Chapter 18

Earlier That Day

It was somewhere between 1PM to 2PM in the afternoon. Dimitri, Donovan and Cameron were inside a library, on one of the top floors. Basically Cameron wanted to borrow a book on science, since he was a bit of a nerd.

Since they just came out from school earlier, they still had their school uniforms on.

While they were searching for Cameron's books, on a shelf, from one of the aisles, they left their satchels (bags that school students carry on their backs) and jackets by a table.

Cameron finally found the books he was looking for, smiling to himself and then to his two friends. He grabbed three of them.

Cameron: Found what I was looking for. Thank you guys for coming out here to help me out!!

Dimitri: Anytime mate!!

Donovan: You're our mate. That's what mates are for!!

They left the aisle, heading straight back for their table. They put their jackets on and carried their satchels on their backs. Cameron carried the three library books on his arms.

They went down the stairs, going straight for where the reception was. There was a queue. They waited, starting from the back end.

The queue got shorter and shorter. Finally it was their turn at the reception. Cameron told the librarian that eh wanted to borrow those three books. As Cameron was member, he showed her his membership card.

The librarian took his card and scanned it. She then scanned all the three books he wanted to borrow.

She told him.

Librarian: All three of them are due in three weeks.

She handed him the books and he took hold of them. The three of them walked towards a corner of the library, letting Cameron place all three books inside his satchel.

They got out of the library.

But it was at that moment that when Dimitri was putting his right hand inside his jacket pocket, that he realised something was wrong.

Dimitri: Oh shit!! I can't find my cell phone.

Dimitri panicked like hell. He not only kept on checking his pockets but also his satchel. Cameron then laced a hand on his shoulder, assuring him.

Cameron: I think someone stole it. It must have happened when we left our jackets on the table.

Donovan: That is why I never put my cell phone in my jacket.

Donovan took out his cell phone from his jean pocket.

Donovan: Always have it in you at all times. I suspect that someone from the library saw you fiddle with it and watch you put it inside your jacket. He saw us leave our belongings on the table and then stole it from your jacket.

Cameron intervened.

Cameron: Whoever stole it is probably gone by now. I suggest we go to a Vodafone shop and tell them everything. You're under contract right?

Dimitri nodded, feeling upset.

Cameron: You have been a customer of their for three to four years, am I right?

Dimitri: Yeah I have been!!!

Cameron: That's good. Because even if you are uninsured, they will start insuring you and that would cost you a bit more every month. But they will give you a new phone. Not even the same model that you had. They could even give you a different model!!

Cameron was an expert on cell phones, but neither he nor Donovan were using Vodafone. They had cell phones from other networks.

They went to the bus stop. They waited for a bus that would take them towards the city center. After 20 minutes, their bus arrived. They boarded it and sat on the upper deck. The bus finally took them somewhere on the city center. They got off.

They went to a Vodafone shop. The Vodafone shop was on a corner, within the city center, somewhere not far away from a large mall and on a corner, surrounded by other small shops.

Dimitri explained everything that happened to the Vodafone salesmen. The salesmen from Vodafone asked him for certain details (like home address and surname and date of birth) and agreed to give him a new Vodafone cell phone and renew his contract with them, for having been a faithful customer.

The first thing they did was to disable the phone line for his stolen cell phone. That way, the person who stole his cell phone, could not make any phone calls, sending Dimitri the phone bill.

The second thing they did was to show him a catalogue of the latest Vodafone cell phones out on the market, explaining how much it would cost every month.

Cameron and Donovan noticed the latest Vodafone cell phone on the market. It was the one that allowed him to take photos, as well as do many other things.

Dimitri picked that one.

That same Thursday afternoon, Dimitri lost his original cell phone, only to get a new and better one.

When they left the Vodafone shop, Dimitri raised his new cell phone, letting its small camera face Donovan and Cameron.

Dimitri: Hey I wanna thank you guys for helping me out. Since you are such good mates of mine, I was thinking that the first picture I ought to take here should be a picture of you guys.