Deadline for Writers. 12 Short Stories in 12 Months – September– Prompt: Cup and Saucer – Word Count: 1000.

The street was busy but made no sound as Jack shuffled along, eyes on the scraps of paper tumbling in the cold November breeze. He sighed, tucking his hands into his suit trouser pockets, his polished shoes clunking mechanically on the pavement as he raised his head to survey the grey world around him.

What was he doing with his life?

A whistle, faint and melancholy, broke his thoughts. He looked up to see a dishevelled man sweeping the dusty pavement in front of an old, ramshackle café. Odd. Jack had walked this street a thousand times and never seen it.

The place looked as if it had stood there for centuries. He was strangely drawn to it.

Inside, the café was dim and almost empty. The dishevelled man followed him in, giving Jack a look heavy with understanding. Without a word, he set a porcelain cup and saucer in front of him, filled with a dark, steaming tea.

“Thank you… how did you know…?”

The man only smiled, his eyes carrying something ancient.

The cup was intricately decorated, the clink against the saucer ringing with unnatural resonance. The sweet, dark steam curled upward as Jack raised it to his lips…

“JACK!”

He jumped. His boss was glaring across the meeting table. Everyone was staring, even Amy. Beautiful Amy.

Exactly where he’d been an hour ago.

Oh God, he thought, I must have fallen asleep.

“I think this meeting is over,” the boss said a little while later, “you can all go. Jack, a word?”

The others shuffled out ambivalently, except Amy who threw him a perplexed but worried glance.

“What the hell was that?” the boss asked, before launching into a tirade. Jack, however, wasn’t listening.This is exactly how it went before.

“Go, take an early lunch, and think about what you need to do.”

Jack left the meeting room and headed towards the stairs as a young intern came racing past him, late for a meeting. Her heels caught in the carpet, and she went flying. Jack leapt forward and managed to grab her arm before she fell.

“You OK?”

“Yes, thanks, sorry…”

He ascended the stairs and walked out into the grey November breeze, shoes clunking…

And there he was again. The melancholy whistle. The ramshackle café. Exactly as before.

He sat. The man brought over the tea, with the same knowing smile. The cup clinked as before. It had a small chip on the rim, Jack couldn’t recall if that was there before. He took a sip…

“JACK!”

Jack jumped as his boss shouted his name across the meeting table.

He listened to his boss’s shouting. He caught the intern. He left the office. He walked down the street, and back to the café. He took a sip of tea.

“JACK!”

And jumped once again, back in the meeting room.

Back at the café this time, he looked deep into the old man’s eyes. Pay attention. He tried to remember what they were talking about before. He sipped the tea.

“JACK!”

“Sorry sir,” he replied, “so, this is how I see it…”

“Thank you, meeting over,” the boss said a little while later, “you can all go. Jack, a word?… I expected a little more.

You were supposed to have that estimate for the upgrade work…”

Damn. He had forgotten about that.

He caught the intern and walked down the street to the café. The old man brought over the cup, but as he placed it down, Jack now noticed a crack appearing down the side. He looked up, but the old man just nodded and walked away.

He sipped.

“JACK!”

“Sorry sir, so, we’ll start with the estimate for the upgrade work. We’ll have to add a day or two as the analyst team is behind…”

“Really?” the boss replied, “Amy – care to explain?”

Amy was not happy. Perhaps he should leave that bit out.

Jack lost count of how many times he replayed that hour. Whatever he did, he just couldn’t make it perfect. The old man, eyes full of warning, placed the cup on the table gingerly. It now had several cracks, and the handle was beginning to come away.

For the first time, he spoke.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“I can do better.” Jack replied, “And I need to say something to Amy.”

He went back. He floored everyone in the meeting room. He took a deep breath, heart pounding, and as they left the room, he called over to Amy.

“Look, there’s something I’ve been meaning to say to you, you’re the most amazing person I know, I just…”
There was a scream. The intern was tumbling headfirst down the stairs. They ran over to see the girl crumpled unnaturally as a pool of red started to ooze around her…

Jack ran out into the street.

“What are you doing?!” screamed Amy, “Call 999, get help! Jack!! Come back! Help!!”

But he was already sprinting down the street.

“Quick!” Jack begged, bursting into the café. “I’ve got to go back!”

The old man hesitated. His hand trembled as he lowered the cup. Porcelain split and fell away, shattering into a thousand shards across the table.

Jack collapse back into the chair in shock. What had he done?

The old man looked Jack in the eye. A single tear ran down his cheek.

“Time runs out for everyone.”

There was an almighty flash as the world collapsed in on itself.

Jack gasped. He was back in the meeting room.

His pulse slowed as a strange calm settled over him.

He didn’t scramble for perfect answers this time. He let the meeting end. He grabbed the intern before she fell. He stepped outside into the November breeze, his shoes clunking against the pavement.

The café was gone. Only the grey wind and the street remained.

Jack stopped, breathing in the ordinary world. Its noise. Its grit. Its imperfection. He thought of Amy, of the intern, of the work he had been half-living through. He thought of all the chances he had wasted, waiting for another loop, another sip, another fix.

It was time to stop rewinding. Time to change.

He accepted the mistakes. He would need them, use them, maybe even find something better in them.

Before he ran out of time.