Office Mates

Work Best Friend

Marian walks into her office on Monday. Robin is already there and has his headphones on. Marian wants to ask him how the night ended with Aurora, but she knows that Robin hates interruptions of his work. Marian begins to get logged into her computer when Kris walks in. Kris walks past Robin completely and walks right up to Marian's desk.  Kris asks, "Marian, how was your weekend?" Marian, "I spent the whole weekend with Theo. He wanted me to play ultimate frisbee with him but I was able to convince him that I was still hungover from Friday night."

Kris gives her friend a look. Marian isn't quite sure what to make of the look on Kris's face. Kris, "we are lucky that Robin has his headphones on. I wanted to talk to you about Theo. And what he said on Friday night." Marian laughs, "does it bother you that Robin has his headphones on?" Marian starts pointing at Robin who is still there working without any clue that the two are talking about him. Kris shrugs, "He never pays attention to me. If it doesn't bother you, it doesn't bother me." Marian asks Kris, "who wants a needy employee anyway." Kris starts to smile at Marian. Kris asks, "does that make YOU the needy employee?" Marian gives Kris a shocked look when she says this, "No way, I am the friend employee." 

That's right, Kris came in to talk about something else. She gets herself back to the original reason why she is visiting Marian's office. Kris, "I came in to tell you that Theo keeps telling people that he is your boyfriend." Marian's look changes from fun to frustration in two seconds flat. Marian gives a big bleh and starts rubbing her head with her hand. This is a problem that keeps coming back. Kris continues. "He is just so in love with you!" Marian gasps as her friend says this. "Don't say that. He might hear you saying that he loves me and say it himself to my face." At this Marian puts her head down on her desk and lets out a groan. 

Kris reaches out and puts her hand on Marians head. She lifts it up and looks Marian directly in the face. She is about to give her friend some honest advice. "If you don't want Theo to be your boyfriend, what are you doing with him?" Marian, "he makes me feel less alone." Kris continues, "You should not be with someone just to make yourself feel less lonely. That is selfish of you, friend." Marian starts to look a bit down on herself. Marian explains, "I know, but he is really good friends with my roommate so I would see him even if I tried ending things with him." Kris smiles a little, "this is exactly why I will NEVER date someone from work. To avoid staying with them just to keep the peace." 

Marian looks at the ground for a minute and Kris is staying silent as well. Marian needs to figure out what she wants from this relationship. Marian, "I really should have ignored his advances. It all just happened." Kris isn't letting Marian off the hook. "Just happened? You didn't just trip and fall into this relationship. You chose this. In the end, do you want to be with Theo? Really?" Marian looks at Kris and starts justifying her relationship with Theo. "Maybe I could convince myself. He makes me breakfast every day before I leave for work. He gets me from work even though it's far from his work. And, his family. Have I told you how amazing they are?" Kris cuts in, "yes, but you aren't dating his family, you are dating him." Marian stops her list and without thinking says, 'I know."

Kris pauses and looks at her friend. She caught her. "You know? I said you were dating Theo and you just agreed. I think you are sending ME mixed messages, I can't imagine what it's like for poor Theo." Marian points at her friend angrily. "no, you just tricked me!" Then she sighs and gives in again. "Maybe I could grow to like him more." Marian starts to fold her arms. She has found herself in a situationship.  As half of the situation, you'd think Theo would at least get it.

Robin finally looks up from his computer and catches sight of Kris. He takes of his headphones are asks Kris, "When did you get here?" Kris looks at Robin who is making eye contact with her for the first time today. Even though she has been in his office for a while. Kris looks at the time "I have been in here for 15 minutes." Robin asks her, "oh, did you have a new assignment for me?" It was Monday when most of the engineers got new assignments. Kris switches to boss mode without missing a beat. "I sent you a file, go ahead and open it up so I can explain exactly what we need." 

Kris leaves Marian's domain and walks into Robin's. Despite the fact that Robin's desk is perfectly spotless and Marians is covered in papers, Kris never feels fully comfortable in Robin's space. She always feels like she is imposing on Robin when she stands by his desk. But feels rights at home with Marian's mess. Strange. Marian speaks as Kris waits for Robin to load up his new assignment. "I didn't realize you came to talk about work," she says with a smile." Robin looks at the two of them and wonders what they could possibly have been talking about for 15 minutes if it wasn't work.

Kris says to Marian, "You need a talk with Theo, Stat." Marian looks back at Kris and gives her a nod. And if Marian agrees to something for her best friend, she will do it. She smiles as she jokes with Kris, "Go get back to work and help Robin. I don't want my boss to yell at me for getting distracted at work." Kris picks up her teasing and replies quickly, "I hear your boss is a villain." Marian, "The WORST." The last thing Marian says with all the emphasis she can and then gives Kris a look. Kris plays into and acts  upset all the sudden, "I am going to have to right you up for that one." Kris then pretends to write something down on an invisible notepad. 

Kris and Marian have been friends since the day Marian got hired. Marian was one of Kris's first hires as a new supervisor. Kris was tired of working with a crew of men. She wanted a female engineer. It helped that Marian was smart, clever, and had a great resume. It didn't seem like they were hiring her because she was a female, but it was definitely a factor for Kris. But Jayce had the final say and he agreed with Kris and Marian joined Blahco.

The first few weeks were hard for Kris and Marian. Kris is someone who tells it like it is. She isn't afraid to call someone out for doing something the wrong way. But it's never from a point of ridicule, it's always discussed as a starting point for getting better. On the other had, Marian was friendly and got to know everyone. Unlike Kris, who was a bit of an acquired taste for most of her coworkers. But, Kris invited Marian to the Women In Engineering (WIE)  conference that year and they instantly became best friends. Marian appreciates someone who can call her on her bullshit. Because Marian knows she has a ton of bullshit. And Kris likes having a friend who helps get her mind of how stressed the job can make her. Marian can always make Kris laugh. Now, the two find each other multiple times during the day just because it makes their job better. Even when it's just for a minute.

Robin watches all this play out with confusion. He thought Marian and Kris were friends. He doesn't get female relationships sometimes.  He pulls up the new assignment on his computer and Kris finally looks away and turns back into a normal boss.