- Text Size +
Story Notes:

This was posted up awhile ago but I took it down, and I'm putting it back up in hopes that I will get off my toosh and finish it.

This will follow the story line of Stranger Than Fiction but all of the characters have been replaced with TO cast. So if you haven't seen the movie, and you'd like to I wouldn't read this spoilers ahead. However, if you've seen the movie or you don't intend on seeing it I say read...quickly. Feedback is appreciated.

Author's Chapter Notes:

This chapter will introduce us to our main character and explain what is happening to him.

The italics will be the narrator's voice over. This will be the case throughout the entire story.

Introduction.


This is a story about a man named James Halpert and his wristwatch. James Halpert was a man of infinite numbers, endless calculations, and remarkably few words. And his wristwatch said even less. Every weekday, for six years, James would brush each of his thirty-two teeth seventy-six times. Thirty-eight times back and forth, thirty-eight times up and down. Every weekday, for six years, James would tie his tie in a single Windsor knot instead of the double, thereby saving up to forty-three seconds. His wristwatch thought the single Windsor made his neck look fat, but said nothing.


James Halpert is an average man, with an average job, with an average life. He works for a mid-range paper supply company named Dunder-Mifflin in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

 

James also lives alone in his sparse apartment but he doesn’t seem to mind.


He has his morning routine timed out exactly so that he can make the 8:17 am bus if he paces himself above a light jog crossing Main Street heading towards the bus stop. Every morning he takes a perfectly shaped apple from his kitchen and carries it in his mouth while clutching his briefcase in one hand and timing his steps to his watch with the other.


James takes the bus every day downtown to his office building surrounded by a vast parking lot tucked away behind a few larger buildings.


The town of Scranton is small enough that he finds it to be more efficient not to own a vehicle and to support public transportation so he takes the bus everywhere he goes. His briefcase and coat are slung over his lap, while his hands are folded on top of them as he stares out the window, counting the street lamps that pass by, 34.


James gets to the office at 8:45 am, and heads toward his desk, 8 steps from the entrance. He then places his briefcase down next to his chair, gently sliding it under the desk. James then pulls his arms out of his sport coat and places it on the back of his chair.


“Question: what is 240 times $8.99?”


James looks up to see his co-worker Dwight holding a pad of paper and a pen in his hand eyeing him curiously. James’ eyes head to the ceiling as his brain calculates the answer. The murmur of phone calls and fingers typing on keyboards fill the solemn office while Dwight waits.


“$2,157.60”


James nods at Dwight then heads to the kitchen where he will pour himself a cup of coffee with one cream and one sugar. He mentally counts his footsteps to the kitchen door from his desk, 11.


James sits back down at his desk carefully placing the full coffee mug down on a coaster. His desk is facing Dwight with his back to reception.


The room is small and filled with many desks. There are no cubicle walls separating co-workers, just one clear glass partition between two accountants in the back corner.


James pulls out a manila envelope from his middle drawer and quietly opens it up pulling out a client list that has been typed and left-justified. He starts going through each client cross referencing it with information he finds about them in the computer system. He has many clients who he represents and the list is long. However, James sees that today is shaping into the exact same way yesterday became, and the day before, and the day before this always calms his ever racing mind.


At 12 o’clock exactly James heads into the kitchen and pulls out the same lunch he’s had for six years. It’s a ham and cheese sandwich on white bread and he pours himself another cup of coffee. It takes him exactly 43 minutes and 26 seconds to finish eating his lunch and finish reading an article in Small Businessman, his boss keeps a current copy of the magazine in the break room.


Eight hours after he started his day at Dunder-Mifflin, James’ wristwatch makes a quiet but audible beep. He instinctively closes down his computer, 12 seconds to shut down, and turns off his monitor. He stands up behind his chair and pulls on his jacket. He slides his hand up to the knot in his tie and makes sure it’s still placed straightly across his neck. It is, of course.


“Goodnight Dwight”


“Goodnight James”


They both leave the building followed by many other Dunder-Mifflin employees and James steps up to a mid jog as he heads to the bus stop down the block.


That night when he set his wristwatch on the nightstand next to his neatly made full size bed, he didn’t expect that in the morning things would be a little different than they had been previously.

Chapter End Notes:
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. This includes The Office and Stranger Than Fiction.

You must login (register) to review or leave jellybeans