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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

Being a secret admirer - clever, or just a bit creepy?

134 replies

ThePrague · 20/06/2015 20:55

I've join MN purely to get peeps opinion, as I anticipate that I'll get a fair, honest and measured hearing here compared to forums I normally frequent where it's likely I'll get laughed outta town!

Anyway, I'll try and make this as short as possible without leaving out any vital information:

I'm a guy in my late twenties and have started a new job about a month ago. Incidentally, the job is great but it's not exactly what I'm used to or something which find really fulfilling but jobs and job and hopefully I can move on next year. ANYWAY....

So, on my first week I get ferried across departments, basically to sit with and understand their roles before starting my actual job in the second week. On the third day, I'm sitting with one of the guys as his talking me through what his doing when this girls walks past, I smiled at her and she smiled back. (she must have been off on the second day when I was in her dept).

Now, I'm not stupid, I know she was smiling to be polite. However, I think you know where this is going, so yeah, my heart skipped a beat, literally everything I find attractive, I'm actually amazed I smiled rather than my jaw hitting the floor!

Now, we're three weeks out and I can't stop thinking about her. Massive crush, and the horrible thing is I have never spoken to her, and the chances of being able to engineer the opportunity are slim to none - different departments on different floors, different lunchtime, and on the odd occasion she has been in my office, it's impossible for me to just straight up go and talk to her because it's just going to get people asking questions - it's a very quiet dept. She doesn't seem to know I'm even there :(

The other issue with just talking to her, other than the aforementioned impossibility, is that I'm been burned before, the 'friend-zone' nonsense making it impossible to go further without upsetting things. In short, [i]I don't want to be her friend[/I], to put it bluntly.

I do know bits about her - I'm quite certain she is single, she is popular, respected and appears altogether lovely.

So, after a lot of thought, I'm sitting here thinking the only safe, practical and least potentially creepy option is to become a 'secret admirer'.

IF I go through with this, I had this itinerary in mind:

Week 1 - Leave flowers with a small handwritten note on/in the boot of her car (she sometimes drive her parents SUV), on the days when she finishes later than me. I figured that this is least likely to a) be noticed by anyone else, b) unlikely to come across in any way as creepy, and c) show her that I'm thoughtful and a little brave. In the note I'd say something along the lines of "if you liked the flowers, say thank you on your Facebook (we're not FB friends but it's and open account)", which obviously would give me the go ahead for...

Week 2 - this is where it turns a bit brave. Now, leaving something on her car again will just be a bit one dimensional as I've done it once, so I'd send chocolates to her VIA WORK, so that she'd have them delivered to her department and everyone she works with would see it! The logic being that she would share the chocolates, let on to them about the flowers, and then her colleagues would basically do my work for me by pushing her to keep going. Again, in the note would be the Facebook thank you line to confirm back to me that she is still interested.

Now, at this stage I'm a little unsure of whether to go for a third gift (what else is there?!), or go for the big one...

Week 3 - I would book a table at a nice restaurant, and then send her (again via the post at work) an invitation to a date. The only risk is that I book on night she can't attend. Again, asking her to confirm on Facebook.

What do we think? I'm a little unsure on the Facebook element, but the only alternative is to set-up an email address, but the problem there is that she might be hesitant to share her personal email address, though I suppose she could use her work email address.

OP posts:
BastardGoDarkly · 20/06/2015 21:21

Well all I can say is thank fuck you asked here first!

Bless you, you do need to ask her outright, can't you email her work email address? Explain its difficult to see her around, and you don't want everyone asking questions.

ThePrague · 20/06/2015 21:22

It's a weird place, I don't really understand either. For example, I've had a situation where I could have brought something to her department (paperwork), and the supervisor got all funny when I offered to run it down. Obviously that would have been a chance right there.

The fact we don't have the same lunches is a real opportunity killer.

@ squitchey - he just added you on FB, and you accepted without knowing him?

OP posts:
SoozeyHoozey · 20/06/2015 21:23

Email her at work or message her/add her on fb. You're making this far more complicated than it needs to be.

ThePrague · 20/06/2015 21:24

@ BastardGoDarkly

Yeah, this is what four weeks or trying not to think about it can do LOL

OP posts:
2boys2girls · 20/06/2015 21:24

I agree with baies, pop note on car but nothing else, I actually did this once and it worked :-)

flatbellyfella · 20/06/2015 21:25

If you don't get a move on quick, I may ask her out.......

The Ball is in your corner. Smile

27inmyhead · 20/06/2015 21:25

Friend request her on Facebook now!

midnightvelvet01 · 20/06/2015 21:25

Can you swap lunchtimes one day with someone who has the same time as her?

