CHAPTER 1
ADDYSON
I rest back against the foam cushion strapped to my chair and let out a sigh. It’s perfectly formed to me and my comfort now. I need it. Even though I got on the whole rising desk trend and will get out my walking pad later, it’s not how I start the day. No, I start slow, with iced coffee and lumbar support.
It helps me knock the cobwebs out and get the day started right since I never know what kind of calls I’m going to get. Honestly, I do know and I’m already dreading a lot of them. Even though people can be nasty, which I’m reminded of daily, I enjoy my job.
I like talking to a bunch of different people from all over the country. It probably helps that I love a good accent and not a lot bothers me.
Talking to someone north of the Mason Dixon line who drops fucks left and right? I kind of love it and I’m not offended.There’s an enormous difference between someone who is cussing me out and someone who is just cussing. I don’t care either way.
I wish I could get away with dropping more colorful language in my life, but it’s frowned upon when it comes to customer service. It’s kind of a drag.
Oh well, I hear enough of it and then there’s the books I read. There are plenty of naughty words in those. I’m a huge fan.
With a giggle, I log in and get put into the queue for the next customer service call. My job isn’t glamorous. It certainly isn’t fancy.
I also didn’t think that I would still be doing it, but here I am. It was a way to work from home while I was going to school and the shift options worked for me. Even though I didn’t have the option to go off to some fancy school, I was determined to get an education.
School came relatively easy to me, and it felt like the next step. But I’m not sure what I’ll do with the business management degree I have, but here I am.
Staying close to home worked pretty well for me. With my job I was able to get an apartment but was still close and could go home to do laundry, or get a meal made with my mom’s love. I’m the baby of the family and there have been a few times, including most of my college years, when I took advantage of the little bit of status that came with my birth order.
My three older brothers had been out of the house for a while by then and were starting to settle down. Now they’re all married and two of them even have kids. Honestly, I never thought I’d see the day when I would become an aunt, but I’m happy for them.
If I couldn’t picture the future my brothers are living, how could I have ever seen one for myself? I figured it would work out, you know?
But Magnolia Point is a small town. With my best friend in New Orleans with her soulmate biker, I’ve been wondering what I’m sticking around for.
As I’m shaking off those thoughts, because there’s no point—I’m here now, so either I change it or I suck it up—my screen lets me know I have a call. When I pick up, my voice is bright, “Good morning.”
Before I can get another word out, a man cuts in gruffly, “Look here, I don’t have time to waste on some long, drawn-out conversation with a moron who can’t get done what I need to get done. If you’re going to waste my time, admit it now and escalate me to a supervisor,” he bites out the words.
Ah, yes. Good morning to me.
I smile. Trust me, smiling always helps and it’s not like I can just hang up. That thing about you being able to hear a smile? You can, and I put the theory to the test on a daily basis.
“Sir,” my voice is professional, but warm, “I’d be happy to get your issue resolved. If you wouldn’t mind taking a moment and explaining the situation to me, I would appreciate it. Then I can assess if I’m the right person to help you or if I can get this issue resolved for you by connecting you to the right person.”
“Well,” he huffs, clearly on his backfoot now and he isn’t sure why, “good. Yes, I would appreciate it if you could help me. I pulled up my bank statement and saw I was charged for a subscription I cancelled weeks ago.” You can hear the smugness in his voice as he adds on, “I saved the emails confirming the cancellation.
“I completely understand the situation you find yourself in, Sir, and I can also see why it would be terribly upsetting,” I assure him, my voice sweet but not saccharine. It’s all real.
Hopefully, what he doesn’t need me to spell out is that being an asshole to me isn’t helping the situation nor will it help him get it resolved, but I would never say such a thing. From how respectful he is the rest of the call, he got the message loud and clear.
My mom would call it Southern charm. And she was a master of it. She always told me she learned from the best and wished I didn’t spend quite so much time with my brothers. I never listened, but some lessons stuck.
Hours later my shift is coming to a close and I know the call I’m on is the last one of the day. When I saw the tags the caller put into the automated system about the problem, I tried not to frown. Dealing with a lost package is usually pretty simple, but not always.
Thankfully, this was easy and the replacement is already being processed. “Is there anything else I can help you with Mrs. Wagner?”
“Please call me Kendra,” there’s a plea in her voice along with disgust I don’t understand. Not like it’s any of my business.
“Of course, Kendra,” I assure her.
“I don’t think,” she starts before switching gears and exclaiming, “oh! You can take my soon to be ex-husband off my account. He will be opening his own, I’m sure. That’s on him to do and finally do something in his life other than work.”
I suck in a sharp breath, completely surprised and taken aback by the bitterness in her voice. She sounds nothing like thenice woman I was helping with a mishandled viral cheese grater. There was even mention of quesadillas after it finally comes in.
