In my previous job, a women moved from a different country to join our group. We had common mutual interestss, we talked often, had a couple of drinks and dinne

In my previous job, a women moved from a different country to join our group. We had common mutual interestss, we talked often, had a couple of drinks and dinner once. I did the same thing with a male coworker. However, the relationship with a woman is always going to be a little different, especially if your both single. After a couple of weeks I asked her if she was interested in dating. She said it was not a good idea as we were coworkers, and thinking about it I fully agreed and immediately backed of, tried to do the professional thing and did not ask her to join me for coffee or dinner anymore. It was only later that I realized that this was also not what she wanted - she was in a new country, didn't know anyone, and now she kind of lost one of the coworkers that she did have a good (friendly) connection with. It was only about half a year later, after we were both in a relationship with different people, that we reconnected as friends, and we still speak occasionally today after we moved to new jobs. I guess the point of this post is to say, it is more complicated to be friends with someone of the opposite gender than to be friends with someone of the same gender.