TIFU by sending what I thought was a cute message to a coworker.

It all began last week, I had to call a colleague from the help center at the company I work for. It is a call center, so you never have the same person responding. The call went great, very professional but I also thought we had some chemistry. I liked her soft voice, friendly and positive attitude.

She offered to send me a message on the company instant messaging app to inform me when the issue I called for would be resolved, that's how I had her contact information. And that was it.

However, I had our interaction in mind all week after that. (I don't have many friends and just moved in a new town.) There's no way to meet that girl in a normal setting, all I had was her name and company instant messaging. Every other option would have make me a stalker, I won't wait at the exit of the office or scour the internet for all her accounts or anything like that. So I sent her a message, quote "I liked our short interaction last time, you seem an extraordinary girl and I'd like to know you, can I contact you outside of work?".

I don't know what I expected, nobody replies "yeah sure here's my number", but a "no thx" would have been sufficient too. It was just left on read. But, hey, you miss all the shots you don't take they say.

Then I got a meeting scheduled with my boss and HR. Like almost immediately. My message was treated like workplace harassment. I could lose my job for that. I was confronted on my intentions, and had to certify that I would never contact that person again nor anybody else.

I see now on the other side that unwanted attention can be stressful, she could suffer anxiety from answering any call from now on, or worse lose all her enthusiasm. I still not meant any harm. (If this person recognises herself, no hard feelings, I totally understand)

TL;DR : I sent a message to a coworker and almost got fired.