Friday Fiction – A Man and His Phone

Welcome to A Man and His Phone – a series of relationship mishaps!

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Chris sat at a tall table, far away from Karma’s dance floor. The beat was shaking the room. He drained the last of his Yuengling and looked at the crowd. Somewhere in there were Jane and Adrienne and their gaggle of friends. Karma was not Chris’s usual hangout. He much preferred Chasers in Philly where he could play foosball and drink beer with his buddies, not this suburban New Jersey dance club. But after catching both Jane and the intriguing Adrienne in the stairwell of his apartment building, he wasn’t about to send them off. So he’d smiled when he saw Jane holding Adrienne’s shoes, claiming they were her own, and he’d laughed when he saw Adrienne’s face pop into view through the little window of the seventh floor door to the stairs.

“Who’s your friend?” he’d asked and when Adrienne revealed herself, Chris knew that he’d be hitting Karma.

He was contemplating getting another beer, but the place was packed. And if he left their table, they’d never get it back. Besides, holding the table was a good excuse for not having to hit the dance floor. Yes, Chris was interested, in what, he couldn’t quite figure out, but he wasn’t about to make a fool of himself with dance moves he hadn’t used since junior high.

His phone vibrated in his pocket. Why he’d even brought it into Karma was beyond him. It went counter to his “it can wait” way of thinking. He ignored the buzz. Having the phone in his pocket was one thing, but whoever was trying to reach him would need to wait. So he settled into his seat and tried to look casual in the chair that was way too high to be comfortable. From a distance, the mob on the floor seemed to be moving together. No way to find anyone in that crowd. No problem, Chris could wait. That’s what he was best at.

The music slowed and the beat subsided. Maybe the DJ or whoever was running the show was taking a break, although how hard could it be to queue up a playlist? No matter, Chris was glad for the break, especially when he saw Jane and Adrienne walking toward him.

“Why didn’t you answer my text?” Jane demanded, though she was laughing, a little manically, he thought, as she approached.

“What? Why would you text me when you knew I was right over here?”

“I wanted you to come out here with me,” she answered. “When’s the last time you and I danced together, like never?” Jane had a funny look on her face. Kind of territorial, he thought. Before he could get a good look, however, Jane had somehow climbed the tower of his stool and was sitting on his lap.

Chris panicked. Jane was his girlfriend, yes, but making a claim like this in public was something else. Like an animal in a trap, Chris had the irrational idea of gnawing off a limb to free himself. He sprung to action.

“Ack!” he exclaimed. “Hop off – my phone is vibrating and I have to answer!”

Thank you for reading!

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