The Assistant & The Watch

James emptied the trash then came back and looked over the merchandise for display. The first thing he saw was the gold watch. It had a peculiar design on the face; it was an hourglass with rays of light or lightning coming from it. He flipped the watch over and saw an inscription on the underside, "totis vicis sceptrum."

"What the hell does that mean?" he said aloud. He saw no sign of who made the watch. He slipped it on and fastened it. It felt strangely warm and comfortable.

The shopkeeper came back and saw James admiring the watch. "Like it?" he said before turning to get a ledger book.

"Huh? Yeah, it's great. How much you want for it?"

The shopkeeper looked up and over the top of his glasses. "For you...how about you finally work a full day Sunday to help me get caught up putting the new locks on the display cases and putting the new tiles in the floor with the water damage?"

"Got yerself a deal, pops!" said James. James was surprised to see the watch was on the correct time. He went back to work.

After his four hour shift was over, James helped the shopkeeper lock up and walked him to his car with the day's proceeds. The shopkeeper said farewell and drove off. James headed to the local burger joint for a late bite.

At the burger joint were the usual crowd of high school kids who hung out together. He saw the reason he was arrested to and nearly expelled. The danceline girls whose tight bodysuit uniforms he had sabotaged so they came apart at the seams during the homecoming halftime show. He was arrested for criminal michief, and the only reason he was not expelled is that his estranged dad, who was a lawyer, actually came to his defense. That was how he ended up working here after school.

James ordered a double cheeseburger with extra pickles, an order of onion rings, and a soda and sat down. As he ate, he overhead the inane bubbleheaded talk of the preppy girls, and the crude potty humor of the jocks nearby.

As he ate he looked at his new watch again. Most kids in school wore digitals if they wore one at all but he liked the feel of the metal compared to plastic. He noticed that it was off according to the clock on the wall by a few minutes. He went to set it as he puled the little thing on the side out.