I’ve never been very confident with women, so at the age of 28 I lost my virginity to a sex worker. I continued to see other professionals since then as time and money allows. Then two years ago I met a sex worker who was exactly my type; she soon gave me her personal phone number, and we texted a lot about upcoming meetings and about other things. The last time we met in person she trusted me enough to let me take pictures of her (she advertised without showing her face), and invited me to karaoke with her. A few weeks later I texted again, and her sister replied to me, saying she was in hospital and wouldn’t be working. I wrote to her booker (who knew she liked me) and asked if she knew more, and she led me to believe that the problem was mental health related. Not knowing what else to do, I’d send a little “get well soon” text to her every few weeks. Eventually she responded, saying she was out of the hospital but unlikely to ever work again. She seemed to appreciate my messages, and we continued to text for most of last year. Eventually, I offered to take her out to a platonic dinner in August. She said yes, and I made arrangements. A couple of days before, she pulled out and begged forgiveness, saying she still didn’t feel physically up to anything. I took this well, and continued to text her every other week as I had been before, but she soon stopped replying. She’s been out of hospital for a year now, and I haven’t heard from her since summer. I’m wondering if there’s anything else I can do. I just don’t know how to deal with silence. If she told me to “please stop” I’d absolutely respect that, but I’m worried she may have had a relapse or something like that too.
Human beings are complicated creatures; not only is it possible for us to feel multiple conflicting emotions at the same time, but we do it with astonishing frequency. What this means in your case is that, though the lady does seem to have been genuinely interested in you, it’s also pretty clear that she doesn’t want you in her life any more. Why? There’s no way to know for sure, but I suspect it isn’t coincidental. If the reason she ended up in hospital was indeed mental health-related as you suspect, it could be tied in with burnout or with ambivalent feelings about her work, and if that’s the case it’s no surprise that she no longer wants to communicate with a client, even a cherished one…especially a cherished one, really. My guess is that she wants to break entirely with her old life, and that includes you. But since she really does like you, she doesn’t want to hurt you and is instead pulling a classic feminine move called the fadeaway. In a way, this breakup method is even more cruel because there’s no closure for the one rejected; however, it feels less cruel to the one doing the fadeaway, and in her mind that’s what counts. You don’t have much choice but to move on; at this point all you’re accomplishing is hurting both of you. Enjoy your memories of her, send her prayers or good wishes, and then close that chapter in your heart so you can be ready to love someone else. Because she did give you one priceless gift: your first love. And you may find that, painful as the experience was, it has prepared you for other intimate relationships, paid or otherwise.
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