Could you catch her in the lift in the morning or on her way home?

Cherriesandapples · 20/06/2015 21:26

A man who says "peeps!" - I'm so glad I am not in the dating game!

#wherehavealltheREALmengone

ThePrague · 20/06/2015 21:28

Creepy/overthinking it/complicated. Yeah, definitely building a picture now!

I'm not socially dysfunctional normally, this is a just a situation which I have never come across before. Well, I would say that wouldn't I?! No, but I hope you can see that I just want to give myself the best chance her, and I don't want to come across as cheap and/or a player.

OP posts:
squitchey · 20/06/2015 21:29

"@ squitchey - he just added you on FB, and you accepted without knowing him?"

I can't remember the exact sequence of events - I think he added me and sent me a message at the same time. I didn't know him, but the place he'd seen me was a small event with a very specific type of audience, and I was able to look up his name to check, so I gambled on him not being a weirdo (most people aren't weirdos!). The message he wrote was sweet too, he rambled on for ages about not being a stalker. He didn't ask me out initially, we chatted for a bit first.

flatbellyfella · 20/06/2015 21:30

Let her tyres down, then be around to pump them up with a superman outfit on..... & a foot pump.

KatieScarlettreregged · 20/06/2015 21:31

Flatbelly, that is terrible Grin

midnightvelvet01 · 20/06/2015 21:32

I ignore random men who send me fb invites unless we have mutual friends, do you have any mutual friends with her?

Plus are you confident with women, do you have much experience? Not trying to be offensive but there's no point my shouting TALK TO HER if you would clam up or start wittering at her.

Cabrinha · 20/06/2015 21:33

Flipping hell I'd run a mile and be totally creeped out!
Facebook. Say "hi - I work in x dept - how are you?". Take it from there.

ThePrague · 20/06/2015 21:34

I suppose adding on FB would at least quickly eliminate any doubt. Again, just concerned that she'll reject out of simply not recognising me. Pretty sure she would recognise my name - it's pretty memorable and she has had to close some of my reports on the works system.

Obv I'm just concerned that she'll go and tell other people that "the new guy tried to add me, he must be weird.

OP posts:
midnightvelvet01 · 20/06/2015 21:35

Flat that's dreadful, you will get him arrested.

Plus can I clarify an earlier post of mine, when I told the op to put his big boy pants on I wasn't talking penises. In hindsight I should've said grown up pants.....

ThePrague · 20/06/2015 21:35

@ flatbellyfella - this is something you've actually done, isn't it? :D

OP posts:
flatbellyfella · 20/06/2015 21:37

I watch too much children's TV...

EhricLovesTheBhrothers · 20/06/2015 21:37

This is a woman you have seen once, right? Not even spoken to? Why are you so obsessed with asking her out? Do You even know she's single?

ThePrague · 20/06/2015 21:39

@ Midnight - if by confident you mean, can I go up to her and ask her out for a drink straight off the bat, then yeah I'd find that difficult. I'm concerned that I might just be overly friendly. I don't want to put her on the spot either, wouldn't it be a bit weird to ask someone out first time your spoke to them? As I say, my experience so far is that weeks could go by without speaking again.

OP posts:
KatieScarlettreregged · 20/06/2015 21:42

You need to talk to her. Practice if you have to. You might not even like her after that. Imagine you going all over the top with grand gestures, she falls for it, you go out and she turns out to be a racist dimwit whose laugh sets your teeth on edge and reeks of BO?
Extrication could be somewhat embarrassing given all the fuss.

TyrannosaurusBex · 20/06/2015 21:43

I temped with a big company for a while and a guy from a different floor always smiled and said hi whenever he saw me, he was alway on his way to the lift as no reason to be in my department. Anyway, after a few weeks he asked me out and I said yes - I was always very upbeat when he spoke to me, so he knew he was getting the green light. (Turned out he'd deliberately used the lift near me and had the whole thing planned, but he felt the end justified the means!) I might have said no if he'd asked me out immediately, but after all the smiling and 'hello'ing (he was very consistent!) I felt well disposed toward him.

ThePrague · 20/06/2015 21:44

@ Ehric - like I've said, it's the time/opportunity factor that really isn't helping. If we were in the same dept then it would be very different. I suppose you could argue that I shouldn't be so concerned if she reacts badly simply because we aren't walking together, but by the same token I don't want a situation potentially where people's initial opinion of me is based on me getting rejected (though I appreciate that would be hilarious for everyone but me).

OP posts:
EhricLovesTheBhrothers · 20/06/2015 21:47

That's not what I asked. I asked why you are so obsessed with asking out someone you don't actually know? It's a bit unusual. Are you projecting a personality onto her do you think?