I think you hit it right on the head here:
Let me play devil's advocate for a second. I was this sort of girl at that age. The kind of abundance a woman like this has is unreal because EVERYONE wants her. I mean EVERYONE. Her PhD advisor, her barista at the coffee shop, men she dances with, men in class with her, EVERYONE. She's hot, she's fun, she's smart, she's used to men falling into her lap All. The. Time. She is going to have a list of things in her mind as her criteria in a boyfriend and she is going to have the ability to screen for every single thing on that list because she has that much choice. The problem I see for you is twofold:
1. You do not know what her mental checklist contains nor do you know what order those priorities are in. If for example it contains "Doctoral Level Education" at or near the top and you don't have doctoral education level, then you are going to eventually get discarded for someone who does. I am utterly serious about this.
2. Look at some of the assumptions you are making. In the second excerpt from your OP you are annoyed that she isn't trying to lock you down. You should not be the least bit surprised about this. This is the kind of woman who never needs to chase after a man in any way shape or form. If you don't pursue (notice I do not say chase or supplicate), she is going to have so many other great choices that she'll just simply fill her time with men who take the initiative. You'll simply get left behind. This is a woman who knows she is pretty and smart and all that other stuff. She has high self esteem. If her family is quality they have probably raised her that men approach and take the lead. In dance you expect the man to lead as well. So that means you as the man MUST lead (show initiative/be concrete and direct) or she's going to blow you off for someone who is this way (or worse see right through you and think based on that she's out of your league).
One other thing to consider very honestly is how was the sex? Was it great? If she is a semi professional salsa dancer great sex is important to her. Sensuality is important to her or she would not invest so much time dancing. Were you willing to be completely open and sensual and connect through the sexual experience? Were you interested in seeing to it that she got as much pleasure out of the experience as possible? Selfishness by the man in bed is a huge turn-off to a sensual woman. Just pounding away is boring to a sensual woman. Such a woman needs a more in depth experience. The fact that she has mentioned 3-somes to you suggets to me that you are not, on your own, giving her enough sexually to satisfy her. If you were she would not be so open about that. She would want you to herself. I'm not saying this to be an ass hat at all. I'm just simply suggesting that you be very very honest with yourself about how the experience you gave her went from HER perspective.
Really think about that and answer that question honestly. I am an elite level amateur dancer. I chose to marry my ex husband because he met ALL my criteria at the time and the criteria at the top of the list was sexiness/sexuality/intimacy. No way I wanted to be stuck in a marriage with someone who was not sexy in my opinion or worse someone who was selfish in bed or the very worst, bad in bed. The idea of a crappy lover was horrible to me. I also wanted someone who I could enjoy my passion for dance WITH. So that meant I wanted a sexy great dancer as part of my must have criteria.
I wouldn't automatically assume it's the carosel either. She is very busy with studies (a doctoral degree is ridiculously time consuming, ESPECIALLY in a lab intensive science) and she may be going on dates, but that may not mean lots of sex with different people.
My final thought is take a look at the second excerpt I posted...notice your expectation that you set out by saying:
You are expressing disappointment that A.) She isn't chasing after you...and B.) She isn't meeting the mental paradigm of your expectation. Therefore you are disappointed because she is not following the script you have set forth. Can you see that? You must remove your expectations to remove your frustration.
This is not the sort of low self esteem woman most men on SS are talking about. Look up the "How To Spot A Unicorn" thread and read the first posts. If you can get past the personal back and forth on that thread I think it might offer you some insight into the way a woman like this behaves and how her behavior will differ from the typical woman. I'd paste it but I don't know how. But search should pull it right up.
Two remarkably different posts from yourself and fastlife. Both have merit and I’ll address some of your questions.
Two of our three dates have involved salsa. I had to initiate several times for the first date, to the point where a posters here would flat out assume zero interest (e.g. she would flake due to lab work / supervisor meetings), so you may be right here about the need to pursue. I will try and find the unicorn thread.
The first date we went dancing, when I’d just started learning and wasn’t very good…I definitely gave her the impression, prior to the date, that I was better than I actually was. Which might partially explain the four-month gap between the first and second date! Second date was the night before Dubai. She made a solid effort to please me in the bedroom. Perhaps because I was going away.
Third date I mentioned an event I was interested in going to, and she countered with dinner and salsa. Being indifferent I accepted, which takes us to present day…In fact, I’ve seen pictures of her ex-bf (her and I are Facebook friends) and he is average looking in my opinion, but by her accounts, an incredible salsa dancer. She pretty much lives and breathes salsa, if she is not in the lab.
She has also asked me to watch her group perform several times. I didn’t go to any of the events as we haven’t known each other long and I had no interest feeling like a groupie. Plus it was never convenient. She’s performing next month. If we’re still sleeping together I will attend.
I get the impression that she wants me to be good at salsa, but I’m learning at my own pace. I’m critical of myself when we dance. She tells me I’m amazing and making great progress. One lesson a week is about all I can muster and I’m not changing that for anyone (you know about my financial goals so I'm sure you'll understand). So yes, you might be right. On the other hand, it could be her “interest” in me may have been reignited by the knowledge that perhaps she’s unlikely to find someone with my positive qualities (good looking, gym-rat body, intelligent, ambitious, relatively successful financially, etc,) who also happens to be an excellent salsa dancer. Who knows...Not worth speculating over.
You’re right about the c0ck carousel to be fair. When I was doing my masters dissertation I spent an entire summer locked in the library/my bedroom so could be the case. This woman is being paid by one of the world’s top universities just to be there…sometimes I forget this just because she is so down to earth.
I should also mention that she was incredibly responsive to any messages I sent, while out in Dubai and even initiated until she saw my snapchat stories with the Dubai girl, then she went a bit cold…so there’s that too.
She's not dumb.
She knows I spin plates.
The disappointment issue is because I haven’t really encountered this. I haven't found myself in a situation where a woman displays
some interest, while being generally indifferent to whether she sees me or not. I’ve had this when the woman didn’t know me, but never after we’ve already had sex a few times.
I tend to find myself in the following:
·
Women chase from the outset
·
I pursue initially, but women chase after I’ve fvcked them a few times (these tend to be plates I’m interested in sexually but wouldn’t consider as relationship material)
·
Women reject me straight away
·
Women reject me after I’ve soft nexted them (i.e. relegated them to FWB status)
In fact this is the first girl since my ex gf in 2012 who I have:
- Slept with
- Continued to date after sleeping with her
- Would consider for an LTR
Not since my ex have I met a woman that ticked all three boxes.
But my ex gf wanted a boyfriend, and by the time she asked for exclusivity I was almost expecting it.
Overall there are so many different variables to consider that it’s not worth me speculating over, except to potentially learn a lesson from the experience.
Going forward, I’m going to pursue
unambiguously, without supplicating – thus addressing the issues mentioned in fastlife’s posts, about her potentially thinking I am too out of reach.
I’m also going to make sure she gets the D good and well (addressing some of BE’s points).
And of course,…
no expectations other than having a fun time. Anything else is just setting myself up for frustration.
Other factors (e.g. her mental checklist) are out of my hands and
not worth sweating over. I’m not getting a PhD any time soon (although I do have a masters in Economics…just saying haha!), nor am I going to become an expert salsa dancer. I know there’s some major pedestalizing occurring in my mind at present so at this stage it’s better to just have fun and hope for the best while dealing with things one can control. If she’s interested she’s interested. And if she’s not…well at least I can say I gave it a shot and wasn’t an assh0le about it.