Long post, kinda rambling. You've been warned.
OK, so there's a new girl at work that I'm interested in, but I'm having some issues with getting to know her. My friends at work are being particularly unhelpful with giving me advice, so I figured I'd see if you guys have any input.
She's been working there about a month now, in reception. I work downstairs, and we have very little direct work interaction. A couple of paperwork exchanges a week, and she transfers calls to us, and that's pretty much it. Any other chances to get to talk to her are pretty much just in passing around the store on our own business, usually me walking past her desk, which I do on average maybe 2 or 3 times a day, sometimes not at all. And, more often than not, she's busy talking to somebody, on the phone, or just not at her desk. None of this makes it very easy to get any conversation going. Her job's pretty relaxed when she's not busy talking to somebody, so I'm not worried about causing any problems by talking to her, I just don't really get many chances to do so. And even when I do... well, I kinda suck at breaking the ice, making small-talk, all that. So the "conversations" are usually REALLY short, along the lines of a friendly hi/hey/what's up/how's it going, and an appropriate response.
I FINALLY thought I had an opportunity to break the ice and get some back-and-forth conversation going this Monday, as I'd heard she went out of town for the weekend. I figured that I'd start with something low-key and ask if she'd had a good weekend, or something along those lines, and give her a chance to answer back with whatever she'd been doing, and see if I could take it from there. Unfortunately, I only went by her desk twice that day, once she wasn't even there, and the other time she had to answer a call just as I was coming around the corner, so I never even got to say hi that day, so that opportunity is effectively gone. Yeah, I know I could try the same thing next weekend, but I just knew for a fact she was doing something out of the ordinary this weekend, which should give a better chance of a conversation starting.
I don't really think I've scared her off or anything. In fact, she seems to be warming up to me slightly. Shortly after she started, she seemed a little standoffish, usually just giving me a quick, polite smile (maybe with a quiet "hi") and then quickly looking away, and that would be it. At the same time, I was really not at all comfortable talking with her, usually matter-of-factly rushed through whatever work-related conversation we had, and whether I showed it or not, I felt kinda flustered. Since then, I've tried slowing it down, opening with a smile, and am generally more comfortable, and she seems to be reciprocating. The other day I was messing with my bike after I got there in the morning, and she had just pulled in, but I didn't notice she was there. From across the parking lot, she called out a good morning to me, and waved. So, I'm hoping it's not too late for me to try to get something going.
I just can't for the life of me figure out HOW to get more, better chances to talk to her, or at least make the chances I do get more productive. I'd like to get to the point where I could just go up on my lunch and BS with her for a few minutes, just because I want to and not because work gives me the chance, without it feeling awkward or forced. But to do that, I need to get a better comfort level between us, and effectively break the ice. She's even given a couple chances, intentional or not, but I just choke in the moment. Case in point, a little while back she came down with some paperwork, when my favorite band of all time was on the radio. She hung out for 10-15 seconds or so, and then told me she was jealous, because we got to listen to good music down there. A prime chance to answer back with SOMETHING, but I couldn't think of anything to say until just after she'd left
Sorry if this is a bit rambly or disjointed. It's late and I need to get to sleep, but I wanted to get this off my chest. If anybody has any advice, suggestions, input, whatever, I'd REALLY appreciate it. I really don't know if this has much of a chance of going anywhere, but it's actually pretty rare that I have this much of an interest in someone beyond "wow, she's cute", and I just have a feeling that she's gonna be one of those few girls that I'm really gonna regret if I don't try to do something.
