Joker and his Ace

The dawn of a new day

           Jack woke up with a start, and with a feeling of dread glanced at the alarm clock next to his bed.  His boss had told him the week before, one more late day would mean the all dreaded pink slip.  8:00 a.m. He sat up and ripped off the covers, not pausing to make sure he was completely free of them and made a dash for the bathroom door.

Uff he wheezed as he hit the floor, his feet still tangled up in his sheets. With much annoyance, he freed his feet and got up and made his way toward the bathroom door. Grimacing and rubbing his chest, he glanced in the mirror. Overall, Jack wasn't an unattractive person. With flat, black hair, green eyes, and a straight nose, he could even pass off as "cute". 

After running a hand through his ruffled hair, and a toothbrush through his teeth, he gave his reflection one more disgusted look and ran out the door. He was half-way to his car before he realized he was missing his pants. With a worried groan, he turned and sprinted in the house in search for some pants. Five minutes later he was in his car and backing out of his dirt driveway. 8:15 was what his clock said. With a tiny sigh of relief, he started on the 15-minute drive to his office. As long as I'm there by 8:30 I'll be fine he thought.

When he arrived glanced at the clock again, 8:29. With just one minute to spare, Jack ran as fast as his shaky legs would carry him and slid into his office. As an accountant, his job wasn't very exciting, just logging in numbers all day. On his way to his office, he passed his boss, who gave him a disproving look before walking away. This was the start of the monotonous that Jack Napier lived in every day.

At 12:00 exactly, Jack's phone rang. 

"Hello, this is Jack Napier with CBIV inc., how can I help you?" said Jack.

"Jack, I need you to come down to my office straight away!" Came the voice of Jack's boss, Mr. Lowery. Heart beating fast, Jack hung up and started what felt like a walk of doom down to Mr. Lowery's office. When he entered he found a somber-looking Lowery with a young, handsome man standing by him. 

"Is there anything I can do for you sir?" asked Jack with a hint of fear in his voice. Lowery said nothing but gestured towards the lone chair in front of the desk. Jack sat down, albeit shaky. With a glance towards the younger man, Lowery spoke in a grim voice " This is Jim Wayne, he has qualified to take your job." Jack started to protest but was cut off by Lowery "There can be no complaint from you Jack! I have given you endless chances to get your sh*t together and come to work prepared and on time, but countless times you have failed me. You barely scraped in today on time, and I knew it was meant to be when Mr. Wayne here came in asking for a job, he outqualifies you in every aspect. I'm sorry Jack, but I have no choice but to let you go."

Jack sat there dumbstruck with the sudden news. He opened his mouth to speak several times but failed to utter even a syllable. Shaking with anger, he gave both Jim and Lowery a withering look before exiting the office. He made sure to slam the door as hard as he could, and heard several people gasp at the sudden noise. He rushed to his cubical and started to shove all of his personal items into a cardboard box he found. When he had finished, he left the building and kicked the door shut. He glanced up and saw a beautiful woman watching him as he angrily marched towards his car. Once he got there he attempted to open the door with his foot, as his hands were full with his junk. The next thing he knew, the young woman was standing by him and opening the car door for him. After he shoved the box in, he turned to face her.

"Thank you," he said in a gruff voice before turning to get into his car.

"Wait, are you ok?", she asked before he could slam the door shut.

"No, not really, as you see I have worked here for three years, and today I was replaced with a prick who is apparently more "qualified" than me." He managed to spit out.

"Well, I'm sorry for your loss," she said as she started to turn away. But then suddenly, she turned back to him, and shoved a piece of paper into his hand, before stalking away. With a huff of annoyance, Jack opened his hand, expecting some stupid ad to save homless puppies or somehting. With a start, Jack saw it wasn't anything like that at all. Instead in neat handwriting it said, Oriana 218-456-0987, call me ;). Jack couldn't help but smile as he shut the door to his car, and started the drive back to his house.