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Story Time
Final Version
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Written October 8, 2024
Feast of St. Bridget
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Updated February 14, 2026
Feast of St. Valentine
Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr
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I met this woman almost ten years ago, back in August 2016. I was immediately attracted to her and knew it was a bad idea to flirt with her, since we worked together, but I just liked her too much. No woman had ever made me feel like this. I took a look at her left hand when she was at my desk one day, and I did not see a ring. I wanted to impress her, so I went on a diet, dressed better, shaved more often and grew my hair out. I started flirting with her to show her I was interested in her, by using constant eye contact, talking and self-confidence, and she was taken aback at first, as I could tell by the uncomfortable look on her face, but she soon started to flirt back. And she made sure she looked like a knockout every day there was a time we met together.
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In the mornings she would walk by my desk and I would say “Good morning” to her, and she would say “Good morning” back to me. And she had a smile on her face that said, “I know you like me.” Yeah, she had that right. She acted like a giggly little school girl around me, and I loved every minute of it. She could have read a car manual to me at my desk, and I would have been interested. I always came up with things to talk about to prevent her from leaving too soon. Every time this woman walked into the room I lit up like a Christmas tree and my heart skipped a beat.
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One time we were in a meeting, discussing a project with several other people. One person was trying to explain something to us multiple times, without much luck. Then she looked over at me with this helpless look that made my hormones go off the chart. Everyone started getting emails from her about the annual company Christmas party coming up at Pinstripes. I attended and talked to her a little, but not as much as I would have liked, since she had to host it. She always loved being the center of attention if possible. I had a good time and even still have the “One Million” cologne that I bought for just this occasion.
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She had an impressive electronic dart board in her office, but no darts, so I went out to Dick’s Sporting Goods one weekend and bought them. She thanked me and then we played darts for a few minutes. I began to throw out ideas of ways we could get together as a group, so that way if she followed through with it, then I would ask her if she wanted to do something with just me sometime. The first idea was a dart contest, and she seemed interested in it, but she did not follow through.
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This woman was a workaholic and worked eighty-hour weeks or something ridiculous like that. One time she emailed me at around 8pm on a Saturday about the status of a project, when she could have been spending time with me. Another time when I was at work later than usual, she came out of her office wearing her pajamas. As much as I enjoyed seeing her like that, it was sad at the same time.
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We worked on New Year’s Day 2017 for a project she wanted to finish. I was working at home on it and was envious of her employee that was at the office with her that day working on it. After we completed it, we had a meeting, and I suggested having a little get-together at a restaurant after work. She seemed really excited about the idea, and she ran her hands through her hair non-stop and was having a hard time sitting still. It drove me wild. I always appeared calm, confident and in-control when talking with her, but surprise, the feelings were on both sides of the table. Oh, the meetings you’ll go to...but once again, she did not follow through, and I was frustrated. I did not have a chance to think of or suggest another get-together, as she stopped coming by my desk shortly after this.
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She made a post anonymously on the internet at the end of January 2017 to get advice from other women. I guessed this was her, even though I cannot prove it, because of the timing, the content, and as it seemed like her way of speaking. I could not read the entire post, but found it on myfitnesspal.com, and I noticed that she started wearing a fitness watch at the beginning of that year. I searched the web because I was desperately trying to find answers as to what was going on, and I did not know what else to do. To this day, I still do not know for certain that she was the author of this post.
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She thought that I had just been playing with her and began to avoid me. I realized she was afraid of me, and it hurt. By the end of February, I missed her so much that it was killing me. I went to the company awards ceremony at Kanza Hall, and it was one of the few times I saw her that month. She was at the front near the stage, shooting the breeze before the awards were handed out, and no surprise, she looked stunning, as usual.
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I wanted to tell her “Happy Valentine’s Day”, “Happy Birthday” and good job on the awards ceremony, but she would not come near my desk any longer. I saw her talking to one of her employees by just peeking over his cubicle to talk to him, that way she would not be able to see me at my desk. I did have to go by her office one time during the month of February, and she was sitting at her desk, looking great, as usual, but the look on her face was one of disappointment.
