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TIFU by having my flirting radar so broken that I accidentally ghosted a guy, and now my daily routine is agony..

The Setup:
A couple months ago, I had to travel across the country alone with my 11-year-old son for complex medical treatments. The two of us had to stay at the hospital for a month, just the two of us. Living at the hospital for so long can be soul-crushing, and the only respite I found was by going to a local Indian food stand, which I chose because it’s the only food nearby that accommodates my specific dietary preferences.
Every time I went, there was a guy there who prepared my order. Each day, he and I would chat in a friendly way about everything going on in our lives, and I’d tell him all about my son and all the difficulties we were going through. I literally went to this food stand every day for a month and built a good friendship with this man, as I saw him every day and we always chatted for a few minutes while he prepared my food.
Chatting with him was also my ONLY non-medical adult interaction during the day, and I’m sure I was STARVED for that interaction. In hindsight, I might have also come across as incredibly eager to see and chat with him, just so I could have someone to talk to in order to kill the monotony of hospital living.

The "Fuck Up":
The day my son was discharged from the hospital, I went there one last time to get my last meal before I left for a plane home. When I arrived, my friend was there and I introduced him to my son. He was so kind and showed genuine happiness at seeing my son doing well.
Once we got our food and I was paying and getting ready to leave, he asked for my phone number.
I wasn’t sure if I heard right, so I said, “What was that?” He repeated himself, and my brain completely short-circuited. I didn’t know what was happening. At the exact same time, my son was impatient to get out of there, and my phone actually started ringing with a call from the hospital that I needed to take. I quickly panicked, said, “Sorry, I need to take this call,” and answered the phone as I was being pulled away by my son.

The Realization:
It wasn’t until hours later that the fog cleared and I realized that this man had been hitting on me, or at least shooting his shot after weeks of what he thought was mutual flirting. Apparently, not having been hit on by anyone for over 14 years completely destroyed any awareness I might have had. I realized I walked away looking like a complete jerk who used the classic, cliché “I’m getting a phone call” trope to get out of dealing with an uncomfortable moment.

The Present Day Awkwardness:
Fast forward to now. I am back at the hospital with my son for follow-up care. As stated, this restaurant is the only nearby place I can go to for my dietary preferences, and I really like their food. But EVERY time I go there, I have to see this man and it is agonizingly awkward.
I was hoping I’d be able to just casually bring up the elephant in the room and clear the air, but he is completely cold and unspeaking every time I order now. I feel like if I were to try and force a conversation, it would come across as disingenuous, and it in no way feels like it’s something that has been invited. So now I just get my curry in absolute, chilly silence.

TL;DR: My 14-year marriage deactivated my flirting radar. I didn’t realize a guy at a food stand was hitting on me, accidentally rejected him using a hilariously cliché fake-phone-call exit, and now I have to face him in cold silence every day because it's the only place near the hospital I can eat.

Edit: Genuine question, I am fairly new to Reddit, what is it about this post that makes people think it’s AI? I wrote every word on this, though I did get some drafting help on it from my wife, who majored in English in college. Kinda weird to see so many comments claiming this is a bot? What do I need to do differently if I decide to post in the future?

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