I Should Be on "Dawson's Creek"...or Something...

I think one of my coworkers has a crush on me.

And no, I'm neither lying nor hallucinating.

It all started...last Tuesday, I think. We were going to the various floors to try to get residents to come to the Tuesday Night Social. So, I start by going up to my seventh floor, where I saw this coworker (let's call he Xantcha) talking to one of my residents, telling him to come to the social.

Me: "Hey, Xantcha."
Xantcha: "Hey Andrew."
Me: "You're telling people about the social?"
Xantcha: "Yeah."
Me: (Joking) "Heh, you're putting me out of a job."
Xantcha: (Not realizing I was joking) "Oh my God, I'm sorry. Did you want to talk to them instead."
Me: "No, it's fine; I just thought it was funny that you were up here doing it."
Xantcha: "Well, I just figured since I don't have any residents left, that I should be doing something. I didn't want to intrude on you or anything."
Me: "No, seriously, it's fine."
Xantcha: "Oh, okay....Andrew, can I ask you a question?"
Me: "Only if you're willing to get an answer in return."
Xantcha: "Am I...am I a bad RA?"
Me: "I'm sorry?"
Xantcha: "I don't know, I just feel like I don't do enough, and the RD's probably don't like me, and I'm just a bad RA."
Me: (Counselor persona) "Hey, listen to me...you are not a bad RA."
Xantcha: "You think so?"
Me: "Would a bad RA be up here?"
Xantcha: "It's just, I don't have any residents, so what do I do?"
Me: "Look, it's better to be an RA with no residents who actually does stuff than one with residents who ignores them all."
Xantcha: "Yeah, I really didn't mean to intrude on your floors."
Me: "No, really, I don't care about that. I was joking. But seriously..." (As she's getting onto the elevator) "You're a great person, and you're going to be a great RA."
Xantcha: "...Thanks, Andrew, that means a lot to me."

And that was that. Me being a counselor-type figure to someone who needed some encouragement. I didn't give a second thought to it.

Then, at the social, I was behind one of the tables, watching people take food (technically, I was serving, but I figured people were smart enough to take fruit out of a fruit platter). All of a sudden, I feel a little "hip bump." Not a major one, mind you, but just the little brushing of someone else's hip against the side of my own. My eyebrow raised a little as I turned my head and saw Xantcha there.

Xantcha: "Hey!"
Me: "Hey."
Xantcha: "Whatcha doing?"
Me: "Doing what I do best; watching food disappear."
Xantcha: "Heh. Hey, listen." (She leans to my ear and whispers.) "I really want to thank you for what you said earlier."
Me: "Aw, don't sweat it." (I begin to feel sweat form on my brow.)
Xantcha: "No, but really, it meant a lot to me."
Me: (Using my summer catchphrase) "It's what I do."
Xantcha: "Kay. I'll catch you later."

So, that was a little closer than I was used to, but at least it was over for that night.

...Or was it?

Me: "Huh, someone's knocking at my door. I should go open it to find out who's there....Oh, Xantcha, hi."
Xantcha: "Hey, Andrew. Hey, um...did you tell Y'rhhf (a fake name for our boss that I just made up) about what I told you?"
Me: "No. Why?"
Xantcha: "Oh, because she was just telling me that I was doing a good job and that I didn't have to worry about it. And I was thinking to myself, 'No, Andrew wouldn't tell her.'"
Me: "No, I wouldn't. That woman took my fridge from me (more on this tomorrow), so I'm not really keen on letting her in on everything."
Xantcha: "Oh, good. Well, that's why I was up here."
Me: "Mm-kay."
Xantcha: "Other than talking to you, of course."
Me: "Ah."
Xantcha: "I'm not bothering you, am I? I'm not interrupting anything?"
Me: "No, not at all. You can come in if you want."
Xantcha: "No, I have some things to do."
Me: "Oh, okay."
Xantcha: "But Andrew..."
Me: "Yeah?"
Xantcha: "I really want to thank you. What you said meant so much to me."
Me: "Seriously, no problem."
Xantcha: "Goodnight!"
Me: "Goodnight."

And since then, she's been a bit friendlier to me (like, friendlier). Oh, and she likes when I use classy words (she says it sounds very "Shakespearean"). I was beginning to get a little suspicious, so I check on Facebook for information.

Networks........Berkeley '10
Sex........Female
Interested In...........Men
Relationship Status........................Single

"Damn."

Here's the conundrum: unless I'm completely misreading all her signals (still a valid option), she totally has a thing for me. However, I honestly don't have any real romantic interest in her; nothing more than a friendship. So, how far could anything possibly go? At the same time, one could argue that I'm no spring chicken, and should just take what I can get, and jump on this iron while it's still hot (painful as that metaphor may sound). After all, what was it I was just mentioning about this sort of thing?

...Blah, there should be a universal law that says all attraction should be mutual. Then we wouldn't be in these messes. Or, at least, I wouldn't.