Discrete Office Fun

ne of my job requirements is to interview and hire outside consultants to assist my company with the development of our products. This is usually a very uneventful task, however it has given me the opportunity to meet some interesting and talented people. About 6 months ago I interviewed a woman named Beth, who would end up adding a unique spark to my job!

Beth arrived at 10 a.m. sharp for her interview. The interview was to be done by myself and one of my co-workers, who would be assisting and taking notes. At first glance she caught my attention. She was a very attractive 40-something woman. Being in my mid 30’s, I’ve always had a thing for older women. She had a ‘motherly’ look to her but was very upbeat with a great smile. She had brunette hair that barely reached her shoulders with curves in all the right places. Her breasts seemed small but perky, however due to her business attire it was difficult to tell. Not overweight by any means, but curvy. She kind of had a resemblance of Rachel Ray from the Food Network. As I shook her hand I noticed a wedding band on the other hand. I was slightly disappointed, but I’m not sure why. I too am married and I had no plans to engage with her on anything other than a professional level.

The three of us sat down for the interview and things went very well. I asked some questions and listened to her positive answers. I wasn’t sure if it was me just imagining things, but we seemed to connect for some fairly long lasted eye contact. The kind of look you give each other, but neither wants to be the first too look away. It was strange, but it was happening. Between our long looks and her coy smiles, I kept asking myself “Is this really happening?” Maybe I’m just reading into this and this is how she normally is? I hardly know this woman and this kind of stuff doesn’t usually happen to me. I was curious if my co-worker was sensing any of this but I gathered that he was clueless during all of this, which kind of made it all the more exciting.

After about 15 minutes the interview ended and I knew right away that I was going to hire her to do some work for us. This was a ‘freelance’ type job that allowed her to work from home and only have to come into our office on an ‘as needed’ basis. The following Monday I called Beth to let her know that we would love to have her do some work for us. She was elated to hear the news and I asked her to come into our office the next day for some initial things we needed to cover. She came in the following morning and we met for about 30 minutes to discuss her work. I met with 2 other co-workers this time so that ‘connection’ we had wasn’t there and I figured it was just my ‘active’ imagination that day getting the best of me. Once we finished I gave her a quick tour of our office and brought her by my desk where I sit, which is in a semi-private spot in the office with only with my assistant who sits near me. This is where Beth made a small but significant comment that got my mind racing again. As we left my desk she said, “She is very lucky to be the one sitting so close to you.” That’s it. That’s all that was said and I couldn’t believe this 40-something married woman was sending these little messages my way. Maybe I wasn’t making up the ‘connection’ on the initial interview all in my head. She left with a handshake and I have to admit I was thinking about this all night.

Because Beth was hired as a freelancer I would only be working with her via email and instant messaging most days. I was a bit bummed that I wouldn’t be able to admire her on a daily basis, especially after she made that comment.

As our projects rolled on, it didn’t take long for our emails with each other to become less and less formal. On one particular day we were talking on instant messenger when the business talk turned to personal talk. She brought up my assistant again, and I jokingly said, ‘maybe some day if she quits I can hire you to sit there’. ‘Oh, I’d like that’ she responded. It was official, we were flirting!

Now, because Beth was technically working for my company I tiptoed around these conversations the best I could.