For context, I have had a workplace crush for quite a while on this girl from another team, but never had the chance to interact with her until recently. First interaction happened when we were in line at the office cafe – very brief one – and I got her number entirely by luck after I had to reach out to someone from her team about a specific project.
We bonded very quickly after finding out that we were both cat lovers. We have been texting every day for 2 months, often for hours, but I'm still "intimidated" to talk to her in real life. I am prone to overthinking and trying to plan out interactions, so I keep thinking about what I will say and how to approach her and end up getting too overwhelmed to do anything.
Our teams sit quite close to each other so we can see each other but I keep psyching myself out of going over to chat. She also doesn't come over, but she smiles and waves if we make eye contact. She also texts me sometimes when we are both working and has made remarks to indicate that she is at least noticing me, such as asking if I got a haircut recently.
To be very clear I don't think it's on her to make first contact – I am very frustrated at myself for being too paralyzed to act normal in real life. I recognize that the texting only thing is a barrier to us actually getting closer and I need to get over this to have a chance at a proper friendship let alone a relationship.
I also worry that I am reading the vibe wrong – that I think she might be interested in more when she is just being friendly – because of a recent incident when I texted her asking if she'd like to grab coffee after work, she said she would "think about it" but never got back to me. We have texting like normal ever since. Was that her way of subtly saying no?
I have only ever been in one relationship where the girl asked me out first so I don't know how to go about this. I am also shy and quiet even though I have been forced to learn to present as more outgoing due to work.
Tl;dr: starting talking to my crush at work but never in real life because I keep choking before I can take action and wondering if there is anything I can do about it.