The Rough Things Happening During Office Romance

When Ikenna and Uloma met at their workplace about a decade ago, they never knew they would end up as husband and wife. As fate would have it, they soon fell in love with each other and began dating. They were soon confronted with a big challenge; their office frowned on open amorous relationship between members of staff. Yet, their love blossomed everyday and at a point, they agreed to take it further by promising each other marriage. Knowing the company’s policy on two members of staff getting married, Ikenna made sure Uloma secured a job before they got married. Shortly before their marriage, Uloma resigned. The same cannot be said of Biola and Amiola who are software application developers for an Information and Communication Technology firm. Both are brilliant and were the pride of their company. Some software they developed helped their company become a leading force in the ICT world and it helped their stock rise in the capital market. Things were beautiful for them until they both became an item. Their relationship blossomed and was leading to marriage until they realised they both had...The same genotype, AS. Knowing this would most likely spell doom for them in future as they could have children with sickle cell anaemia, they had to part ways. Their break-up affected them seriously because they were genuinely in love and it reflected on their work. From being one of the most brilliant minds in the company, they became another number in the company. Because of the fallouts of their breakup, a policy was made against two members of staff engaging in serious relationship. Kelvin and Isioma who met at work six years ago got married about three months ago to the astonishment of their colleagues who had no idea that they were dating. Both were at one time or the other employees of the year and were favourites of virtually everybody at work. Although their company frowned on relationships within the office, because of their dedication to work, it took it upon itself to sponsor their wedding. Adesoye Joshua, an executive at the Lua Concept Interior Design, believes that an amorous relationship among co-workers reduces the productive output of an organisation. He told Saturday Breeze that he cannot subscribe to such relationships. “When people are in a relationship, they tend to talk a lot and spend so much time on idle chats at the expense of the company. Especially during the early stage of their relationship, they would want to be together all the time,” he said. The interior decorator said that his company was indifferent to the issue. He told Saturday Breeze that an action by one or both parties could affect the business of the office negatively. Joshua said, “If either of the spouses is a jealous one, it could spell trouble for the company they work for. A jealous mind cannot work efficiently. Also there is the break-up aspect. It is not all relationships that work out as planned. If they break up, there could be a serious breakdown of productivity from the heartbroken depending on how emotional the person is. A young lady, Nike Adeniji who worked with an advertising company narrated to Saturday Breeze how she got her fingers burnt because of an office dalliance she got involved in. As someone who cherishes respect, she lamented that she got the exact opposite when she went into a relationship with a fellow worker. Adeniji said,“I got engaged in an office romance some years back at the advertising firm I worked for. Before, I was indifferent to it because I know some people who met at work and later got married. When the guy approached me, I was reluctant but l later accepted his advances after several rejections. At first, we were very close friends at work till I agreed to be his girlfriend. He was so polite and was always there for me especially when my father died. I think it was one of the reasons I agreed to his advances after seeing how caring he was. But several months into the relationship, I noticed that he began to act differently. “Even when I invited him out on weekends, he would tell me that we would always see in the office. This was a guy that would be disturbing me from Wednesday for us to hang out on weekends. He also became disrespectful towards me especially in the office regardless of who was around. When I could not take it anymore, I decided to call it quits. He later came back begging but by then, it was too late. I have promised myself I would not be romantically involved with any co-worker anymore; there are other men outside the office space.” The reputation of a lady simply identified as Belinda who used to work for a leading insurance company in Lagos took a dip due to an office romance she got involved in. She was involved in a messy affair between two men. An employee of the firm told Saturday Breeze that Belinda was having an affair with two men in the company; the Managing Director of the firm and another fellow worker, Franklin.