This is about someone I worked with for 5 years named Fran. Fran was the secretary in my department, and for those 5 years she was my best friend. Fran was married, and there was never any romance between me and her, nor did we want one. But it was a rare friendship and I am not sure why we got along so well. But she and I thought alike, and we had the same sense of humor.
I first met Fran about 6 months before we started working together. She had been working in another department and I saw her at a Christmas party. I thought she looked nice and I asked her to dance. She accepted and we had a nice dance. I found out afterward that she had either just married or was about to marry a guy named Steve, who also worked in my company but in a different department.
The following June there was a reorganization in my department, and the person who Fran used to work for was now part of my department. As a result, Fran came over to be the secretary for my boss. Fran did some of my work but she didn't work for me, she worked directly for my boss who was a Senior Vice President. Probably because we had met at the Christmas party, we soon became friends. More than that, we became best friends. We would confide in each other about all things work related. And I have to say that it was helpful to me to have the secretary of the department as a best friend. Secretaries are often one of the most important people in a department, although that was not the reason we were friends. But people learn not to mess with you when the department secretary is your ally.
The reason why I considered her my best friend was because when you work in an office, so much of your life revolves around the office. We would chat all the time at her desk or in my office, and we would have lunch all the time often 3 or more times a week. The fact that there was no romantic tension made it easy to have such a strong friendship.
Now as I said, Fran's husband Steve worked for the company in another department. I think they purposely made it a point not to spend work time together. They would commute by car together but would not visit each other during the day or have lunch with each other. It was slightly weird that I was having lunch with Fran all the time while her husband never did. But I didn't doubt the strength of their marriage I just think they wanted to keep work and their marriage separate.
I didn't really know her husband Steve except in passing. I am sure he trusted Fran and didn't think their was anything more than friendship she had with me. When I was spending time with Fran she did not talk about Steve much, since I didn't really know him well.
Anyway I had this strong friendship for about 5 years. However there was an incident that hurt but did not end our friendship. Steve's department screwed up some work and cost the company money. Eventually Steve got fired. It was very awkward for everyone. Fran kept her job but I had no idea how to handle it. Looking back I handled it poorly. I didn't bring it up and neither did she. We pretended like nothing happened, but I found out later that Fran was very hurt that I didn't discuss it. I really didn't know how to deal with it. Sometime later we got into a fight and she told me how she was hurt. I didn't handle the original situation, or this fight, very well. Eventually though we made up, which was a tribute to how much we cared for each other. But when things like this happen, I don't think the relationship is ever the same.
About a year or so later, my company got acquired by its main competitor. The new company fired all the old employees, some right away, some a little while later, and some about a year later. My last day was like a month after the acquisition, and Fran got to stay for about another year. After I left, I kept in touch with Fran for about a year by phone. Then we just stopped talking. After a year of not speaking, I sent Fran a card on her birthday. She sent one on mine, and called me soon after. Fran had had a child, and Steve was working and doing well. We spoke about getting together but it never happened and we stopped calling each other. I wasn't really part of her life with Steve, and her having a child wasn't part of my life either.
It is now many years later and I haven't heard from Fran. I googled her husband, and very sadly, I found out he passed away a few years ago relatively young. I don't know what happened, but Fran was left a young widow with 2 children. Life is unfair at times. There is nothing about Fran that would have caused her to deserve this.
I found out about Steve's death a few years after it happened. I didn't think it was appropriate to contact her now after all this time. I might have if I knew when it happened but now I don't want her to take it the wrong way. But Franny will always have a special place in my heart. She was one of the best friends I ever had.
