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Relationships

My crush now appears to like me - what's he up to?

34 replies

witteringon · 03/03/2013 14:20

I am single, 40s, no kids, decided after my last relationship that I preferred being single and have been happily so for the past 10 years.

But there's a man who I work with - also in his 40s, married for a long time - who I have always liked, and thought that if he were single and I was interested in relationships, he'd be just my type. I never got the impression that he was into me at all though.

Then last autumn he just said out of the blue that he had moved out of his house and had to make a decision whether to separate from his wife. This triggered a massive crush - I guess because he was suddenly potentially available. I read up here on the Relationships board about similar situations and worked out that he almost certainly had an OW. So I decided to just try to get rid of the crush. Avoided him as much as I could, tried not to think about him, didn't ask him or anyone else any questions about his personal life. I just wanted him out of my head. He may have noticed the crush as I was very awkward around him for a while. I also lost a lot of weight, but credited this to a diet Smile

We have a mutual friend who he confides in, who later dropped hints to me about a 'girlfriend', so it looks like there is in fact an OW.

He then moved to a branch in another town - the story was that it was so he could move in with his brother who lives there, although I imagine it was to be with the OW. He still has to come in to our branch sometimes though.

So six months have passed and my crush had petered out, but lately when he's in our office he's been very very friendly with me. I thought I was possibly imagining the flirting until another coworker made a sarcastic comment to him (like 'you obviously want a shag'). So now he's back in my head again.

So what's the most likely situation now?

He has no interest in doing anything, but wants to get me crushing on him again for the ego boost?

He wants a fling when he's working in our town, whilst still in a relationship with the OW? He probably thinks I don't know about her.

He's splitting from the OW and looking for a new GF? (If only...)

I could try getting information from the mutual friend, but I'm worried that this would be showing my hand.

I think I should just try to forget about him again and possibly find someone outside work to have a fling with, to get it out of my system.

Convince me Smile

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oopsadaisymaisy · 03/03/2013 14:24

I'm probably not the best person to comment but in my experience men just love the attention. I get it lots! Bloody men! Well, only some men, not all men :)

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SanctuaryMoon · 03/03/2013 15:05

Sorry but this guy sounds awful, i would stay well away!

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witteringon · 03/03/2013 15:34

Oh dear I have made him sound awful, haven't I. He's actually very quiet and sweet and kind. I don't know why though, but I just have the slight niggle that underneath all that he could be a player. Even though his flirting is a bit too obvious, like he's not really used to doing it.

He probably does just want the attention Sad

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hellocatty · 03/03/2013 15:36

well he probably does like you - so what?? he sounds like an idiot so give him a wide berth for a bit until you can suss out if he is worth it or not.

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TomDudgeon · 03/03/2013 15:47

From what you say he's a cheater so its not worth even considering going there

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witteringon · 03/03/2013 16:24

Tom, yes, it doesn't look good does it.

Although I did read on here somewhere that 95% of men who walk out on marriages have another woman to go to (which is how I worked out that he must have!). So do non-cheaters just stay in unhappy marriages? Or do most men in unhappy marriages become cheaters to make the break? This has puzzled me.

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badinage · 03/03/2013 16:31

Why do you assume that his marriage ended because he was unhappy? Confused

Isn't it just as possible that he cheated and was thrown out? Or that his wife ended the marriage because she was unhappy? Or that his head was briefly turned by an OW and he mistakenly thought this was love, but his marriage was basically fine until he had an affair?

But isn't this irrelevant anyway if he's in a relationship and cheated to get it?

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Hissy · 03/03/2013 16:37

"He's actually very quiet and sweet and kind"

... and he had an OW.

That cancels out the sweet and kind bit.

Why are you so desperate for anyone that would look at you? why are you even considering that if this guy is back on the market that you should hurl yourself at him?

Slow down, if he left his wife (and kids?) for another woman, he would do the same to you. Cheats DO take OW and then cheat on them in turn.

Forget this guy, sign up to internet dating, go out for a few non-serious dates to toughen your hide up a bit, don't get too emotionally involved to begin with and give yourself some value and self worth.

If you behave anything like the way you come across on here, he will be seeing 'Easy Shag' and given his history....

Don't sell yourself short, you are worth more than someone like him.

