Ginger Boss

Set aside the 40 hours I’ve already worked this week and an extra four or five might not sound like much, buckled into article after article, pumping my imagination to the very last drop of it’s reserves. Of course, the end of the week can’t come soon enough. Yes, I’m talking about those few hours in the evening on Sunday while I’m sitting in front of my sliding glass door, contemplating letting the warm summer evening air in while clinging to the exciting end of a good book, the pages dwindling and the haunting end drawing near. The final rays of the sun cresting through the sky offer only a few more moments of reading under its light without the artificial dim and drain of a corner lamp burning into my peripheral line of sight, beckoning for me to give in and set my book aside.

Another busy week is set behind me. I can barely remember half the content I wrote. One task after another, the uninterrupted flow of words cramped onto a page until there was nothing left but the margins to intimidate me. My boss recently set some outrageous word-count goals, making me giggle even now at the thought of the coming days. No one I knew would read an article that long without a yawn and dismiss it without a second thought.

My phone chimed. The telling sound of a notification bothered me on this uninterrupted evening. This was my one day to rest and I forgot to set a “Do not disturb” reminder on my phone. I was intrigued though. It’s late and I didn’t have too many friends to be bothered by.

GingerBoss666

Interest officially piqued. I swiped the notification open and it took me to an old website I visited years ago to get freelancing work. I didn’t mind though. I have a passion for writing that doesn't quite compare to some others. I’d write about anything if the offer was good enough pay.

The requester made it pretty easy to give him what he wanted. He gave the root details I needed. He was a lonely man with a crush on a girl. It was sweet, really.

Buyer: GingerBoss666

Subject: Love? Letters? HELP…

Message: I’ve met someone, not formally. She laughs a lot, and smiles a lot. I don’t know how she’s always in such a good mood. I’ve been pinning after her for months. Unfortunately, a few things stand between us: I’m her boss, she’s so cheerful and I’m… NOT. I’m afraid to scare her off. I want to introduce myself. I don’t think we’ve ever actually met-met. I hired her, but the manager did all the dirty work. She knows of me, so don’t use my name. Write her an anonymous love letter, one that will make her skin feel warm and her toes curl.

A few things about me: I run an editorial, we’re months ahead of schedule in her department. I have red hair, I’m six-two, I’m a writer myself, but I don’t know how to put my thoughts and feelings about her on paper. I’m thirty-three, no children, and I love sports. I spend most of my free time at the gym. Please send help.

I couldn’t help but laugh. I worked at an editorial myself and knew how reclusive and introverted most people were in our industry. I could only imagine someone as handsome as he made himself out to be spending most of his time staring out of his office at a woman he fancied without ever being able to put those thoughts and feelings into words, let alone a simple and brief hello.

I understood him on a personal level too, I spent years pinning after my husband, but it was always bad timing. It was a shove in his direction by someone entirely unexpected that pushed me into making the big leap of reaching out to him after being introduced to him three years prior. I couldn’t help but wish the GingerBoss luck in sweeping the girl of his dreams off her feet. Even better, I would take the job and write such a poetic and beautiful letter to her that would make her swoon.

I wrote back.

Seller: TheBuz15

Subject: Help has Arrived - A Love Letter

Message: First, thank you for thinking of me when you were looking for a freelancer to help you in this area. I know that I’m a writer first, but I’m a sucker for a great love story second. Secondly, I’m proud to accept your desperate request, literally desperate. I will leave the letter vague but as “toe curling” as I possibly can. I will send you back a draft for your approval in a few hours. I look forward to working with you.

I opened a new tab and started hammering away at the keys. I knew what I wanted to hear. I’d write her like I was writing myself. My fingers froze over the keyboard. I felt my stomach churn, I never wrote a love letter before. It couldn’t be that hard, could it? I laughed and took a deep breath, trying to relax, but this was way too exciting. I was getting a very good opportunity to get out of my usual comfort zone and challenge myself. Plus, this could be a fun exercise.

