Finally! A Prophecy About Me!

That Time I Jumped Through A Puddle And Fell Through The Sky!

"Hello, I can help who's next!"

I smiled and waved over the next person in line, catching the eye of an older gentleman in a tweed jacket. He looked like a professor, especially with his bowtie and briefcase. His smile lines and brightly-coloured tie gave me hope for a positive interaction.

"Hello, how can I help you today?" I asked with a pleasant smile.

"Hello, how're you?" The man asked as he set his briefcase down. However, before I could even respond, he continued speaking, "There's an issue with my account."

My smile wavered, but I forced it in place, "Of course, sir. What seems to be the issue?"

"There seems to be no money in my account – I was just paid!"

"No problem, we can definitely look into that. You can just swipe your card in the machine on the counter and enter the pin so I can take a look into your account."

The man nodded and pulled out his card, sticking it in the machine. Sure enough, an account popped up.

"Alright, and may I please see some ID?"

The man rolled his eyes before digging out his driver's license, as if he was annoyed that I – an employee at the bank – would ask for it.

"Thank you, Dr. Hammond. So I can see your recent purchases, would you like me to move through since your last paycheque?"

"Yes. Go transaction by transaction."

"Okay." I took a breath and scrolled down, "I see here that you were paid ten days ago in the amount of three-thousand, seven hundred, sixty-four dollars and nineteen cents."

"That is correct."

"Alrighty. The same day, I see that you placed an online order for food for twenty dollars and eighty-two cents?"

"Yes."

One by one, I went through each of his transactions, listing each of them off and the amount. He confirmed every one of them, sounding more and more annoyed as the transactions added up.

"And the most recent one was for this morning, at a café, for five dollars and eighteen cents, which was declined, and I see you paid with your credit account. Do any of these sound unfamiliar?"

"No. I made all of those purchases," he responded curtly, as if I were the dumb one.

"Then it looks as though you spent your paycheque, Dr. Hammond. If all of these transactions were made by you, then I can't take anything off."

"But I can't have spent it that fast! It was almost four thousand dollars!"

"Yes, but sir, you spent fifteen hundred of those dollars at a local bookstore."

"They were Christie first-editions! I couldn't not buy them!" He cried incredulously, "I will not be judged for my spending habits."

"I'm not judging anything, sir," I replied politely, squeezing my computer mouse tighter, out of sight, "Just going through and confirming information. I can print this out, if you'd like?"

Dr. Hammond just sighed in frustration before picking his briefcase back up, "No. That's unnecessary."

"No problem. Have a good afternoon, Dr. Hammond."

He just scoffed and turned away.

God, I hoped he wasn't a financial professor.

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