If you intend to cozy up to a co-worker, no amount of reasoning is going to stop you. And truth be told, flirting with or dating a co-worker isn’t always a bad idea. It only ends in tears, oh, 66 percent of the time.
To illustrate, here are three case studies based on the experiences of local professionals who have lived to tell their tales of office romance.

Jessica

Situation: Classic co-worker flirtation.
Outcome: Borderline stalking.

“I had a manager at Barnes & Noble who crushed on me. This guy, poor lad, was engaged. Everyone in our staff would meet out for drinks, the typical after-work thing, and I would talk about being single and having fun. (I was 23.) He decided that he didn’t want to get married — and that we should be together. He ended up chasing me, literally, home one night. It was a high-speed pursuit, and I hid my car in a friend’s driveway and watched him pass. I suppose I’d been flirtatious, but man, I didn’t mean for it to come to that. I felt really bad. He was in no way my type.”

Brian

Situation: Close working relationship evolves into close romantic relationship.
Outcome: Bitter, soul-crushing break-up.

“I was working at a research firm in Bloomington at the time. We shared an office. That led to a lot of talking and, eventually, flirtation. For a long time we played it cool. We kind of made a game of keeping it professional at work. When the inevitable break-up happened, it was 10 times worse than a normal break-up. Your friends at work are their friends at work, which leads to gossip, taking sides and weird backbiting. And your occasional interactions with one another are strained and full of pent-up frustration.”

Chris

Situation: Publishing professionals share storybook attraction.
Outcome: Living happily ever after.

“We work at a large book company/publisher, where I work in graphic design and she’s an editor. So we work on the same things, but not directly with each other. We see each other around seven or eight times a day on average. Most of the time it’s pretty nice to have one another around. I think you have to be mindful of giving each other a healthy amount of space. That’s the secret — if there is one."

Matt Gonzales, Indy.com correspondent