辦公室戀情——你Hold得住嗎？

Joshua Ogden-Davis/肝腦涂地

中國有句成語叫“日久生情”。每天共處一室8小時以上的男男女女，呼吸著共同的空氣，久而久之，難免會產生幾分好感、幾分曖昧。然而，辦公室愛情并非如水晶般透明無瑕，由此帶來的性騷擾、婚外情等問題不容忽視。但是，戀情來了，難以抗拒，不少人還是打算做個勇敢的人，但是有勇無謀卻不行，為了讓辦公室戀情有個幸福結局，大家一定要謹慎待之。

Jordy： Good morning， Megan.

Megan： Hey， good morning， Jordy.

Jordy： Um， hey， look， can I ask you something？

Megan： Whats on your mind？

Jordy： Before I ask you， I need you to promise to keep it a secret. I dont want this getting around the office.

Megan： Dont worry. ①My lips are sealed.

Jordy： Its like this： Im really interested in someone in the office.

Megan： Does she know about it？

Jordy： No， I havent 1）approached her about it yet. In my last company， relationships between co-workers were 2）prohibited， so I want to be really careful.

Megan： 3）Banning romance sounds a little extreme， but youre right， you really should be careful. Do you know about the companys relationship policy？

Jordy： ②Yeah， I gave it the old once-over last week. As long as I inform the HR department， and as long as it doesnt affect our work， ③then its still coloring inside the lines.

Megan： Thats good. Next question： does she work under you， or are you her 4）subordinate？

Jordy： No， shes in a different department. Why does that matter？

Megan： Can you imagine trying to give orders to your girlfriend？ What if your girlfriend had to criticize you at work？ Jordy： ④Yeah， I guess that would be a sticky wicket. OK， what else do I need to think about？

Megan： This next one is a bit personal. How well can you handle a breakup？

Jordy： Wow， that is a personal question， but I guess Ive handled breakups well before.

Megan： Thats really important. You dont want to have a really bad breakup…

Jordy： …and then have to see your ex at work everyday.⑤Youre right， things could get out of hand pretty quickly.

Megan： Well， thats all the questions I have. ⑥If you came to ask my permission， Id give you the green light.

Jordy： But how can I approach her？ ⑦Coming on to someone at work is 5）tricky. I dont want her to get the wrong idea.

Megan： Good thinking. You dont want a 6）harassment suit on your hands. But really， its not as hard as you might think. Jordy： Im still at a loss. I came to talk to you because I needed a womans opinion.

Megan： Youre smarter than you look！ Just remember： dont make her feel any pressure. Even if she says no， you still have to see her every day in the office.

Jordy： ⑧So dont come on too strong， or else well both be embarrassed？

Megan： Basically， yeah. Just casually ask if she would like to have dinner. Lunch is even more low-pressure.

Jordy： If she says no？

Megan： ⑨Then its probably best to just leave it at that. Pushing further could make things uncomfortable. And maybe youll get another chance later， anyway.

Jordy： Well， that sounds like a plan then. By the way， how do you know so much about office romance， anyway？

