I'm a regular poster but have name changed for this.
A couple of years ago I met a bloke with whom there was obvious chemistry. He turned out to be married. He messaged me and suggested at one point: "getting together for a coffee." I explained that I didn't feel that was appropriate given he was married and there was clearly an attraction. He accepted my no and that was that - there was no further contact.
Recently though, we have seen eachother a couple of times again in a social group setting. The attraction is still there but I assumed we were each clear about the boundaries. I certainly would never have approached him to discuss feelings, or acted in any way I felt crossed the line. But I figured enough time had passed for us to be able to be social as part of a group and it not have to be awkward.
And all seemed ok until he told me the last time we saw eachother that it was extremely rare for him to feel this kind of connection with someone, before kissing my cheek and running his hand lightly up my stomach in quite an intimate gesture. I just sort of didn't respond due to being completely taken aback. Mutual friends were milling about and he was taking a huge risk - anyone could have seen. I just turned away from him in shock and began talking to someone else.
The next day I sent a message telling him he was out of order and had crossed a line - that I had already told him a long time ago what the score was. He apologised profusely, said he took total responsibility, and reiterated that he felt we had the sort of connection that happens rarely. He said he had taken himself by surprise; that he hadn't planned on telling me how he felt; that he was confused.
We had a short back and forth in which I explained that having an affair was not something I was prepared to do, no matter what feelings were involved, because quite apart from his wife and kids, my own self image would not stand up to it. I don't want the pain of an affair, not for anyone else and certainly not for myself. I can't do it. It's a hard limit and I'm not going to change my mind. The last thing I said was that the only circumstances under which I would consider a relationship was if he was single, living separately, and a decent amount of time (at least a few months) had passed since he had moved out. He "replied" to this with a thumbs up sign.
Since then I have gone no contact. We're not friends and I'm not going to pretend we can exchange innocent chit chat. He hasn't attempted to contact me and I haven't contacted him. He used to engage with me on social media (liking all my Facebook posts etc) and that has completely stopped too. Fine, it's the right thing to do.
But I'm finding it terribly hard to move on. I'm obsessing, if I'm honest. I'm not going to contact him again as I feel strongly I need to now leave him alone to make his decisions and get on with his life, but I wish he would offer more information. I've so many unanswered questions. If it was just a quick shag on the side he was after and he thought I might be up for that, then why the intense confession of feelings? And if he really does have these feelings then what's his plan? Why doesn't he want to communicate with me? If he cares about me then why can't he do me the favour of saying that he's sorry, he shouldn't have said what he did, and what he wants to do is focus on his marriage. I would respect that.
Mutual friends say he is a decent man. He says he has never been unfaithful to anyone in his life - that he hates that kind of thing (he has been married 20 years.)
I don't want him to leave his family for me. But if he is genuinely unhappy (to be fair he has never said that he is or talked about his wife at all really) then I hope he would do the right thing by himself and everyone else and leave. Then perhaps in six months or so we might be able to see what could happen between us? If he was single, I would want to.
I suppose I'm feeling sorry for myself. I'm in my early forties and feelings like this are rare - he is quite correct. I worry this is my last chance and blah blah blah. I wish I could just let it go and move on. I'm making myself miserable.
Help?