Should I wait a little longer

[Magicnestdream]

I was on a long train journey last week, around 2.5 hours. Carriage over crowded and few people moving seats.
A guy ended up sitting next to me and started chatting. General stuff really, work, weekends, what id been doing in London that day as I mentioned I lived out the area etc etc.
A few occasions when I excused myself to answer my phone or go to the bathroom, he continued conversation and even turned his phone down and suggested ' work can wait' so we could continue chatting.
He asked a bit about me and seemed genuinely interested.
I'm divorced as a few months ago and just felt a lovely energy from this guy. Nothing flirty just a really nice chat for 2 hours or so and quite refreshing given most people are heads down in phones or have earphones .
Ive never asked for someone's number so didn't when I left but wish I did. He didn't ask for mine.

He made a point before I left the train telling me his company name though and even spelt it (it's quite unusual and could be spelt multiple ways)
Anyway I found his company and didn't know his name or anything but worked it out to send a message on LinkedIn to say thanks for the chat and you know where to find me. Short and sweet.
He replied a couple of days later after bank holiday with a lovely upbeat message saying how nice it was to meet and a couple of questions about my weekend. He even remembered something quite specific about my weekend so showed he was listening!)
Didn't ask for my number so maybe just being polite but he did message back.
I left it until later that day to repy, again something quite short but friendly. Replied to his qs about the wkend.
I mentioned on reflection I should have asked for his number and if he wanted to carry on chatting or kill another train journey/ grab a coffee next time he's in the area here was my number...quite light hearted.
That was Tues and nothing since tho he did take 3 days to reply to first message.
So being really new to all 'this' , could he be interested? why message at all if he's not bothered ? If not was I too forward? Just felt brave for once. I've had cancer 3 years ago and just reflected life's too short to not make the effort in meeting people..even as friends.

Advice welcome for someone finding their feet. I just felt it was a bit of a sliding doors moment especially as it's not my usual train route, id moved trains, and train was late and we ended up moving seats. And he started the conversation.
One friend said to send a follow up message but saying what ? Should I apologise for being too forward? Maybe he's shy? If he's not bothered I'm ok with that but would be nice to know either way. Weird to bother replying initially if to then go silent.

Loved reading you got a reply 😊 please keep us updated I’m totally invested now !

So I sent a short and breezy reply saying nice to hear from him and a coffee would be great, will keep him posted when I'm next in London etc... plus if he's ever in my neck of the woods then shout also.

He replied within a couple of hours saying he's generally in London every other week but just landed at Heathrow so can be tricky to make plans..(that may explain the reason for delay.) wasn't sure if that was a polite of saying he's too busy...

But then he messaged again to say .".but do let him know when I'm heading that way as it would be great to chat some more..." 😊

Not sure if I should just continue some messages to find out a bit more about him? If he's just wanting friends I don't want to scare him off but would he continue to message ?

He remembered why I was in London, the day we met and asked how that a project was going which was nice. (I'd done some filming for a cancer charity campaign as I'm a breast cancer survivor, and he made a little comment about how being famous is going..!)

Should I try and get a day to meet up...even if not straight away but maybe in the next few weeks to keep some momentum without being overly keen ?! Or just message and see what comes up from chatting?

This is lovely!

I think you should keep chatting/messaging as you said you’re not in London very often.
He expressed interest in your weekend activities, and your charity project so he must’ve felt a connection too. Hopefully you’ll be able to judge by the tone and length of his replies if he wants to continue to message.
Or - (shocking idea) you could just be blunt and ask him… 😉
Something along the lines of “I don’t want to be a nuisance if you’re too busy to reply/chat on phone, and would rather wait until we meet up?”

Could you fabricate an excuse to be in the area?
and please do let us know when you see him again - even if he just ends up being a new friend, it’s encouraging and positive story

Honestly? I think he had a partner and that’s why he was reluctant at first and then popped up again after a few more days, he probably couldn’t reply whilst he was at home with the wife and kids.

Maybe I am just cynical but I would watch the reply pattern.

@TrimayrAcademy He definitely doesn't have children as that came up when we were chatting about school runs plus when we spoke there was no mention of "we" or "us" in terms of a partner or wife. Not saying that's a given but when he spoke about his plans he used 'i" a lot rather than "we" and would have thought he would have dropped it in even accidentally if he was with someone.
I would ask but kind of feels a little obvious!
He knows I'm divorced as spoke of my ex husband etc.

@StrangerOnline Thanks for your message.
He seemed keen yesterday as replied within a couple of hours and then had several messages one after the other. Nothing too long just a few lines but emphasised that although he was travelling a lot he definitely would like to catch up for coffee.
I would like to know 100% if he has a partner though but tricky to just ask without it sounding like I'm making a play for him!
In my message I did suggest that even if I wasn't in London soon I could come up in a ' a few weeks" to catch up ...so see what he says to that!