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The office romance can be fraught but that doesn't mean
it can't work, as AAP's Lisa Martin discovers.
Jude Bailey had her eye on "office spunk" Simon Lentjes from
the first day they started a graduate program at AGL in
Sydney.
They started a clandestine relationship a year later and
initially kept things hush-hush.
"We'd come back from lunch and catch different lifts so it
didn't look obvious," she says.
"We were in our early twenties and didn't have a huge care
factor, so we would always turn up to work late, lots of long
lunch breaks and sometimes we'd turn up in the same clothes
the next day."
Fast forward fifteen years and Jude and Simon's office
romance is a case of "happily ever after." The couple are
married, with two daughters, Abbey, 4, and Neve, 18 months,
and live in Margaret River, in Western Australia.
Jude and Simon aren't alone in finding love in the office.
According to a survey by CareerOne.com.au which questioned
941 people, one in three of us have been romantically
involved with a colleague.
Psychologist Anne Hollonds from Relationships Australia says
the workplace is a fertile ground for finding love.
"You spend so many hours there, and you have a lot in
common... you can form very strong emotional connections and
friendships," she says.
Jude, who changed her name to Lentjes, says it was a relief
when they decided to tell their colleagues.
"It was like "thank god we don't have to hide it from these
guys any more," she says.
"You go out for Friday night drinks, and you don't have to
sit across from each other and give each other signals 'Oh
you leave first, and then I'll go'.
"We thought nobody knew but they all did... they enjoyed the
spectacle.
"When we finally did come clean everyone just laughed at us.
"The more you try to hide it the more obvious it is."
