Mary had been trying to flirt with me for over a year now. I had decided to play dumb instead of making an issue over it. It was easier to just pretend I didn’t get what she meant or deflect the topic entirely. I didn’t want to make things awkward. I’d known her when we were both much younger and we’d only reconnected a few years earlier. But she was good at flirting subtly, I’d learned since we started talking again. The subtlety made it easy to ignore.
But that changed one summer. I couldn’t just ignore it. She decided to me perfectly blunt with me, and I returned the favour. She told me that she’d had a crush on me for as long as she can remember. Even though we hadn’t spoken in many years, we ended up with a lot of the same interests and hobbies. I don’t know how much of that was natural or how much of it was trying to emulate me. Either way, that’s how it turned out.
I had explained to her that I didn’t feel the same way. There was a fair age gap between us and at the time that would make it impossible for us to be together.