Work crushes are a normal thing, everyone has them and everyone moves on from them. Sometimes they just sort of fade into the background rather than going away though. She was one of those.
Brown hair, green eyes and a shy smile that stopped me at the door. She was adorable. At the time we worked together she was the newest member of the team I was responsible for and she was very unsure of herself and constantly questioned everything she did. Her work was good, not flawless, but certainly above average for someone so new to our group. She also developed quite a crush on me and I knew, and everyone else knew, and it made for great workplace banter and became the sort of running joke of the team. To the point where her partner would make jokes about us having a threesome basically every time we caught up for drinks. Even though I found her extremely attractive and definitely thought we’d have a great time, I’ve seen enough disasters in other people’s lives though to know it’s better to not shit where I eat as the expression goes. After a year or so of mentoring and coaching (and flirting and cajoling) she became a leader in her own right and stepped into my position when I left (I think there might be sex joke there somewhere but I can’t quite get it) and I couldn’t have been prouder. We caught up for coffee regularly after that and her partner still made sex jokes every time we went drinking.