well, as i'm pretty young, i haven't had the luxury of a prestigeous steady job, so i don't know how much this will apply, but here goes.
as far as all the workplace hooking up i've witnessed, it doesn't appear to be as taboo as it might have once been. i think it's just become more expected that you're going to find someone where you work, i mean that's where you're spending all your time. especially these days where the 9-5 isn't as prevalent and it's becoming more common to be even more involved in your work, spending overtime there to get work done. go home only to do more coding (i'm in the business/tech industry). combine this with more prevalent sexuality and i can't say i'm surprised. wasn't there an article about women cheating more that was just posted here?
anyway, i think if both adults are mature about the situation it doesn't have to become a big deal. i had a friend that was going out with a co-worker for a while, after they broke up he went back to being the same guy he was. he didn't give her the evil eye, didn't let things get awkward, just no gripes or hang ups. just treated her strictly as he had done before (ok, with less flirtation).
it helps if both parties are also on the same page, no one thinking this is love and another knowing it's probably closer to a fuck-buddy relationship.
although in your case, i think you may have slightly different issues since you're "on a break." thanks to friends, those 5 words
wonderwench just said have become immortal.
