Romeo and Juliet met at work

Rivalries exist everywhere: between countries, families, friends, and work. Recent disputes fuel some of them; others are so old that no one remembers how they started. 

My name is Juliet. Despite everything I heard when I started my career, nothing stopped me. I was raised to be great. I was educated and lectured about overcoming whatever was thrown at me. Failing was not an option, but I failed a lot. Still, I persevered. I was stubborn and resilient. That never changed. I worked as a product manager in a big multinational company. I strolled around the office with a laptop in one hand and a mobile phone in the other. The sound of my heels on the floor announced my entrance into meeting rooms and crowded corridors. I had several years of experience and good references in business among my colleagues. Still, no matter how good my results were, I would never be good enough for the neighbors in the building and project partners, the Development family, the so-called "heart" of the company. I tried to be a project manager for years but never got the chance. Then, one day, another opportunity appeared. The marketing manager called me and offered me a position in his department. But I did not want to be a marketeer... or did I? He gave me a few days to think about it, and we agreed I would give him my response after the Company's Christmas party, THE social event of the year with no doubt whatsoever. As the due date arrived, I heard about one of the latest company projects urgently needing direction, staffing, and leadership, and it was clear to me that I wanted that project. 

The day of the party arrived. Each attendee, in shiny dresses and suits, walked around the big room like peacocks showing their feathers. I stopped by my team and saw the man I was supposed to talk to across the venue, but as I tried to avoid him, I saw someone else, Romeo. He was a tall man with dark skin and blue eyes that made me lose all sense of time once he stared at me. In less than a minute, as if an invisible cord pulled us into each other, we started talking. Romeo was brilliant. He looked at anything and "got it" immediately. He grew up in a good family and a perfect environment but did not have it easy; he made it easy. Nothing could bother him. He was tremendously pragmatic, cold even. He was the last person on Earth I would connect with, even when I discovered he was the technical person responsible for the project I wanted to lead.

That night, I told the Marketing Manager I was unavailable, focused on the job I wanted to do and the person I wanted to do it with. I spent the holidays thinking of all the possible scenarios of me asking for the chance to be project lead once more. Facing rejection did not scare me; not working by Romeo's side terrified me. The first day in the office, after two weeks full of nothing, I walked into the person who could grant my new role, and to my surprise, he was aware of my professional desires. Before I could explain why he should consider me for the job, he told me someone had nominated me for the role, someone he trusted. It was not my experience or good results that counted the most in becoming what I wanted; it was someone else's gut feeling, a recommendation by someone in that family. It was a tremendous opportunity, but then I felt the fear growing: Would I be up for the challenge?

Things happened fast. It was too important to be delayed, so management quickly assigned me to the project for which I would work with Romeo. Together, we were unstoppable, and despite our relationship being merely professional, the temperature in the room seemed to rise whenever we were close. I took the reins of that project as if my career and life depended on it, and Romeo's support was fierce. Neither of us cared for the gossiping around us, even during meetings. None of us had failure written in our plans, and we never allowed anyone to stop us. Time flew, working together long days and long nights. One day, when the sun had long disappeared after spending hours preparing an important presentation, with no one around, exhausted and proud of what we had managed to do together, we kissed. When his lips touched mine, I felt the floor disappear; I saw myself floating, leaving that building and joining a million stars that flooded the sky. And then, I knew that we were star-crossed. I had a good reason not to date anyone at work: to keep my peace of mind. But what was the point of keeping the job I loved if I couldn't do it with the person I... with him? I looked at Romeo, and even if we did not say a word, he knew as well as me that whatever we had would never work, not there. We should have spoken and said what we felt, but instead, we were surprised by a slight noise. We both looked at the door and, in agony, saw his boss looking at us, surprised, and leaving the place immediately.

The following weeks felt like crossing a desert with no water. I did not mind giving my all to work when I had nothing else, but I felt something the day I kissed him that made me question all my life. No one spoke to me about what had happened—not Romeo, his boss, or mine, who certainly knew what had happened after the gossip spread. All the pride I had from the work well done transformed into fear, and one day, to my surprise, I got an email saying that Romeo would be leaving the project. I felt like dying. I ran out of my office looking for him, and when I found him and looked at those blue eyes, they seemed dead. He looked sad, miserable. Nothing like the man I had fallen for.

"What have you done?" I asked him.

"It's for the best," he said. 

"How can it be?"

"You'll be free from distractions. You'll be free from me."

"But I don't want to. I don't even want to be here anymore... I can't."

On an impulse, I left him and walked to my computer. In less than five minutes, I wrote my resignation letter and gave it to my boss, who couldn't believe his eyes when he read the lines I'd just written.

"Can I ask the reason for this?" he asked.

"I found a new project," I replied. "It's called life."

His gentle smile transformed into fury, and I was politely requested to leave my things to be gathered by someone else. One of the security officers escorted me out of the building, and I turned in my badge and entered my car to leave the precinct and never return. I went home. I parked my car and walked to my apartment, thinking about what I had just done: I had killed my career. 

Little did I know what was happening kilometers away: Romeo, handing out his resignation and calling out names to his manager, promising never to come back to such a place where people's lives were sucked in the name of greed and profit. Another death.

Years later, someone told me about the policy change our decisions triggered. Departments merged, and personal relationships were no longer a sin after two managers decided to be together. It's funny how times change, how people choose to look to the other side when it is convenient. Romeo and I walked our paths apart. Days were never the same, and the stars in the sky kept shining for anyone who dared to look at them.