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Casual relationship turned serious


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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, seany25 said:



One Sunday towards the end October after she'd left my place, we were texting later that day and I brought up what we'd got up to in bed the previous night. I told her I'd felt the connection between us skyrocketing, and she reciprocated in the positive, affirming that she'd felt that s*** too.

Well, I hate to inform you that people lie. They will outright tell you a lie straight to your face. They will also flub and bend the truth to their convenience. that’s especially easy because it’s not technically a lie if you split hairs. My guess is that she did feel something. did she feel what you felt? Absolutely not. But there is a whole gradient of “feel“. And could she have just felt something small also said that she felt something? Of course. Could she have been saying she felt something especially since the guy who she just slept with said he was feeling it? You betcha.

 

1 hour ago, seany25 said:

I know now that that was the moment when I started seeing things through the eyes of a lad who was beginning to fall for a girl. I did attempt to "play it cool" by not jumping all over it like OK SINCE YOU FEEL IT TOO LETS BE MY GIRLFRIEND, because I'm wise enough to know this could potentially repel someone, and we agreed to chill and see how it goes.

Yeah, a guy playing it cool when he’s got feels for you.I’ve seen that one before. The man would have to be the best actor in the world and the woman particularly socially inept woman to not see right through those games.  Most people try to play it cool to greater or lesser degrees when they are really into you. that’s not some novel. revelation of an Internet dating Guru. No one wants to be a blubbering mess to someone that they are into. 
 

1 hour ago, seany25 said:

The next time we were together a couple of weeks later, I texted later that Sunday "I think I love you babe x". It was half jokingly and I was pissed, but I was of course half serious too. She joked back " I think you need sleep babe x"... However, I believe this is where I begun to make mistakes.

Many of my following communications with her were coming from a place where I had an ulterior motive. Whilst in my head I was still trying to "play it cool", what I really wanted was to maybe make this girl my girlfriend. This, alongside it being the Christmas season, elevated my emotions and I started visualising and playing s*** out in my head as I wished it to be (asking her for exclusivity at Christmas face to face). We never met, but I'm sure that as much as I was still trying to maintain the 'play it cool' s***, there were subtleties giving me away.

A couple of weeks ago I text and told her I wanted her more than I wanted anyone else. Call me a pussy or a chode or whatever, I accept that, but I decided I'd rather say it than not say it. Again, I'm wise enough to know this was probably unwise. She told me she doesn't want to be serious at the minute... Yes, I know this probably means that what she really means is not with me, and most likely because of me putting her on a pedestal. Generally when people say they just don't want to be serious with anyone right now, what they really mean is not with you. Harsh, but 99% of the time it's true. I've even been the one saying this many times to various girls I was seeing, whilst the truth was that I'm always open if the right girl came along, but no-one is ever that honest in those circumstances now, are they.

Anyways, by telling her I want her more than I want anyone else, I've most likely contributed to my current situation in showing this hand. It will probably have had the reverse effect than what my intentions were. Yes I could have (and evidently should have) played it differently, but either way, I'd still have been enamoured with her.

1 hour ago, seany25 said:

Here's a little background as to why I'm in this predicament..

One Sunday towards the end October after she'd left my place, we were texting later that day and I brought up what we'd got up to in bed the previous night. I told her I'd felt the connection between us skyrocketing, and she reciprocated in the positive, affirming that she'd felt that s*** too.

I know now that that was the moment when I started seeing things through the eyes of a lad who was beginning to fall for a girl. I did attempt to "play it cool" by not jumping all over it like OK SINCE YOU FEEL IT TOO LETS BE MY GIRLFRIEND, because I'm wise enough to know this could potentially repel someone, and we agreed to chill and see how it goes.

The next time we were together a couple of weeks later, I texted later that Sunday "I think I love you babe x". It was half jokingly and I was pissed, but I was of course half serious too. She joked back " I think you need sleep babe x"... However, I believe this is where I begun to make mistakes.

Many of my following communications with her were coming from a place where I had an ulterior motive. Whilst in my head I was still trying to "play it cool", what I really wanted was to maybe make this girl my girlfriend. This, alongside it being the Christmas season, elevated my emotions and I started visualising and playing s*** out in my head as I wished it to be (asking her for exclusivity at Christmas face to face). We never met, but I'm sure that as much as I was still trying to maintain the 'play it cool' s***, there were subtleties giving me away.

A couple of weeks ago I text and told her I wanted her more than I wanted anyone else. Call me a pussy or a chode or whatever, I accept that, but I decided I'd rather say it than not say it. Again, I'm wise enough to know this was probably unwise. She told me she doesn't want to be serious at the minute... Yes, I know this probably means that what she really means is not with me, and most likely because of me putting her on a pedestal. Generally when people say they just don't want to be serious with anyone right now, what they really mean is not with you. Harsh, but 99% of the time it's true. I've even been the one saying this many times to various girls I was seeing, whilst the truth was that I'm always open if the right girl came along, but no-one is ever that honest in those circumstances now, are they.

Anyways, by telling her I want her more than I want anyone else, I've most likely contributed to my current situation in showing this hand. It will probably have had the reverse effect than what my intentions were. Yes I could have (and evidently should have) played it differently, but either way, I'd still have been enamoured with her.

 

And here comes all the second-guessing and rationality questioning that happens with people when they really like someone and the person loses or doesn’t reciprocate interest  . The instinct is to say “where did I go wrong?” Because if you can pinpoint exactly what you did wrong you can fix it, of course. Yeah it doesn’t work quite that way. Look, I am sure that your gameplaying  and hot cold behavior didn’t come off the way you wanted and made you look a little off. It probably did not help you one bit. but that is not what killed it dead in and of itself. I don’t know what that was because I am not her. It could literally be anything that makes her not want to commit to you and wants to stay out there on the market. She is looking for the guy that she wants. Now, if you were asking me to guess I would say based on the given overthinking, gameplaying , questioning your own rationality and choices, and interest in a woman that clearly isn’t that interested that your self esteem and confidence may be lacking a bit and you probably come off a bit too much. Again, that is just conjecture. I don’t know. It could’ve been the color of your hair or the fact you’re not x, y , z but the bottom line is she’s not feeling it that much ... Don’t get me wrong, she likes you to an extent. you were cool and fun to hang out , or she wouldn’t bother to do so , or keep you hooked with maybes  ...

 


 

1 hour ago, seany25 said:

My attraction and increasingly strengthening feelings for her made me make mistakes I should not have made. It's important that I acknowledge these personal failings.

Right, self-awareness and all that jazz is great. It’s also important that it’s pointed in the right direction though. And that you’re making corrections to the right places. I guess what I am trying to say is that this is not just that you played it wrong. It’s why you played it to this extent. People aren’t perfect and if they are hiding something i.e. lying about something like their feelings, they’ll probably make mistakes ... 

 

You doubting yourself on this from the beginning and wrote as such... That’s ultimately why you decided to throw up your feelings to her over that phone call. Instead of just realizing the signs were telling you she was not as interested and in it as you were. This pressed your panic button and you decided that you would bridge the gap. When I’ve seen men do this it was always clear what is going on and never attractive. Instead of realizing that wouldn’t work on someone is not that into it and turning your attention to someone else who is . You string yourself along

Edited by Shortskirtslonglashes
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Posted
On 12/28/2020 at 11:58 AM, seany25 said:

Instead I think I'm going to do the opposite and go radio silence.

Try not to fall into the all or nothing trap. Just step back a bit and temper things. Don't worry about playing games, just be yourself. She may just not be there yet.

Posted (edited)

Wait a sec 

Edited by Shortskirtslonglashes
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Posted
11 hours ago, Shortskirtslonglashes said:

Well, I hate to inform you that people lie. They will outright tell you a lie straight to your face. They will also flub and bend the truth to their convenience. that’s especially easy because it’s not technically a lie if you split hairs. My guess is that she did feel something. did she feel what you felt? Absolutely not. But there is a whole gradient of “feel“. And could she have just felt something small also said that she felt something? Of course. Could she have been saying she felt something especially since the guy who she just slept with said he was feeling it? You betcha.

Quote

I was pretty certain she really did feel it. Yes I was the one who brought it up but sounded like she was being sincere.

 

Yeah, a guy playing it cool when he’s got feels for you.I’ve seen that one before. The man would have to be the best actor in the world and the woman particularly socially inept woman to not see right through those games.  Most people try to play it cool to greater or lesser degrees when they are really into you. that’s not some novel. revelation of an Internet dating Guru. No one wants to be a blubbering mess to someone that they are into. 

And here comes all the second-guessing and rationality questioning that happens with people when they really like someone and the person loses or doesn’t reciprocate interest  . The instinct is to say “where did I go wrong?” Because if you can pinpoint exactly what you did wrong you can fix it, of course. Yeah it doesn’t work quite that way. Look, I am sure that your gameplaying  and hot cold behavior didn’t come off the way you wanted and made you look a little off. It probably did not help you one bit. but that is not what killed it dead in and of itself. I don’t know what that was because I am not her. It could literally be anything that makes her not want to commit to you and wants to stay out there on the market. She is looking for the guy that she wants. Now, if you were asking me to guess I would say based on the given overthinking, gameplaying , questioning your own rationality and choices, and interest in a woman that clearly isn’t that interested that your self esteem and confidence may be lacking a bit and you probably come off a bit too much. Again, that is just conjecture. I don’t know. It could’ve been the color of your hair or the fact you’re not x, y , z but the bottom line is she’s not feeling it that much ... Don’t get me wrong, she likes you to an extent. you were cool and fun to hang out , or she wouldn’t bother to do so , or keep you hooked with maybes  ...

 

Right, self-awareness and all that jazz is great. It’s also important that it’s pointed in the right direction though. And that you’re making corrections to the right places. I guess what I am trying to say is that this is not just that you played it wrong. It’s why you played it to this extent. People aren’t perfect and if they are hiding something i.e. lying about something like their feelings, they’ll probably make mistakes ... 

Quote

In hindsight I'm now wondering whether I should have taken my shot there and then, when we were talking about the increased connection. This is one of the fatal mistakes I believe I've made. I mean, we'd been casual for nearly 2years, why the F do I need to play it cool? Stupid move.

 

You doubting yourself on this from the beginning and wrote as such... That’s ultimately why you decided to throw up your feelings to her over that phone call. Instead of just realizing the signs were telling you she was not as interested and in it as you were. This pressed your panic button and you decided that you would bridge the gap. When I’ve seen men do this it was always clear what is going on and never attractive. Instead of realizing that wouldn’t work on someone is not that into it and turning your attention to someone else who is . You string yourself along

I'm guessing that making some grand gesture by having a delivery to her home on Valentine's day would be a further bad / desperate move? On the one hand I'd like to do that, but on the other hand I know it could be another nail in the coffin.

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Posted
11 hours ago, Wiseman2 said:

Try not to fall into the all or nothing trap. Just step back a bit and temper things. Don't worry about playing games, just be yourself. She may just not be there yet.

Right now it's totally nothing. There hasn't been any communication in over 10 days and I believe this is it, radio silence from both sides. No updates on snapchat or anything. Feels a bit like a Mexican standoff, like "who's gunna share what they're up to first"... Maybe I'm overthinking, of course.

Posted
4 hours ago, seany25 said:

, like "who's gunna share what they're up to first"... 

Okay. Delete and block her from all your social media and messaging apps.

That way you can move forward in peace without this background noise.

Posted

Since it's a casual relationship, that means you can't count on anything. It's not going to get better after 18 months.

If you want something more serious, you'll have to find a new woman who actually cares about you.

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Posted
36 minutes ago, Wiseman2 said:

Okay. Delete and block her from all your social media and messaging apps.

That way you can move forward in peace without this background noise.

Consciously I know from experience this is what I should probably do right now, but obviously in such circumstances, most people hang on to a shred of hope, no matter how flimsy or even non-existent it may seem.

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Posted
11 minutes ago, Fletch Lives said:

Since it's a casual relationship, that means you can't count on anything. It's not going to get better after 18 months.

If you want something more serious, you'll have to find a new woman who actually cares about you.

I wasn't actively looking for anything serious, I was happy with the casual thing. That was, until my my feelings and attraction for her evolved to wanting more than casual with her.