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Mollydoggerson · 03/03/2013 16:38

Why not wait until he asks you out, and then ask him straighout what the story is?

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witteringon · 03/03/2013 16:40

He said that he was deciding whether to leave or not. I suppose I just assumed that, if he was happy there, he wouldn't want to leave. I agree though, the marriage may have been happy until he had an affair. I don't know.

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badinage · 03/03/2013 16:51

Yeah but his wife might have insisted he moved out and then when he wouldn't give up the OW, forced his hand and gave him the order of the boot. That happens a lot. So what he might have meant was that he had to make a choice between the two relationships and because the OW one was all shiny and new, he was in lust and didn't want it to end, especially if he'd been found out.

Either way, this is a bloke who cheated on his wife and if he asks you out, is looking to cheat on the OW too.

What's to like?

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witteringon · 03/03/2013 16:54

Hissy, I'm really not desperate for anyone. My problem is that I got a crush on him and it's completely thrown me. I know I need to forget him, really.

What I would really like is to go back to how I was this time last year. Single and happy with it. Maybe I should just give it more time.

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MsCellophane · 03/03/2013 17:01

I would be finding out if there was a GF first, you are only assuming

I know lots of marriages that have ended without anyone else, especially long ones - mine was one of them. And I ended the marriage as I wasn't happy. The last person I dated ended his marriage as his wife had OM. Why assume he cheated?

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witteringon · 03/03/2013 17:08

badinage - He could have meant that. And if he is still with OW and asks me out that does indicate he's a serial cheater. Not good.

I'm still curious as to why all men who leave marriages seem to do it via affairs though. It's like there's not a good and bad set of marriage leavers: they are all the same.

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witteringon · 03/03/2013 17:10

MsCellophane I hadn't read your post before writing my last one (slow typer).

I did a lot of research initially to find out what the various scenarios were - and there did just seem to be the one.

And he has definitely had a gf in the last few months.

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bingodiva · 03/03/2013 17:15

sounds like he wasnt happy with his marriage and left and then someone else came along. if he is very quiet and his flirting obvious doesnt sound like he is a player... you, and some other people on here, seem to have focussed on all the negative stuff and made him out to be a bad person because he left his marriage so of course it must be his fault after all hes a man

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zzzzz · 03/03/2013 17:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

witteringon · 03/03/2013 17:32

I do think he left for an OW. Sorry, I didn't mention this before but there are a few other things that the mutual friend has said which point to this, but are a bit tenuous - I think he was kind of trying to tell me without telling me, IYKWIM.

But you are correct that I have no hard information.

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Hissy · 03/03/2013 18:32

OK then, but then this crush is a SIGN to you. It is the awakening of you.

It's not about HIM per se, it's about the idea of a man that DOES deserve you. You know that he is not good enough for you, and you know that you don't need to stoop to picking up a cheat for a boyf.

What this is, is a message to you to remind you what it feels like to be attracted to and desire someone.

You know that you can be single and happy, and that in itself gives great strength. Now that you have learned to be YOU, and to be happy with yourself, the big wide world is saying to you that you can't keep all that wonderfulness to yourself! You are ready for the next stage in your life!

How about getting back into dating, and filtering out the undesirables, you have the power and nous to do that now.

By allowing yourself to get hung up on someone that turned your head, you haven't seen that this person is merely a representation of what you need to be doing next.

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allaflutter · 03/03/2013 19:00

