I’m a little confused, but in a happy(?) way. I don’t know what to make of this, and ultimately I’m the only one who can find out, but I’m interested in opinions.
I was hired at my current job 4.5 years ago. On my first day, the woman who made the decision on my hire showed me around the office. Here are the bathrooms, here’s the watercooler, here’s where you can get some lunch. This is Heather, she’s a secretary, this is Joe, he works in finance, this is Barbara, she’s the office manager, this is L, she’s in research, this is Edwina she’s a secretary, etc.
Wanting to make friends fast, I made little mental notes on each person I was introduced to. Barbie doll babe who is really friendly, seems like a cool guy, watch out for her because she looks like a bitch, oh my fucking god this babe is so incredible that even though I’ve only seen the back of her head this is the woman that I’m destined share my entire life with and when I’m an old and wrinkly tdn I want her old and wrinkly self holding my hand in the nursing home so we can look into each other’s eyes one last loving time IloveherIloveherIloveherIloveher, seems like a nice lady, etc.
Heather is truly a babe, Joe became a friend who died under mysterious circumstances, Barbara turned out to be a super bitch, and Edwina is a lot of fun.
I didn’t start this thread to talk about them. This is about L. (Name unusual enough that I don’t want to expose her to a google search. It rhymes with the lyrics of every love song you’ve ever heard.)
L and I hit it off instantly. Like (as my fevered brain imagined) we were instantly old friends. And sometimes our dealings seemed flirtatious. Sometimes really flirtatious. Alas, it was not meant to be. I was in a long-term relationship, and she was a newlywed.
But the flirts came and went over the years. This one time, at a holiday outing, when I said goodbye to everyone, I got a few hugs. (The one from Heather was really nice!) L not only hugged me, but a mutual kiss happened. I was aiming for her cheek, but I think she was going for my lips. Our not-so-mutual targets ended up with me kissing her eyebrow and her grazing my shoe. It was awkward.
Things like this happen. Inconvenient and inappropriate office crushes abound, and when acting on them constitutes cheating, you don’t act on them.
Around a year and a half ago, I found out, through a fortune cookie no less, that she was no longer counted among the blissfully wed. Wow. What fucking moron would ever let her go? Perhaps she escaped.
Two months ago, my girlfriend and I had a little falling out.
“Do you think we should see other people?”
“I don’t know. Maybe we should.”
“In general, or with someone specific?”
“In general I guess. Maybe someone specific.”
“Who?”
“You don’t know her. Someone from work.”
"How long has this been going on?
“Um… Four and a half years?”
" :eek: "
We were over.
I’ve bored the Dope with abridged accounts of these stories before. Just getting the newbies up to speed.
So I finally worked up the superhero-like courage to ask L out. She said yes. I made my cowardly escape like I had commited some shameful crime. I was shaking like an overcaffeinated epileptic on one of those kiddie rides outside the supermarket. But she said yes! W00t!
The next morning, I got an e-mail from her. Pretty much “Thanks for asking me out, but I’m kind of seeing someone right now. Let’s just be friends.” A few e-mails later, we’d wished each other happiness, agreed that there was nothing to be had here, and let’s pretend this never happened.
The dream was over. Crushed heart in aisle four.
After that, a funny thing happened. When I saw her at work, she was – cool. Not cold, not unfriendly, just professional. Friendly, but no more so than with any other coworkers. That is, when other coworkers were around. In the rare times when we are alone together, she’s not quite as cool. 23.7% warmer, in fact. It’s like we share some terrible secret, and it’s fun that we both know it but don’t talk about it. We can talk about Idol, Evil Bitch Barbara, or the awful events at Virgina Tech, but the whole time we’ll both be grinning ear-to-ear, and looking intently into each other’s eyes.
Yes, patient readers, I’m coming to my question.
But our relationship was different. Better.
On Tuesday, I casually mentioned that I’m going to spend Memorial Day at a favorite seaside resort. Alone this year, unfortunately. I miss my girlfriend sometimes.
“Great!”, said L. “Let me know when you know the details. We can get together and go for a walk or something!”
:eek:
I don’t remember how I answered her. I’d like to believe it was “Cool. Yeah.” I think it was more “Really? Wow! Marry me! Omigodomigodomigod!”
Nothing more was said about it.
She normally leaves work before I do. Yesterday (Friday), just before five, when I was getting ready to leave, I got a phone call. It was L. Here’s the gist of the conversation, which actually lasted about ten minutes:
“I was wondering if you had plans for tonight.”
“Oh. Really? Uh… Actually, I do. Why?”
“I’m going to a concert with some friends, and we have an extra ticket. I was hoping you could come.”
This was followed by a lengthy conversation about how she really hoped I would have a great time with my plans, really, have a fantastic time, I’m glad you’re going to have a good time, see you on Monday. Her well-wishes lingered for a long time.
So what’s up with that? Was she really just desperate to be rid of a superfluous ticket?
