Professional Boundaries Read Online Free

married?”
    “What does that have to do with anything?”
    “You don’t find it weird that your ex-boyfriend just all of sudden shows up after how many years and becomes your boss?”
    “You don’t know Ian, this has nothing to do with me. It’s purely business for him. He’s an opportunist.”
    “I bet he is,” she responded.
    “Seriously, sis, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    She shrugged her shoulders and led me to her kitchen table. We both sat down.
    “So you’re really going to let this guy take what you’ve worked so hard for?”
    I laid my head down on her table and moaned. “What else can I do?  I can’t possibly work for him. I used to make out with him, and I told the guy I loved him and he told me that was a complication and never talked to me again, until today.”
    My sister grinned evilly. “Was he a good kisser?”
    I slowly lifted my head up. “What does that have to do with anything?”
    “It’s all in the kiss, right?” She smiled toothily.
    “You have no idea.”
    “That good, huh?”
    “Best ever. You see why I can’t work for him?”
    “Are you kidding me? Show this guy who’s boss and what he missed out on all these years.”
    I tapped my fingers on her perfectly cleaned table. “I don’t know, sis.”
    She stood up, looked at my pathetic figure, and took off her apron. “I say we go shopping and get our nails done while you’re contemplating.”
    I wiped the tears out of my eyes. “You really are the best.”
    She winked. “Tell me something I don’t know, Kelli Jelly.”

Chapter 3

    I still wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but a day of shopping and pampering with my sister was medicinal, to say the least. She really was the best. Not only was she my sister, she was my best friend. All day she kept encouraging me to go and get my job back, but I still wasn’t sure. Even though in my head I had completely gotten over Ian, there seemed to be some murky water under that bridge in my heart. To this very day, he was the only man I had ever loved. I’d tried to be in love again on several other occasions, and I’d even had men tell me they loved me, but I just hadn’t met anyone who made me feel like Ian had.
    I’d thought, on occasion, that maybe I was defective and that I could only fall in love with men that would never love me back. Or maybe I had trust issues because my mother abandoned us and the first person I expressed my love to also abandoned me, but Amanda said I was just making something out of nothing. “Look at your life—you’re the most trusting and open person I know. You just haven’t met the right guy yet,” she said.
    Easy for her to say; she met Zane when she was eighteen and was married at twenty-one. I wouldn’t say I was jealous of her; it was more like holy envy. Is there such a thing? I don’t know, but what I did know was that I wished on many occasions I was married and had children. I would have traded in deal making and conference calls for PTA meetings, soccer games and diapers in a second. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my job, or at least I used to love it. I kept forgetting I didn’t have one anymore.
    I just wanted more. No, that wasn’t it. I think I just wanted more personal fulfillment. Belly dancing could only give me so much, no matter how good my butt looked.
    By the time I arrived back at my apartment, the sun was just beginning to set. I unloaded my haul for the day. I looked over the plethora of bags and thought maybe I shouldn’t have shopped like I was still gainfully employed. Oh well, you only live once, right? Besides, it was for medicinal purposes, and I if had to look for a new job, I needed to look my best. Or if I didn’t find a new job soon, I needed to look good lying out by the pool; my new swimsuit would do the job nicely. Maybe I would have to eat ramen for the next week or two, so what?
    With my heavy load I was thankful, once again, to live on the bottom floor, but like my