Back to Work

Now that everyone is back, I thought I’d post a few updates as to what is going on.

First, there’s Praveena.  She’s finally back, and I paid her a special visit to ask how her New Year’s Eve was.  She said that she spent it with cousins.  Remember how I wrote that she may not have known I was married, even though I always wear my ring?  Well, I specifically told her that I spent my New Year’s home with my family, and she seemed to get the hint.  I didn’t come right out and ask if she was married — I felt this would “tip my hand,” so to speak.  But I’ll gauge her reaction over the next few days.  If she is, in fact, single, then I will have to change my strategy somewhat.  I still want to let her know I’m interested, but you have to be careful with single women.

I did get a chance to chat with Amy.  She is getting ready to sell her house.  This is great because it gives me a conversation starter.  No mention of the dancing comment, however.  Bonus: I got a peek at her bellybutton!  It’s an innie.

An amusing thing happened with Ashna.  You have to understand that Ashna’s name is not actually “Ashna”; I change all names to protect the innocent.  But her name is close to Ashna, and this almost tripped me up.  While I was walking into the building yesterday, I was deep in thought, thinking about my plans to track Ashna’s monthly cycle, when suddenly I see her standing in the lobby.  I had to stop myself from actually calling her Ashna!  That would have been weird.  But she did notice the studder, and later on, she commented on how she said hi to me but I was deep in thought.  Heh, if she only knew.

On a more serious note, I learned that Maryanne’s husband was in a car accident.  He’s okay for now but needs to undergo physical therapy.  This basically means that I have to stop flirting with Maryanne, at least for the time being.  I’ll switch it into “emotional support” mode.  I’ll have more to say about this kind of situation in future posts.

Any given Saturday…

About five times a year, I have to come into work on a Saturday.  In the computer industry, it’s called a release, and it’s the time where we publish the latest version of our website.  The whole department comes in, and despite the coffee, donuts, and catered lunch, it’s a pretty hectic time.  But there’s plenty of time where you are just waiting, and to the Office Player, that’s flirting time!

First let me talk about Maryanne.  Yesterday (Friday), she was in a somewhat playful mood.  When I was standing in line at the cafeteria, Maryanne sneaked up behind me and touched me.  (It wasn’t quite a squeeze or a tickle, more like a two-handed tap.)  Then she commented on how thin I looked.  Talk about flirtatious!  I tried my darndest to meet up with her that afternoon, but she was always busy.  Later that day, she came to me with a business issue, and the playful mood was gone.  Same thing with today; no playful mood.

Hasna is on maternity leave (more on that in a later post).  Ashna and Michelle work on a different web site.  Ellen works in a completely different department.  So who does that leave?  Well, time to introduce another hottie!

Let me tell you about Praveena.  She is a consultant with whom I have worked before.  She is in her thirties, average looks, a little chunky, glasses. (I love glasses!)  And she’s always smiling — and you know how the Office Player loves a nice smile!  And get this:  the few times I have seen her, she has always been asking me how I’ve been doing, what’s new, etc.  Is she flirting with me?  We shall see.  I flirted with her a few times today.  Not too strong, mind you, just enough to keep the juices flowing.

Praveena works in my old office location.  But so does Maryanne.  It’s safe to say that I will be venturing back there often.

Maryanne

Maryanne works in another department, but she works on the same product as I do.  Thus, I interact with Maryanne nearly every single day.  And of course, I think of ways to hit on her, nearly every single day.

Once, when out for drinks with a few coworkers, I confided to them that I thought Maryanne was hot.  They all gave me very strange looks.  Most average guys would not find Maryanne attractive.  She is in her late forties, a little on the plump side, and perhaps a few too many wrinkles on her face.  But as far as I am concerned, she is simply delicious!

Maryanne has two distinct personality traits.  The first is that she is one of those touchy-feely types.  Well, not exactly; touchy-huggy is a better term.  For example, when she is emphasizing a conversational point, she will place her hand on my forearm.  Or she’ll give my forearm a friendly squeeze when she says, “I’ll see you later.”  And yes, there’s been the occasional hug.  Recently, she celebrated her 20-year anniversary with the company, so there were hugs all around.

Touchy-huggy women are difficult to figure out, because they can be one of two types:

• The extremely nice, morally-upstanding, never-cheat-on-their-husband type
• The flirtatious let’s-hook-up type

And truth be told, I’m not sure which one Maryanne is.  She is married, but has no kids.  She doesn’t talk about her husband but loves to travel with him.  She will skip office parties to be with him.  I just don’t know.

Maryanne’s other personality trait is that she is a constant complainer.  Now this is something I find to be a total turn-off.  She has a bad thing to say about nearly everyone in the office.  Either someone is lazy, or clueless, or too demanding, etc.  You get the picture.  It’s a shame too, because she’s not one of those complainers with the constant sour puss on her face.  She actually smiles most of the time, and she looks ten times prettier when she does.

Still, she’s someone I love to flirt with!