He hired her hoping she would date him in return

So it came as a surprise when during my lunch break I passed by his workplace and found that he had hired that woman two days ago. FILE PHOTO

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  • But he quickly assured her that it will not be a problem, and true to his word, he has never asked her out again. Now he laughs at the irony of the whole thing, and muses about nature’s twisted sense of humour. “She is not even a good employee, I should fire her. Maybe I will, maybe I will not. I need to get a girlfriend and move on. Then maybe I will fire her. Or maybe not...’

For lack of a better approach, he decided to hire her. He had probably assessed every possibility and come to the conclusion that unless he found a way to keep her nearby, he did not stand a chance. And this is the same person who used to say, “I despise people who hire women just so they can get them into bed. What kind of low life does that?”

Sam runs a small printing business, and I must say he has done well for himself. Among all his friends, he is the only one who always has some extra money while the rest of us are running on fumes till the month ends.

His principle is to separate business from personal life; his business is strictly off-limits to his family and friends. He can never hire a friend or even a family member, because he knows he will lose objectivity.
So it came as a surprise when during my lunch break I passed by his workplace and found that he had hired that woman two days ago. This was out of character for Sam, I just could not wait to hear the story behind it.

Without even asking, he told me, “I hired Martha. She does not know much but I am hoping she will learn quickly. So anyway, what’s up? How are you doing?” And just like that, he tried to bury the matter. But I was not to be confused. “What on earth made you hire her? Isn’t it one of your unbreakable principles never to mix business and personal life?” I asked. He looked at me long and hard and said, “man, I had no way out.

I have never met a girl that makes such a big impression on me. I swear, I could not let her out of my sight. I would rather lose the business.” That last bit shocked me; Sam really values his business, so talking about it like this meant she had really done a number on him. I just laughed, and welcomed him to the club of men who have been made to do things they swore they would never do, by a woman, without her even asking.

Well, Sam had met Martha the previous Friday at a friend’s party. It was the first time he had met her, they did not even talk that much since it was a big group and from what I remember she had to leave early. But somehow, in all that mix, he managed to offer her a job. I think mostly he was grasping at straws; he was a man who has fallen in love with a woman, and on realising that she was going to walk out of his life, he offered her the one thing he treasured most; his business.

It was a lucky shot in the dark, and it managed to achieve his primary objective; to keep her nearby as he figures out what to do. So I asked him, “Now what are you going to do? How are you going to ask her out now that she is your employee?” “I do not know. I will figure that out later.” He says.

It took him three weeks to gather the courage to ask her out on a date; and she flatly turned him down and even said she was ready to resign if this was going to become a problem.

But he quickly assured her that it will not be a problem, and true to his word, he has never asked her out again. Now he laughs at the irony of the whole thing, and muses about nature’s twisted sense of humour. “She is not even a good employee, I should fire her. Maybe I will, maybe I will not. I need to get a girlfriend and move on. Then maybe I will fire her. Or maybe not...’