“Dave and I went to great lengths to keep our relationship secret at work,” recalls paralegal-turned PA Zoe Michael, 23.
Who can blame them? “Dave” is David Green, managing partner of MTA Solicitors – Zoe’s boss.
“We’d travel to and from the office together but he’d drop me off and pick me up round the corner, out of sight of colleagues,” continues Zoe, speaking exclusively to leading newspaper The Daily Express.
“Of course I was conscious of my position and how people might react to us dating,” chips in Dave.
Goodness! How did this dangerous liaison begin?
Over to Dave: “Zoe’s a striking looking girl so I’d noticed her in the office before she became my PA,” recollects the MTA honcho, poetically. “Yet I knew very little about her until we bumped into each other that night in the bar. People assume there must have been a connection before that but there wasn’t, we were just boss and PA until then.”
Demonstrating an impressive commitment to promoting the capabilities of the firm that brought them together, Zoe corroborates Dave’s story: “With 280 employees at the Bromley office and more at the firm’s offices in London, Cambridge and Manchester, mine and Dave’s paths had never crossed until he interviewed me to be his PA. I remember thinking how handsome he was but as he was about to become my new boss the idea of one day dating him didn’t enter my head.”
Pulling her balding gaffer was like a dream come true for Zoe, and those few months in which their relationship remained secret were no doubt magical. Then, one carefree morning a serpent entered paradise, when a colleague spotted the pair en route to work together in Dave’s car.
The game was up. And the ensuing weeks were tough – especially for Zoe. “Although friends at work were supportive, other colleagues made negative comments and revelled in saying it wouldn’t last,” she remembers.
But last it did. And in September the pair will marry. That news shut the gossipers up! “I shed a lot of tears but our critics were silenced when Dave proposed to me last October,” says Zoe.
“Now we’re no longer the subject of gossip and colleagues are used to the news we’re getting married,” adds Dave.
The good news for MTA staff is that even when the loved-up duo are married, Zoe plans to continue working as Dave’s PA. “I love my work and see it as a huge bonus that we get to drive to and from the office together,” she says. Yay! It’ll be just like one big happy family.