For months, none of the guys on my floor would shut up about the new building receptionist, Amy. She joined the firm right before Christmas—and her hard-to-get game had every single guy in my department intrigued.

Although we are a large enough company to occupy an entire building downtown, a sense of familiarity developed among my crew. On our floor, it was mostly junior brokers; we’re all in our mid to late 20s and tended to get a little rowdy.

Indeed, our floor’s reputation as the company’s frat house preceded us with prospective hires, much to the chagrin of HR. I don’t think it’s an accident that the female coworkers we usually encountered were of the happily married, taken or grandma variety. Amy, however, was young and as fresh as the driven snow in our lingering Chicago... Read More