Member-only story
Sometimes it seems that I attract a certain ilk of people toward me. We all telegraph messages — both overtly and unconsciously — to the world and some people not only have the capacity to receive those messages, but are drawn toward them.
When I hired Ms. Gale, I was not consciously aware of anything special about her. She had just graduated from college, was in need of some sort of job — anything really — and she pranced into my office, no appointment, after hearing from a friend that I might be a good employer.
She was my first employee. I always strived to have a purely professional relationship with her. But she was looking for more than a boss. She wanted meaning, a mentor, a man. Don’t get me wrong, when I met her, she was dating someone. And she has since begun dating and broken up with a half-dozen guys. But they all were about half my age and she always turned to me for both life advice and love advice. Early on I told her, “You know, age doesn’t necessarily lead to wisdom.” She said, “Only a wise person would say that.”
She appeals to my vanity and that’s dangerous.
Perhaps because I have remained distant and also because I’ve always been kind, she is loyal to a tee.
And so, recently, with the onset of work-from-home orders, she has insisted on coming into the office to do the necessary…