To be honest, I was never the romantic type. It had always been that way. Ever since my teenage years, I never understood why everyone was so obsessed with romantic comedies.<\/p>\n
The grand gestures, the dramatic confessions, the over-the-top happy endings\u2014it all felt staged, unrealistic.<\/p>\n
Love didn\u2019t work like that in real life. At least, that\u2019s what I believed. Yet, someone decided to prove me wrong.<\/p>\n
One day, I arrived at work, juggling my coffee and bag, only to freeze at my desk.
\nA massive bouquet of flowers sat there, bright and overwhelming. A note was attached.<\/p>\n
My heart pounded as I unfolded it, hoping for a name. But all it said was, “Your smile brightens my days.”<\/p>\n
“Did anyone see who brought this bouquet?” I asked, holding up the note.<\/p>\n
Robert looked up from his computer. “No. I was the first one here. It was already on your desk when I arrived.” His usual warm smile made me trust him.<\/p>\n
Robert was my favorite coworker. He was kind, thoughtful, and always had my back.<\/p>\n
“Wow,” Brian said from across the room. “Someone actually noticed you exist.”<\/p>\n
I rolled my eyes. Brian was my least favorite coworker. Brian never missed a chance to annoy me.<\/p>\n
Since my first day at the office, he had made it his mission to get on my nerves.<\/p>\n
“Do you have to be like that?” Robert asked, shaking his head. “Jealous the bouquet isn\u2019t for you?”<\/p>\n
Brian smirked. “Oh, look at our knight in shining armor.” He walked off before I could reply.<\/p>\n
“Thanks,” I said to Robert.<\/p>\n
“Always happy to help,” he said, winking.<\/p>\n
I smiled, pushed the flowers aside, and turned on my computer. Work had to come first.<\/p>\n
The thing was, Robert, Brian, and I were each working on a project for the company, but only one of us would receive funding.<\/p>\n
Winning meant recognition, respect, and career growth. Losing meant months of effort wasted. I figured that was why Brian had been even more unbearable lately.<\/p>\n
He thrived on competition and loved getting under my skin. This was a battle, and in battles, anything was fair game.<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t let him\u2014or even Robert\u2014win. I was one of the only women in the company, and I had worked hard to get here.<\/p>\n
If my project got funded, it would prove I belonged, that I was just as good\u2014no, better\u2014than the men.<\/p>\n
But then, there were the gifts. The gifts from my secret admirer didn\u2019t stop\u2014they kept arriving almost daily.<\/p>\n
At first, I didn\u2019t mind. A bouquet one day, chocolates the next. Then, candy and books\u2014ones I had wanted but never mentioned aloud, at least not that I remembered.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when it stopped feeling sweet and started feeling\u2026 unsettling. I wasn\u2019t the kind of person to daydream about romance.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t swoon over mystery admirers. I analyzed, questioned, doubted. How did this person know so much about me?<\/p>\n
Someone was watching. Someone knew my habits, my preferences. I wasn\u2019t flattered. I was scared.<\/p>\n
“You must be happy to have a secret admirer,” Robert said one day, leaning back in his chair.<\/p>\n
“Honestly, it freaks me out,” I admitted.<\/p>\n
Robert raised an eyebrow. “Oh, come on. It\u2019s sweet.”<\/p>\n
I shook my head. “Not so sure about that.”<\/p>\n
Brian, who had been eavesdropping, smirked. “Right. It\u2019s probably some psycho who\u2019s going to be waiting outside the office one day to get rid of you.”<\/p>\n
I grabbed a pencil and threw it at him. “Only a sick idiot like you would do that.”<\/p>\n
Brian dodged it easily. “Touched a nerve?”<\/p>\n
I turned back to my work, pushing away the anxious thoughts. My head was already spinning from this project.<\/p>\n
I just wanted to get it over with. The presentation wasn\u2019t until February 14th. Ironic, wasn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n
Brian wasn\u2019t done. He strolled over and glanced at my computer screen. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”<\/p>\n
I turned the monitor away from him. “Stop snooping. You probably just want to steal my idea.”<\/p>\n
“My idea is way better,” Brian said, crossing his arms.<\/p>\n
“Sure,” I said, dripping with sarcasm.<\/p>\n
Brian rolled his eyes and walked away.<\/p>\n
I sighed and reached for my paper cup, but it was empty. “I really need to buy a water bottle. I\u2019m tired of constantly running to the cooler,” I muttered to myself.<\/p>\n
The next morning, when I arrived at work, a sleek new water bottle sat on my desk.<\/p>\n
A note was attached. “So you don\u2019t have to keep running to the cooler.” I froze.<\/p>\n
What the\u2026?<\/p>\n
Someone had overheard me. Someone from this office.<\/p>\n
“Want to grab lunch together?” Robert asked, appearing beside me.<\/p>\n
“Yeah, sure,” I said, distracted.<\/p>\n
“Nice bottle,” he said, pointing at it.<\/p>\n
“Yeah,” I murmured, picking it up.<\/p>\n
“You don\u2019t seem too happy about it. Didn\u2019t you want one?” Robert asked, watching me closely.<\/p>\n
I nodded, but my mind kept racing. Something didn\u2019t feel right. Then, it clicked. It was Robert. Robert was my secret admirer.<\/p>\n
He sat next to me every day, close enough to hear my offhand comments. He knew my favorite things.<\/p>\n
