"Say, Josh." He turned around and noticed Charlie staring at him strangely. He also noticed the cup. It was floating two feet away from him in mid-air. He rushed towards it making as if he was going to give a hearty greeting to his friend, grabing the cup out of the air.
"What's with the magic tricks?" Charlie said curiously.
"Tricks? Oh, nothing just some sort prank. Must be some of the boys making fun of my proposal. The one that is apparantly going to get me fired."
"That's pretty neat, a floating cup. I'll have to ask the guys how they did that. Funny, I don't see any of them around." Josh looked around. Indeed there was no one who could possibly have a coffee cup follow him in mid-air.
"Heh, yes, funny, very funny, heh."
"Listen, I just want to tell you not to worry. We just fiddle around with the numbers a bit and we'll come up with something that the client will like and you won't get fired. I mean come on, no one could really question your record. I mean you brought in some very profitable loans"
"That was last year."
"Oh yeah, ah well, never mind, just don't sweat it. We'll find a way to get them to bite. I got a lot of confidence in ya!"
"Great! Thanks." He smiled breifly and clutching the miscreant cup straight out in front of him, he took off at a brisk pace. He got to his desk and the cup upon being placed there, immediately began to float about a foot above the surface. He tried to anchor it somehow to the desk, trying paper weights and a second cup on top.
"Oh fine," he said to it, "be that way."
As he began to touch his computer, the screen flickered. He looked at the numbers in many different formulations and he found himself between the same rock and hard place. My rock is my client, he thought, my bank is my hard place. It soon became such that the screen would not stop flickering, the keys would not stop typing on their own. At one point even the lights on the whole floor wouldn't even stay on.
Fed up he decided to walk outside. As he descended in the elevator, the power again went out. Oh, brother, he thought, my day could not get any worse. He pondered in the dark of the small elevator what his next job would be like. No more banks, he thought. Maybe markets? Mutual funds? That takes tests; not just test but tests; four of them, no I don't have time for that. Maybe take Sally on an extended vacation? No, she wants to have a baby, how can I have a baby when I don't even have a job? Well I haven't lost it yet. The power came back on.
He stepped out into the lobby and pulled a cigarette from his pocket. If I have a baby, I can't smoke, must stop smoking! He lit it and walked down the street. He decided he would get a paper; something to take his mind off of the daunting task of loans. It was a nice sunny day, the air was fresh and the breezes light. When he got to the stand he stared at the headlines a long while thinking of those magic numbers; the magic numbers that would melt the rock and soften the hard place. He saw a raindrop hit the paper and noticed it got very dark very quickly. Thunder was heard, then wind, then leaves, then rain. Josh looked up. How? He wondered. Where did the clouds come from? The wind began to pick up speed and began blowing the papers down the street.
"Better grab one before they all blow 'way, gov'nor!" The merchant said. The lamppost next to the kiosk began to sway.
"Good lord, where'd this come from?" Josh looked up at the lamppost it wasn't just swaying, it was thrashing. From it's footing in the ground, it bent over and crashed three cars, made a huge hole in the street and broke several windows of the building directly behind it. "You best run for it!" He yelled and began to make his way back to the office. He turned around. It looked like the sidewalk was using the lamppost as a club. He saw the kiosk vendor jump out of his store just as the lamppost finally crashed down upon it. He watched as the lamppost turned the sidewalk to mincemeat. An arm reached around his neck, he felt a slight jab in his back. "Don't move," a voice said. He felt a strange sensation around his middle and the sidewalk blurred out of sight.
"What's with the magic tricks?" Charlie said curiously.
"Tricks? Oh, nothing just some sort prank. Must be some of the boys making fun of my proposal. The one that is apparantly going to get me fired."
"That's pretty neat, a floating cup. I'll have to ask the guys how they did that. Funny, I don't see any of them around." Josh looked around. Indeed there was no one who could possibly have a coffee cup follow him in mid-air.
"Heh, yes, funny, very funny, heh."
"Listen, I just want to tell you not to worry. We just fiddle around with the numbers a bit and we'll come up with something that the client will like and you won't get fired. I mean come on, no one could really question your record. I mean you brought in some very profitable loans"
"That was last year."
"Oh yeah, ah well, never mind, just don't sweat it. We'll find a way to get them to bite. I got a lot of confidence in ya!"
"Great! Thanks." He smiled breifly and clutching the miscreant cup straight out in front of him, he took off at a brisk pace. He got to his desk and the cup upon being placed there, immediately began to float about a foot above the surface. He tried to anchor it somehow to the desk, trying paper weights and a second cup on top.
"Oh fine," he said to it, "be that way."
As he began to touch his computer, the screen flickered. He looked at the numbers in many different formulations and he found himself between the same rock and hard place. My rock is my client, he thought, my bank is my hard place. It soon became such that the screen would not stop flickering, the keys would not stop typing on their own. At one point even the lights on the whole floor wouldn't even stay on.
Fed up he decided to walk outside. As he descended in the elevator, the power again went out. Oh, brother, he thought, my day could not get any worse. He pondered in the dark of the small elevator what his next job would be like. No more banks, he thought. Maybe markets? Mutual funds? That takes tests; not just test but tests; four of them, no I don't have time for that. Maybe take Sally on an extended vacation? No, she wants to have a baby, how can I have a baby when I don't even have a job? Well I haven't lost it yet. The power came back on.
He stepped out into the lobby and pulled a cigarette from his pocket. If I have a baby, I can't smoke, must stop smoking! He lit it and walked down the street. He decided he would get a paper; something to take his mind off of the daunting task of loans. It was a nice sunny day, the air was fresh and the breezes light. When he got to the stand he stared at the headlines a long while thinking of those magic numbers; the magic numbers that would melt the rock and soften the hard place. He saw a raindrop hit the paper and noticed it got very dark very quickly. Thunder was heard, then wind, then leaves, then rain. Josh looked up. How? He wondered. Where did the clouds come from? The wind began to pick up speed and began blowing the papers down the street.
"Better grab one before they all blow 'way, gov'nor!" The merchant said. The lamppost next to the kiosk began to sway.
"Good lord, where'd this come from?" Josh looked up at the lamppost it wasn't just swaying, it was thrashing. From it's footing in the ground, it bent over and crashed three cars, made a huge hole in the street and broke several windows of the building directly behind it. "You best run for it!" He yelled and began to make his way back to the office. He turned around. It looked like the sidewalk was using the lamppost as a club. He saw the kiosk vendor jump out of his store just as the lamppost finally crashed down upon it. He watched as the lamppost turned the sidewalk to mincemeat. An arm reached around his neck, he felt a slight jab in his back. "Don't move," a voice said. He felt a strange sensation around his middle and the sidewalk blurred out of sight.