My shining Diamond,

You’re the laughter that drifts through the room and tickles my ears, waking me up from this lonely slumber I’ve been rocking in for years. In the darkness of my thoughts at night I see your smile, beckoning to me, calling to me. I wish I could stand toe to toe with you, chest to chest, heart beat against heart beat with you.

I wish that I could present myself to you, make you see me, a man that desperately needs your light.

I dream of you, your breath mingling with mine, a passionate kiss to seal my fate to pine after you to my dying breath.

My thoughts are wrecked with your beauty, chasing me to every end I try to make of this silly crush.

Your magnificence brings my thoughts to a standstill.

It’s impossible to distract my mind from you, as you float in and out of my life without even knowing.

I’m a ship in a jar, an ocean of sorrow swallowing me with nowhere for me to hide.

No end to the treacherous tides. No end to my lonely nights. No end to this budding desire filling my sails.

If only the world would make things right, and push you into my arms, if only I had the gumption to defy the rules and toss away the standards set over me.

I would take you into my arms for the world to see us, press your body into mine, press my love into you to keep.

Under lock and Key.

I marvel at every step you take, I worship the ground you walk in silence.

Let your laughter and cheer be what fills me with the tiniest bit of satisfaction.

-A pining Heart

With the click of a few buttons I sent the draft to him. Without even a single hesitation or request for change, he sent me the payment. I wasn’t going to argue. There were a lot worse customers to deal with out there, some were never pleased with anything provided. Those were the sorts of people I wish would just do their own work. I couldn’t complain though, as a freelancer I found work hiding under every upturned rock.

The next morning was another rush to get myself and the baby out the door in a timely fashion. A shoe was missing, a dog was barking, a husband couldn’t find his keys. A fleeting kiss before we both parted ways in the parking lot outside our apartment building. I clung to my daughter as she twisted in my arms and clapped her hands with joy as her father went hurriedly to his car. The disappointment on her face when he didn’t return that joyful little cry was heart wrenching, but we all had somewhere to be.

My desk wasn’t very cluttered and I powered my way through a few more editing requests made by my manager, leaving the morning filled with more room for request. With a smile I waved in the boss’s direction as I crossed the room to the elevator. I didn’t want to have to wait for the next time it came around. He was passing a few files to his secretary, his face was hidden behind the upper closed blinds of his office window. They were laughing. It wasn’t often I saw him with a smile on his face.

Just as the elevator door began to close I watched the secretary leave his office, one sashaying step after another, her skirt whipping around her thighs and her heels clacking on the floor as she moved. She was annoyingly girly, the kind of girly that you feared rubbing off on you. I snapped my arm out as I watched her lay a folded piece of paper in front of my computer screen.

Someone behind me groaned, but I leap out and crossed to my desk after the secretary disappeared around a cubicle in the back. Nothing was ever given to me without a cute labeled little file, colored tabs, and layers of research done by other departments. I fingered the paper in my hand, my heart leaping through my chest, pounding against my rib cage, threatening me with a squall of absolute shock and hilarity as I pulled one fold over the other to see the contents.

I wasn’t sure if this was a time to go to HR or just truly enjoy the real compliment this was. Obviously he was oblivious. He didn’t know I was married, he didn’t know my name. The GingerBoss666 didn’t include it in the request. This just gave me something new to shake my head at and something new to write about.

My shining Diamond

I would recommend to anyone reading this, make sure that if you are going to pursue a professional interest you follow the rules below for semi-best results.

1. Don't date someone you work with.

2. If you're going to break rule #1, at least know a little bit about them as a friend and co-worker before you start making the moves.

3. Keep it professional at work. Always. None of your co-workers will want the constant drag or drama of an office romance.

4. If it has to end, make it a cordial ending that everyone in the office can live around.

5. Don't [no matter how tempting rules 2-4 are] date someone you work with.