“Is it fixable?” Kayleigh asked.
“Yes, dear. A rather simple repair. I have everything I need here, so give me about an hour, and I can have it back to you. Does that work for you?”
“That would be amazing. Yes.”
With a nod of the head, Peter picked up the phone and headed through a pair of weathered curtains behind the counter. Kayleigh caught a quick glimpse of stacked boxes and random old phone parts before the curtains drew together and blocked off her view. She waited a couple of minutes, expecting the shop owner to return and say something else, but when it became clear that he wasn’t coming back, she left the store and headed for the coffee shop.
With a groan, Kayleigh stepped into the lineup that stretched all the way to the toilets by the front door. The door to the men’s room sat slightly ajar, the scent of what must have been a colossal bowel movement sliding out and mingling with the typical roasted coffee bean aroma. Kayleigh felt her stomach flip over and said a silent prayer for the line to move faster than its current snail’s pace. After what seemed like an eternity, she arrived at the counter, ready to place an order.
“Well, look who’s back,” the server said. “Tell me, is our coffee that good, or did you just miss my stunning good looks?”
Kayleigh wanted to reach over the counter, snatch off Duncan’s name tag, and drive it into his admittedly pretty, blue eyes. Taking a breath, she replied, “I have a caffeine addiction, Duncan. Load me up with an iced latte, and maybe I’ll tell you anything you want to hear.”
“You got it, gorgeous. Don’t tell me, don’t tell me. It’s Kelly, right?” Duncan said, holding a Sharpie over the cup as he waited for the response.
“Smart and beautiful. You are quite the package there, Duncan,” Kayleigh responded, restraining herself from correcting the error. People had been getting her name wrong and calling her Kelly for as long as she could remember, so one more wasn’t going to hurt her.
“I never forget a pretty face,” Duncan said with a smile and a wink.
Kayleigh nodded and swiped her debit card, adding a tip that made the server’s smile that much broader. She figured she had been shitty to enough people for one day and hoped that leaving a good tip would shift the scales of karma over to her side.
Pocketing her card, she moved down to the end of the counter to the pick-up spot for drinks, but not before hearing Duncan sweet talk the next girl in line. Why did I waste my good deed of the day on that jackass, Kayleigh thought as she grabbed her iced coffee from the counter.
In the time that she had been inside the shop, the food court had filled quite quickly, but she was still able to find a table without too much trouble. Kayleigh fumbled around the inside of her purse to find her phone so that she could text April, only to remember that it was not in her possession. The thought of going through life without a phone or an internet connection was something that Kayleigh could not fathom. Her parents insisted on going old school and sticking with a landline. In her teenage years, she’d had to save up her babysitting money so that she could afford to buy her first smartphone. It was a decision that her parents didn’t understand, but since they didn’t have to shell out any money, they didn’t complain too much, except for when she would take out the phone in church.
With nothing else to do, Kayleigh surveyed the food court and marveled at the amount of junk that people put away. She was not a healthy eater by any stretch of the imagination and loved pizza as much as the next person, but she certainly couldn’t shovel down a whole pie on her own. She watched in amazement as a family of four sat down at a table with two large pizza boxes and a stack of greasy burgers. They seemed to believe that they could counteract their junk intake by drinking diet soda, but why they needed six of those was beyond her.
Watching as friends and families gathered to eat and drink, Kayleigh began to feel self-conscious sitting by herself. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw Sean and April round the corner and head in her direction, Sean toting a couple of heavy looking plastic bags. Kayleigh stood and waved, smiling at the perplexed look that crossed April’s face when they locked eyes.
“What the heck are you wearing and why aren’t you at the movie?” April asked.
“It’s a long story that needs to be told over drinks. Did you guys find everything?”
“Locked and loaded,” Sean said, placing the bags on the table and flexing his hands.
“Why don’t you guys wait here while I go pick up my phone, and then...”
“Your phone? What is going on, girl? Spill the beans,” April asked.
“I promise I’ll fill you both in on all the details. I think we should get this stuff home and hit McGarry’s for a few drinks. My treat. I have some exciting news.”
“Can we do the rooftop patio? I can vape up there,” Sean asked.
“Call ahead and see if Adam is working. He’ll save us a spot. I’ll be right back.”
Before being subjected to any more questions from April, Kayleigh sped off in the direction of Fix-Your-Phone and was delighted to see Peter smiling and waving her mobile device in the air as she entered the shop. “Did you get it fixed?” she screeched excitedly.
“Of course. Piece of cake, my dear,” Peter said, handing over the phone.
The screen was back to its pristine best, and with a click of the power button, Kayleigh beamed as her precious device returned to life.
“You had missed the last upgrade, so I ran that for you, too. Clark is paying, so you may as well get your money's worth.”
“You are a lifesaver, thank you. Also, I’m sorry if I came off a little rude earlier. It’s been a bit of a stressful day.”
“No need to apologize. I know how much your generation love your phones, so I get it. I wouldn’t have a business without it. There really isn’t any call, pardon the pun, to repair the phones from my day, so...”
Kayleigh tuned out the shop owner as he spoke, clicking open Instagram to check on her latest update. In less than two hours, the image of her in the theater uniform had amassed over five hundred likes, plus a ton of comments.
“...be sure to tell all your friends about my shop,” Peter finished.
“What? Oh, you bet. Thank you again,” Kayleigh said, waving over her shoulder as she rushed out of the shop to meet up with her friends.
Her day may not have started as planned, but Kayleigh had a feeling that she was on the cusp of something huge. She couldn’t wait to share all the details with April and Sean.
Chapter Three
After dropping the car and the camera gear at home, Kayleigh, April, and Sean took the short walk down to McGarry’s, their favorite watering hole in the Lawrenceton town square. Their neck of the woods was home to several cool bars, but it was the rooftop patio on McGarry’s that made it so cool, especially at that time of year. September was when the sun finally began to relax and ease up a little, allowing cooler nights to make life a little more comfortable.
They cut through the bar, heading to the back door, where they took the steps up to the rooftop, which was surprisingly quiet for a Friday night. They had their pick of several tables, but they took one in the far corner, the perfect spot to listen to the live music, and still have a conversation that did not require raised voices.