Everybody in Romance Should Have a Job: Manager

The boss, Jeng, gets upset when Pat provides

the client with a solution--when asked--

without running it by Jeng first.

Although Step by Step isn't my favorite live-action BL series, it does one thing impressively right. 

The relationship between subordinate and manager, Pat and Jeng, isn't at risk because of taboos, a ploy that I consider increasingly unusable in our modern age. 

The problem is that the manager, Jeng, is a better boyfriend than a manager. 

He isn't a horrible manager and he tries hard, but he is a micro-manager. 

The personality trait isn't reduced to a romantic problem. That is, he doesn't need to stop micro-managing because it upsets his boyfriend. He needs to stop micro-managing because he is driving his subordinates up the wall. 

At one point, Jeng's best friend--with whom he owns a restaurant--says, "I'm so glad we did this venture together. You're a great business partner. But if I worked for you, I'd quit."

It's an interesting point. I've been in situations where I liked a person but would never, ever, ever in a billion years voluntarily work for that person. 

Eventually, the boyfriends in Step by Step end up in different companies. They stay in the same business (advertising) so they run into each other and eventually get back together. But this is not a couple that can work together in some "oh, if they TRULY loved each other, they would..." fashion.

Sometimes, time apart is healthier.