Julie and I had worked together for a few years in a consultancy company; in fact, I was her boss. I was really impressed with her dedication to her work, her commitment to providing high quality work to her clients, and her willingness to learn. I thought she was a real star. She was relatively young for the company, and I felt that she needed to be nurtured and allowed to develop before giving her too much responsibility.
Julie is short, skinny, with shoulder-length curly hair. I would be lying if I said I didn't find her attractive but I was pretty professional in my dealings with her, I think. Besides, I'm married to Anna, who more than keeps me satisfied, interested, intrigued. But that didn't stop me imagining being with Julie. I remember one day at work when she had come to me with a problem. It was summer, and she was wearing a short top that showed the top of her small breasts and she leaned into me in the open plan office trying to hear what I was saying. Was I speaking deliberately quietly? Was she deliberately flirting with me? I'll never know.
I left the company a couple of years after Julie started to set up my own business, and I continued to meet up with Julie to hear how things were going with the old company, and to encourage her to leave and set up on her own as well. Professionally, I was interested in the possibility of working with her with the clients I was supporting. Personally, it was always as pleasure to meet up, see her laugh and hear her bitching about work. I enjoyed her passion, her irreverence and her spirit.
What shifted our relationship, I think, was music. I play guitar; Julie plays violin. I invited her and her boyfriend to come over one Sunday evening for dinner with Anna and me, and to play some music. We played some classical music and also some folk music. For the first time, I felt a real connection. There's something incredible about making music that binds people, I think. And I felt a really strong connection.
Anna had teased me about my relationship with Julie. We have a pretty open relationship and have seen other people since we've been together. But our love has deepened over time and, while we continue to see others, we are completely committed to each other. I had always maintained that my relationship with Julie was entirely professional, but I think Anna saw before me that there was a spark. We joked about this between ourselves but I didn't see anything happening given that Julie was entirely professional herself – and she was seeing her man David.
That all changed in October last year. We invited Julie and David for another evening of music and food and wine. And they confirmed they would come. But on the evening, only Julie arrived, saying that she and David had had an argument the evening before. She seemed upset. Anna comforted her as I worked on the risotto. When I joined them with the food, I heard that he had said he didn't see a future with her. We ate and drank wine and consoled Julie as she talked of her frustrations with men. Being a man myself, and being aware of our limitations, I slipped away and cleared up the dishes while Anna continued to listen to Julie.
When I returned, I suggested we play some music – trying to shift the mood. Julie immediately agreed and Anna went away to put the dessert together as Julie got out her fiddle and I tuned up me guitar. We played some lovely music: some tunes energetic and feisty; others slower and heartfelt. It felt like we were really connecting again over the music.
