BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

I immediately hit the snooze button and rolled over. Is it already Monday? I hate mornings… I groggily looked at my alarm clock in hopes that it was still early enough that I could go back to sleep. It's only 6:30…I have plenty of time… I shut my eyes for what I thought was five minutes, only to wake up in a panic…

Oh it's only 7:30…WHAT? 7:30?! I'M GOING TO BE LATE!

I literally jumped out of bed, threw my hair up into a messy bun, brushed my teeth, ransacked my closet for some clean clothes, grabbed my papers and briefcase, and was out the door, rushing to the train stop.

I couldn't believe it. How could I go back to sleep for that long? A variety of scenarios ran through my head as I quickly walked down the busy streets of downtown Chicago. Lost in my own thoughts, I hurriedly maneuvered around the morning crowds, but was sidetracked by a man who felt the need to abruptly stop in the middle of the sidewalk to gaze at one of the many tall buildings. Realizing he had stopped moving a minute too late, I ran straight into him, with my papers scattering all over the sidewalk.

"Will you watch where you're going? Who stops in the middle of the sidewalk like that?" I angrily snarled at him.

The man turned to me and tilted his head. He was staring at me: brow furrowed and interest piqued. It was as though he was looking at me as if I was some sort of specimen.

After what seemed like a never-ending staring contest, I waved my hands in his face and cooed, "Hellooooo?"

He quickly snapped back into reality, shook his head and apologized.

"Oi! I'm sorry miss! Let me help you gather those papers!"

He's got a Scottish accent…no…British? I can't tell the difference.

"No, no. It's okay. I'm fine, thank you." I managed to hiss. Great… Now I'm definitely going to be late…

I bent down to grab as many papers as I could, stuffed them in my briefcase, and stood up, noticing the man was again ogling at me while holding a few of my papers in his hand. Again! He was staring at me like that again!

At this point I was getting annoyed, "Do you have a problem, sir? Is there something wrong? You know, it's not polite to stare."

He scratched his head and looked at the ground. "Oh! Uhh…right…well…I, uh…sorry…about that. I just…you…ahh, never mind."

He looked back up and handed me the remainder of my papers. "Thank you," I said as I stuck my hand out to shake his. He seemed a little confused at first, but eventually shook it.

"Samantha." I said. "My name's Samantha."

"Hello Samantha, I'm the Doctor," he responded.

"Doctor…who?"

To my surprise, he gave me a large, pearly white grin, and then began to laugh. He then turned on his heel, waved goodbye, and proceeded to walk off in the opposite direction.

I just stood there, completely dumbfounded. What just happened? I had no time to process the events that had just occurred. I was already late and still needed to catch the next train. I sprinted to my stop, hopped on the train, and flopped down on the nearest seat, exhausted from this morning's events. I leaned by head against the window and drifted into deep thought.

I rushed into the office. 8:15. I'm only 15 minutes late. It's not like I have a meeting or anyth—"Samantha! Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you! Your 10:00 meeting got moved up to 8:30!" My associate, Gwen, was in a state of panic.

"Do you have the pitch? Please tell me you have the pitch done."

"Yes, I do. Don't worry. Let me just put my things in my office, and I'll meet you in the board room in 10 minutes."

Oh shoot… I thought I had more time to go over the last minute details. Oh well… I walked to my office, set my bag on the ground, and turned on my computer. I sat down, loaded the pitch and looked at it in despair. I don't have enough time to fix this. Oh well, guess I'll have to wing it.

I sat back in my chair and stared at the ceiling, silence deafening the room. But it broke when I heard that sound again. That sound… I've been hearing it for weeks, and lately it's gotten more frequent. It sounds like someone's whispering to me, but that's not possible…is it? What am I thinking? I've been watching way too many ghost stories lately. It's probably just the pipes in this place. I should call someone to fix that… I shook my head, relinquishing the thought and proceeded to brace myself for the meeting.

I walked into the room and gulped. There were a variety of well-dressed, older men in expensive suits scattered around the table, looking stern as ever. Immediately all eyes were on me. I managed to squeak out a couple of "good morning's" and nodded my head a few times before heading to the end of the table to prepare. Why am I so nervous? I just need to calm down. Stay focused. Calm, cool, collected, and— Just then, another individual burst through the doors yelling, "Sorry folks! Hope I'm not too late! Couldn't miss such a great presentation, eh?"

That voice sounds familiar… I turned around to look. What?! It's that rude man from earlier! But…how? Who…what is he doing here?

He plopped down next to one of the men, and placed his feet up onto the table.

"'Ello there, sir! Ohh! That's a pretty spiffy suit ya got there!"

He proceeded to take the old man's arm, pull out a pair of glasses, closely examine the material, then sniff it. The old man looked at him in disdain and pulled his arm back.

"Who in the heavens do you think you are?"

The "Doctor" pulled out a small black pocket book, opened it up, and flashed it to the man. What good it that going to do? It's blank! I thought to myself.

"Oh I'm sorry Dr. Smith. I had no idea!" He turned to his associates, embarrassed by such events. My jaw dropped. But…the paper was blank!

"Everyone, I would like to introduce you to Dr. John Smith, CEO and founder of Smartis Environmental Technology Incorporated."

"Yes…CEO…that has a nice ring to it," Dr. Smith replied, tapping his finger on his chin.

He stood up, fiddling with his hands: "Uh…but…I, yes, hello! Yes I do all the inventing and the environmental stuff and whatnot…"

He looked up and scanned the room. His gaze stopped at me, and he stared wide-eyed for a couple of seconds. He quickly broke contact and continued, "Ahem—But today we are here to listen to some very important advances in—" "Some very important advances in conservation technology," I interjected. "Now if you could all take your seats, Let's begin."

The meeting was finally over. A majority of the businessmen came over to shake my hand and congratulate me on a job well done. I was thrilled that my presentation was successful, but I wasn't focused on reveling in my good work; I wanted to know where that godforsaken imposter went.

Now where would he be? He practically vanished once I finished my prese – "Nice job today there, Samantha!"

I turned around and was face to face with the "Doctor." Our faces were only inches away. He clearly has never heard of a personal bubble, I thought to myself. I breathed in sharply, then slowly backed up, confused and a little scared.

"Thank you Dr. Smith."

"Oh please, just call me the Doctor. Doctor Smith sounds too formal."

"Okay Doctor… First thing's first. Tell me, how did you convince those men you were some sort of CEO? That paper you showed them was blank!" By this point I was whispering, for fear that one of the other CEO's would overhear me.

The Doctor leaned in closer and whispered, "Psychic paper. Cool, yeah?"

I started laughing hysterically. This man was definitely crazy. "Are you kidding me!?" I practically shouted, while still laughing. I finally calmed down, wiped my tears, and looked around the room. It had become dead silent, and everyone just stared at me. I immediately turned bright red.

"Oh, ha, ha, Dr. Smith, you do know how to crack a funny joke! Why yes, Dr. Smith, I'd love to talk more about our latest project in my office!"

The Doctor didn't catch on to my cover-up. "What? What are you talking about?"

I tugged at his coat, bringing his head closer, narrowed my eyes, and whispered, "Come with me. You've got a lot of explaining to do…"