“Company Party to Celebrate the Eaton Account”
There it was. The company was celebrating the fact that it had achieved the coveted Eaton Account. Everyone, however, knew that it would not have been possible if not for the work of Jack and Carina. These were the two “star” engineers who had worked so hard on the project.
The irony of this is that although Jack and Carina worked so diligently on this project, they barely knew each other. Jack worked on the east side of the building and Carina mostly worked remotely from home. They knew of each other, but they did not know each other well at all.
In the past, in other company parties, Jack had met Carina, but that was as far as things had ever come between them.
Now, on this occasion, the company was celebrating the two who made the Eaton Contract possible. As fate so often does to us, Jack and Carina were being thrust together as leaves that fly together on a windy fall day.
The party called for people to wear things which might be close to what others were wearing. Unknown to Jack, Carina chose to wear red – and Jack chose the same thing! Therefore, on the night of the party, when couples were being asked to dance together based on their colors similarity, Jack saw that Mary, who was dressed in green was asked to dance with Duncan because of his green tie. Julia in purple was asked to dance with Mario because of Mario’s purple socks!
Finally, the announcer called out “our stars in red!” Jack and Corina knew, of course, that it was their turn to dance. Jack walked across the room and asked for Corina’s hand and gently guided her to the dance floor. As they embraced for the first time he thought “I love her perfume” and “She feels so frail in my arms.”
People would later remark that “those two really had tremendous chemistry” when Jack and Corina were on the dance floor. They flowed effortlessly as they danced; they seemed to move as one – as if they had been dancing together for years!
When the dance was over, Jack asked Corina if she wished for a drink, and she agreed. Over champagne, they slowly started to get to know each other better. They were surprised to know that they both had chosen engineering as a second choice of profession. Carina had wanted to be a doctor but did not like the sight of blood. Jack had wanted to be an musician, but his parents gently convinced him of the financial uncertainty of a life as musician and so he chose engineering.
As the conversation continued, they felt an increasing sense of comfort with each other. A chemistry that only two people feel when it is developing, was taking gentle root in their hearts.
As days passed since the company party, Jack and Corina now made a point of seeing each other in the halls more often. Carina found more and more reasons to come to work in the office and not to work remotely from home whereas Jack now found more reasons to work on the west side of the building more often.
Little by little, the small flame that was lit on the evening of the company party, slowly grew to warm both of their hearts.
Although Jack had dated a bit before meeting Corina, after meeting her, he felt no desire to seek other partners. Whereas he once used to go to the website FindAMateForFree.com (or FAMFF.COM as his friends call it) to dabble in possibly meeting someone, he found himself less and less inclined to go to that dating site or to any other. The attractiveness of FAMFF.COM – the fact that it is totally free and that one is able to video conference with people who you meet on there – became less and less of an attraction for Jack after he met Corina.
Corina, on the other hand, found herself thinking more and more about Jack. She thought of how his eyes gleamed when he spoke of his future plans. She felt very attracted to the way that he showed leadership and direction in his decision making. She liked these things in him. She had never been to a dating site, but now the thought of going to one could not be further from her mind.
One day, over lunch at the company cafeteria, Jack asked Corina if she felt the way he felt. Although she well understood what he meant, wishing to be certain, she coyly asked “In what way, Jack?”
Her answer came in the form of Jack leaning over and gently kissing her lips. Corina felt a sense of electricity run through her. It was as if fireworks and warmth combined to make her forget that they were sitting in the cafeteria of the company.
From that day onward, they were a couple. Like a beautiful flower that had now bloomed, their love grew and made their lives happier with every passing day.
One day, as Jack and Corina were leaving the building, there it was. An announcement of a company party.
“Company party to celebrate the Whisker Account.”
As they stood by the elevators looking at the company party announcement, they could not help but look at each other and think that that is how their love started. They wondered which employees might start on their romantic journey at this company party.