Behind Frenemy Lines author, Zen Cho, chats dos and don’ts for fake dating at work

Workplace romance is usually a big no-no but what about fake dating at work? If you are asking why this would ever happen, maybe you need to fake date so your boss would stop hitting on you. This is what happened to Kriya in Behind Frenemy Lines. 

But are there any rules around fake dating at workplace then? Zen Cho is here to tell us.

Guest post written by Zen Cho, author of Behind Frenemy Lines.

Office romances can be challenging, raising a risk of blurring personal and professional boundaries. What if your boss catches you making out in a meeting room? Conversely, what if you get sick of seeing the object of your affections across the cubicle divider? Or get the ick from the fact they start emails with “Just looping in”? Worst of all, what if you break up?

By contrast, fake dating is weirder, but safer. In theory, neither your heart nor your genitals are involved. You will usually have an ironclad reason for doing it. Sometimes it’s that your eccentric great-uncle willed you all his wealth on the condition that you get a boyfriend/girlfriend. Or you may have overbearing relatives who will make your life unbearable if you don’t bring a date to a significant family event. Or some other situation that never arises in real life, but happens with surprising frequency in romance novels.

When engaging in workplace fake dating, it is very important to follow certain ground rules.

DO

• Keep things professional.

Remember you are merely pretending to be a couple. Don’t flirt, kiss, trip over Greg from Finance’s trailing laptop cable and fall into each other’s arms, or accidentally-on-purpose brush hands as you’re both reaching for the stapler.

• Read and follow your company’s policy on romantic relationships between colleagues.

You may be fake dating, but you’ve got real rent to pay, so you don’t want to actually get fired.

• Notify your line manager, as appropriate.

Unless the reason you are fake dating at work is that your boss of many years is going through the grodiest midlife crisis known to man and has started hitting on you. You could report him to HR, but he’s backed off because he seems to believe you’re dating your office roommate. In this case, you do not need to notify your line manager.

DON’T

• Volunteer to be your colleague’s fake boyfriend when you’ve low-key had a crush on them for years.

Especially don’t make it obvious that you have an unnaturally good memory for everything they’ve ever said or done. You work together! You’re making it weird!

• Bring them as your date to a family wedding.

This is bound to muddy the waters. You’re both looking hot, there’s plenty of alcohol, and now all your relatives and friends think something’s going on between the two of you. Are you trying to make things complicated?

• Confide in your fake boyfriend/girlfriend about your traumatic childhood or devastating break-up.

Either you now know too much about each other and it will be awkward the next time you run into each other in the office kitchen, or it will create a bond between you. Which, again, are you trying to make things complicated?

But if you find yourself breaking all of these rules, there might be a good reason for that. If so:

DO

• Remember that in love, there are no rules.

For a guide to workplace fake dating, pick up my novel Behind Frenemy Lines, a romance about two rival lawyers forced to share an office who start pretending to be in a relationship for entirely legitimate and plausible reasons, break every rule listed above, and end up (of course) falling in love.

Behind Frenemy Lines by Zen Cho is out this week (Pan Macmillan UK).