Tim Johnson was in a huge rush.
Today was his big meeting with his boss, and he could NOT afford to mess this up. He had been working at his too small cubicle desks for months now, but today everything could change. This meeting would really help emphasize how good of a job he'd been doing, and maybe get him promoted!
Maybe he could've even been excited if he wasn't so stressed.
He parked his car down the street in the public parking and started to speed walk towards the office. He wasn't late or anything but he wanted to be as early as possible to set a good example.
"Ok let's check to make sure I'm good." He thought to himself. "Dark blue suit, check. Hair gelled and looking more brown than gray, check. Deodorant, check. Documents, check. Watch... shit!" He realized, suddenly finding his good watch wasn't on his wrist. "Dammit, I knew I forgot something."
He of course had a cell phone, so it's not as if he needed to know the time, but he had looked into it and several studies show that having a nice watch on ones wrist made others think you were wealthier, more thoughtful, and pragmatic. He didn't need it, but he had meant to grab his own.
"Dammit, I guess I'll have to... hello." He suddenly stopped as he had glanced over into a new shop he hadn't seen before.
Inside, the old man behind the counter was rummaging through a bin FILLED with detailed and marvelous watches. Just what he needed!
He walked inside and approached the counter as the old shop keeper placed one watch in particular on display.
"May I help you?" He asked.
"Yeah, you can." Tim responded quickly. "How much for the watch?" He asked.
"Oh that watch?" he chuckled. "15."
"15,000?!" Tim said astonished.
"Nope. 15, dollars." The old man smiled.
Tim felt like he was being pranked. He quickly glanced around and noticed various items of no particular theme scattered across the various shelves. There was an old polaroid camera, a box full of necklaces next to even more rings, a typewriter, just a bunch of junk! Tim realized that although it looked quality, it was probably a cheap nock off, if it even worked at all.
"Fine... I guess as long as it looks real." Tim sighed, handing the man the money.
"I should warn you, about what this watch is capable of before-" The old man began to explain before he was rudely cut off.
"Yeah yeah I figured it wasn't real. I don't care if it's a gag gift or whatever it looks real and I just need it to sit on my wrist for less than an hour." Tim dismissed the man before walking out fo the store in a hurry. The old man smirked, shook his head and let the man learn the hard way what that watch could do.
"Okay, now I'm ready." Tim thought as he got closer and closer to the office.
As he walked along, he subconsciously began to set the watch, trying to get it close to 12, the time it was near now. As he did that, he began to shift away from the interview and towards the rest of his day.
"Okay, Jennifer is at the gym with her gal pals, trying to work off that baby fat, Melissa is at school... though I'll probably have to pick her up from elementary school later, then I have to relieve Shaniqua from babysitting Tim Jr, ugh and then probably watch him tonight and watch rex... Jeez and I can't forget about Bob and Alexa coming this weekend from Mississippi." He thought, his mind racing.
"Shit, focus Tim. You have to impress Irene today. She's just you're superior. You're older, you're more experienced, just play it cool and you got this." He reassured himself while his mind drifted to his very busy schedule.
Just as he thought about someone in particular, the hand was set into the 12 o'clock position just as he hit the button to the side.
Just like that, two life roles were swapped, leaving only Tim aware. But, who swapped with who?