Chapter Text
Ally walks now. In the crisp Miami air, she sits on a bench on one of the busiest streets and thinks about the past two months.
She’s healed. Not fully, because she’d need Austin for that, and she doesn’t need him (or so she thinks). But for now, that doesn’t matter. She can breathe in, and breathe out and every second she breathes or blinks or speaks she’s still alive.
(Is she really grateful for that?)
She thinks she always finds something wrong. Maybe it’s the air, or her breathing, but without him something feels off. It’ll always feel off. When someone who’s part of you breaks your heart, she guesses it sticks with you.
It’s only a matter of time before she forgets. Or maybe she’ll never when he’s taking up all her brain space. She still hates that.
“Curse you, Austin!” she yells. Looking around, probably a little too loud. Everyone’s staring at her, so she quickly hurries down the street into a nearby Apple store. The next time she’s meeting up with Trish is in five minutes, so she’d better be quick.
Sitting down and looking at the devices makes her want to pull out her card already. She’s always been a bit of a reckless buyer, but with all the hospital bills (and nobody to help) she has no extra cash.
But behind her, a phone salesman creeps up. She can feel it. He’s just waiting to spring a sale on her, and…
“Can I interest you in these phone cosmetics?” he says.
Ally can’t believe her eyes. This dude’s good-looking! Like, it’s ridiculous. “Maybe, or maybe not. I don’t have the money.” She motions to leave, but it suddenly starts raining. The universe is against her, isn’t it?
“Doesn’t look like the clouds gave you a chance.” He flashes a dazzling smile. The universe really is trying to kill her.
“Okay, but what are the benefits of getting a-” she looks closer, “phone jingly dangly thing?”
“I’d say none. But maybe a cute boy might compliment you on it.” He winks.
“Just because some dude will compliment me on it doesn’t mean I’ll buy it.” She motions to leave, but Phone Boy pulls her back.
“I’ll give you my discount, so it’s only twenty bucks, eh? How about now?” He raises an eyebrow.
“Fine. Here’s the money.” Ally digs into her wallet and reluctantly hands over twenty bucks.
Phone Boy hands her a piece of paper and her cosmetic. She looks down at the phone and finds his number on it. Maybe the universe isn’t so against her after all.
~~
Ally’s out of work. The music factory is in repossession, and if she can’t turn things around really fast, she’ll be out of a place to live, too. The best place, is, sadly, the phone store. It’s near her house, and its pay is pretty good.
She heads over for an interview, her heels clicking on the tiles. When she enters her interview room, she sees Phone Boy, with a nametag showing ‘Dallas, Regional Manager’. He looks over at her with a smile that could break a thousand hearts and she sighs.
How’s she getting out of this now?