Tom rose at 9am, shaved and had a shower. He had to get up and out of the house quickly, he had some shopping to do before Kelly arrived. He got dressed, grabbed his car keys and was almost out the door when the phone rang. He went into the kitchen and picked the receiver off the wall.
"Hello," he said, "Tom Parker speaking."
"Tom, thank God. We need you at the office," Tom recognised the voice of his superior, Kevin. "We can't find the Bergkamp account anywhere."
"Kev," he asked, tentatively, "can't this wait until Monday? I have lots to-"
"No, it can't wait, Tom. The boss wants the account by lunch today, so he can fly out and close the deal on Monday morning. You were in charge of it, right? It's in your filing cabinet somewhere, isn't it?"
"You've been going through my cabinet?" Tom asked, but only heard the sound of rustling papers on Kevin's end. He took a deep breath and said, "I can tell you where it is, Kevin. Then you can find it."
Kevin answered him that time. "Great Tom! Hey everyone, stop searching..."
Tom was about to ask "Everyone? You're all going through my personal file cabinet?" but Kevin hadn't finished talking yet.
"...Tom's going to come in and tell us where it is. On his day off too, thanks Tom, you're the man!"
"Wait, I could just tell you over the-"
-CLICK-
"-phone," Tom completed his sentence, but it was too late. His hands began to shake furiously, "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!! That fat fucking powermongering twat piece of shit!!!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. He tried to slam the receiver back on its hook, but it hit the side of the phone and the whole thing fell to the floor with a smash.
"AAAAAAARRRRGGGHH!!!!" He picked the phone up and, seeing that it was broken, slammed it back to the floor. He grabbed his keys and cellphone and stormed out to his car, cursing all the way.
"Mmmmm," Naryanne had impressed herself with her choice. "He is a most excellent champion."
Fenyeare snorted.
"What's the matter, husband?" she asked with mock concern. "Why have not you chosen your champion yet?"
"It will take time to find the right being to combat your... despairing misfit, wife."
"'It will take time'? Are you intimidated by my choice, dear husband?"
"Of course not," he scoffed. "You have made a fine choice, my wife, and you may proceed with the game at your leisure. I shall join you in playing once I have found the ideal human to compete with yours, and not before."
With a laugh, Naryanne replied, "Don't worry Fenyeare, I will..."
Great, Tom thought, now I'm stuck in traffic. Why the fuck is there a jam here? Maybe an accident or something.
"Shit," he said aloud, to the world in general. "My day is gonna be so fucked up now! An hour to work, and I still gotta get some food in and buy Kelly something nice and get back before they arrive. Fuck! I wish....
