Once Upon a Competition

By Diane M. Pratt

Heidi Adams has worked with Callahan James for over three years. Three years of Callahan competing with her over who has the fastest call times in the technical support office, and Heidi is determined to beat him. Callahan doesn't like losing, and he decides to up his game and beat Heidi once and for all. When the competition gets more intense and personal, Heidi and Callahan realize maybe it isn't the competition that matters most.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Diane M. Pratt
• Release date: Jan 8, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215078372

Diane M. Pratt

Diane M. Pratt lives on Cape Cod where she avoids the summer traffic by hiding at home with her trusty laptop, long-suffering husband, and all the chocolate she can find. Escaping from reality in a romance novel, the ultimate goal a happy ending, is her idea of a good read.  

Book preview

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

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Chapter 1

Two minutes and twelve seconds; Heidi Adams wrote the time in the spiral notebook she kept beside her keyboard. That was her fastest yet. Glancing at the blue wall of her alleged hush panel cube, and specifically the left wall, she wondered if she should announce the time just loudly enough for her neighbor in the next cube to hear. She couldn’t hear him speaking, which meant he wasn’t on his own call, which also meant he may have heard just how quickly she’d solved her customer’s dilemma. She could stand and peek over the wall to confirm but if he caught her looking – no, that was a terrible idea. Instead, she’d wait until their lunch break and stroll by his table in the cafeteria to drop the little tidbit. She could wait another half hour. And who knew? Maybe she’d have another call between now and then that was even faster.

Callahan James didn’t fail to notice the glee in Heidi Adams’ tone as she wrapped up her call, one of the quickest he’d ever heard, and he suspected she’d be filling him in on just how quick it had been, down to the last second. No doubt because of her brilliance. Callahan couldn’t remember how their little competition had started, or even who had initiated it, but he was sure neither of them was going to wave the white flag any time soon. Although he’d never admit it to Heidi, he enjoyed it too much to want to quit and he was pretty sure she got a buzz from it despite her best efforts to hide her feelings. He was surprised none of the other reps in the tech support department had wanted to get in on it, but maybe they had no clue how much of a kick he got out of it. Which was enough of a reason not to let them know. Let them find their own motivation to get to work.

Leven tech support. Callahan here.

Callahan here. Heidi shook her head as she stared at her monitor, listening to the man. Everyone else said speaking, but not Callahan. Oh, no, he had to be different. Well, Heidi would grant him that. The man was different in every way possible from their dozens of other colleagues. She was glad she hadn’t peeked over the cube wall to see if Callahan was there and been caught since he’d probably been there all along. Which also meant he would have heard her super-short call. When her own extension rang, she snapped it up, noting down the time. Leven tech support. Heidi speaking.

At lunch time Callahan took the longer route out of the department so he could get an eyeful of Heidi Adams at her desk. She was in black and white today, her eyes on her monitor as she coached her caller, and he was disappointed she didn’t spare him a glance. But maybe she’d finish the call soon so he could still see her walk by in the caf. He knew from a few discreet questions she’d started at Leven shortly before he had a few years ago, but that was about all he knew about her. He hadn’t heard that she was currently with anyone in the office, nor had she dated any of his colleagues, and he wondered if she had someone on the outside. Seemed like a distinct possibility and was probably a good thing, since all that sass and spice shouldn’t be going to waste. She was a sight for sore eyes, and after all the calls he’d had that morning and all the minutes he’d spent staring at the monitor, he decided his eyes qualified. Maybe he should wear his glasses once in a while. Or move the monitor closer. Yeah. He liked that idea better.

Heidi knew it was lunch time but she also knew she wasn’t going to be able to hurry her customer’s understanding along, so she smiled and explained the solution a different way and told herself to relax. Lunch would happen when it happened. Lauren would understand why she was late again, or maybe Lauren was hung up on a call as well.

When she was finally released, she noted the end time in her notebook then tucked it under her arm before reconsidering and leaving it on her desk. She’d remember what she wanted to tell Callahan if the opportunity arose.

Leaving the tech support department and taking the hallway to the stairwell, she glanced out the windows at the gray and dismal day. Late November could be nice and sunny, sometimes even unusually warm for this time of year in Danley, Massachusetts, but since Thanksgiving a week ago, it had been gloomy and cold, only in the low 40s, and Heidi was ready for some sunshine. She could deal better with the low temps as long as they had plenty of sun.

Stepping into the cafeteria, she located the table with Lauren and a couple of their colleagues before getting into the short line for her food. Today felt like a soup day, and she hoped they had loaded potato, her favorite.

Taking her tray, she made her way to the table, seeing Ana and Joanne were already leaving. She must be later than she’d thought. Bye, girls. Hi, Lauren. Sitting opposite her bestie, she took her first spoonful. Mm. Love this soup.

