Bewitched, bothered and bewildered

I’ve been somewhat silent for a while, mainly because I no longer have easy internet access, so long typing sessions aren’t terribly practical. However, I find this very therapeutic, so I’m going to try typing entries up and then posting them when I’m online.

The past few weeks have been challenging in a number of ways – I’ve moved city, discovered that the solution for living arrangements I was so happy with is probably not going to work out, panicked, tried not to panic, met some lovely people, attended a course about subjects far removed from my normal preoccupations, and had a mixture of absolutely awful and simply fabulous times.

I think I’ve also been chatted up a couple of times, but as per usual I’m somewhat oblivious and haven’t noticed until I’ve thought about it afterwards!

However, I am a little confused. The course I took part in last week was really quite extraordinary, and reminded me of several things – how much I enjoy the company of intelligent, well-educated people, how lovely it is to be treated like a lady again, after several years of male company that could rarely be described as ‘gentlemanly’, how much I like nice things, nice places and a sense of affluence (sadly, this does not reflect the state of my bank balance, but that’s a moan for another time!). The majority of the participants were somewhat younger than I, but mostly very bright, and the week as a whole was a great pleasure.

The confusion arises from the behaviour of a certain gentleman – in my age range, successful, charming, charismatic, generous, highly intelligent – in short, generally a delightful companion, and both extremely attractive and accomplished to boot. We have a lot in common, and I thoroughly enjoyed his company. We worked together on several projects during the week, and I assumed that his interest was simply friendly – taking a pleasant and polite interest in a colleague with whom you share quite a lot in common. I registered fairly fast that he was attractive, but it didn’t even cross my mind that he might think the same of me.

Late in the week, several of us went out. I needed to go home briefly, so met up with the others slightly later than planned. When I arrived, he, uncharacteristically discourteously, leant behind the back of the person sitting between us to talk to me and was disarmingly honest and really rather funny about the progress of the evening to date. We all moved on to another venue, we sat next to each other, and though there was plenty of space, there was a certain amount of leg-contact – leg leaning against leg – going on. An accidental-seeming brush against my breast, which he surprisingly didn’t apologise for, and some rather flirtatious, but possibly just high-spirited, behaviour, though nothing overt, added to the fun. Dancing followed, though group- rather than couple-oriented. Frankly, I was having huge amounts of fun! Then, at the end of the evening, when saying goodbye, he said “You’re coming with me, I presume”, twice in a short space of time. The evening before, he’d dropped me off at home on his way to another function, so he knew that I live in the opposite direction to him. I pointed out that it wasn’t geographically sensible, and he seemed a bit taken aback, and then left without any further ado. Did he in fact assume that I was going home with him? It seems unlikely to me, but I am now mentally reviewing the evening in some perplexity. Yes, we’d all drunk a fair bit, but as far as I could tell, intellects were not impaired on either side of this equation.

The following day, he seemed a little cool towards me (though this could have been the hangover!), then made quite a big deal of getting me to text him a photo of the evening before – we now both have each other’s number. Later on, he dropped a query regarding relationship status into a conversation I was having with another girl. I overheard him say earlier in the week that he’d just come out of a long-ish relationship and wasn’t really looking for a ‘replacement’. I’m puzzled. He’s very nice, extremely attractive, and to be honest, I rather wish I’d just got in the taxi with him as he seemed to assume I would – at least then I’d know what he meant!

Did I misunderstand completely? What do you think? Am I reading an attraction on his part into a perfectly innocent situation, possibly because I find him rather appealing? Or did I miss the clues completely? He’s away this weekend, but will be back in town at some point in the next few weeks. I know he has my number and I have his. We will be connected on Facebook in a few days via a course page, and I’d definitely like to see him again – he’d be a great friend, if nothing else – but it seems a little odd to pursue on the strength of a week’s acquaintance and a few confusing moments, and seems unlikely somehow – he’s far more glamorous than I, and could probably pick up almost anyone he chose.
Advice, please! Bewitched, bothered and bewildered am I!