On Office Relationships

A teammate of mine recently broke up with her boyfriend who works in the same company as ours. Although it was she who broke up with the guy, the fact that they work for the same company, pretty much work the same hours, and in the same floor will surely make things hard for both of them. And it reminds me of how scary it can be to be involved with someone who’s just so near.

I remember that in my last serious relationship, which was way back in college, we didn’t go to the same school but we pretty much saw each other everyday, talked everyday, texted everyday, phoned everyday, he was practically “there” everyday. When we broke up, apart from the occasional moments of me missing him being around and/or me being with someone, more often than not I felt liberated to be able to do things on my own again. I guess it’s a case-to-case basis too of how the relationship went, but since then, I really don’t want a guy who’s just too easily within reach.

I don’t want him seeing me just by looking up from his computer monitor or desk. Don’t want him passing by my station on the way to the pantry, the washroom, or the yosi area. Don’t want him having to report every detail of his life, where he is, who is he with, what is he doing, who is beside him, what clothes he’s wearing, what he ate for lunch, dinner or breakfast, how many sticks he’s smoked, who he talked to, and who he texted, emailed, chatted with. And vice versa. I don’t want having to report what I have done for the day, who am I with, what I wore to a party, etcetera, etcetera. For me, it’s not healthy being that way with a SO, just coz he’s not my husband, at least NOT YET. We don’t share the same bed at night (or whatever time it is that we sleep), we don’t live in the same house, and he has no right yet to use my pillows, that kinda thing.

What’s funny is, I am seriously crushing on a guy from work. And although I at first so resented the fact that they got transferred to a different floor that I don’t get to see him no more, in a way, the “absence” has helped us get to know each other better. I don’t wanna be so assuming that we will end up together (although of course it is something I would love to happen), but knowing what’s happening to my teammate was in a way, some kind of a wake up call. That hey, that can happen, people will talk, friends will take sides, both party’s work will get affected, one way or another.

Makes me wonder, do I like my crush that much to risk something like that? And surprisingly, my answer is a resounding YES. Shux, I just need to get him to ask me out.