Evan stopped, looking at his watch and cursed. It was completely dead. "Cheap piece of crap," he muttered. He took his phone out and checked the time. He needed a regular watch at work, using it to time his presentations, so he needed something with a second hand and he was giving a big presentation today.
He walked past an expensive jewelry store...but he wasn't buying a five hundred dollar watch for this. He spotted what looked like a pawn shop, or some sort of used goods store. He headed in. As he walked in, the shopkeeper was cleaning the display of watches.
"Can I have a look at one of those?" Evan asked, pointing at one of the watches. It was a simple analog watch with a second hand...professional looking enough, but didn't look like it would be expensive.
"Of course, sir. That is a very special item. I do have to warn you though. The previous owner did sell it to me without the instruction manual, so..."
Evan cut him off. "I'm sort of in a hurry. I can figure out how to set it. How much?"
The man shrugged. People were always in such a rush, especially younger people. "Fifteen dollars."
He put his old watch on the counter. "Can you throw this out...or keep it, whatever?"
"Oh? What does it do?" The shopkeeper asked, curiously.
"Nothing anymore, it's broken," Evan told him. "Not worth fixing."
"Oh..." Evan took out his credit card.
"Cash only, sir," the shopkeeper commented. "Keeps the business simple." Evan reached for a twenty and waited for his change, then put the watch on. "Just remember, we have a 30 day return policy only."
Evan headed outside. It was going to be a busy day. He had his big presentation, then he had dinner at his father's place. Evan was in his mid-twenties and the second of four children. His older sister and her husband would be there with the baby. as well as his two younger half-siblings who still lived at home, one who was in high school, the other was still in elementary school. He'd been in college when his youngest sibling was born to his stepmother.
It was going to be a busy few days. Not counting work, and tonight's dinner, he was supposed to have dinner with his mother tomorow. Unlike his father, she had not remarried since he they divorced when he was a kid. She'd gone back to school and had focused on her career, and while she'd had several long term relationships, she was still single as of now. She always insisted in having dinner with him the night after he had dinner with his dad and the rest of the family....which usually involved some bashing of his stepmother, despite the fact he'd spent more of his childhood being raised by his stepmom then his actual mom.
That meant he wouldn't get to spend time with his girlfriend till the weekend, which he doubted would make her happy. On the other hand, he wasn't really ready to introduce her to the craziness of his family, or even his mom. They weren't that serious yet. They'd only been dating for two months.
Later that day, Evan was fiddling with the watch. The time was right, so he hadn't had to change that. But he noticed a weird subdial with symbols on it he didn't recognize...maybe the watch was foreign. He fiddled with the crown, trying to see what other settings there were. Unknown to him, his fiddling activated the life swap feature....something the shopkeeper really could have explained to him.