The Call Center Connection
"Samia works night shifts at a call center, dealing with angry customers until dawn. When she keeps getting calls from the same voice—patient, funny Adeel—she realizes some connections transcend professional boundaries."
The Call Center Connection
"Thank you for calling, how may I help you?"
"You can tell me why my internet's been down for three days."
Samia sighed. Another angry customer. But this voice was different—frustrated but kind.
"I'm so sorry. Let me check your account."
"I'm Adeel, by the way. Since we're going to spend the next hour together."
The issue took three calls over three nights to resolve. By the end, they weren't discussing internet.
"Why call centers?" Adeel asked during their final troubleshooting session.
"It pays. Lets me study during the day." She paused. "Why tech support calls at 2am?"
"Insomniac. Also—" He laughed. "I was hoping you'd answer."
"This is against company policy," Samia said when he asked to meet.
"Technically, I'm no longer a customer. Issue resolved." His voice was warm. "Coffee? Somewhere public. If you're not interested, we'll never speak again."
"And if I am?"
"Then we keep talking. Without the hold music."
He was even better in person—kind-eyed, warm-smiled, exactly his voice suggested.
"I wasn't sure you'd come," he admitted.
"Neither was I." She sat across from him. "But your voice—"
"What about it?"
"It made me want to know the person behind it."
Knowing became dinner. Dinner became his flat. His flat became his bed.
"This is insane," Samia whispered as he kissed her.
"This is real." He pulled her close. "First real thing since I started calling you."
He made love to her with the same patience he'd shown on the phone—thorough, attentive, determined to resolve every need.
"Meri jaan," Adeel breathed, moving inside her. "You're my favorite hold music."
"That's terrible."
"It's romantic." He grinned. "Our origin story."
"I can't keep working there," Samia said afterward. "Not knowing you might call."
"Then quit. Finish your degree." He held her close. "I'll support us until you're done."
"You can't—"
"I can and I want to." He kissed her forehead. "Partners, Samia. In everything."
She graduated with honors. He was in the front row.
The wedding invitation included a customer service joke nobody else understood.
Best connection either of them ever made.