It all started a year ago when a woman was hired and started working with me. I had people telling me she was checking me out, but didn’t catch that myself. Then one day we made eye contact for the first time. It was like one of those movies. We both froze in place for what felt like minutes, but I’m sure it was only seconds.

A month later, circumstances led to us having to work closely together every day. We started talking regularly. She told me details of her personal life and I did the same. We progressively got more and more flirtatious. I could tell there was hesitation on her part because of her horrible experience with her ex from several years before. She did seem to get more comfortable with me though. Then the workplace drama started. People started teasing her about me and she got mad. She told someone in front of me that she had a boyfriend. When we were alone, I asked her if it was true and she said it was. I backed off.

After that, one of my friends at work told me she said she had to figure out how to tell me the truth because she missed talking to me. Never happened. Closest she came was blurting out a couple of random excuses out of the blue. She would get jealous if she saw me talking to any other women, and eventually we began talking to each other as much as before. That’s how the dynamic stayed until recently.

On a couple occasions, she has said things in front of a group that I’m sure were designed to hurt me. At this point, I just don’t know how to deal with her. Is there any way to salvage things with someone I just can’t get out of my head? I’m more confused than I would have been in junior high.

– Confusing signals