It's almost like a reversal of desire. When we started dating back in 2019, she soon broke it off because she didn't like the idea of sleeping with a guy who might have been sleeping with other girls. At the time that was fine by me, and we left it, but eventually hooked up again on the casual basis. Yet now here I am on the opposite side of that, the tables have well and truly turned.

Posted
9 minutes ago, seany25 said:

I wasn't actively looking for anything serious, I was happy with the casual thing. That was, until my my feelings and attraction for her evolved to wanting more than casual with her.

I understand. But the chances of that happening with her are remote - and obviously haven't happened. 

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Posted (edited)
4 hours ago, Fletch Lives said:

I understand. But the chances of that happening with her are remote - and obviously haven't happened. 

Yeah, sadly true. I probably contributed to this situation through my actions and behaviour, or indeed lack of certain actions and behaviour. Should have asked her to be serious back at the time. However, if it hadn't worked in my favour then I'd have been sitting saying "WHAT HAVE I DONE WHY DID I NOT PLAY IT COOL", and there's no way of knowing which way was the right way.

It's quite strange that this feels like the burn of a breakup, yet we were never exclusive. Although the intensity of the burn is probably mostly because I'm the one on the losing side of this.

Edited by seany25
Posted (edited)
On 2/7/2021 at 2:53 PM, seany25 said:

 

 

 

 














 

 

Edited by LoverOfDance
Posted

Dude, you did the right thing when you told her your feelings. You are second guessing yourself because telling her did not yield the results you wanted.

just because you didn’t get what you want doesn’t mean you didn’t do the right thing. You are always better off simply doing the right thing. 

Yes, some girls do like it when you play push and pull or when you don’t show your cards and play things cold and hot but not all women are like this.

You have to ask yourself if you actually even want a woman you can’t fully be yourself around.

Anyways, please stop doubting and second guessing yourself. It was actually very strong of you to show your cards. Now that you’ve done that, leave her alone. My guess is that you are not interested in being her friend. If she contacts you again, be strong and tell her that you want to treat her like the beautiful queen she is. You want to be her man and will accept nothing less. She will likely say no again but trust me, a man who knows exactly what he wants reeks of confidence and confidence is sexy. The right one will eventually come along. Good luck !

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Posted
On 2/8/2021 at 6:53 AM, seany25 said:

I know now that that was the moment when I started seeing things through the eyes of a lad who was beginning to fall for a girl. I did attempt to "play it cool" by not jumping all over it like OK SINCE YOU FEEL IT TOO LETS BE MY GIRLFRIEND, because I'm wise enough to know this could potentially repel someone, and we agreed to chill and see how it goes.

Telling someone that you'd like to make it official is only going to repel someone who isn't into you.  A woman who is genuine and shares your feelings will feel happy and secure with your suggestion.   

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Posted (edited)
15 hours ago, LoverOfDance said:

Dude, you did the right thing when you told her your feelings. You are second guessing yourself because telling her did not yield the results you wanted.

just because you didn’t get what you want doesn’t mean you didn’t do the right thing. You are always better off simply doing the right thing. 

Yes, some girls do like it when you play push and pull or when you don’t show your cards and play things cold and hot but not all women are like this.

You have to ask yourself if you actually even want a woman you can’t fully be yourself around.

Anyways, please stop doubting and second guessing yourself. It was actually very strong of you to show your cards. Now that you’ve done that, leave her alone. My guess is that you are not interested in being her friend. If she contacts you again, be strong and tell her that you want to treat her like the beautiful queen she is. You want to be her man and will accept nothing less. She will likely say no again but trust me, a man who knows exactly what he wants reeks of confidence and confidence is sexy. The right one will eventually come along. Good luck !

Yeah that makes a lot of sense. It never went my way so now I'm sitting thinking "well what if I'd done it a different way? What if I hadn't done this? What if I had done that?" which is of course typical, all the "what ifs" you're left with in circumstances like mine.

If she does make a reappearance (which seems unlikely at this point) I probably will tell her outright what I feel. However, that is what I HAD planned to do at Christmas, and we never met. I never got the opportunity to do so. I wanted to say it all to her face so that it would be special.

