A Bug in My Heart

Ever since I started working as a software engineer at this big tech company, I've had this recurring bug in my heart that refuses to be debugged. You see, there's this junior developer who has been assigned to work with me on a project for the next few months. She's smart and kind, always eager to learn and improve her skills, which is great, except it means she’s also learning from me every day. I keep forgetting that the way I act around her isn’t just about my professional reputation but something more personal. One day, during a team meeting, we were discussing an upcoming deadline. She asked for help understanding a concept in our coding language that I'm quite familiar with. As soon as she looked at me, a strange fluttering feeling in my chest made it hard to focus on the screen. And then there was this moment, when I realized I was smiling just because of her presence. It's not like I'm expecting anything more than friendship or respect from work colleagues, but it’s funny how such small things can make me feel all flustered. I tried to brush off these feelings, focusing instead on the code and deadlines. But every time I get stuck on a tricky problem, my mind wanders back to our conversations about coding techniques and her bright eyes lighting up when she figures something out. Maybe it’s just a bug in my system that needs fixing, or perhaps there's more to this than I’m willing to admit. Either way, for now, I'll just keep telling myself it’s all work stuff, no feelings involved.