Search Results: between days

I met a client for a coffee chat in the hopes of a job referral.

1) We corresponded on LinkedIn and he was eager to help - gave his number (no one else had done that and sticked to corresponding on LinkedIn even to meet up)

2) Was v nice and ask me what worked best for me in terms of going up to their office to grab a room or a cafe nearby. Also gave time flexibility so I could ‘sneak out of work’

3) when we met up, he first came off as a bit guarded/ uncomfortable but then loosened up and teased / making jokes / leaning towards me

4) when we were parting ways, caught him looking at me up & down a couple times while we had small talk and he was smiling at everything I said. Paced himself to match me while we were heading out of the cafe and before we parted ways he said to send over my resume and asked if I had his work email and quickly said it. We’d previously met with my boss in a work setting - I’ve been looped in on emails and said my boss has it and will find it

he then insisted I take his business card when I’d already started to head off. Kinda surprised his brought his biz card given I already met him and had his LI / number

3) I texted next day to thank him and said I’ll send over my resume in a couple days’ after polishing it - he was v quick to respond and said to send it whenever I’m done and he’d forward it to hr and check up on the team itself that I’m applying to. I emailed it and he responded quickly again to acknowledge. Another position opened up a couple weeks later and I asked if he could refer and again was quick to respond / look into it

4) I didn’t progress and he said he will keep a lookout for roles that are better suited. I then said to stay in touch

There’s no other touch point in between that is personal but the subtext makes me wonder if there is something more? The business card and the niceness of it all - am I overreading?

and does the saying ‘if he wanted to, he would’ apply here?

I consider using people any time you're dishonest about your intention or lie your way through to try obtain anything from that unsuspecting person.

This has already happened twice with 2 different male friends I've known for years. It was clear there wasn't anything romantic between us ever. One of tried groping me and then excusing it with an ''Oh sorry, I was just teasing'' when I removed his hands from him. Another ended up admitting in the end that he was trying to get a date from me eventually and though I would naturally changed my mind.

The groper ended up ghosting me afterwards and the other one blocked me. Needless to say I felt used. If I wanted a relationship I would make it clear from day 1, not pretend to be someone's friend and do the ''go by the natural flaw, maybe the person will change their minds eventually'' method; sound like deceiving to me.

Isn't that still using people?