As mentioned before however, there have been periods before where we didn't speak for quite a few months and eventually hooked up again. Whilst on the one hand I'd like to believe it isn't the last I'll ever see her, my instinct tells me otherwise. This feels very heavy.

15 hours ago, basil67 said:

Telling someone that you'd like to make it official is only going to repel someone who isn't into you.  A woman who is genuine and shares your feelings will feel happy and secure with your suggestion.   

This also makes sense. If she'd said it to me I'd have been overjoyed. Whereas I've said it to her and she wasn't.

 

It has hit me quite hard today. I'm really feeling the burn of rejection and unrequited love.

I'm going to look for some good reading material for men in my situation. I have Meditations by Marcus Arelius on my list, and apparently it's quite helpful and deep.

Edited by seany25
Posted

I’m sorry you’re hurting. Unrequited love is never easy. I’m sure you’ll be alright in time. Meditation sounds good. I’d say continue on that path.

 

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Posted (edited)

Thanks, it hurts a lot, now that the contact is completely ceased and it appears she's got no intentions of further communicating with me. The father of her kids did move back in to the country after Christmas, and around that time she told me she has a lot on her plate (including him moving back). That doesn't mean he's back in the picture, she said he moved back for another woman, so it's extremely unlikely this has anything to do with her getting back with him.

But I've just discovered this term Unrequited Love last night, and now that I know what I'm suffering from, I think now I have a point from which I can start to rationalize it and try to make sense of all. Having discovered a name for what I'm experiencing seems to have alleviated the burn, at least for now.

Basically, my initial thoughts are, "ok, so this is an unrequited love, this is a chapter I'm going through, this is simply going to turn in to a story based on my first experience of this"

I downloaded some books that are apparently relative and helpful for heartbreak.. "The Alchemist" and "Tiny Beautiful Things" and I'm also reading The Art of Seduction.

Edited by seany25
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Posted

I wonder if it would be a stupid move to send flowers or something to her for Valentine's Day. I mean, in  my head it would be a be-all-and-end-all last ditch attempt at winning her over.

Although the other side of me is also very aware that I still have the Christmas present I never got to give to her, and here I am considering buying more stuff.

Anyone any thought on this idea?

Posted

No grand gestures on Valentines' Day.  You told her how you felt which was good.  Your chosen medium -- text -- was the single WORST way you could have delivered this info.  By trying to have such a deep conversation over the medium that deprives you of all non verbal communication which is 90% of how people interact told her you are not  a mature man upon whom she can rely.  That said, if she was as into you as you claim to be into her, the medium would not have mattered.  She would be have been receptive to message.  

She doesn't want a relationship with you.  Accept that.  It's why you put your cards on the table.  You needed to know.  Now you know, so take that knowledge & walk away preserving your dignity.  No more chasing. No begging.  Just be done. 

Sending flowers for V-Day is waste of money & energy at this point.  See if you can get your money back on the Christmas present.  The idea that you still haven't given her that is a good indication that something is very wrong in your relationship.  Stop trying to fix something that is irreparably broken.  

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Posted

I didn't do the flowers thing, you were right. The only reason I told her my feelings over text was because I felt like the chances of me seeing her face to face again were slipping away and I wanted to let them be known, albeit not in the way I'd planned to tell her.

I've basically just come on this time to express how I'm feeling. I am really feeling the burn right now. It's heavy. I'm going to have to cry this out.

At this point I can't even remember the last time I wasn't thinking about this girl 24/7. She's just there in my head, all the bloody time.

 

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Posted

A part of me does of course hold out hope that it isn't the last we see of each other, but this is not something I'm able to influence or make happen. If she comes back, she comes back.

In the meantime, I have been talking to another attractive woman (met online) for the past few days and we have a first date on Friday night. This has been a very welcome distraction because the girl I lost was on my mind 24/7 and I was going insane.

Posted

Sounds to me like she's been interested in you and you only ever wanted casual.

Suddenly you have changed your mind and want more.

If she does have a lot going on chances are she doesn't want or need someone who doesn't seem to know what he wants. 

Sorry, but because you're feeling rejected you're going on a date with a girl?! Is she looking for a relationship or something casual??

