I’m in a bit of a weird situation.
I’m 47F and married to a man. One of my colleagues (34F), who technically reports to me, and I get along really well. We’re very much on the same wavelength and I genuinely enjoy talking with her. Our workplace is pretty friendly, so conversations aren’t always strictly about work.
Lately I’ve started to wonder if she might have a bit of a crush on me. I could absolutely be misreading things, but she stops by to talk fairly often and there’s sometimes a lot of eye contact. Occasionally she seems a little nervous around me, though again I might be reading too much into it. She’s also openly gay, which is part of why the thought crossed my mind.
The tricky part is that I do feel some level of attraction to her. I’ve always thought of myself as sexually fluid, though it’s not something I really talk about at work. I’ve caught myself lingering in conversations with her longer than I probably should.
I also see myself as somewhat of a mentor to her, so I’m very aware of the power dynamic and don’t want to cross any lines or create a situation that could look inappropriate.
Avoiding her completely isn’t really realistic, and suddenly acting distant would probably feel strange given how we usually interact.
Has anyone dealt with something like this? How do you keep things friendly and normal while still keeping clear professional boundaries?
Could I just be projecting the whole thing?