My coworker approached me, asked for my number, and said she wanted a relationship. As openings go, that seemed fairly clear. I didn’t have to examine the punctuation or consult anyone about what a wave across the room might mean.
I told her I’d never been in a relationship before. She said we could be friends first. That sounded reasonable to me: start with friendship, see how things went. I understood the word “first” to be doing some work.
We went out. At one point, she fed me while I was driving, which I hadn’t expected. It didn’t settle anything, but it added to my impression that this might be heading somewhere. My experience was limited; my collection of confusing details was growing nicely.
A few days later, I asked whether she was still interested in me. She said no. She just wanted to be friends.
That confused me, given how the whole thing had started. Still, she had answered a direct question, so I took her answer at face value. We were friends. Whatever I’d thought was happening, that was where things stood.
Later, I openly talked to her about wanting to ask another woman out. It seemed like a normal thing to discuss now that we’d established the friendship. She gave me advice and encouragement.
And somehow, I’m still unsure how to read her. Is she attracted to me, or is she simply being supportive about my chances with someone else? Her clearest answer was that she wanted friendship. I’m trying to keep up with that answer without turning every encouraging word into another plot development.
