Hell Has A New Name

5

The tech store was great, it was a standard big box retailer but it had plenty of decent hardware. He felt like it was the one good thing since he came to this place. He spent two hours just circling the place, touching everything and make hypothetical plans.
He told himself he was killing time waiting for Amber but really he was just giddy being in the store.

He selected previous generation iPhone, even though he had no one to really call or talk too. Besides Tully but he could make friends. Amber could be a good place to start. He hated the stupid burners they used in the club. He chose a cheap basic laptop but it would do what he needed it to do. He couldn't bring himself to get something nice knowing he might not have it long.

After he'd made his purchases, he walked over to a cafe with outdoor bistro tables and pulled the phone out. The tables had outlets which he found to be amazing, he let the phone charge a bit before turning it on. Charming would never have something this cool. He thought to himself.

Hey it's me. I'm getting a new phone, not sure if this number will transfer. I'll update you.

He cringed as he sent the text, he didn't know what impulse made him text the bastard. He breathed shallowly waiting to see if it would ring or not. Just as he had an impulse to send the stupid message he knew he wouldn't be able to ignore it if it went off.

Several minutes went by of him just sitting there, taking in the things around him. The town wasn't so bad, if it weren't so hot he could see himself here. He tried to distract himself and think about Amber, he still had two hours before she was off.

Finally the phone screen lit up that was ready to use. The battery was only at forty percent but it would do for set up. He put in all of the necessary information, following the prompts on the screen. Since he hadn't signed up for a plan he had to create an account to switch his number. He sighed frustrated, wanting to just get a new one, so that's what he did. It was still a prepaid phone but it was at least from this century. He programmed Tully's number into the phone under Tech Support. He didn't want to see his name pop up every time he sent something and tech support was ambiguous enough.

Downloading apps was a whole other ballgame and it was driving him bat shit. He had to create an email and then log in and then download and then log in. Everything he ever had before was not valid due to his death. Starting over was more annoying than he thought it was going to be. Eventually he resorted to just downloading Uber so he could get a ride back to cafe he'd had lunch in.

He mentally kicked himself because he had no clue what the name of the place was. He hadn't paid attention at all. At least with his new obnoxious phone he could map the area and try to find it. Twenty minutes of cursing and zooming in and out on the map he finally found what had to be it. Brunch Munch Cafe' the walk wouldn't be too terrible, thirty five minutes. He was tired though and didn't want to make the trek, it seemed mostly up hill anyway.

He called the cafe, holding his breath as it rang. He didn't want to show up and look like a crazy person if she hadn't been serious. He figured calling was only minorly crazy. Beads of sweat were rolling down his face, from the heat and the anxiety when a man picked up the line.

"Brunch Munch Cafe' are you placing an order?"

He stalled, unable to get his words out. His mouth felt dry and he couldn't think of what to say.

"Hello? You there?" The man started sounding impatient.

Juice cleared his throat. "Hi, this is Micheal. I was actually calling to see if Amber was still around? I spoke with her earlier. I uh... I just wanted to thank her for her help." He figured if she didn't want to talk to him that was a cop out.