"Oh... okay... but why-" I start
but the woman from the service hotline is already gone, replaced by some
jingle. I let my cellphone sink, sighing in defeat. This is the fourth time I
called today because I have had no internet connection for three weeks and
today the land line died, too. The woman that has connected me further was
already the sixth person I spoke to today. So far everyone has had another
suggestion but nothing worked, I am still cut from the outside world. It feels
weird, especially considering that this had been standard just a few decades
ago: not being able to communicate with whoever I want within seconds.
At least if it were not for my cellphone.
I do not know how talking to yet another
person will fix the problem but I do not want to give up yet. I hear a muffled
voice issuing from the speaker and hold it to my ear again.
"- from technical support. How can I
help you?"
It is a man and his voice catches me by
surprise. It is low, gentle, and I feel a pleasant shiver run down my spine.
Plus he does sound a little excited. Maybe the people from the hotline do not
call technical support often. Probably making sure that the router is plugged
in or guiding the client to restart it is enough to solve most problems. I
should be honored that mine seems complicated enough to have made it to technical
support after all.
"Uh... er... I have had problems
connecting to the internet the last weeks and now the phone is gone, too."
I tell him what I have already explained to the others before him.
"I see..." he mumbles. I grip the
cellphone harder. Somehow having him talking into my ear seems too intimate.
"Okay, I need your help here," he
says.
I nod distracted and then remember.
"Yes?"
"Could you please unplug the phone for
me?"
"Unplug the phone..." I repeat
while I stare at the chaos of cables and plugs in front of me. It is silly,
really, I should be best friend with every technology but honestly, hardware
just freaks me out.
"It should be a plug in the
wall," the voice supplies patiently.
"Oh… of course." Indeed, of
course. Where is my brain?
I crouch down in the small space between
the cupboard and the wall in my hallway where the router is and unplug the
phone. It is unbelievably dusty down there, I notice and I pull back
immediately. I do not want to sneeze into that guy’s ear.
"Okay, I think I did it," I
inform him.
"You found the right one?"
"Yeah, guess so." I turn the
black plug around in my hand. "It has a strange shape, this plug."
Okay, so now he definitely thinks I am a hopeless Neanderthal.
"What lights do you see now on the
router?" His voice gives nothing away.
I turn my attention back to the white box
that caused all this. "Uh... Funny, now there is only one sign
there," I say, surprised.
Now he is definitely chuckling a little.
"Well, what you want are all signs lighting up, am I right?"
"Yes... uh... right. I'd like to have
internet connection again. Can you do that for me?" I say and giggle
nervously. Great, five minutes into the conversation and I am flirting with
this guy. I am not even single, technically speaking. Not yet, at least.
"We’ll make it work. Okay, so… that is
not good. Could you please push the button on the back of the router for half a
minute?"
"Um... sure… just a moment." Luckily
I find the button quickly. There is only one at the back.
"A little bit longer..." the voice
whispers and I press the button with extra force. No one speaks and I can hear
his breathing on the other side while I still press the button. Okay, this is getting
awkward.
"This should do it." I can hear a
smile in his voice. "Hm..."
I wonder what he can see on his computer
right now. The white box in front of me refuses to speak to me.
"I'm going to run some tests," he
says. "This will take a few hours. Can I call you back on this
number?"
"On this....? Oh yes, of course."
I forgot I did not call him from the land line. Of course I did not. It is the
whole reason I called after all.
"Please don't turn off the router
while I'm on it."
"No, I won't," I assure him. I am
not stupid, regardless of how I am feeling right now. What is this guy doing to
me? "Don’t worry."
"Hope to hear you soon again," he
says. I wonder of this is the proper way of saying goodbye to a client.
"Yes... uh..."
"I mean... that would mean we’d know
soon where the problem is and how to fix it," he says and yes, he seems
kind of flustered, too.
"Yeah... of course."
"Have a good evening."
"You too. Uh... I mean..." Damn,
he is at work. Probably he is not going to have a nice evening and that is
partly also thanks to me and my router.
"Goodbye." I hear the smile in
his voice again.
"Goodbye." I am glad I can
finally throw the phone down on the dresser before I embarrass myself any
further.
He calls me back when I am in the kitchen,
preparing dinner. His voice is still that low one that has my skin crawling
pleasantly.
"Did you find the problem?"
"Yes... well, I ran the test
and-"
"Oops, shit." I pull my stinging
hand away and quickly heave the pot that is spitting hot red sauce away from
the heating plate.
“Hello… hello?”
I pick up the phone again that I have
thrown on the countertop. “Hi… uh, sorry.”
"What happened?" The tech guy
sounds genuinely concerned.
I giggle and feel my cheeks grow hot. I
really am a klutz. "I... uh... nothing serious. Just tomato sauce
everywhere."
He chuckles again lowly. "What is for
dinner?"
I hold my hand under cold water from the
tap. "Spaghetti," I say. I realize it sounds kind of sad. I am the
worst cook and there is just no sense in making anything else than pasta for
one person.
He does not seem to think that. "What's
wrong with that? Sounds delicious."
"I.... uh..." Honestly, I am
close to telling him about my love life but I can stop myself in the last
second. What am I thinking? This guy is here to fix the internet, nothing else.
