When my husband and I started working together, I was nervous. But it has only helped our relationship.

The author, right, and her husband work together.

Courtesy of Ashley Archambault

When I took a substitute position at the same school my husband teaches at, I was worried.But seeing him at work has allowed me to see him in a new, professional light.It also brought us closer together physically.

I’ve heard horror stories about working with your significant other, so I was admittedly a little worried about what it would be like to work with my husband now that we’re married.

We had actually met during my first teaching job — where he had already been a teacher for a couple of years. I know now that we had each been attracted to one another the whole time but didn’t want to make the first move at work. We didn’t begin dating until I was at a different school, which made the possibility of asking him out and being shot down less awkward.

Fast forward a few years, we’re now married, and I find myself out of the classroom and substitute teaching part-time. I thought returning to my first school — where my husband still works — would be a seamless transition for my new, slightly different role as a substitute. But I worried what it would be like to have my husband at work.

I’m happy to report that working together hasn’t been uncomfortable at all; it’s actually been quite romantic.

Working in the same environment has some surprising benefits

There’s something about working in the same environment we first met that reminds us of why we liked each other initially. Seeing each other in the same place and in similar roles rekindles our initial feelings of attraction. Working together again is like taking a step back in time and getting the opportunity to remember why we liked each other to begin with.

It also helps that we get to be separate individuals at work. I see him working in the library, and he sees me subbing in different classrooms. Seeing each other in our respective professional roles and as separate from one another reminds us how much respect we have for one another because being a teacher and working with young people is hard work. Witnessing how hard he’s working at school makes me feel so grateful that he’s working that hard for his family. Plus, I get to see how loved he is by his coworkers and students, and I just feel so lucky to be his wife.

It’s also great because we have a common ground now. When we’ve worked at different schools, it could become tedious trying to share tidbits from our days. So much can happen in one school day that we would either not want to talk about our days at all or have to be highly selective with our stories around the dinner table. Now that we work in the same school, we are able to apply faces to names and contribute our own experiences with those same people and situations.

While I thought it might be boring to have the same workplace and know the same coworkers and students, it’s actually really nice that he is able to understand my work tidbits more fully just because he knows exactly where, who, or what I’m talking about.

Working closely together makes me want him even more

My husband and I are very affectionate, and it’s difficult not to be ourselves in that way in a professional environment. We’re not going to kiss or hug each other at work or even say, “I love you,” in passing.

There are two benefits to this, though. For starters, it creates the same feelings I had when I saw him at work before we were even dating, so that when we get home, sometimes it feels like getting to kiss him for the very first time. The other benefit is that it’s very romantic. It definitely makes me want to pull him in for a hug as soon as he gets home.

While I was worried that working with my husband might cause friction, it has actually strengthened our relationship. In addition to having a great deal of respect for each other, seeing him at work reminds me of seeing him at work for the very first time. Now, when I come home to him after work, I just feel so grateful that I got to marry him.

Working with him reminds me of our whole love story — from the very beginning until where we are today.