soufrise – . The maddening thrill of an ambiguous flirtation, which quivers in tension halfway between platonic and romantic – maybe, but no, but maybe – leaving you guessing what’s going on inside their chest, forced to assume that at any given moment their attraction is both alive and dead at the same time.

I don’t think in terms of romance here, having been married for nearly 28 years, but I do think about this in terms of my career.

When I’ve been approached about opportunities or jobs, or someone expresses interest (or I do), it feels a little like soufrise. It’s both a real opportunity or they really want to hire me, like a romanace. Or maybe it’s just a conversation that’s exploratory without any real intention of moving forward (platonic).

This is a hard place to be, where you might want things to go one way or the other, and the other party might feel differently.

To me, this is where communication matters, though I certainly understand not necessarily wanting to answer the question about whether this is a romantic or platonic relationship.

From the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows