I had a crush on my coworker many, MANY years ago. It turned out he had a crush on me, too! We tried to coordinate our lunches together so we could sit in his car and have some privacy. As we were leaving for lunch one day, a regular customer approached us. He was part of a special needs program that went on “field trips” to get real-life experiences. 

Regular: “Hi, [My Name]!”

Coworker: “She’s on lunch.”

Regular: “Oh. I just wanted to say hello.”

Me: “Hello, [Regular]. I have to go, but you have a nice day!”

My coworker grabbed me by the arm and pulled me out of the store and around the corner.

Me: “What the h*** are you doing?”

Coworker: “You don’t have to talk to the customers when they’re not paying you.”

Me: “No, but I don’t have to ignore them, either.”

Coworker: *After a pause* “I don’t like that he hits on you.”

Me: “You grabbed my arm, and you’re bothered that he said hello.”

Coworker: “Well—”

Me: “Don’t touch me again. Don’t even speak to me again.”

I went back inside and sat at the [Fast Food Chain] inside the store. [Regular] sat with me, telling me about a game he’d invented.

[Coworker] didn’t speak to me again, but he did start a rumor that I was sleeping with [Regular] and using him to steal from the store. Human Resources was very interested and did a full investigation. When it came up empty, [Coworker] was the victim of budget cuts. Tragic.