Stevi looked at his watch in horror. It was ticking.
Oh my God!
A bead of sweat ran down his temple as he froze his body into a petrified shell of awful nervous anticipation � he knew that any small movement could set it off!
His fingers trembling, he reached out very slowly indeed for his coffee cup. He needed to work out how to get out of this mess, and he couldn't do it decaffeinated.
It was an extra strong caf� mocha, or at least it was � it was now over three hours long. But it had caffeine and that was what his body, his brain and his mind needed. So he swallowed down the nasty dark brown slosh and gagged at the foulness of it all.
The movement of his arm brought about by his gagging could have been enough to disturb the watch, with catastrophic consequences, but by some kind of miracle and the quick reflexes of Stevi to once again control his body back into its still and static state by immeasurable determination and self-discipline, everything remained just as bad as it was.
Stevi bit his bottom lip in fear and terror, and the other office workers looked on in sympathy and pity for the poor fellow.
�What do I do?� Stevi murmured, for this was all he could manage.
�Take it off,� said the coffee, and Stevi saw sense.
�Yes,� agreed Stevi, and now he grew the courage to do this necessary deed.
Deep down he knew it was risky. He knew what could happen. He knew that he would have to be very very careful so as not to set off the watch.
His breathing slowed. His eyes wide. His teeth yellow, but he was going to sort that out soon.
And he grasped the watch strap � very� slowly� indeed.
Panic.
It hit him like a wall of emotion and he controlled it, fixing his eyes upon the cleavage of a nearby worker in gut wrenching fear, keeping his body stiff as a board. The bead of sweat on his temple dropped from his skin and descended free fall into the air.
Stevi�s eyes and those of the office workers around him grew wide and they all almost gasped in horror, but self-control disallowed it. The sweat droplet sailed through the lightly air-conditioned atmosphere down, down toward the desk.
Stevi knew he must act quickly, and so he flung the watch from his arm and sprinted far away to the other side of the colour printer and photocopier where the chocolate vending machine stood.
And as he ducked behind a waste-paper recepticle there was a faint but ominous sound of �
Beep beep. Beep beep. Beep beep.