How to deal with this colleague situation.

[Irishyapper]

A few months ago I was at work, and I looked up and noticed a colleague looking at me, he looked away quickly when I realised.
Ever since then, he will talk to me when others are around, even once stopped his conversation with someone when I passed to ask how I am. Very friendly and jokey.
However, this is where it gets awkward. Whenever we are alone, he cant get away from me fast enough!
He will put his head down and hurry away, at first I thought I was been paranoid, but my colleague noticed the other day as she was behind him, and made a comment about 'somebodys in a rush!' so it is noticeable.
I was in the store room today and heard somebody rush past, i didnt even need to look up to know it was him.
Its starting to make me feel really uncomfortable and awkward now.

I honestly dont know how to act around him. I hate any type of atmosphere or awkwardness. Im starting to think he was day dreaming and now hes avoiding looking at me incase I think anything of it.
Any ideas? Definitely will not be talking to him about it, I dont know him well enough or want to make him feel uncomfortable.

He sounds like he's scared of you. Are you scary? Do you go to work dressed as a clown? Christ, those guys are terrifying. Makes me shudder thinking about it.

I've reported this post as I suspect you're a scary clown

Any ideas? Definitely will not be talking to him about it, I dont know him well enough or want to make him feel uncomfortable

If you don’t want to say anything to him about it, then your options are limited, unless you want to casually mention to one of his work friends that you think you’ve upset him because he acts like you’re a plague carrier whenever he sees you, in the hope it will get back to him.

He could fancy you, he could be shy, he could be good in a group but have crippling anxiety with people he doesn’t know very well, he could just be a bit quirky. Personally I’d just smile in his general direction and call out ‘morning’ as you see him rushing off. If he ignores you, then the next time he’s friendly with you, just say hi and keep walking. Don’t stop to chat. If he’s got a crush on you, he doesn’t get to make you feel uncomfortable at work.

Sounds like he's an anxious sort. Possibly he's worried that after catching him looking at you, you think he's some kind of creep, so he's attempting to be friendly to you in safe situations when there are people around (to show he's not a creep) while avoiding being alone with you for the same reason.

Or he fancies you and finds it awkward.

I know a lot of people would want to get to the bottom of this, but personally I'd just ignore the odd behavior. There's no point encouraging drama at work.

Thanks for the advice.
Its happened again as I've walked in this morning, I was going to smile and say hi but didnt get the chance.

@RitaFromThePitCanteen i think you have hit the nail on the head with your first opinion. This makes alot of sense.

I am mostly worried that more people will start noticing or the same colleague will notice again, put 2 and 2 together, know its me he is avoiding and that in itself start gossip. I just wish i didnt notice him looking now!
Hes actually seems a really nice guy so the thought of him being a creep was the furthest thing from my mind.

Maybe he's just someone who finds one-to-one small talk really difficult and scuttles off to avoid it. I bet he does the same to everyone. Standing in a group for a chat is quite different from just chatting to one person; he's probably just a socially anxious type.

Just ignore and treat him as you would treat any other colleague.

I've got a similar situation. My colleague makes a bee line to adjust his position so that he can look at me, but never speaks to me. Honestly, I've assumed he's a little infatuated and embarrassed about it. I'm well known to be happily married and lots of my team have met my DH. I just leave it. The awkwardness is his, nothing really to do with me. He really doesn't know me at all, so it isn't truly personal, iyswim.

This is the only plausible explanation. Begone scary clown.

Most likely he is attracted to you but feels he can't attempt to pursue it. Perhaps he's shy, perhaps he is terrified that any approach would be seen as sexual harassment. It would explain why he's friendly to you in the safety of a group setting but scared to be alone with you.

Either that or he thinks you are attracted to him. If this is the case he might be friendly when around others because you're unlikely to try anything on in that situation.

Deleted - wrong thread.