2:43.

The following is an excerpt from 642 Things to Write About.

 

A man jumps from the fortieth story of a building. As he's passing the twenty-eighth floor, he hears a phone ring and regrets that he jumped. Why?

 

Mr. Thomas has worked for The Collins Company for the past 23 years on the twenty-eighth floor as an advertising agent.

Today wasn't supposed to be any different, just an ordinary day at the office.

Mr. Thomas left his home at 7:30 in the morning just like every other morning. He took the GO train from his home in Burlington to the station around the corner from his office in Toronto.

When he got to work he found an email in his inbox which stated that he would be getting a call at precisely 2:43 pm that afternoon. If he answered the call he would be told whether he had been hired for the Prime Ministers Secret Service or not.

At exactly 12:29, during Mr. Thomas' lunch break, he received a call on his cell phone from a blocked number. The distorted voice on the other side told him that at 2:42pm he could either jump off the building in a parachute and get $72,847.84, or he could sit at his desk and wait for the call that would decide his future.

When he was falling at 2:43 pm he realized the mistake he'd made.

 

End scene.

 

This one's for you Moma, this is t-bear signing off