Alright so I been noticing some mixed signals lately with this girl Sarah at the coffee shop near my gym. We chat most mornings before my workout. Always thought she was just super friendly, right? But last week got me thinking different. Started paying closer attention after reading up on this stuff.
Morning Observation Mode
First thing I did was just watch for signs real hard without making it obvious. Tuesday morning roll around, and boom:
- Sarah’s leaning way over the counter when taking my order – way more than needed. Like I can nearly smell her shampoo. Her head tilts sideways too.
- Those little touches start popping up. Hand brushes mine handing over the damn oat milk latte. Twice in one interaction? Nah, that ain’t coffee shop SOP.
- She laughs way too loud at my dumb joke about the broken espresso machine. Seriously, it wasn’t that funny.
- Caught her staring at my arms when I took my hoodie off. Held eye contact a beat longer than normal when I looked up. Quick smile, looked away fast.
Felt like taking notes but that’d be weird. Kept mental track.
Thursday I decided to test the waters. Paid extra close attention to her eyes. Held mine steady when ordering – she didn’t look away. Leaned my elbow on the counter getting closer to her space. She mirrored me! Leaned in right back. Okay, signal received.
Putting Theory to Practice
Friday morning. Did my usual order but this time went for subtle kino escalation. Sounds fancy but nah, just tested light touch points again. Made sure my knuckles grazed her hand passing cash. Lingered for a microsecond. Her fingers lingered back. Then I threw in a playful eyebrow raise. Smirk included.
Results:
- Genuine blush. Not the fake polite one.
- She offered to bring my coffee to the table – something she’s done maybe once before in three months. Sat it down slowly.
- “Busy later?” popped out my mouth before I thought. Smooth? Nah. Clunky as hell. But she bit. “My shift ends at 1…”.
Welp. That escalated. Went from confused espresso sipping to exchanging numbers in like 72 hours. Wild.
Biggest lesson? Reading this stuff ain’t about some creepy checklist. It’s about noticing shifts in baseline behavior – that friendly barista vibe changing into something else. Mirroring, lingering touches, space invasion. Real subtle. Easy to miss if you ain’t paying attention. But now? Definitely paying attention.