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Toby hasn’t seen Sasha in a week, although he did get to talk to her for a few minutes last night.  She wished him good luck in her sweet, high voice that was fast losing all vestiges of babyhood.  Sometimes Toby gets angry that he isn’t there every day to see his little girl grow up, but mostly it just makes him sad.

The coffee he made at 5:30 is turning to cold, black sludge on the counter waiting for him to remember it’s there, but Toby’s to focused on picking out just the right tie to worry about cold coffee.  He wants to find one that matches the brand new brown suede shoes he bought yesterday.  Suede shoes in Scranton in early March are probably not the best idea, but Toby couldn’t resist.  He thought of it as his congratulatory present to himself.

A first day at a new job is a big deal, and Toby cautions himself against feeling too optimistic.  Lately things just haven’t been going his way, and he doesn’t want to jinx this one potentially bright spot in the mess that is his life.

By 7:15, Toby has packed and repacked his battered briefcase five times.  By 7:30, he has added and taken out half a dozen items from his lunch bag.  By 7:45, Toby is ready to walk out the door.  The only problem is he doesn’t have to be at work until nine.

Catching sight of the sludge now masquerading as coffee, Toby decides to treat himself to Starbucks this morning. 

“New job, new habits,” Toby mutters to himself as he hurries out his apartment door.  A few seconds later he runs back in to grab his lunch.

The Starbucks closest to his new job is a ten minute drive from Toby’s apartment, but it seems to take an eternity.  Now that he is out of the safety of his home turf, Toby’s stomach twists into a dozen different knots.  Parking his car in the furthest spot from the door, Toby forces himself to breathe deeply until a few of the knots loosen.

As he hurries across the parking lot, checking his watch to make sure he has plenty of time to wait in line without being late, a car pulls into the lot quickly swinging into a spot directly in Toby’s path.  A quick splash of muddy water causes Toby to jump back, but it’s too late to save his new suede shoes. 

A man jumps out of the car, gives Toby an exasperated look, and  hurries into the Starbucks.

Toby opens his mouth to apologize, but the man is already gone.  Suddenly he really doesn’t feel very much like coffee.  Instead he decides to run home to change shoes. 

He makes it to Dunder Mifflin Paper Company at 9:01.  An intense man with glasses is standing at the door, glancing pointedly at the clock as Toby walks in.  “You’re late,” the man says.  “Michael is waiting for you.”

Without further ado, Toby is whisked into his new boss’s office.  “Hey,” his boss, Michael says, “you’re the guy who almost ran into my car this morning.”

The knots return and double.  Toby can tell that this is going to be a very long first day.