Ladies & Gents
Long (and intentionally vague) story, please bear with me.
A couple of years ago, I had a regular WG in my home town; I should add that the place is a bit small and somewhat of a punting desert, some tourers but nothing to get excited about.
We'll call the lady in question Julia, that being nowhere near her real name. Not stunning, but chatty, personable and f***ing electric whilst horizontal; I was seeing her a few times a month, my place or hers, and everything was tickety-boo. Then I ended up moving away for two-and-a-bit years with work, but moved back home last year. Julia's old working number wasn't answering so I dropped a note through her door (nothing explicitly alluding to our previous encounters, just a "Hi, it's Paul, give me a shout if you fancy a coffee"), heard nothing back and thought "Oh well, never mind, life goes on".
Coming back from getting the car serviced today and there she is at a bus stop; so I duly stop and offer her a lift, as you do. Within 2 mins Julia has made it clear that she isn't working any more - "I've got a full-time job now, besides which it was beginning to do my head in!". Despite my asking if she'd reconsider, 2 or 3 times, the reply was still "No".
By the time I'd dropped her off in the city centre I had her number (she took mine and rang it) and a promise to meet up for coffee "and we'll take it from there". She did also mention, unnecessarily I thought, that she hadn't dated anyone for ages.
Now here's my quandary. I have no intention of seeing Julia on a "relationship basis", but I do want to get back to our previous footing. Best way to achieve this?
1. Take her out for dinner, get her slightly merry (she's not a huge drinker) and offer an obscene amount (hundreds of ££££s) for a one-off. Then, once the door has been unlocked, look to get back to more sensible sums of cash.
2. Turn on the charm till I get into her knickers on a "friends with benefits" arrangement and then look to make it a commercial arrangement.
3. Let it be, accept that she has moved on, and treat it as "One of the ones who got away".
Any and all sensible replies gratefully received
Cheers
P