He had always been kind, always supportive. Who else could it be? It made perfect sense.<\/p>\n
I wanted to ask him about it, to confirm my theory. But the presentation was too important.<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t let myself get distracted now. My focus had to stay on my project.<\/p>\n
On February 14th, we finally presented. The conference room was packed, tension filling the air.<\/p>\n
As the discussion began, I listened carefully. Robert\u2019s project came up first.<\/p>\n
Then Brian\u2019s. Executives asked questions, debated ideas. But no one mentioned mine. Not once.<\/p>\n
“You\u2019ve talked a lot about Robert\u2019s and my projects, but you haven\u2019t said anything about Leslie\u2019s,” Brian suddenly said, his voice steady.<\/p>\n
“You think it\u2019s worth discussing?” our boss, Paul, asked, barely glancing at my report.<\/p>\n
Ouch. That stung.<\/p>\n
Brian sat up straighter. “I think it\u2019s the most deserving of the three. It\u2019s obvious Leslie\u2019s project is the best.”<\/p>\n
I had to stop my jaw from dropping. Brian, of all people, was defending me?<\/p>\n
“I don\u2019t think so,” Robert cut in. “I still believe mine is the best, or at the very least, Brian\u2019s. Men are better architects than women.”<\/p>\n
I felt like I had been slapped. Robert, who I had thought was supportive, had said that?<\/p>\n
One of the executives finally looked at my project. He flipped through the pages, nodding slowly. “Actually, I think Brian is right. Leslie\u2019s project is the strongest.”<\/p>\n
A heated debate followed. People argued back and forth, numbers and strategies thrown around. I held my breath, waiting for the final decision.<\/p>\n
Nearly an hour later, we walked out of the conference room.<\/p>\n
I had won.<\/p>\n
My project had been chosen. Relief and pride flooded through me. I knew I had earned it.<\/p>\n
“Thanks for speaking up for me,” I told Brian as we walked down the hallway.<\/p>\n
He shrugged, hands in his pockets, then kept walking.<\/p>\n
I shook my head and turned to Robert. My excitement was quickly fading. “You were acting weird during the presentation. Especially considering how you feel about me.”<\/p>\n
Robert frowned. “What do you mean?”<\/p>\n
“I know you like me. You\u2019re my secret admirer,” I said, crossing my arms.<\/p>\n
Robert blinked. “What? Where did you get that idea?”<\/p>\n
“Everything fits. Plus, you\u2019re always nice to me,” I said.<\/p>\n
Robert sighed. “I\u2019m just polite. I have a girlfriend.”<\/p>\n
“Oh…” My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n
“Yeah. And I still think my project should have won,” he added.<\/p>\n
I shook my head. “Learn to accept defeat,” I said and walked away.<\/p>\n
If it wasn\u2019t Robert, then who was it?<\/p>\n
Now, my secret admirer scared me even more. What if he had some kind of listening device at my desk? How else did he know everything?<\/p>\n
That evening, as I left the office, unease settled in my stomach. Brian\u2019s words kept replaying in my head\u2014that one day, my admirer would be waiting outside.<\/p>\n
When I stepped out and saw a figure standing by the door, my heart stopped. I panicked and screamed.<\/p>\n
“Oh my God, Brian! You scared me!” I yelled, my pulse racing.<\/p>\n
“Sorry,” he said, shifting on his feet.<\/p>\n
“What are you doing here?” I asked, eyeing him suspiciously.<\/p>\n
“Waiting outside the office to get rid of you,” he said, his tone unreadable.<\/p>\n
“What…?” My confusion deepened.<\/p>\n
Brian sighed. “Remember when we talked about your secret admirer, and I said that one day he\u2019d be waiting for you outside?”<\/p>\n
I interrupted him. “Yeah, but what does that\u2014” I froze. My mind pieced it together. “Wait… it\u2019s you?”<\/p>\n
Brian nodded.<\/p>\n
Only then did I notice the large bouquet in his hands. Tulips. My favorite.<\/p>\n
“But why all of this?” I asked, staring at the flowers.<\/p>\n
“I figured you needed to see a different side of me. Not just the Brian who teases you,” he said, shifting awkwardly.<\/p>\n
“You could have just stopped acting like a jerk instead of scaring me half to death,” I said, narrowing my eyes.<\/p>\n
“Yeah… it didn\u2019t go exactly as I planned,” Brian admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.<\/p>\n
“So… you like me?” I asked.<\/p>\n
Brian covered his face with his hand. “I\u2019m not good at talking about this,” he muttered.<\/p>\n
“I\u2019ve noticed,” I said, smirking.<\/p>\n
“…Yeah. I do,” he finally said, avoiding eye contact.<\/p>\n
I smiled.<\/p>\n
“Well, happy Valentine\u2019s Day,” Brian said, turning to walk away.<\/p>\n
“Hey, that\u2019s it?” I called after him. “No invitation to dinner?”<\/p>\n
Brian hesitated. “You\u2019d actually want that?”<\/p>\n
I walked up to him and took his arm. “Well, I do need to get to know this other Brian,” I said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
To be honest, I was never the romantic type. It had always been that way. Ever since my teenage years, I never understood why everyone was so obsessed with romantic comedies. The grand gestures, the dramatic confessions, the over-the-top happy endings\u2014it all felt staged, unrealistic. Love didn\u2019t work like that in real life. At least, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":7505,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tales"],"yoast_head":"\n