Corporate Peon: Office Romance


Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Office Romance

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Kate. She worked in the IT side of a large company. She was in her late 20's. Also working in the same IT side of the same large company was a man named Gordy. He was in his late 50's. Kate and Gordy worked together on many projects over the four years she was at the company. She learned that his bark was worse than his bite (figuratively speaking) and that under his gray beard and gray hair, he was just a harmless old man.

Kate heard through the office grapevine when Gordy's wife died. Kate was sorry for Gordy. Gordy seemed to handle things okay - he had had a long time to prepare for this, as wifey was sick for a long while.

One Wednesday afternoon, Kate passed Gordy in the hallway. Kate said "hi, Gordy, how are you?" She was a friendly gal and always said hi to people. Gordy responded in kind.A few minutes later, Gordy showed up at Kate's cube. "What are you doing this Sunday?" he asked. Kate faltered. "Nothing but homework." "Would you like to go to a play?" asked Gordy. "What play is it?" she asked, her mind racing, trying to find a polite way to rebuff the older man. He answered. "Where is it?" she asked. He answered. "Sure," she replied.

His face lit up. "Really? You'll go? That's great. We have season tickets and I had no idea who would want the other ticket. You'll really go?" "Definitely. Thanks for thinking of me."

Thursday, Gordy went to Kate's cube with the tickets so she could get the address of the theater. He said something about the tickets needing to be exchanged so he couldn't give her hers then. Kate said she would map out directions and let him know if she had any questions prior to the weekend.

Kate then left to attend a meeting. When she arrived back at her cube, she found printed directions, with the route highlighted, on her seat. Stapled to the directions was Gordy's business card, with his home phone and his cell phone numbers written on the card. Kate thought it was nice that he made sure she had the directions.

Sunday came. Kate showed up at the theater, dressed nicely but not overdone, to find Gordy standing outside in a suit, waiting for her. He hopped in her car to show her wear to park, which ended up being right next to his car. They walked into the theater and found two of Gordy's friends there, a couple who always attended theater with him. They were...an odd little couple. To others, Kate was sure it looked like a girl out with her parents and grandfather, which made her chuckle silently.

They had dinner prior to the show, where Kate minded her manners and made small talk. Gordy's eyes got big over some desserts and his friends teased him. Kate mentioned how his eyes lit up when she brought donuts in on Friday; Gordy replied, something to the effect of being excited to see her, not the donuts. Kate ignored that comment.

The show was amusing. Kate and Gordy made small talk during intermission. She tried to focus on the show and not the fan stealing glances at her. After the show, Gordy asked if she was up for ice cream. She was not. He walked her to her car and she thanked him again. He said he still didn't know her very well; she lightly said there was nothing extraordinary to know. They hugged goodbye.

Monday when Kate got into work, there was a voicemail from Gordy. When he had been in her car, driving to a parking spot, he thought he noticed a flat tire. She should get it looked at. Kate wasn't sure if she should appreciate his concern or be a little creeped out.

Thursday, there was a VM from Gordy saying he still had a lot of questions about her. He came to her cube and asked a work question; then asked if she'd want to have dinner sometime. Startled, Kate responded, "Why?" "Because I want to get to know you better." "Why?" "Because I want to be your friend." "Why?" Gordy chuckled. "Well, you think about it and let me know."

The next day, the following email came to Kate:
Katey,
You wanted to know why? I have a lot of reasons. I really like you. I like your personality. I like being with you. I like the look in your eyes.

I need a new companion, someone I can talk to, someone I can confide in, someone I can share my feelings with. I have picked you and now I'd like to know more about you. When you feel comfortable about talking about this, please let me know. I am a hands off kind of guy, kind of old fashioned maybe, and I will never try to force my will on you, that's a promise.

I'm just asking for a chance to get to know you better to see if we can be good friends.

Sincerely,
Gordy

Kate was a bit unsettled about this. Was Gordy just a lonely old man, as she had first suspected? That was what she was leaning towards, but his comment about not forcing his will on her unsettled her. Why even mention that? What did he mean, he had picked her?

Friday, Kate was working late and hoping to get out of the office soon. Gordy came over, settled down in her cube, started making small talk. Kate said she was trying to finish things up and would stop by on her way out. Kate made her way over to Gordy's cube and asked him to walk down with her.

In the elevator, Kate said "You need to know that this is making me uncomfortable. I'm not open to turning work friends into outside-of-work friends" (which is true, but not exactly what she should have said to him). "Well, that's fine," said Gordy. "But you need to know that I'll be there when you're ready." "That's just it - I may never be ready." "Well, I'll be here when you are."

Kate left that day feeling awkward and slightly skeeved out. Her interaction with Gordy since then has been minimal; she's embarrassed around him and goes slightly out of her way to avoid him. Kate feels badly for the older man - she's sure he's just lonely and looking for a friend - but she's not comfortable enough to make that happen.


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