Mikaal

32: Mikaal

"Ugh!" Dalia said through gritted teeth, pushing hard on her iPhone's unresponsive display before tossing it on the passenger seat. She couldn't even make a phone-call! An image of Daveth's smug face came into her mind - being a staunch Android supporter, she could just imagine him taunting her right now.

It was sad to admit but without her iPhone, she felt slightly crippled; and off-course her phone would decide not to work at the most opportune moment. 'Could this be a sign that I shouldn't message Mikaal?' she wondered, but she shrugged the thought away, being the least of her concerns.

Whether she decided to proceed with that idea or not, she couldn't be without a functioning phone - what if she got lost; how would she get directions home? Or worse still, what if, God forbid, she was in an accident; how would she call for help? How did people survive without mobiles once upon a time anyway?

Dalia knew that the closest Apple Store was in the city, but the thought of trying to find parking on a weekday... So she chose instead to drive a little bit further to the only other Apple Store in Western Australia, situated in Garden City Shopping Centre.

In spite of it being nearly lunch, she found a parking spot with ease, swiftly maneuvering her Lancer into one of the underground bays near the escalators that thankfully lead straight up to Apple Store entrance.

A moment later, Dalia stalked up the escalators, concerned about her chances of being seen.

"Good afternoon. What brings you into our store today?" an Apple 'Genius' or whatever they were called said, greeting her with a warm and welcoming smile just below the lit-up Apple logo, standing between the floor-to-ceiling, glass shopfront windows.

"Hi, I'm having problems with my phone. My apps have been playing up randomly but since this morning, they're all crashing. I couldn't even open the Phone app to make an appointment!" Dalia hoped her last statement earned her some sympathy to be slot in somehow, especially at the sight before her, bodies everywhere as if there was an after-Christmas sale.

"Oh no! I can't imagine how frustrating that would be!"

"It's so frustrating! And I need my phone for uni that starts in less than a week to check my schedule and stuff. It's such a pain." Dalia's tone inflected on the word 'uni' for emphasis, while her eyes remained beseeching.

"You've come to the right place," the guy in the navy blue t-shirt said, his look empathetic. "We have technicians who can diagnose your phone for you. Can you see the second silver pillar on the right? If you head to my colleague with the beard at that pillar, he can check when our technicians are free."

"Thanks," Dalia said, returning the guy's smile, but her optimism faded when she noticed the line forming in front of the bearded guy and all the bodies already on seats, apparently waiting. She scrunched her nose, her temple throbbing from the annoyance of it all.

Furthermore, when she finally reached the guy, she discovered they were fully booked, although she managed to get on the waitlist to be seen that day.

"You don't have to wait in our store - you can wander around the shopping centre. But when you get the text message that says that we're almost ready for you and to please check in, head to that silver pillar on the left side of the store where my colleague will direct you to a seat."

Dalia left the Apple Store, wandering in and out of the same shops to kill time - Zara, Forever New, Peter Alexander... An hour eventually passed waiting for the callback text for her appointment, after which she was just exhausted, the stores now blurring into one.

"I can't wait to get home," she said to herself, her energy low, her head heavy. She looked forward to just collapsing on her bed after this long, drawn-out day.