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At the end of February, she came to my desk one last time to talk about a project, and this was because someone else asked her to stop by and discuss it. She seemed really upset like she was going to start crying. She looked at me and said with more emotion in her voice than any woman has ever spoken to me, “I am so glad you’re HERE!” She was playing with her necklace, like she often did when she was talking to me, and then she looked at me as if she was hypnotized, or having a nervous breakdown. I felt absolutely terrible. I simply cannot describe the way she said that to me, and the look I saw on this woman’s face, especially her eyes. That sentence and that look have haunted me for years. When I think about it now, it breaks my heart, because I realize how much I hurt this woman. I wanted her to like me, so I flirted with her, but I never would have done anything intentionally to hurt her.
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At the beginning of March, I attempted to talk to her in person one last time. She ignored my email all day, so I called her. She tried hard to keep me away, but reluctantly agreed for me to stop by. She seemed really nervous, and I could tell she did not want me in her office. I told her that she used to come by almost every day and that I rarely saw her any longer. I asked if she was angry with me, or avoiding me, and she told me no, it was just that she had been really busy. And that was the last personal conversation I ever had with her.
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In desperation I sent her flowers and told her that I did not have to work there, if that is what the issue was, and saying that was a big mistake. I also made the mistake of getting mushy in my message, which tends to turn women off. The minute I received a message that my flowers were delivered, I saw her rush out of her office, looking at her phone. I imagine she went straight home to see what came to her door. She panicked because she did not want me to quit, and she saw that I did have a sensitive side. She texted me the next day that she was not interested, and she was cruel in the way she said it. And even though I did not believe her, and over the years, I have rejected a lot of women, and I have been rejected by a lot of women...
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MY HEART BROKE IN TWO.PART OF ME DIED THAT DAY.
I HAVE NEVER RECOVERED FROM THIS.
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We continued to work together like adults even though we were no longer talking to each other in person. She heard me say about two weeks later that I took a day off because I was not feeling well. I was on speaker phone, and she was in the office with the person I was talking to. She became angry and decided to punish me because she thought I had a job interview and was going to leave. Within one hour of that phone call, I was no longer allowed to talk to her, and I never received any satisfactory answer from ANYONE about exactly what I did wrong.
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For the next few months, she did not come anywhere near me. I believe she was using the first-floor restroom or possibly working from home. She was nowhere to be seen. She gradually stopped avoiding me and even started trying to get me to notice her again, which was extremely cruel on her part, as my hands were tied. I saw a look of displeasure on her face when she walked by me and saw that I had started getting short haircuts again. I received the “Employee of the Month Award” and she showed up to the company meeting at the front of the room, but backed away from me when I came up to get the award.
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I remember when she hired someone, and this was probably May 2017, and she brought him over to introduce him to me. I said, “Nice to meet you, and let me know if you need anything.” She had a funny look on her face while I was talking and was dressed like a school teacher. She went off to lunch immediately afterwards and came back all dressed like she usually did, with her hair done and basically making my jaw drop to my desk. This woman knows how to dress to make men take notice. She turned me on as usual, and at the same time, I could not do anything about it. It was cruel.
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Another time she was at the end of the aisle, next to the coffee maker, with her back to me, playing with her hair, and I think she may have had a mirror in her hand, or her phone, like she was trying to see if I noticed her. Of course I did. And this was after she told me to take a hike. And who else was in the aisle with me at that moment that she could have been looking at? No one. Another day she came to my neighbor’s desk and talked to him for some time, even though there was nothing she really needed to discuss with him. She would not leave, so I eventually packed my things a few minutes early and left for the day. A few times I saw her in the parking lot, and she had a look that said, “Aren’t you going to do something?” Once again, what am I supposed to do?
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I have often wondered if, because of the cruel way she treated me, she thinks that I hate her and would never forgive her. There are many people like that in this world, so I can understand that. But I do forgive her for how she treated me, and if she were to call me up today and ask me to give her another chance, I would do so. I have never met any woman in this world that I care about like I cared about her, and I believe that love only comes once in a person’s lifetime.
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After years of reflection, I think of the movie “Groundhog Day”. I wish I could go back to any day in February 2017, and relive that day, over and over, as many times as needed, until I did everything right. As long as I don’t have to listen to that Sonny & Cher song...but now it is too late. What I could have done and should have done are irrelevant. I cannot go back.
