Manual headed up the street to his office. Or rather, he headed up the street to the building where his office was. Or rather, he headed up the street to the building where the offices of the company he worked for was.
The street was not quiet at 7am, but it was not bustling. It would not start bustling until 7:30 or 8 o'clock, when the administrative assistants and the support staff started coming in. The people who could and would leave at 3:30 or 4pm to pick up children or groceries or run errands. The street would be in full bustle by 9am when the shops opened. But then there would be a lull around 10am, which is when Manual would take his first coffee break.
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| Fig. 1: Homburg |
Manual was the only man in an overcoat and hat. He liked to point out to people that the hat he wore was
not a fedora, no matter what they thought. It was a Homburg. It was hand-made by some long-dead woman in some shop eons ago. Or maybe a man made it. Manual didn't really know. It had been his grandfather's, and Manual had never bothered asking the old man where he got the hat from. This was one of the many gaps in knowledge within Manual. He made a mental note to ask his grandfather about the hat the next time he saw him, though he doubted his grandfather had this information. If worse came to worst, he'd see if there wasn't some traceable information in the hat's lining.
Manual always did the same thing each morning, though today he had deviated by ordering a small coffee instead of a large. He still wasn't sure how he had done that, but he sensed that his entire day would be changed because of it.
