I met her on a tour in Asia because I thought she was American. She wasn’t, but by the time we’d cleared that up, we were already having a good conversation. We spent the rest of the tour together and met up again that afternoon for dinner. It was a surprisingly good outcome for an opening based on being wrong.
By dinner I’d decided she was cute and interesting, and I’d started wondering if there was something between us. Somewhere in that same conversation she told me she was pretty down on dating and hadn’t felt attracted to anyone lately. I took her at her word and went back to enjoying dinner.
We booked the same tour for the next day. Since we were staying at different hotels, we ended up on different buses, which is an impressively literal way to miss someone you’ve made plans with. She found me when we got there, and we hung out for a while. At the end of the tour I waited by the buses to say goodbye. She was leaving for her next stop in the morning, but she said she’d text me and we’d see each other later.
And we did. We went out again that afternoon and got something to eat. Afterward, she went off to meet up with some other people, and I went back to my hotel. The next day, once she’d moved on, I debated sending a text. Normally I would’ve kept the crush to myself. We live in different countries and were already headed in different directions. Still, I wanted to tell her I’d liked meeting her.
I texted that I’d developed a little crush because I found her interesting, creative, and attractive. I said I meant it as a compliment and didn’t expect anything in return. She didn’t reply. It turns out you can sincerely expect nothing and still check your phone.
Maybe she just liked hanging out with me. I liked hanging out with her too, and I hope the message didn’t make those two days feel awkward in hindsight. When you’re having that much fun with somebody and you’re about to go your separate ways, do you tell them you have a crush, or do you just say you had a great time and leave it there?
