Page 188 - Interior_SPRING SUMMER FALLING_2021

188 | FRANCESCA P E NN

Henri
Okay, I come out of hiding a lot sooner than expect. I cannot sit in the condo;
in one day, we’ve made too many memories. I’ve tried to watch television in the
den, but I can only picture her dancing. I got caught up in the memory of what we
did on the couch. My bedsheets smell like her, but I don’t have the heart to wash

them. Last night, I’d plugged in the scents she gave me and showered with the soap.
Now, my condo smells like her home.
The lovesick idiot inside of me talks me into leaving. The fool suggests she may
change her mind and call. If she does, how would I know with a broken phone? I
pull on jeans and a tee. I slide my feet in flip flops. Yes, I fucking said “flip flops.”
I’m not interested in fashion today. I jump in my SUV and choke back a rush of
emotions. Her perfume still lingers. I need a new vehicle.
I pull out of my spot and jump into traffic. I don’t see people, cars, or hear
music. I have tunnel vision. Get to the mall, buy a new phone, then…what? I pull
into a spot and jump out with the shattered phone in hand. I scan the selections of
electronic leashes. All of them are little torture devices that deliver bad news or
taunt you when you hope to hear from someone. My reluctance to get one is
overshadowed by my need for it. I look again to see if I can find a cool feature I

would like to have. I should at least be able to get some sort of pleasure from the
little bastard.
Mainly, you have two types of cellphone users. You have the iPhoneReigns-
Supreme type of people that don’t want anything not Apple-related. Then you
have the Androids. The Androids split off because most the other models use
Android technology. The biggest group of Android users are in the Samsung-is-
Life Club. But subgroups exist. There are brave souls who want a different
platform and are willing to have the new models made by Microsoft or Google.
Then, there is me. I belong to a special, more exclusive group I’m in the I-don’t-
give-a-damn-who-makes-it-as-long-as-I-can-still-get-phone-calls-texts-and-emails
group.
Usually, I would be here for hours and question the salesperson to death. I’m
not feeling it. I slide the broken phone to the phone geek.
“Same type of phone, the newest model, please.”
I could be two or three models behind. I don’t cyberstalk phone releases. If it’s
working, which it was until it met its untimely death, then I’m not bothered. The