I started a new job in manufacturing a few months ago, and there’s a guy at work I think is cute. I’d catch him looking at me, he’d catch me looking at him, and every once in a while we’d both get caught at the same time. We managed all of this without saying a word to each other.
One night I was hanging out with my sister, we’d had a few drinks, and we ended up scrolling through his Facebook. A few years back, he’d made a post saying he was bored and people should hit him up. He’d put his phone number right there. By the time I saw it, he’d had years to find something to do, but I sent a text anyway.
My opening line was, “I’ll die if this is still your number.” It was. Once I got over that, I asked why he’d never talked to me at work. He said he was bad at starting conversations. Given how I’d started this one, I felt like I was in no position to judge.
On Monday I finally talked to him in person and apologized for being a creep. We’ve chatted a few times since. He smiles and laughs when we talk, and it feels easy enough once one of us actually says something. Then we go back to work, and that’s where it ends. He hasn’t started a text conversation with me.
I’m 25 and he’s 33. I’m also separated, and he’s heard about that. I don’t know whether that matters to him or whether he’s just happy to chat when we happen to be in the same place. I already know he’s bad at starting conversations, but I also know what my phone looks like when nobody’s texting me. Did I make it weird, or is he just being friendly at work?
