My Co-Worker Got Fired for Being Inappropriate Towards Me

Why I feel sh*tty and why that’s a problem.

I let it slide the first time.

He went in for a kiss during a work happy hour in front of some colleagues. Since it was public, I playfully declined with a turn of my head and an awkward point to my cheek.

But I didn’t want him to kiss me at all — I didn’t want him within ten feet of me.

He insisted. To avoid bruising his ego in front of a crowd, the side of my face was a peace offering.

After huffing over my rejection of a “real” kiss, he caved, leaned in and planted a hyper-sensual kiss on my cheek.

I can still feel his tongue on the right side of my face. I can still see the dropped jaws of my coworkers. And I can still remember my boyfriend’s frustrated reaction upon return home.

The next day at work, I anticipated an apology — only to learn that he conveniently didn’t remember the night. So I chalked the event up to another interaction with a douchebag (there are plenty here in NYC!) and avoided eye contact with him for a couple of months. None of my coworkers surfaced the incident to management and I spoke about it sparingly, lightly and in passing, to my closest work friends only.