The Retraction or Romance At Work Almost Part 4

At long last having seen the writing on the wall in the form of the beginning of harmful fallout and the inordinate possibilities for further chaos and destruction at work, the person who only a brief moment ago seemed incurably over zealous and hell-bent on setting up that first rendez-vous is suddenly scrambling to RETRACT! The problem now is how to initiate the taking back of an invitation without causing any undue angst to the "mooner". What appears to be certain though is that no matter how it is done there will be repercussions, some of which may turn out to be worse than the actual "date" and all that would have come in that package. Some might suggest honesty as in "I'm very sorry but it seems that I was a tad premature in issuing my "coffee" invitation, so could we possibly revisit this idea in perhaps a few months, years , NEVER"?? Or " Gee I hadn't realized how pervasive office gossip could be even though we've barely had a chance to get to know each other". Then there is always the "lie to be kind" route that if taken might sound something like this: "my boss has pretty well told me in no uncertain terms that I am not to mix business with pleasure and while I totally disagree with his philosophy, I find myself with no recourse but to bow to his will inasmuch as I do need my job!!" Anyway you slice it, there will be grovelling involved and if you are a reluctant groveller you will want to keep this to a minimum: "I completely understand, and whether you believe this or not, it's a very difficult situation for me too. Surely you know how very much I had been looking forward to our getting better acquainted." You seal your successful retraction in true gentlemanly fashion like this. " I KNEW you would understand, and at this point all I can say is thanks for letting our little office "maybe" fade gracefully from the public eye." In the end, once you choose the path best suited for you, the retraction is a piece of cake!