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I thought I was over this woman years ago, but one day, recently, as I was talking to someone about how bad dating was going, all of these memories came back to me in an instant. It reminded me of how people have said they saw their "lives flash before their eyes". I do not really know if a person can have feelings like this more than once in a lifetime, but I will have to try. Writing about this story seems to have been what I needed to get over her. I may just never know exactly what her true feelings were.
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This woman feels as if she is entitled to treat people however she wants and then run away from them, without any apology or explanation. I have heard the stories, and let's just say, they are not very flattering. I really did love everything about this woman, except for her COWARDICE. Once I finally do find the RIGHT woman, I will delete this story permanently. Besides, no one is ever going to read it anyway. No one cares about this nine year old story, except for me. No one cared about it nine years ago! And I will not be naming her, or the company, as nothing good can come from that. I imagine she has probably read this story by now, at least once, but again, who really knows?
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She would be astonished if she knew how many Masses have been said for her conversion to the Catholic Faith, and how many prayers have been said for her, in general. I believe that is one of the reasons she was taken away from me years ago, and that is because I would have been a positive influence on her. As much as I admire her beauty, I also care about where she ends up for eternity. I did not used to think about those kinds of things before my conversion experience twenty years ago, but after that, I always think of these things, every single day.
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My Favorite Quotes
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“The word ‘duplicate’ is becoming as notorious around here as the ‘n’ word.”
“Trying to find it is like looking for a needle in a haystack.”
“What do you mean you are working on a big project for the Accounting department?”
“You fixed the duplicate lead issue, that’s terrific, we should celebrate!”
“Oh, I did not realize you needed to leave early to go to church, I am not Catholic. We will talk tomorrow.”
“I remember being upset about that when I was a kid. Snuffy is real.”
“It is a card game my kids used to play. You had to get all the pieces of Exodia. He is the forbidden one...”
“Ha ha, yeah, Exodia, I was talking to my family about that the other day and they thought that was funny.”
“I have been looking for you and saw you back at your desk so I thought I would come over before you were gone again. I feel like I’m stalking you, do you mind if I stalk
you? Ha ha ha!”
“Oh, thank you so much for the darts, that was very thoughtful of you, we will have a dart game later this week.”
“Thanks for the pizza, I have not had time to eat lunch today, I have been so busy...I can eat during our meeting.”
“That’s a great idea, we’ll have a little get together to celebrate getting this project done. We are totally going to do that!”
“I like your ‘Christmas Vacation’ coffee mug. Did you see the new one that was made for tv? I watched it with my kids.”
“I am going to the hair stylist now, but feel free to text me if you need anything. I will be gone for a while because it takes time to cut this mass of hair.”
“Well, I have to do this hosting thing right now, so I can’t bowl with you at the moment...are you having a good time?”
“I wrapped my kids’ Christmas presents in a hurry, so I won’t know until they open them if I have labeled them correctly.”
“I can’t log in, could you reset my password? I imagine it’s because I’ve been fired and I haven’t been told yet.”
“Please don’t applaud until after I finish reading the names..."
“I am so glad you’re HERE!”
“I haven’t been avoiding you, it’s just been really crazy around here lately, we’re all a little crazy. Ha ha ha!”
“I am VERY CONFUSED. I don’t want to have ANY relationship with you other than a professional one. Now I don’t want to be harsh, but I feel I need to be EXPLICIT. Do not
message my personal phone for any reason other than work.”
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Anonymous Post
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posted by incognito12345
on myftnesspal.com
on January 29, 2017 at 7pm cst
found through boardreader.com
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“A coworker and I have been flirting for the past six months.”
“He ACTS like he likes me but then sometimes he completely ignores me.”
“He is about five years younger than me.”
“I have been single for most of my adult life.”
“We WORK together, and sometimes we have to work long hours at this company.”
“I feel like I am TORTURING myself.”
“There have been a lot of marriages that have occurred at this company, so dating coworkers is not a problem here.”
“I don’t really feel like there is anyone here at work that I can trust to talk to about this.”
“I have never experienced feelings like this before from just EYE CONTACT and TALKING.”