Texts and the City: Chapter 2

An accidental phone swap leads to a day of messages—and an unexpected connection.

When Devon and Ebonee bump into each other at a busy subway station, their phones get swapped, and they find themselves connected for the day. What starts as a frustrating inconvenience turns into a series of flirty, revealing texts—and the possibility of new love.

They realize they have each other’s phone

Ebonee left the station, happy to see the rain had stopped. The bakery was next door to her workplace. If she hurried, she could buy the cannoli and make it to work on time. Even if she was a few minutes late, it wouldn’t be a big deal.

Except, as soon as she entered the bakery, she knew she would be more than a few minutes late. The place was packed. She really liked Charles, so she decided to stay and risk being later than usual to get the dessert for him.

“I’ll let Lisa know I’ll be late,” she mumbled to herself.

As she slipped into the line, she removed her phone, switched from the email app to contacts, and started scrolling through the list for her co-worker’s number.

That’s when she noticed something odd. She didn’t recognize any of the names.

Her brow furrowed.

Wait a minute…

She switched back to the email app and read the message about a proposal that had been delayed. That wasn’t what she had been reading before she exited the train. She had been reading a message from her cousin.

She switched to the Home Screen, panic making her heart race.

This wasn’t her Home Screen. She didn’t have Facebook, Dropbox, or Skype on her phone, and there were other apps she didn’t recognize. Meanwhile, the familiar ones were not in their usual places.

The wallpaper was a dead giveaway. Hers was a photo of a beach in Anguilla where she and friends had gone on a girls’ trip several years ago—a place she planned to return to one day. In its place was a cute little Golden Retriever puppy fast asleep on a blue sofa.

Ebonee blinked. “The hell…?”

Then realization dawned.

“No,” she moaned to herself.

When she had dropped her phone on the platform, she must have picked up someone else’s. But whose?

The line edged forward, and she did too, quickly going to the Photo app and seeing none other than a picture of Mr. Hottie.

“Dammit,” she hissed, for the second time that day.

They had each other’s phones.

***

Seated behind the desk in his office, Devon stared in disbelief at the phone in his hand. A locked phone that he just realized wasn’t his.

“Whose phone is this, and how—” His mumbled words came to a halt as he remembered bumping into the attractive woman on the subway platform.

Was this her phone? If so, she probably had his.

He cursed softly.

Then the phone rang, and he almost jumped out of his skin. That was his number.

He answered right away. “Hello?”

“Hi,” a female voice said, sounding uncertain.

“Who is this?” he asked.

“I’m Ebonee, and we have a problem.” She spoke with a little more confidence the second time.

Though he was immediately intrigued by the sound of her voice without the undertones of annoyance from the platform, he did not like the current situation.

“No shit.” Devon swiveled in his chair and stared out the window. “You have my phone.”

“And you have mine.”

“You’re the woman from the station, aren’t you? The one who bumped into me?”

“I didn’t bump into you. You bumped into me, but that’s beside the point. We have a problem. What’s your name, anyway?”

“Devon.”

“Well, Devon, we need to figure out how to get our phones back.”

“Where are you?”

“Off Third Street, about three blocks from the station.”

“I’m farther away than you. I’m at Tenth and Simmonds.”

“That’s a mile away.”

“That’s why I take the train. I beat the morning traffic and walk two miles every day. It’s good exercise.”

“Good for you. Can we meet up around lunch?” Ebonee asked.

Devon checked the time. “Can’t. I’m about to go into a meeting, and then we have important clients coming to the office for a lunch meeting.”

“Okay… what about later this afternoon?” Ebonee suggested.

“What time were you thinking?”

There was a pause. “Can you survive without your phone for the day?”

“No, but it looks like I’ll have to.”

“How about after work? Meet me outside my office at 5:15?”

“I should be able to do that, but I’ll know for sure later this afternoon. I’ll text you…” He paused, then added, “Assuming I can get into your phone.”

“Oh, right.” She sighed. “You’ll need my passcode. It’s 0730.”

“Is that your birthdate or your criminal record number?”

“Ha-ha. Aren’t you witty? If I had a criminal record, I wouldn’t tell you,” Ebonee said.

“Why am I not surprised? You’ve got I-keep-secrets energy.”

“Because I lock my phone like a normal person? Unlike you. What kind of maniac in this day and age leaves their phone wide open?”

“The kind who’s lucky he did,” Devon replied smoothly. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been able to call me.”

He heard her intake of breath as she was about to probably make a smart remark. He waited.

“Touché,” she said instead, sounding defeated.

This time he fought back his laughter but smiled. “Okay, Ms. Secret Agent, I’ll text you later this afternoon and let you know for sure if I can meet you. We’ll figure out how to give our phones back to each other.”

“I’m looking forward to it. And please don’t go through my phone. Thank you.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s private.”

Then the line went dead as she hung up.

Little did she know, she’d pretty much issued a challenge.

Devon checked to make sure the code worked. “Perfect,” he whispered as her screen cleared and he saw all her apps scattered across the face of the device.

“Devon?”

He looked up to see the administrative specialist standing in the doorway. “They’re waiting for you in the conference room.”

“Be right there.”

Devon opened a drawer to put away the phone, but at the last minute, he changed his mind. He lowered the volume to vibrate and tucked the device into his pocket.

Then he strolled out of his office to his meeting.

_____

With regard to your phone, are you more “secret agent” or a “maniac” keeping your phone wide open?