Why had it been so long since I’d gotten a text message? It seemed weird but I was in the middle of cooking lamb meatballs with a homemade tomatoes sauce. So I was just as happy for everyone to leave me alone.
Monday showed on the calendar. It had rained off and on all day and now the lightening in the sky threatened more rain. Good thing I went grocery shopping right after work so I didn’t have to trudge in a bunch of grocery bags in the rain.
The clock approached 8:30pm, my dinner was almost done and it wouldn’t be a moment too soon because I hadn’t eaten since noon and I was starving! It struck me as odd that my sister wasn’t home yet. She hadn’t even texted me… strange.
I pulled my meatballs out of the oven and carefully transferred them to my pot of tomato sauce so that the flavors could begin mingling. I’ll call my sister quick before I sit down to eat, I thought. I’ll find out when she plans on being home, 8:45 was approaching.
But this action would never be accomplished because my cell phone was nowhere to be found. I fumbled through my purse, the couch cushions, and even checked the dish where we keep our keys, still, no phone. A thunderclap roared through my kitchen window but still no rain.
No worries, I thought. I’ll use my sisters work landline phone to call my cell (she works from home). I marched over to her desk, which usually held a gray, corded phone; something that was quickly becoming a relic. But the phone wasn’t there.
Okay… I mused. No back-up phone either. I knew I’d used my phone when I was at the grocery store because it had my shopping list on it. So if it wasn’t in my car, it had to be there. I really wish Alicia were here to help me look for my phone.
I moved back to my brimming pot of meatballs. My hand touched my stomach as it let out a grumble. The meatballs would have to wait. Thoughts of my phone lying in the grocery store parking lot started buzzing through my mind. Plus, large plops of rain drops began hitting the roof.
I shut off the stove, threw a lid on my dinner, grabbed my purse and jumped into my car. The road to the grocery store was dark. The sky swirled around me as leaves abandoned their branches. The wind picked up, shifting my car ever so slightly. By now it was 9pm. Alicia would probably be home soon and start wondering where I was. I hope she doesn’t start panicking.
The grocery store parking lot was basically empty. I went straight for the carrousel where I had left my cart earlier that evening. But it was empty. They’d already cleared it out. The breeze chilled my arms creating an ominous haze across the strip mall parking lot. It would start storming any minuet.
I decided to go straight to the customer service desk. If the carts had already been gathered then whoever did the gathering likely found my phone and turned it in the lost and found. Right??
Approaching the desk I saw a ‘Use next lane’ sign. What? Customer Service was closed. Of course!
Has anyone turned in a cell phone? I asked a greasy haired boy working the self-checkout lines. Kindly he directed me to a girl in a yellow shirt. She was the manager on duty, the one I should speak to.
Has anyone turned in a cell phone tonight? I asked again. Without pausing to think, she said no cell phones had been turned in. I’d searched every cart I could find and wandered the parking lot. I felt dejected and annoyed but mostly I was just hungry.
Shortly after 9pm I pulled into my parking space at home, still no cell phone. But my sister was there.
“Where were you? You know you left your food out,” she said as I blew in the door.
“I lost my phone, and it’s starting to rain outside, and I know I left my food sitting out!” I opened the pot lid and speared one of the meatballs with a fork, shoving it into my mouth. “I haven’t even eaten yet!”
Like a great army, the downpour of rain assaulted the roof and ground. My sister and I looked at each other.
“What if my phone is outside somewhere??” I whined.
“Comon’ I’ll help you.”
We decided to go back to the grocery store. This time Alicia would drive and she would call my phone repeatedly so that I would either hear the ring or see the screen light up. At least, that was the plan.
We pulled in to a still mostly vacant parking lot but it looked very different this time. Torrential rain speckled the pavement causing it to look like a dark lake.
“Are you calling it?” I asked, reaching for the umbrella.
“Ugh yup. But I’m not sure it’s going to help.”
The umbrella popped open as I jumped out of the passenger side door. Little could have helped to keep me dry. My flip flopped feet traversed the already partially flooded parking lot. With each step, water splashed up, soaking the back of my legs. And even my arms were coated where the umbrella didn’t quite cover me.
This is pointless, I thought. I’m going back to the customer service desk. Without informing my sister, I marched right back inside the store. The girl donning the yellow shirt was locked in my eyesight.
“Hey, hi,” I said. “Yea I’m back, I still haven’t found my cell phone. Listen, I know it’s here is there anywhere else it could be.” The girl, young but confident seemed taken aback by my wet, clearly annoyed demeanor. “Could someone have picked it up and taken it back to the employee break room?” I pushed.
“Uhhhh, I don’t think so…”
“Well could you check?”
“Okay…” Reluctantly she slipped into a back room. I knew I was being mean but comon’ this is and iPhone 5s we’re talking about!! She appeared a moment later empty handed. “I could ask the guy who get’s the carts,” she offered. “He just left but I can call him.”
“Yes, please that would be great.”
Picking up the customer service phone she turned away from me slightly so that her brown haired ponytail faced me.
“Yea, hey, Andres, this is Megan. Um there’s a woman here who lost her cell phone. Did you happen to see one in the carts when you were working tonight? Hmm ok. No, that’s all right. Thanks.” Placing the phone back in its cradle she turned to face me. “Yea, he didn’t see anything.”
The girl stared at me stone faced and for a minuet I was certain this was a stand off. Which one of us would yield first? She waited for me to sigh in defeat and walk away and I waited for her to come up with another solution. Couldn’t she see this was her problem too?? It obviously wasn’t but I needed her to think it was.
“I’m pretty sure I left it in a cart,” I said, finally breaking the silence. “I’ve looked at all the carts in both of the entrances, is there somewhere else the carts are kept?”
“Not really.” She sighed. Another moment of silence passed. “But I’ll help you look.”
She followed me out of the sliding glass doors to where the carts were kept. No sign of my phone.
“See,” I said. “I already looked out here.”
“Wait.”
“What?”
I followed the girl as she exited the second set of sliding doors. We were met with a burst of rain. Behind a large concrete pillar was a cluster of extra carts. As soon as my eyes glimpsed the edge of the carts I ran over as if to rescue a small child. Half of the carts stuck out from under the overhang and were soaked. At the bottom of the first cart was my phone.
“I found it!” I screeched. But would it still work? It had been sitting in the rain for probably an hour. “Thanks.” I yelled to the grocery store girl and then hopped into my sister’s car, which she parked next to the entrance.
“Does it still work?” Alicia asked as she watched me dry off the screen with my damp shirt.
“I don’t know!” I clicked the bottom button of the phone. My home screen appeared.
“It looks okay.” The screen showed 9 missed calls from Alicia. “I guess it still works.”
“Here let me call it again.”
Ten seconds later her name and face appeared on the screen along with a warbled, under-water sounding version of her ring tone.
“Ohhh… Speakers are messed up…” I said. “Oh well, think I’m due for an upgrade anyways.”
The End
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