I understand what you are saying OP - I'm also puzzled my the black-and-white mentality on MN that once a cheater always a cheater. But in fast there IS a type of situation when marriage is stale and unloving on both sides and then a man (or a woman) cheats and leaves, in these cases there is no shock to the spouse. Obviously sometimes it's a one-sided unhappiness, but I also cringe that on MN no one considers the mutual unhappiness when it's a matter of time. My father divorced my mother early on because OW got pregnant but also really even my Mum concedes that they married vey young and were wrong for each other - not that it wan't painful for her. He married OW and lived with her for 15 or so yrs but later admitted that marriage was only happy for 4 yrs, and they slept in sep rooms for the last 5yrs as I visited and knew about this (had a DD together). The marriage was a shell where my father lost all imterest in his wife for various reasons and lived like neighbours - THEN the OW appeared (at his workplace) and put an effort towards him even though he wasn't confident as she was younger, and they've ended up together. Wife kicked up a big fuss financially and got what sge wanted but she knew full well marriage was over a while ago. Now he's been with this new woman for 8yrs and everyoine can see that they ARE really com[atible unlike his previous wives - ther is no way on earth he'll cheat on her as their r-ship is solid, and yes, he's much older than he was before but still. He couldn't divorce once he net ow but before getting involved because wife WOULDN'T agree to divorce so they just went to live together, so according to mn logic he's just a cheat and a bad person. Well neither he nor his prev wife are bad but they had a bad r-ship, and he was absolutel right to go with OW (and paid with a mild heart attack even). Yes, men don't like going off by themselves mainly because - they have to leave family home, pay wife and kids and they have nothing to live on (rent/buy) unless very wealthy. So it makes all the sense that they will wait for an ow first. When a woman leaves marriage, esp with child she CAN be living on her own more realistically as exH pays and leaves them the flat/house - at worst she can get benefits and accomodation fron the state.
As to your guy - I think you have to let him ask you out if he wants to, but don't rush into things, getto know his situation. Nothing wrong with slightly encouraging him with smiling etc., if he's already paying you attention. he may well be single now.

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allaflutter · 03/03/2013 19:02

Bear in mind, OP, that ow might have finished with him, so he could be free. She could also have never been serious gf, just a rebound after a bad marriage.

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badinage · 03/03/2013 22:27

Yes, men don't like going off by themselves mainly because - they have to leave family home, pay wife and kids and they have nothing to live on (rent/buy) unless very wealthy. So it makes all the sense that they will wait for an ow first.

Well that would only be logical if the OW had enough money of her own to fund his lifestyle, otherwise why would it 'only make sense' to leave if there was an OW? Confused

There is of course the rather avant-garde option of leaving an unhappy marriage with dignity, without lies and then living on one's own.

But then of course such men would have to do all their own domestic tasks and look after their children on their own......and that would never do, would it?

I think you'll find that's why men in particular wait until there's another woman before leaving home.

Whereas women leave marriages for all sorts of reasons and they certainly don't all live off their ex husbands or the benefit system.

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allaflutter · 03/03/2013 23:35

yes, and I wasn't talking about 'all women'', badinage, but the law remains such that a mother with a child up to 16/17 gets the family flat/house (unless the father was main child carer while she worked, still a small minority), whereas the man has to leave - indeed that also for him means doing domestic chores but I'd say that's not a younger man's worry anymore as they tend to get married late these days and look after themselves for a while before marriage. Also I did say, exception for the wealthhy (both sides). For the average woman there is still SECURiTY just in case she doesn' earn enough or she becomes unwell or the child becomes unwell, that exH has to pay child maintenance. I'm coverung the average here, not a dozen of more unusual cases where exH is a bankrupt etc,etc. A man looses out financially when leaving and while he doesn't have to fund the OW's lifestyle, she's likely to own a property, either as a decent rental where he contributes, or property that HER ex left her (esp if she has dc). Plus OW may motivate him to take risks and to feel he's not losing out for nothing. The fact remains (so far) that majority of married men leave when there is an ow, whereas women leave often to be by themselves.

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badinage · 03/03/2013 23:47

I think a lot of that is old hat nowadays. Spousal maintenance and the primary carer keeping the house until the kids are independent are quite rare now actually. I wish you were right about younger men being prepared to do their own domestic work, but the threads on this board suggest otherwise......

Unless in a situation of wealth, both men and women lose out financially after a divorce - but especially the person who's left as the primary carer for whom earning money is difficult because of childcare. All the studies show that over an average lifetime, women suffer more financial losses after divorce than men. The trend towards shared parenting might equalise those losses a bit more, but it's much easier for a single parent to work and earn money if a new partner or ex partner are looking after the children, because paid childcare is so expensive.

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allaflutter · 03/03/2013 23:56

but wouldn't the single parent (who divorced) have to pay for that childcare if the primary carer (wife mostly) is either workking patr time or staying at home? if she's sahm with a smal child and can argue that she can't get a well paid job (i.e. never had one before) then he has to maintain her and child at least for a while, plus she can claim something or work part time) - it's ironically worse for higher=paid women who hire childcare and pay most bills after H left - unless again he earnd a lot more.

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