Me and Isobel did not message again that weekend following our WhatsApp exchange that Friday night. I had been tempted to message a bunch of times but enjoyed the idea that she had received what she wanted and that she would let me know when I would next have the privilege of being useful to her.
A combination of the clear enjoyment she took from our budding dynamic and a comfort I had formed around Isobel over the last few weeks meant that I did not feel anxious about Monday. I looked forward to seeing her, whilst still feeling the need to be professional I resolved to have some fun with things.
Isobel had mentioned how much she had enjoyed a seasonal Christmas ad which featured an adorable cartoon dragon. I remembered seeing a limited edition chocolate bar in the shape of the character when I visited the supermarket chain the week before.
That Monday morning I woke up extremely early and headed straight to the store to buy one. Rushing in I was determined to arrive at the office before Isobel. When she arrived that morning I offered her a broad smile as her eyes noticed the awaiting chocolate and tea on her desk.
Isobel simply shook her head with a light chuckle and said "how cute" when inspecting the chocolate bar. I was not sure if she was referring to the miniature sugar filled dragon or my rather clumsy attempt at showing my need to please her.
We continued at this pace for the next month. I'd show up early, her tea would be waiting for her and occasionally a sweet treat. I didn't raise our previous interaction, I had wanted to but assumed if she felt the need to discuss it she would. We continued to bond, she informed me of a podcast she enjoyed and I listened to 4 episodes that evening so that we would have another shared interest.
I remember thinking that overall I'd overreacted with my panic. I had shown my subtle and even not so subtle signs of my adoration on multiple occasions and things were working out great. That was until that Thursday in mid December.
One of the tasks initially given to Isobel as part of her role was to upload a daily report to our database. Unfortunately I was called into a meeting with my boss's boss where he highlighted the fact that a high number of days reports had been missed. I felt my heart sink and instantly scrambled to take the blame myself. I rambled on for a while until Mike cut through me and said the words I dreaded to hear "There are no two ways about it, you will need to give her a warning and report back to me why it wasn't done."