A Recent (mis)Adventure - Finale

Mouth agape, I stood in front of the apartment block that was holding my friend Elle’s lost mobile phone captive, my mind reeling. Desperately, I clung to the smallest glimmer of hope that we would recover the phone from within the bowels of the building. But I was losing the battle – never have I felt so near to achieving a goal and yet so miserably hopeless of succeeding. 

“How on earth are we going to find it in THERE?!” I cried disheartened, turning towards Daniela, my dear friend and accomplice in this crazy pursuit, despair plastered across my face. 

I had bombed. My brazenness had been repaid with failure. I had let my friend Elle down. How could I ever face her again?! 

“Let’s just buzz at every apartment and ask them if they’ve found a mobile phone” was Dan’s practical and optimistic response. 

“All of them?! But there are so many! What are we going to say?! Will they even understand us?!” Panic was chipping away at the edges of my reason, whittling it down bit by bit.

“There are only eighteen,” she said. “We’ll just say what we’ve been saying all along, that our friend lost her phone in a cab and the Find My Phone app shows it’s located in this building.”

While my mind tried to process the logistics of calling and speaking to every single resident, Dan had already made her way up the steps to the intercom panel at the front doors.

I hurried to join her. “Are you sure…” 

BUZZZ!!!!

Dan pressed the button for unit number one, answering the question I didn’t get a chance to finish – clearly she did think this was the right approach.

When there was no response after a minute, she rang again, this time at unit number two.

BUZZZZ!!!!!!

Standing shoulder to shoulder at the entrance, we stared at the intercom panel like puppies staring at an untossed ball, waiting, hoping for some action.

BUZZZZZ!!!!!!! BUZZZZZ!!!!!!! BUZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!!

Unit numbers three, four and five simultaneously. Even Dan was starting to get anxious.

Suddenly, someone picked up. We couldn’t tell which apartment it was but it didn’t matter.

“Hello. Sorry to bother you,” started Dan, “Our friend lost her mobile phone in a taxi last night and we think it’s in this building. Have you found a mobile phone?”

“No, no mobile phone here.” Was the reply.

“OK, thank you.”

And then another response, a tentative, “Yesss???”

Again and again Daniela reeled off her spiel, refining it along the way, adding if they knew anyone who was a taxi driver in the building. But to no avail.

From our position at the front doors, we could hear the internal buzzers going off one-by-one within each apartment. No doubt, every resident could hear them all as well. Soon, doors started to open. People wanted to know what the devil was going on! Who was ringing at everyone’s door at this time of the morning?! 

One resident came out to speak to us. “What is happening here?” He asked.

We explained the situation.

“Everyone in this building is an Uber or taxi driver,” he said. “They all work nights, most of them will be asleep.”

Dear Lord! We were potentially waking every hard-working soul in the building for what?! For a mobile phone! A device we could have wiped remotely and replaced in a matter of hours. 

I felt terrible. Heartless. Like a first-world villain. Obstinate in my one-track mindedness.

Despondently, I sat down on a low brick wall alongside the entrance. The stress of the morning and the hopelessness of the situation had finally caught up with me. I began to weep, silently and uncontrollably.

Daniela stood beside me and patted me gently on the back. What a wonderful friend she is, I thought, tears flowing anew. The resident who had come out to investigate, looked at me embarrassed for my display of emotion and then returned quietly to the comfort of his apartment.

In silence, Dan and I admitted defeat and agreed to relinquish our search, having reached unit number sixteen without any luck. 

As I continued to weep, the front door opened again. 

“You are the girls looking for a mobile phone?”

“Yes!” It was Daniela who replied, I was too upset to harbour any hope.

The man looked at me confused and asked.

“Why are you crying?”

“I’m sorry, I’m just so stressed.” I replied through my uncontrollable sobs.

“Don’t cry.” He said. “I have your phone.”

THE END