A Bond.

Ring. Ring.

"Hello"

"I'm in really big trouble, something horrible has happened!"

"Calm down sir" exclaimed the man

"please can you help me?!"

"Yes Sir i'm sure we can help you"

"It's urgent I need to make an appointment"

"We have an opening on Thursday Sir, at 11am"

"Thursday?! thats far too long, can I make this an emergency appointment, I need to see someone immediatley!"
"Ok sir let me have a look..."

"Please hurry"

"...Sir I have an opening at 8.30pm this evening if you can make your way in?"

"I'm on my way"

I slammed the phone down and through on all my winter gear, 3 layers of t-shirt, one jacket, one scarf, 2 fingerless gloves, one pair of jeans, one pair of wooly socks, one pair of highly attractive long johns and one pair of boxers that had been comfortably warming themselves up on the radiator, ahhhhh. On the fast train I delicatley took it out and rested it in my hands stroking it to see if it was any better, to see if it had somehow magically started working again.

 Nothing.

 Dammit! I sprinted off the train and through the crowds of people looking to buy their Christmas presents. It was busy. It was cold. But I had to get there, I had to get it fixed, this was serious. Despite the lights and festive music being played out into the crowds thoughts of Christmas time just didn't matter, this was too important. Finally I arrived and stormed through massive glass doors which due to the extereme cold were closed, this wasn't doing it any good at all. I checked in with the man in the red t-shirt and sat on a bench in the waiting area cradling it in my hands, everything will be ok. I hoped. I waited. I waited some more, every so often glancing down at it whilst resting it in my hand, nursing it, then..

"Meester Bennett?"

"Yes"

"Cum wiz me"

I followed the french man, I think, over to what appeared to be a bar like configuration, me on one side him on the other.

"What appearz to be ze prooblem?"

I carefully and very slowly pulled out my iPhone and placed it on the counter.

"Well, it's my phone, I took it off charge earlier this evening and it seems to have lost sensitivity down one side of the screen!"

"Wheech side?"

"The left hand side, I can't press the A, Q or capital letter button on the keyboard, or move apps or do anything with it, it won't feel my touch!"

"hmmmm, let me av a loook"

He fondled it in his hands and stroked the left. Nothing. Absoloutley nothing.
"I am g'ing to av to take eet in ze back and take eet apart, oui?"

"Oui, I mean, yes if you have to"

The frenchman whooshed off to the back room taking my phone with it. I started to look around the glamorous store in London's Leicester Square when all of a sudden time stopped. I started biting my nails, it was bad enough waiting on the bench but now seconds turned into years. He remained concealed in that room for 3 minutes and 30 seconds, possibly deciding the fate of my phone right there and then, doing things to it that shouldn't be done, horrible things like taking the back off and prodding the pieces with his stupid apple stylus or...

"eet will av to be replaced"

"will it"

"Oui, I av ere ze same version of your fon, brand new, as long as your warrenty as not expired you will bee fine"

The frenchman typed away on his apple mac book pro looking up all the details on me and my iPhone

"First name eez Alex, Oui?"

"Oui, I mean, yes"

He continued to take my details and eventually found me on the system.

"I just need you to sign ere and we can swap ze fons"

I gladly signed away and the frenchman handed me my new shiny, still in its plastic film, iPhone

"zere eez one more thing i need you to do"

He held up my now old iPhone and brought up the settings

"I need you to eerase ze data on your old ifon"

He turned my now old iPhone towards me and up on the settings screen sure enough there were the words in a red bar with white text 'Erase all content and settings' and I touched it without any remorse or thought. Phew! it was over.

"Thank you for your help"

"eet is no problem sir, take care of yourselff"

I walked out of the shop and briskly hurried onto the underground without a second thought. Now, I am a massive fan of Apple and after having a passionate love affair with my iPhone for nearly 2 years I had actually given some thought to the sad tear jerking day that my phone and I would part. But I pressed that button so easily, I didn't feel anything, the glance of my finger on that button, there was no protest from my phone, no error message. It was as if it had laid down before me on that counter and knew what was coming. After passing my finger over that button the tiny screen went black and the thinking swirl of the iPhone started up, erasing every single memory we had together. Slowly. It was on the train that it struck me, I saw a gentleman sitting opposite me stroking the screen of his iPhone with fingers of joy his eyes telling the tale of a long standing partnership between man and technology.

I felt, sad.

Thinking back on it what was I expecting to happen? that the frenchman would have taken out a tiny white cloth and gently lower it over the darkened iPhone whilst a brass band rose behind us to play the song of a fallen comrade? what then? the frenchman carefully take it in his hand, give a nod, and let it descend to under the desk? the least he could have done was let me say goodbye. But. I was was the one who had so quickly left, and without thinking.

Maybe then this is what Apple has managed to develop over the years, that keeps us visitng their stores, that keeps us browsing their sites, that keeps us coming back. Something thats more than a 'revoloutinary piece of technology' something more than 'a magical product'. Something wonderful, something thousands of years old, something we have all felt,

A Bond.