Valentine’s Day isn’t a “holiday” I generally celebrate. I think it’s more important to show affection, romance and appreciation year-round instead of just one day a year. This particular Valentine’s Day brought a few surprises: The first surprise came in the form of two dozen red roses from a man I had gone out on a few dates with, but didn’t think it was progressing into anything – we hadn’t even kissed. In fact, I felt as though our “relationship”, if you want to call it that, was fizzling out and we would both fade away. Guess I was wrong. All day long I dreaded having to make the phone call to thank this man, but also say no thanks. I put it off until about 4 p.m., but felt if I waited any longer it would be both disrespectful and passive aggressive. Luck happened to be on my side as I got his voice mail and was able to thank him for the roses and for his friendship. (OK, so that’s a bit passive aggressive, but it’s better than leading him on through a game of phone tag.) The second surprise was much more awkward and unsettling. There’s a man I’ve written about that I have dated on and off over the past several years and have this visceral reaction to whenever we talk or run into one another. Back in December I decided that I wasn’t going to continue to this merry-go-round dating thing we have going on any longer as it just creates emotional havoc for me. In this instance, I was passive aggressive. Back in late-November/early-December, I had picked up a few things for his son and decided to drop them off in this man’s work mailbox rather than giving them to him in person. (We work in the same company, but in different divisions.) I wrote a short note and included a copy of a blog post I wrote about him and my decision to move on. I had assumed he received these items a while ago and figured no outreach from him was confirmation he understood my position. Valentine’s Day rolls around and I get an IM from this man telling me how “TRULY AMAZING” I am! (Yes, he used all caps.) I had no idea what he was talking about but soon found out that he had just checked his work mailbox and discovered what he thought was a care package from me given to him on Valentine’s Day. He ended up reading my note and blog post while we had this IM conversation going and apologized for ever hurting my feelings or making me feel unappreciated. He said that he thinks about me often and how amazing it felt whenever we were together, but that it’s been a mix of bad timing and him being scared. (That’s pretty funny because what I feel for him scares the hell out of me, but I took a chance.) It was nice to hear, but doesn’t change anything. It was an awkward conversation for a while that then turned into superficial exchanges until we both needed to focus on work. This could have been an easy fade-away, but I had previous plans later that week to work remotely from his building. (I have a concert to go to and there were special events in the city that required road closures and working from his building meant I wouldn’t get stuck in traffic and be late for my Friday night plans.) I almost changed my mind about working remotely because I didn’t want him to think I was stalking him, but I decided I shouldn’t inconvenience myself or hide from him. Of course, within about 30 minutes of arriving, He walks by the conference room I am in and waves to me. From the angle I was facing I thought he was another friend who was moving on to another role and wanted to give my congratulations — I started to stand up and wave to my friend only to find out my mistake. (UGHHH!) Of all the times to not recognize someone immediately and appear over-eager in seeing a person! I guess the positive from this is that we both know there’s no animosity on either side. So, all-in-all, it was a very ironic Valentine’s Day leading to a few awkward encounters! So glad it’s just one day a year. https://netherland-dating.linkplein.net/ https://netherland-dating.linkhotel.nl/ https://netherland-dating.vindjeviahier.nl/ https://netherland-dating.eigenstart.nl/ https://netherland-dating.burstnet.com/ https://netherland-dating.slimmestart.nl/ https://netherland-dating.danneo.com/ https://netherland-dating.circle.am/ https://netherland-dating.rtlplaza.nl/ https://netherland-dating.uwbegin.nl/ https://netherland-dating.games2download.com/ https://netherland-dating.vakantie-links.nl/ https://netherland-dating.starthoekje.nl/ https://netherland-dating.web100.org/ https://netherland-dating.medischestartpagina.nl/ https://netherland-dating.billardgl.de/ https://netherland-dating.webterrace.com/ https://netherland-dating.kunigunde.ch/ https://netherland-dating.diogames.com/ https://netherland-dating.buildupthatwall.com/ https://netherland-dating.gamers-review.net/ https://netherland-dating.maxlinks.org/ https://netherland-dating.pokeren-ligne.be/ https://netherland-dating.gamecih.me/ https://netherland-dating.linkb2b.pt/ https://netherland-dating.ysrnry.co.uk/