Megan： Well… you know Tom in accounting， right？

Jordy： Yeah， I do. Wait， you dont mean to tell me…

喬迪：早上好，梅根。

梅根：嘿，早上好，喬迪。

喬迪：嗯，嘿，聽著，我能問你件事嗎？

梅根：你想問什么？

喬迪：在問你之前，我要你保證會保密。我不想這件事傳遍整個辦公室。

梅根：別擔心。我會保守秘密的。

喬迪：是這樣的，我對辦公室里的一個女生真的很有好感。

梅根：她知道嗎？

喬迪：不，我還沒有讓她知道呢。在我上一家公司，同事之間的戀情是被禁止的，所以我真的想慎重點。

梅根：禁止（同事間）談戀愛聽起來有點過分，但是你是對的，你真的應該小心點，你了解公司有關這方面的規定嗎？

喬迪：嗯，我上個星期草草地看了下。

只要我通知了人事部，只要不影響我們的工作，但還要謹慎行事。

梅根：那就好。下一個問題，她是你的下屬，還是你的上司？

喬迪：都不是，她在另外一個部門。有什么關系嗎？

梅根：你能想象給自己女友下命令的情景嗎？如果你女友在工作中批評你又該怎么辦呢？

喬迪：嗯，我想這會是個棘手的問題。好，我還需要考慮什么呢？

梅根：下一個問題比較私人。你如何處理好分手？

喬迪：哇，這真是個私人問題，但我之前都能處理好分手。

梅根：這真的很重要。你不想有個很糟糕的分手……

喬迪：……然后每天工作的時候難免會看到你的前任。你是對的，事情會很快一發不可收拾。

梅根：好吧，這是我所有的問題。如果你問我，我會允許你這樣做的。

喬迪：但是我怎么接近她呢？在工作中對某人表示好感很考驗人。我不想她誤解我。

梅根：你想得對。你不想惹上騷擾的罪名。但是說真的，事情沒有你想象中的那么難。

喬迪：我還是不知所措。我來找你談，是因為我需要一個女生的意見。

梅根：你比表面看起來聰明！只要記住：不要讓她有任何負擔。即使她說不，你每天也必須在辦公室看到她。

喬迪：所以不要太操之過急，否則我們兩個人都會很尷尬？

梅根：基本來說是的。只要隨意地問她是否愿意共進晚餐，（一起吃）午餐可能會讓她更加沒有壓力。

喬迪：如果她說不呢？

梅根：那么最好就是到此為止。繼續強求只會讓事情變糟。但是也許之后你還會有機會。

喬迪：嗯，這聽起來很可行。順便問一下，你怎么知道這么多辦公室戀情的東西？

梅根：嗯……你認識財務部的那個湯姆，對吧？

喬迪：嗯，我認識他。等等，你不會是想告訴我……

Megan： You guessed it！ Weve been dating for two years already！

梅根：你猜得對！我們已經在一起兩年了！

Smart Sentences

① My lips are sealed. 我會保守秘密的。

My lips are sealed： used to indicate you will keep sb.s secret， same as“your secret is safe with me”（用以表明你會保守某人的秘密，等同于“your secret is safe with me”）。例如：

—Im going to tell you what happened last night， but you have to keep it to yourself.

我把昨晚的事告訴你，不過你得保密哦。

—My lips are sealed.

我會保守秘密的。

② Yeah， I gave it the old once-over last week. 嗯，我上個星期草草地看了下。

give sth. the old once-over： look at sth. quickly（草草地看一遍）。例如：She gave the new proposal the old once-over and decided to reject it.

她匆忙地看了一遍新建議，就決定否決它。

③ Then its still coloring inside the lines. 但還要謹慎行事。

color inside the lines： used to refer to playing it safe（謹慎行事，不冒險）。例如：

If you are taking on the new project， you need to color inside the lines and dont be too aggressive.

如果你接手那個新項目，務必謹慎，不要急功近利。

④ Yeah， I guess that would be a sticky wicket. 嗯，我想這會是個棘手的問題。

a sticky wicket： a difficult or embarrassing problem or situation（麻煩，困難：令人尷尬的難題或形勢）。例如：

The corruption scandal was a sticky wicket for the new mayor.

腐敗丑聞讓新市長很難堪。

⑤ Youre right， things could get out of hand pretty quickly. 你是對的，事情會很快一發不可收拾。

get out of hand： out of control（失控）。例如：

The spending got out of hand and the project had to be put on hold.費用支出失去了控制，項目被迫暫停了。

⑥ If you came to ask my permission， Id give you the green light. 如果你問我，我會允許你這樣做的。

give sb. the green light： give sb. the permission to do sth.（允許某人做某事）。例如：

Our team was finally given the green light to go for a trial production.

我們小組終于被允許進行試生產了。

⑦ Coming on to someone at work is tricky. 在工作中對某人表示好感很考驗人。

come on to sb.： try to attract sb. romantically（對異性表示好感，示愛）。例如：

Leo was trying to come on to me during the Christmas party.

利奧在圣誕節晚會上想對我表示好感。

⑧ So dont come on too strong， or else well both be embarrassed？ 所以不要操之過急，否則我們兩個人都會很尷尬？

come on strong： seem aggressive； impress people initially as very aggressive and assertive（給人過于積極的印象；以強勢的印象）。例如：

The new supervisor comes on too strong at first.

新上司一開始給人一種過于強勢的感覺。

⑨ Then its probably best to just leave it at that. 那么最好就是到此為止。

leave it at that： say or do no more about sth.（到此為止）。例如：

Well wait for Tom to come back and see what we can do. Now， just leave it at that.

等湯姆回來，看看我們能做些什么。現在就先這樣吧。