Real Life Stories - Entries For November 2009

Screen 12 of 17

The conference was educational and all business during the day. At night, there were parties and mixers for the conference attendees. This was my first chance to interact with Jane in a casual setting. She hardly talked to me during the conference but the next to last night during a cocktail party I made my way over to her and paid her a compliment on how beautiful she looked. Jane was wearing this black dress and she looked gorgeous. I made my comments in a very flattering way while trying not to come on to her. I tried my best to be professional.

Jane had been drinking and she was looser than I had ever seen her. She was laughing and carrying on with people. When I paid her my compliment, she smiled and thanked me. Later on that night, she sought me out and put her arm around my arm in a casual manner and asked me if I wanted to take a walk around the large hotel where the conference was taking place. She said she wanted to discuss something with me.

We walked to a quiet corner of a hallway in the ballroom area and we were all alone. Jane was talkative and she was sharing with me about how much she loved her job and some of her career aspirations. I listened attentively, encouraging her to tell me more. I think she enjoyed that someone was so interested in her goals. We sat down on this bench and we must have talked for an hour. She did 95% of the talking and I just listened.