Was that a date? Hope not

I'm sure everyone's had an experience like this in their past. You know that awkward question that starts in the back of your head and takes over all your conscience thoughts: "Did s/he just ask me out on a date?" Sometimes, it's an invitation from someone we'd like to date and just aren't sure if the invite can be classified as a bona fide date. But sometimes, it's the even more awkward statement of "Did s/he just ask me out on a date? I hope not because s/he's really only a friend". I have been the victim of this situation a few times unfortunately, and I apparently didn't handle some of them very well. It seems ignoring the guy was not the way to go - who knew.


Having had this happen to me yet again, I decided to met him for drinks one night, as friends, in hopes of redeeming my a fore mentioned uncouth behaviour. We were sitting in a bar/restaurant where there were many tables of pretty gals. First step in handling my situation properly was to introduce him AS my friend to the staff who have started to recognize me. (Will definitely need to start dealing with this Cheers effect soon - it's becoming embarrassing) Immediately after that, I took the wingman approach and began scoping out the lovelys for him, trying to gage who he thought was cute and who wasn't. After that the conversation flowed pretty easily, and by beer 2, I was pretty sure we were just 2 friends having a drink.

As the evening came to a close, I felt pretty good about my job at nipping this idea in the bud until the bill showed. He wouldn't let me pay for my portion of the bill, which is a pet peeve of mine when I'm out with friends. I protested and finally caved on the basis that he kept holding the bill out of arms length - not a difficult feat when it's compared to my arm length. I chalked it up to him being just a sweet guy. So we left the restaurant and headed home. I was almost skipping back to my place feeling very grown up for having handled this time around much better than previous times. And then Mr. Friend called when he realized he should've offered to walk me to my door. Eek - did he not get the hint? Were my clues about us just being friends not clear enough? Sigh. In the end, I chalked that one up to him being sweet as well - after all, he really is a genuinely nice guy with the rare chivalrous manners most women gawf at these days.

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