Plus he is a total stranger. What is wrong with me, I cannot even stand talking
to my best friend about most private things and now I am completely losing it
to some guy on the phone.
"Okay… so… I'm sorry to inform you
that the test is still inconclusive but there seems to be a problem with the
connection to your apartment. Only I can't confirm that from here, I need to
check that on site."
"On site...but..." I am
confused. The guy could be sitting in a call center anywhere in the country.
From all I know he could be in India. Well, no accent, but still.
"Your telephone company has
delocalized its technical support to increase quality and efficiency." It is the first sentence that sounds learned by heart. He clears
his throat. "Which means I can be at your home within an hour."
"Uh..." This is at short notice
indeed. I sweep a hasty look through the apartment. It is not too bad, nothing
that cannot be fixed within that time. I just did the laundry yesterday. It
definitely does not look like the apartment of a woman on the brink of a
break-up. Or does it?
"But we can make an appointment for
next week if it is more convenient for you," he offers quickly.
"Uh-oh... no, that's not necessary.
I... I have time now. It's okay," I blabber on.
"Great!" I can hear him grinning.
"I have your address here."
I remove a tower of newspapers from the
table in front of the couch. "Uhm... okay, then see you in an hour, I
guess." It freaking sounds like a date. I am suddenly glad I am alone in
my apartment. Marcus would have went berserk with jealousy. To think I found
that an attractive trait once…
"Yes, see you. Oh," I can hear
him clearing his voice. "By the way, is there an elevator to your
apartment?"
I stop folding the blankets on the couch
and change the phone from its place wedged between my cheek and shoulder to holding
it back to my ear. "Uh... no, sorry. But it's just the second floor, there
are only a few steps up." I shake my head as I readjust the picture of him
in my mind. Also overweight technicians can have sexy voices, can't they? It
says a lot about me that I created him matching to the perfect voice, tall and
lean, only missing the horse to complete the prince in the fairytale.
"Oh... hm..." His voice has
changed somehow. "Okay. See you then."
I hurry around my, luckily, small
apartment, stuffing stray things in cupboards and moving used dishes in the
kitchen. I am not usually messy, but lately things have been different. When
did I last vacuum?
The doorbell rings exactly one hour later.
I buzz the door half a level downstairs and open the one to my apartment. I
assume he will take some time if he really is as corpulent as I am guessing
based on his question and I use the minutes to store a few winter jackets away
to make space for his. But he really takes forever and I step out into the
hallway to make sure he has not had a heart attack from climbing up.
Thank you so much for sharing this one with us :)It was some great start! I will be patiently waiting for more (i mean i can try, cos I want more, like.....right now :))
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your comment! Have patience, there will be more, I promise.
DeleteNooo...to wait a whole week to know the next sentence after the last is just torturous.
ReplyDeleteHehe! *smirks* Hope you like torture...
DeleteCool!! Want MORE!!!!
ReplyDeleteYou will!!
DeleteThanks for you comment.
Oh no! You can't finish the story here!! I absolutely agree with anon no 2 - it is so cruel to leave us hanging like that!! :)
ReplyDeleteWhich means that the story has me "sucked in" already! Thanks for sharing!
I'm glad you like it. Seriously, those comments make me so happy, I think I walked around grinning madly the whole day.
DeleteGreat...
ReplyDeleteThank you! :)
DeleteGreat beginning, and I am very exciting to hear that this is going to be a long story! But it is hard that this chapter just ended, can't wait to hear more! Thank you!!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteIt's probably the longest story I ever finished (considering that most of my stories are rather short that does not mean much though) =)
Fantastic! I actually just re-read "Chianti Classico" this week (for the third time) and had no idea you'd be posting a new story. It's a wonderful surprise and I absolutely can't wait for more!
ReplyDeleteOmg, I can't tell you how incredible it is to hear that. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
DeleteSuch a tease. Glad you are back with the start to I'm sure a great story. Thanks
ReplyDeleteHaha =) Thanks for your continuing support (and faith in me... oh, the pressure... ;-)).
DeleteWow amazing beginning, the story has captured my full attention! I can't wait to see what happens next!
ReplyDeleteGlad you like it. Thanks for leaving a comment!
DeleteUh... you certainly know how to start a story.
ReplyDeleteI am so looking forward to read more. From everything you posted here before I am sure it will be an awesome story with very devy scenes.
Thank you sooo much! Uh... I hope I won't disappoint :)
DeleteI love your approach -- such a great way to begin a 'blind date.'
ReplyDeleteI can't wait until you post your next episode!
Thanks so much, Pepper, like always. Yeah... actually... no, I'm kidding, no 'real, real' blind dates in this one ;-)
DeleteNooooo. You can't leave us hanging there . Great start by the way .
ReplyDeleteHehe! Thanks for leaving a comment, makes me happy, happy, happy...!
DeleteAwesome! This is a great first chapter. I am really excited about this story!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteI'm so excited for the rest of this story!
ReplyDeleteOh Gemini, thank you! I eagerly await your next story btw, please tell me you are working on something =)
DeleteWhat a start! I want more ;-)
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot! There is going to be more, I promise.
DeleteWow excellent suspense. I'm busy trying to imagine the scene. Can't wait for the next chapter!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Adele! I'm so glad you like it. Made my day!
Delete