Honey

After hearing Sam's words, Rebecca managed to see things more clearly and she wanted to take action now that her judgement wasn't clouded by past fears and insecurities. She thanked her brother before she called up Anthony to discuss the matter of telling Noah and Steve, hoping she could get his approval for telling the two of them before his parents had heard the news.

Despite it being quite late, he picked up the phone immediately and even joked with her as he said, "If you were going to miss me so much that you have to call me after leaving just thirty minutes ago and talking to each other on the phone once already, you should have just stayed here." Rebecca responded with a short half-hearted laugh, before she explained the reason for her calling. "I just told Sam and-" But before Rebecca could finish that sentence, Anthony excitedly asked, "And? How did he take the news?" Rebecca calmly said, "He took it really well, but that isn't what I wanted to talk to you about." Rebecca had learned from past mistakes that if she didn't tell Anthony from the beginning what she did or did not want to talk about, she would be facing more interruptions from his excitedness and wouldn't be able to get her words out the way she wanted to. This wasn't a problem for most conversations, but it was for this particular one.

"The reason I called you, is because my talk with him reminded me of the 'no dating' rule at work. I was panicking quite a bit about it, but Sam managed to calm me down and made me realize that we don't know anything until we tell Noah and Steve about us. So, I wanted to be a bit bold and call them now to let them know and see how they respond, but before I do that, I wanted to see if you were okay with me telling them. Since me telling them means that they would know before your parents do." Rebecca waited in silence for Anthony to give her the green light or tell her that he wanted to wait. Fortunately she didn't have to wait long for him to say, "Sam is absolutely right and I am glad he was there when you realized. I know that having such a rule at work makes it a bit difficult for us to be together while being colleagues. But I also know that both Mr. Stephens and Mr. Branson are important people in your life, and they have your best interest at heart. I don't think that they will tell us 'no', if we show them how serious we are."

Hearing Anthony say the same thing that Sam had told her, made Rebecca feel more assured that things might indeed turn out okay. Still sounding a bit doubtful, Rebecca asked, "You really think so?" But Anthony had no hesitation at all and confidently said, "I do. Of course they always try to do what is best for the company, but they also do what is best for the team. The no dating rule isn't just there because break-ups can cause trouble in terms of productivity and efficiency at the workplace. They also have that rule because they know that people can break up and if they do, either one or both of the people involved will have a hard time at the place where they earn their living. No matter how much they might want to avoid that person in order to give their hurting heart a chance to heal, it becomes quite impossible when you work at the same place. They might even be working at the same floor or have to do an assignment together with said person. Work can't just put everything on hold because two people discovered they aren't compatible. In other words, they will constantly be confronted by their ex, giving them no time or space to get over that person."

Rebecca couldn't argue with this reasoning and wanted to show her agreement when Anthony added another layer of problems to dating at the workplace. "This of course doesn't even include the moments where they simply might be fighting and can't have the space to walk away if one of the two is persistent in 'talking it out'. Plus, the odds of fighting increasing because they are spending too much time together or taking their work fights home and vice versa. All in all, it isn't an attractive situation for an employer nor an employee. So, what I am trying to say is, I am fine with you telling the two of them before we tell my mom and dad."

Although Anthony had attempted to reassure Rebecca that things would be fine, by listing all of the problems a relationship at work could cause, it had the opposite effect on Rebecca. She began to ask him if they wouldn't be facing the same kind of struggles and how they would be making sure that they wouldn't turn into a burden for their colleagues at work. "Don't worry honey, you and I aren't like that. Neither of us would ever let anything interfere with our work nor would we be able to hate each other if we break up. No matter the reason. Or at least I know I would never be able to hate or dislike you. But just to be safe, I will request an internal transfer to a different floor. Most of my work is done individually anyways. So, it doesn't matter for me where my office is. That way I won't be involved with or responsible for your assignments in any way."

Anthony had provided solutions and answers to the problems he had posed, but Rebecca seemed more focused on a word at the beginning of his reply to her. In a dazed voice she said, "Did you just call me 'Honey'?" Anthony was a bit surprised by Rebecca's question but he managed to quickly respond with a clear answer. "Of course. I can't very well continue to call you by your name every time I talk to you or about you. By us becoming a couple and you accepting my proposal, your titles have increased and I plan on making very good use of them."