I’M 17 AND IN LOVE WITH MY BOSS

Dear Coleen

I am a 17-year-old girl and I’m in love with a 28-year-old man. We had been on a couple of dates before he ended it because he was afraid his fiancée would find out. I know what we did was wrong, considering he’s not only engaged, but also my manager at work. However, I love him. He’s the only person I have ever felt this way about and I don’t know what to do. I can’t seem to get over him. Any ideas?

Coleen says

Yep, it’s all wrong. If you were writing in just about the age gap, I’d be advising you to see how it goes, but consider that you might grow apart as you get older and have less in common. However, he has a fiancée, he’s your boss and he knows you’re infatuated with him. You have to just open your eyes and try to see the situation for what it is. It’s lovely for him to have this younger woman at work to flirt with, but he clearly has no intention of leaving his fiancée for you. As much as you feel like you love him, I promise you will look back in years to come and think, “What was I doing?” There’s no getting away from it, your first love hurts like hell when it’s over. You’ve never had an experience like that and you feel as if you’ll never get over it, but I promise you will. Be professional at work, but don’t engage with him socially or flirt back, or agree to lunches or drinks with him. Remember, he’s the kind of guy who is up for cheating on his partner – do you honestly want to end up with someone like that?