6:00pm
Mrs. Johnson had met many interesting people over the years, but the boy who crashed into her office that summer evening was one of the strangest.
The black and white clock on the wall of Domino City's unemployment office read six, the hour when Mrs. Johnson could finally go home after a long day behind her desk. She stretched stiffly, tidied a few papers, and picked up her dry coffee mug. The room was silent, disrupted only by the steady ticking of the generic analog clock, a sound Mrs. Johnson had gotten used to hearing during the later hours of the afternoon, when the office was invariably empty. Domino had a good economy.
These musings were loudly interrupted when a young man barged through the glass doors, speaking rapidly and urgently into a cell phone.
"No, don't worry … no, no, it'll be fine. I'll take care of it. Trust me. … Love ya too, Sis. Bye."
In seemingly one step, he had reached her desk and was leaning over it eagerly, his messy blonde hair bobbing up and down from the motion.
"Excuse me, ma'am. Mah name is Joey Wheeler. I need a job."
Mrs. Johnson glanced at him and then glanced at the clock. "I'm sorry, si-"
"Please, it's really important. I'll take any job you can offer; I just really need the money."
Swallowing a sigh, she sat down again and handed him a clipboard of forms.
"I'll need you to fill out this top section, read this area, and sign here and here," she said, putting on reading glasses with one hand and pointing with the other.
He was done before her computer had booted. She took the papers and started entering basic information into the system – his full name, birthday, address and phone number – the usual routine. He waited as she scanned the options, hovering over the table and fiddling with a pen. Finally, she printed out a page and turned to him.
"Okay, Mr. Wheeler. This is the best job I can offer you, given your circumstances. All it requires is a driver's license and a great deal of free time. It's one of the highest paying jobs available to someone with only a high school diploma. It's also a job nobody wants."
Again, Joey didn't wait for her to finish. "Sounds great! School's out now, so I can work any hour. Just tell me what to do next."
Mrs. Johnson looked at him for a moment and shrugged. Joey didn't seem to notice.
"You'll need to consider these contracts carefully – terms and conditions and the like."
"You said this job cashed in, right?"
"Uh … yes."
Joey grabbed the papers and signed them. "When do I start?" He grinned.
This time Mrs. Johnson looked at him for a long time and frowned. "Mr. Wheeler, you may want to look over these a bit more carefully …"
"Nah, Joey Wheeler can handle anythin' you can throw at me!"
"Okay then. Expect a call from Domino Limousines within twenty four hours."
With a zealous "Thank you!" he had pranced out the door, still grinning like a Cheshire cat. Mrs. Johnson watched the glass doors bang shut with a dangerous clatter before bending over to reorganize her desk.
"He'll be back tomorrow. Nobody ever lasts long as the chauffeur for Seto Kaiba."