the high school and although it made him nervous to enter the grounds, he assumed most of the students would be in their classes now.

Fortunately, the vocational center had its own entrance and the registration area was just across from the entrance, and he was spared the horror of getting lost among teenagers.

A secretary looked up from her work as he approached and slid the glass partition open. She had been typing on one of those popular computers advertised on television. It seemed everyone was on the ball with these things.

"Can I help you?"

"Uh, yes," Rex said, feeling awkward. "I'm curious about some of the computer related courses being offered."

"Okay. Let me call the vocational supervisor and she can help you."

A few minutes later a woman emerged from the office. She was a bit older than the secretary and around Rex's age. Her clean cut clothing and her sharp smile boasted of confidence and intelligence that both impressed and intimidated Rex. She took him to her office and introduced herself as Paula Stevens.

"So, Mr. Shepard," she said, gesturing to the seat across from hers. "I understand you wish to take some night courses."

"Yes," Rex nodded, returning the warm smile. "I've been running my own business for about ten years now and I feel it's time to join the twenty-first century so to speak."

"That's very sensible. Well, we offer a range of courses. There's word processing, Microsoft Office, computer programming and a computer and Internet literacy class that explains the basics."

Rex considered this for a moment and shrugged nervously.

"I honestly don't know where to begin," he said, apologetically. "It must be hard to believe that someone could find this very confusing.

"Not at all, Mr. Shepard," Paula replied. "You may not believe it yourself, but I wasn't very familiar with all of this ten years ago. I actually had to go back to college to learn it again and even now I'm just as baffled."

"The technology changes faster than we do," Rex mused.

"Exactly."

Paula turned to her computer and scanned through the courses.

"What if we start you off with a basic computer and Internet literacy course? Then we'll set you up with word processing, which is self paced so you can go at your own speed."

"That's fine."

Paula typed a few more things into the computer and gave Rex some forms to fill out. He had to return to the store, so he brought most of it with him.

The forms asked all questions like current level of education, social security, payment options and other bits of information that would be included in the database. It made Rex nervous as he filled it out, knowing that most of it was falsified. But on the positive side it would give Raymond Shepard a more tangible existence, which he desperately needed in this day and age where what you knew simply wasn't enough to get by.

Most of the kids who went to that high school had to fill out twice as many forms as he did as a teenager. It was no wonder they suffered personality problems. The struggle to find a unique identity under such a stringent classification process was truly a mentally tasking lifestyle.

"Adapt and overcome," His friend and mentor Marcus always said. "Or you can loose your head."

Well, Rex thought. At least I am adapting. That doesn't mean I'll overcome.