Oh, baby, it could only happen on Capitol Hill.

In deepest recesses of a Senate office building, there is an encounter. Charges of sexual harassment follow. A confidential memo is written. Information is leaked to the media. Damage control begins. And in the thick of it all stands the staff of Sen. Charles S. Robb, D-Va.

First, meet Bernice Harris. For more than 30 years, Bernice Harris has greeted each person moving by her coffee shop cash register as “baby,” or “precious” or, even, “sweetheart.”

And for more than 30 years, each person passing by Harris’ cash registered has accepted her terms of endearment with a smile. For some, it was an uplifting part of their morning routine.

“People don’t say they’re going to get coffee. They say they’re going to see Bernice,” said Karen Gravois, Robb’s spokeswoman. “She always keeps everyone smiling, which is saying something in this environment.”

But all that ended last week, when a young, part-time staffer from the office of Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., walked by Harris’ register. So offended was he by Harris’ salutation that he hustled back to his office and dashed off a memo stamped “confidential” and headlined “Sexual Harassment” detailing how uncomfortable being called “baby” made him feel.

When the memo reached Harris’ supervisor, the supervisor decided to transfer Harris to another Capitol Hill cafeteria, thereby avoiding any possible repeat of the encounter.

Harris would have none of that. She quit on the spot - and just three weeks shy of her eligible retirement date, therefore denying herself a full pension.

When political operatives in the Russell Office Building heard about Harris’ dilemma, they did what political operatives do. First, 22 members of Robb’s staff signed a letter of support saying any person who would make such allegations against this beloved cashier “must be fairly insecure about their maturity.”

A leak to the media was orchestrated. Roll Call, a newspaper dedicated to covering the Hill, broke the story.

The Wall Street Journal followed up.

The “Today Show” showed up at Robb’s office to interview him about it.

McConnell’s staff maintains that it was only following policies established to deal with sexual harassment charges. They said the young staffer’s hearing problem may have caused the misunderstanding. They sent Harris flowers.

Unlike so many other Washington “scandals,” this episode ends happily. Harris is back on the job. She is reluctant to call anyone “baby” for now, but Gravois predicts that with “such an outpouring of support, she may soon resume her usual demeanor.”