I started talking to this guy Nathaniel* on Hinge in November 2019. We instantly clicked. Insane chemistry, a great match of humor, interesting conversations, and we were very much on the same page of life goals. But I was traveling in November and with the holidays it was too hard to link up. We tentatively set a date in Seattle for when I returned from my Florida trip in January 2020.
Over the next few months, we continued talking via text every single day and phone calls at night. However, while I was in Florida and reconnecting with my girlfriends and reliving some of my grief from the last 6 months something just changed. I slowly started to withdraw from Nathaniel.
And then I ghosted him.
Eeeek!!! Even to this day I’m so embarrassed and ashamed of this. A few weeks went by and I thought of texting him but then it just felt awkward at that point so I let it go.
But then we went into full lockdown in Washington. After this fiasco of quarantine dating, I decided I didn’t have much to lose and shot Nathaniel a text. I apologized profusely and told him that I had a hard time with my mom’s birthday and my mental health but I was in a much better space. I knew it was a long shot but after a difficult conversation, we began chatting again with hopes of meeting for a date after quarantine was over. (Washington was set to go into phase 2 in a few weeks.)
Things quickly picked back up where we left off with intimate conversations and chemistry. He FaceTimed me as he took a WFH lunch break and when he was cooking delicious at home brunches on the weekend. We planned summer hikes and picnics and even decided on where we’d go when it was safe to travel again.
AND THEN IT HAPPENED! Right as we entered phase 2 something shifted.
What? – I have no clue.
But feeling and seeing it happen before my eyes only made it worse.
Our daily conversations felt forced and Nathaniel suddenly seemed distant.
“Is everything okay?”
“Are you super busy this week?”
“Did something happen?”
Obviously not in a rapid text like this but over the span of about a week I gently asked these questions trying to figure out what was going on.
And then he ghosted me right back. 🤦♀️
Was this to get me back? Did the whole idea of actually meeting up after all this time scare him? Was he all talk and no follow-through?
*all names have been changed
