This is an entry in the
Valentine's Day Story Contest 2024
. I would greatly appreciate it if you would kindly vote.
It started innocently enough. Just a little Valentine card on my desk one morning when I arrived at work. Remember when you were in grade school and the class would distribute those little Valentines cards to each other? Usually you decorated a little box as part of an art project to hold your cards. Your mother took you to the store to buy packets of 20 or so little cards (or just bought them for you).
It was one of those cards. The card, unsigned, was in a little white envelope with my name typed on it and sealed. 'Be my Valentine' it said with a little Cupid image. The actual day was over a week away so it struck me even more odd that the missive should be on my desk. I slipped the envelope in my desk and got on with my day.
It was more than a little curious because this wasn't grade school, not any school, in fact. I was the boss of an operations group of about 70 people that served as the 'back room' for a medium sized regional bank. Our location included a number of IT folks as well. I had been with the bank for over 10 years.
Two days later one of the people who reported to me stopped in. Amelia was a bright young woman who I hired a few years back out of college. She progressed quickly and now was one of the managers.
"Hey boss, got a minute?" she asked after knocking on my open door. She had her upbeat, happy face on so I knew this wasn't a problem she was coming to discuss.
"Of course."
Amelia folded her long, lithe runner's frame into one of the chairs in front of my desk. She ran track in high school and college, 800 meters and the 4 x 400 relay according to her resume. I can only imagine what her long legs must have looked like as she came down the home stretch. I'll bet her long, brown hair was tied in ponytail swinging and flying behind her.
"What's up?" I asked.
"Well, it's February and everyone's got a case of the midwinter blahs." Not surprising since we lived in the northern part of the country and it was cold and grey, snow was on the ground and the sun, if there was any, set early. "So a couple of my folks were talking about a party to break up the dullness and the idea they've asked me to pitch to you is a Valentine's Day costume party."
I laughed. "Kinda mixing holidays a bit here, aren't they?"
Amelia's soft brown eyes crinkled as she smiled. "Yes, but that's what they want. The assumption is that a straight Valentine's party wouldn't be a big enough draw and we didn't have our usual Halloween costume party this year."
'Fair enough. And you're involving me in this because...?"
"Two reasons. First, they want to have it here, in the building. They want to use the office and the lobby and they want to serve booze." I could see the nervousness in her face since she was well aware the company wouldn't want booze served at an event on the premises. "Second, they want you to judge the costume contest."
"Oh brother," I commented, shaking my head and dropping it into my palm. "You know I'm not big on attending parties. I make an appearance and then slip away. People have more fun when I'm not around."
"I know," she smiled. She really was an attractive woman, especially when she smiled, though a bit young for me.
"Let me think about it."
"Sure thing, Rick. Thanks." She stood and headed back to her office.
The next day I was in my office when my administrative assistant, Amanda, came in. I had hired her two years ago and she was the best partner I'd ever had. I say partner because she really was that. She could handle just about anything that came to me. She anticipated things that were important to my performing my job effectively.
She also happened to be intelligent, witty and attractive. Following the general tenor of the office, ours was a casual relationship. Most everyone called everyone else by their first names, though a few new hires, intimidated by the Senior Vice President title behind my name, called me Mr. Larkin despite my telling them to call me Rick. Within a few weeks they usually caught on.
Amanda flopped into the chair across from my desk and I watched her blonde hair bounce and fall about her shoulders.
"So," she began, "I've been enlisted by the horde to sound you out about the party."
I grinned back at her. "Making you the, potentially, sacrificial lamb once again, huh?"
"That's about the size of it."
"What do you think?" I asked, honestly seeking her opinion. She had a good head on her shoulders and a very good finger on the pulse of the place.
"I think morale is a little low right now and everyone could use a pick me up."
I considered her thought. "Happy workers make better workers, right? I'm just concerned about the alcohol aspect of things. And we'd need to get the building management's permission to use the lobby."
"True," she mused, her blue eyes drifting off toward the window. "We could always tell them that they would need to hire a caterer for the alcohol. That would put some control on that aspect."