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Posted
22 hours ago, Melrose78 said:

Sounds to me like she's been interested in you and you only ever wanted casual.

Suddenly you have changed your mind and want more.

If she does have a lot going on chances are she doesn't want or need someone who doesn't seem to know what he wants. 

Sorry, but because you're feeling rejected you're going on a date with a girl?! Is she looking for a relationship or something casual??

I do see how that could have been the case. It certainly was initially the case nearly 2 years ago when I didn't want anything serious, and now the tables have turned.

Well yes, people get over previous relationships by dating don't they? I don't know what the girl wants yet. She's recently single herself. Maybe she is looking casual, maybe more. I guess we'll find out on Friday.

Posted
On 2/13/2021 at 10:56 PM, seany25 said:

I didn't do the flowers thing, you were right. The only reason I told her my feelings over text was because I felt like the chances of me seeing her face to face again were slipping away and I wanted to let them be known, albeit not in the way I'd planned to tell her.

I've basically just come on this time to express how I'm feeling. I am really feeling the burn right now. It's heavy. I'm going to have to cry this out.

At this point I can't even remember the last time I wasn't thinking about this girl 24/7. She's just there in my head, all the bloody time.

 

I don't think you did anything wrong by telling her your feelings over text.  Meeting in person for these things is overrated.  What if she had rejected you in person, would you have felt better?  Would she have felt better that it was in person?  I doubt it.

Maybe things went awry when you just wanted casual at the beginning.  She might have decided then not to invest too much in this relationship because you weren't. Having said that, if people fall in love, they don't usually turn down meeting their lover or wanting it to be exclusive.  For some reason, she just lost interest.  It may well be the reappearance of her ex, not necessarily because he is available to her but simply because she realises she is not 'over' him.  Something like that can make one step back from other contacts to 'make sense of things'.

I know it's hard when you have feelings for someone.  You are best moving on as best you can rather than hanging around hoping.  She is not getting in touch so she is being careful not to give you false hope.

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Posted
On 2/19/2021 at 7:22 AM, spiderowl said:

I don't think you did anything wrong by telling her your feelings over text.  Meeting in person for these things is overrated.  What if she had rejected you in person, would you have felt better?  Would she have felt better that it was in person?  I doubt it.

Maybe things went awry when you just wanted casual at the beginning.  She might have decided then not to invest too much in this relationship because you weren't. Having said that, if people fall in love, they don't usually turn down meeting their lover or wanting it to be exclusive.  For some reason, she just lost interest.  It may well be the reappearance of her ex, not necessarily because he is available to her but simply because she realises she is not 'over' him.  Something like that can make one step back from other contacts to 'make sense of things'.

I know it's hard when you have feelings for someone.  You are best moving on as best you can rather than hanging around hoping.  She is not getting in touch so she is being careful not to give you false hope.

Yeah, I was thinking back to the beginning and even looked back at our messages from that time, she definitely didn't want to see me when I might have been actively sleeping with other women. Obviously, I now feel like a right idiot for not taking her seriously and wanting to continue "playing the field". I could have had a real relationship with this girl, and it's all my own fault that I don't.

The girl I met the other night was as loose as I am, and we did had sex right through to about 7am after getting p*ssed together.

Something interesting to note about the evening however, was that I found myself comparing her to the other girl I f*cked up with. This was new to me, I don't recall ever thinking about someone else whilst I was with a girl, but in a way it kind of makes sense since she had been on my mind so much recently.

Whilst this girl was nice and talkative and bubbly, on a few occasions I couldn't help imagining how much I wanted it to be the other girl sitting there, and how different they are. For me, the other girl oozes more sex appeal than most if not all other girls I've been with, in her persona, mannerisms and even her accent. I shouldn't have took that sh*t for granted.

Even the sex, whilst it was fine, was nowhere near as good as with the other girl. The girl from the other night was even slightly prudish in some respects, although some of that's most likely because she's not long out of an 8 year relationship in which sex had probably become rather mundane. It was fine, but not the best I've ever had (that credit goes to the other girl).

I've got a feeling this could potentially be the case as I go through multiple more girls.

Despite all that, it was still the essential distraction I very much needed.

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