This, That, and the Other

I am unofficially participating in this year’s A to Z Challenge. My theme this year is girlfriends.

L is for Linda M.

As I was thinking about what to say about Linda, I realized it sounds a lot like a sleazy soap opera.

Linda worked for me as a section supervisor when I managed a group of about 50 customer service representatives, most of whom were young women. I was single and about 27 at the time. Linda was an absolutely stunning Italian girl around my age with a body like Sophia Lauren’s and huge, beautiful blue eyes that you could get lost in. She was also married.

One day Linda walked into my office, shut the door behind her, and took a seat on the other side of my desk. She looked directly at me with those big baby blues and asked, “How do you feel about having an affair with a married woman?”

Here’s where things got complicated. I was, in fact, having an affair with a married woman at the time and that married woman just happened to be Linda’s older sister who worked at the same company but in a different department. Shit, I thought. Had Linda’s sister blabbed to Linda about her affair with me?

I took a deep breath, tried to smile, and said, “That depends upon whether you’re accusing me or inviting me.”

Linda leaned in toward me and whispered, “I’m inviting you.”

I took another deep breath, told her that she was a gorgeous woman, and had our circumstances been different, I would have accepted her invitation without hesitation. But, given that she worked directly for me, I had a strict policy of not having any kind of relationship like that with those who were in my department. She said she understood, thanked me, and left my office.

Postscript one: The reason this happened was because Linda had just found out that her husband was having an affair with her best friend and Linda was looking to me for some revenge sex.

Postscript two: After Linda left my office, I picked up the phone, called Linda’s sister, and ended my affair with her.

Postscript three: About a year later I was promoted to a new position and Linda no longer worked for me. By that time she was divorced and I reached out to her. And we, well, reconnected.

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