She could sense it as soon as she saw him: he was a phone with a past. Maybe it was the way he seemed to be concealing something behind his backlit orange readout, maybe it was the dust in the crevices around his keys. But she knew there was more to his story, she knew. She wondered what secrets had crackled across his 5.8 GHz connection, who had used his two handsets – and why he had needed to be refurbished.

“Hi there. I couldn’t help but notice you looking my way,” he said to her. “I’m the Uniden TRU8860-2 cordless phone system. You look like you need someone to talk through. So let’s talk.” She smiled. His voice was so clear. His ringtones were so distinctive. And his signal didn’t interfere with her home wireless network. He smiled back.

Right then, she didn’t care where he’d been or what he’d done. She only wanted to be with him, to know him, to hold his handsets and explore his speakerphone and intercom functions. She knew it was too soon to be thinking this way – she hardly knew him – but she even let herself wonder if she’d ever need his baby-monitor setting.

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