It’s the best, Lauren Nichols said. I just finished mine.

I had a two minutes and twelve seconds this morning.

Lauren grinned. You say that with such pride.

Surprising when she’s typically so humble.

Heidi looked up into the eyes of Callahan James, eavesdropper extraordinaire. He held his tray, ready to get back to his desk now that he’d shared one of his typical Callahan comments. Any calls you’d like to report, Mister James? Even if you can’t beat my time, I’m sure you must have something commendable to share with the class.

And spoil your fifteen minutes of fame? I was raised better than that.

The wolves taught you that, did they?

He shouldn’t encourage this one by grinning, but he couldn’t help himself, and he wondered what she’d be like after a couple of drinks.

You headed back? Jason Brent asked, appearing beside Callahan.

My work here is finished. He nodded to Heidi, then Lauren. Ladies. Following Jason to dump their trays, he said, She had a two-twelve today.

Who? Or do I need to ask?

Surprised she didn’t leap over the cube to wave that notebook in my face when it happened.

Maybe she was saving it for later. I don’t get what’s with you two. No one else in the department keeps track of their call times. It’s not as if it will get you anywhere.

Is that what you think? Callahan grinned, his eyes on the hallway ahead.

What are you trying to do? Beat her so many times she’s forced to go out with you? Might work better if you actually asked her.

Biding my time.

Good luck with that.

Yeah. Luck. He needed a hell of a lot more than luck.

Chapter 2

Callahan had just reached his desk when he was hit with inspiration and he glanced around to ensure he was as alone as he’d thought. He knew the cube to his right was still vacant, and he grinned as he picked up his own phone to set up the plan.

Jason answered his phone on the second ring. What?

How about when I give you the signal, you call my desk phone? You don’t need to stay on long, just get me started.

Cheating now, James? This seems beneath you.

This one’s not technically cheating. I’ll text you when it’s time.

You owe me.

That I will, but it’s a debt worth paying. Callahan laughed, imagining the look on Heidi’s face. Imagining was all he’d be able to do unless he stood and looked over the cube wall.

Heidi was alone by the time she finished her lunch and she glanced around the cafeteria as her colleagues straggled back to work in groups. Because her schedule was off she felt out of sync, despite her earlier feeling of victory. She knew she couldn’t expect every call of hers to be shorter than every call of Callahan James’. But she really wanted more of hers to be shorter than his so she didn’t have to listen to him boast. The man could be so annoying.

Disposing of her tray, one of the last few people left in the echoing cafeteria, she made her way back to her desk, reminding herself she’d better go over to her parents’ house tonight to play security guard. If her father knew she hadn’t been over even once in the ten days her parents had been away he’d have a hissy fit. But, really, what could go wrong with a house? It just sat there on the street with all the other houses. Her mother had suggested Heidi stay at their house instead of at her own apartment, but she couldn’t see herself packing everything she’d need just to move across town for a few weeks, especially with the weather being as crazy as it was. One day it was in the 40s and the next could be in the 60s and she’d probably end up with all the wrong clothes.

When she stepped into their department, all the way at the end of the hall, she heard the voices of several of her colleagues aiding the Leven customers on their productive ways. She liked the people she worked with and thought it took someone with an extra dose of patience to be able to do the job well. Some of the questions the customers asked were almost laughable, but Heidi knew nothing was obvious to those who just didn’t know. And she knew many of the callers printed and kept the follow-up emails she sent that summarized the dilemma and solution, so she knew they were trying to understand the programs in more depth.

Walking by Callahan’s desk on the way to her own cube, she saw he was between calls and staring at his monitor. Wondering what he was grinning about, she knew better than to ask, and she continued on and rolled out her chair, dropping her purse into the bottom drawer of her desk. As she sat, she heard Callahan take a call. Good. Keep him busy so he didn’t sit there all day looking at who knew what on his screen.

Callahan grinned after Jason identified himself as Herman from Melville who can’t differentiate my asterisk from my exclamation point. The biggest challenge was not to laugh as he rapidly explained a solution he’d used a few days ago for an actual customer, his eye on the phone’s timer as it counted up the seconds.

Herman, is there anything else I can help you with over at Melville? He knew Jason had disconnected sixty seconds ago but if he was going to do this, he’d do it right. You have a good day now. Disconnecting, he listened for sounds from his neighbor to the right and when he didn’t hear her voice on another call, he grinned. Eighty-nine seconds... He said it just loudly enough for anyone already listening to hear, and he wished Heidi Adams was the type to growl when she was irritated. He heard nothing from her side of the wall, but he knew without a doubt she was irritated because he’d beaten her