Once again Amanda had come up with a good idea. "And having to pay on a drink by drink basis would slow down consumption, too. Tell the organizers behind this thing that we need clearance to use the lobby and they need to hire a licensed alcohol caterer. Let's see what reaction that gets."
Later that afternoon Amanda stuck her head in my door. "Erin Cataldo is here to see you."
Erin Cataldo was a bubbly red head who was the on site manager for the company that owned the building. That company owned six of the fourteen buildings in this office park (they had been the developer as well) and served as the management company for an additional three. Erin was the head of the management team for the nine buildings and her office was located across the lobby from our space.
Erin was another woman that was of a similar height as Amanda and Amelia. She, too, had that fluid grace about her when she moved. I'll frankly admit that I had a bit of a thing for Erin but like Amelia, I worked too closely with her to consider any sort of relationship beyond professional with her.
After the usual pleasantries Erin got into the reason for her visit. As I expected she was here to talk about the proposed party and the use of the lobby space. "We have no problem with the space being used as long as all the necessary forms and waivers are signed keeping Brightside Management immune from any liability."
She promised to get the paperwork to the organizers, with a copy to me by tomorrow morning. She also asked if she could come. I told her it wasn't up to me, that she'd have to ask the organizers, but I had no problem with her attending. After a little bit of flirting Erin went on her way.
Monday morning I arrived in my office to find another little envelope containing another little Valentine's Day card on my desk. Once again it was sealed and unsigned. This card said 'Be Mine' and had a cartoon kitten holding a red heart. I dropped that in my drawer and started my day.
When Amanda came in to drop off some interoffice mail I asked her. "Did you see anyone in my office this morning?"
"Nope. Why?"
"Oh, just curious," I replied trying to fluff it off.
In response I got an "Oookayyy," and a curious look from Amanda.
That afternoon Amelia dropped in with Suzanne, another manager. Suzanne was about my age, had dark brunette hair cut rather short and a dazzling smile. She had never hidden her attraction to me. She had been with the bank before I joined and I guess thought she might have first crack at the new, single guy. I made it clear that ours was to be a work relationship only and she toned down her attention, though she never really dropped it completely.
Now a brief side bar here. I'm not trying to make myself out to be some handsome hunk who attracts women by the bushel full. I think that it's more a case of working in an environment where 65% or more of the group are female, where I'm known to be single and where I'm the boss (with whatever power that might connote). I suspect all of these factors gave me a high potential on the 'datability' scale.
I am in reasonable shape, above average height and not repulsive to look at so I guess some women might be attracted to me based on looks. I dated plenty of women (not bank employees) during my tenure at the bank but never got serious with one. I served as an available 'booty call' for a couple of women (and they for me) but we certainly weren't any more than that. In fact, one had just recently become engaged and was now out of the game.
Suzanne, apparently, was one of the originators of the party idea. She and Amelia reported that they had selected a caterer and had secured permission from Erin to use the lobby. The two wanted to get my approval to have the party this Friday night. With everything in place I told them to go ahead.
"And you'll judge the costume contest, right?" Suzanne confirmed.
Reluctantly I said yes. They both left happy and Suzanne, true to form, said, "You'll be a great judge," and winked at me on her way out.
The next day another unsigned card. This one had a bunny on it with hearts floating around its head and 'You're Sweet' on it. Now it was getting a little curious.
Each morning that week another card appeared on my desk. They had typical sayings like 'True Love', 'Together 4 Eva' and other corny sayings. Always unsigned with a typed envelope. I really began to wonder who was behind this little mystery.
Of course Suzanne came to mind first but Amelia, Amanda and Erin all were possibilities. I also wondered if Jamie from the IT team might be behind this. Of course, it could be someone I hadn't considered. It could also be just a prank that someone was pulling.
On Friday there was a pink envelope with a full size card in it. 'Please be my Valentine' it read on the front. Inside was a short verse saying that this was the perfect time to reveal the sender's true feelings for the recipient. The words painted a picture of someone who had held a torch for the recipient and was finally ready to take the difficult step of making their feelings known.
There was a single question mark for a signature.