Working with his wife was never really a thought that crossed his mind--not under normal conditions anyway. But these weren't normal conditions. Rising gas prices, additional needs from the kids - it seemed everything was getting more expensive while salaries remained the same year after year. Getting ahead was always difficult, but it seemed it was nearly impossible to even keep up anymore.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures," is what they say, right? Ken had even tried working two jobs, but exhaustion set in and he wound up being let go from the second job - a new experience for such a dedicated worker. By day, a successful software developer, by night a pizza delivery boy. Or so he was. At least the day job was going well.
And that very job led to the next open door. His boss's executive assistant was moving out of state after graduating college. Though Melissa was an attractive 22 year old, Ken's boss was a perfect gentleman around her and never seemed to fall prey to her sometimes "unprofessional" attire. There were plenty of other men in the office sad to see her leave.
But for Ken this brought a great opportunity. When the position officially opened for a new executive assistant, Ken discussed the possibility with his wife. Chloe's parents were in town and were willing to watch the kids for next to nothing, so daycare wasn't a huge problem. Chloe applied for the position, a perfect use of her Business Administration degree, and she was excited about the possibility of using her education to help the family through these tough times.
Ken's boss had a great deal of respect for Ken as an employee, so Chloe easily won the job. Before starting her first day, however, Ken's boss brought them both into the office and reiterated the company's nepotism policy. Though this situation was not forbidden, it was certainly dangerous and everyone in the room realized that. Ken and Chloe both committed to keeping things strictly professional and with that, they both left for the weekend, prepared to come to work together on Monday as husband and wife, developer and executive assistant.
The arrangement worked surprisingly well for the first several months. Chloe had no trouble adjusting to the professional life, though a few of the blouses she wore brought an eyebrow-raise from some of Ken's coworkers. As soon as Ken entered the room, however, everyone immediately returned to work. Everyone knew Ken and Chloe had a great relationship and there was no use even thinking of making a move at the new assistant. And if rumors were true, Ken was a black belt and very much into guns.
Ken and Chloe were able to keep things at a professional level while in the office. Occasionally they would wind up enjoying a lunch date without anyone else, but they tried to avoid any thoughts of nepotism by involving the rest of the team as much as possible.
One particular summer week in July brought a great deal of tension to the office. Three projects were all coming due and two of them were painfully behind. Ken and his team needed to put in some serious after-hours time to get the ship righted, and some tempers were wearing thin. Chloe stuck around to try to help wherever possible. She'd made several pizza runs, kept the soft drinks flowing (if Red Bull can be called a soft drink), and made sure necessary meetings were happening. The warm weather was taking its toll on everyone and the stressful projects weren't helping.
All three projects were due that Friday. The entire team worked through the night Wednesday and by Thursday night, everything was ready to ship. The projects came back from testing clean, and Ken's team was done. A small cheer from the team was all the celebration the team could muster up, being 11:30 at night after working almost 24 hours straight for the second time that week.
Ken's boss caught word of the success and called to let Ken know that he could give his team Friday off. Ken would need to come in to wrap up the details Friday morning, but hopefully that wouldn't take too much time. The team slowly exited the office, Ken and Chloe being the last out the door.
Chloe let out a big sigh as she unbuttoned the top button of her shirt. The A/C appraently shut off at 10:00 each night and it was getting a bit stuffy. "I don't know how you pull this stuff together, Ken. I'm sure proud of you and your team." She gathered her purse and joined her husband waiting at the door. Ken smiled a half smile as he held the door open in front of her. He chuckled a bit as she walked past, unable to resist watching her hips sway on the way out. Ken had always thought she had an amazing butt, and kids hadn't ruined it at all.
"I don't know about the other guys, but I get my inspiration staring at my boss's assistant all day!" He grabbed her arm and pulled her back to give her a long kiss and the couple walked into the warm night hand in hand. If they hadn't been so exhausted, he may have abandoned those nepotism rules for an hour and had some fun in the conference room.
Chloe chuckled a bit as well, but was happy at the idea of having her husband back after the last couple weeks. "Tell you what. Since you have to come in tomorrow morning, maybe I'll join you to make sure you get coffee and something to... eat." The way "eat" rolled slowly off her tongue excited Ken, but he was too tired to really think about it that night.
The next morning came way too quickly. When the alarm finally quit screaming, the clock read 5:31. Ken rolled over to find Chloe already out of bed. He heard the hair dryer in the bathroom and rolled his eyes. Why had he married a morning person? Ken rolled out of bed, grabbed his clothes and headed for the shower. He gave Chloe a good morning kiss on his way into the bathroom; she was already on her way to get the kids going before her parents arrived.
By the time Ken and Chloe reached the office, it was already 8:30. Under normal circumstances, this would have been unusually late. Today there certainly was no problem. Ken's boss had left him an email explaining that he'd be out all day on a golf outing, and congratulated him again on getting all three projects out on time. "So, Chloe, I guess it's just you and me here today!"