I am Adele Christiansen, a divorcee. 26 years old and currently working for Field Press Inc., for the last three months. The very first day of work, I had to go through orientation, lead by the Human Resource Director Jessie, a striking dark haired dark complected spitfire. From the very first occasion , we had any interaction, she is a ball of energy with passion and fire in her eyes. She keeps an air of mystery and confidence. She's quick to strike with that forked tongue laced with barbs.
She read through the important parts of the employee hand book and finally delivered what she called the cardinal rule, the one thing that was a termination offense if caught.
"This company has a zero tolerance policy for fraternization among coworkers. If you are caught -- and eventually you will be -- one, or both parties will be terminated. There are no exceptions to the rule so please heed the advice and not do it. It is not worth loosing your job over," she warned, before handing over two disclosure statements. The first I had to sign said that I had reviewed the company hand book with a member of the staff and understood the rules and regulations, the second stated that I understood that if I was caught violating the 'no fraternization' policy that I would be terminated on the spot and would not be eligible for any government compensation for unemployment. I thought that was a rather harsh punishment but signed the agreement anyway, knowing that if I did not that I would not be working for the company. I really needed the job.
For the next three months, I kept my nose to the proverbial grindstone and worked hard to prove my self in the probationary period to keep the position of head of quality control. In that time I gained a few acquaintances and even two new friends. The first is a rather dashing older man Richard Nelson, in his forties, with graying temples, a smooth, light voice and the most striking green eyes I had ever seen. He was toned for an older man, and had the greatest ass on the planet. I wanted to see if it felt as good as it looked ever since I first noticed it. I really was trying not to get fired, so I held my tongue, kept my hands to myself and fought off the attraction.
The first day we met, was my first day at work not long after I was given the thirty second tour and told to read the policy for Quality Control and report to the warehouse to begin the inspections. I had forgotten where exactly the warehouse was but I knew that it was close to shipping so I followed the side of the building. Richard came from out of nowhere and taking pity on me walking me the rest of the way there. We struck up a conversation and hit it off from there.
The other new friend was one of Richard's friends as well. Christopher was nearly a decade younger than Richard, with the complete salt and pepper look, something I find most attractive, the darkest velvet chocolate voice imaginable, blue eyes that you could get lost in and the body of a teenager. He was rugged looking with 5 o'clock shadow by lunch, and the best set of hands imaginable. He was gifted with his hands. Christopher is a divorcee with no intentions of a serious relationship any time soon and Richard constantly picked at him about it. Christopher would make a great husband for someone, someday, but just needed to look around and find the right wife for him.
Richard had introduced us the second day of work when Christopher brought in the newest pallet of books to be QC'd and looked rather nervous about the pallet he had just delivered. Richard called him on it and after an explanation he began to look less hesitant. After that, he was alright in my book.
The three of us were fast friends and thick as thieves in everything both inside and outside work. I wanted so much to break the rules for either of them, but knowing the consequences were something that I could not afford, I bit my tongue and never acted on anything I felt physically for either of the men. I just had to hope that it would be enough to get me through the troubled days ahead. I just didn't know how long I could fight those feelings that had been welling up inside. I owed them my job since they had taken me under their collective wings wing and guided me to the place in my career with the company that I am today.