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A sensitive colleague might like me. I just want to be friends with him. What to do?

My colleague is a male, single, in his 50s. I'm in my late 20s. He's an expat in my office, liked by other colleagues for his nice & culturally-sensitive attitude. Sometimes he's even more sensitive than the locals. Bad news is he recently got mild stroke & has been feeling down since. He often thinks that the stroke makes him useless professionally and people are trying to kick him away. I don't see that happening and I think it's just in his mind. Anyway, as a colleague/friend, since the stroke, I've been offering some companies when I could. I listen to his stories. We went to art exhibitions, movies, dinners, etc. I just don't want him to feel negative most of the time. However, lately I sense that he might misunderstood me. He becomes possesive. He would become uneasy when I turned down his invitations, he insisted to see me after work, he instant messaged me at home. What should I do? At the same time I don't want to hurt his feelings considering his condition.

Public Comments

1. Slowly generate a distance before any more misunderstandings occur. Men aren't mind readers but they can also interpret actions, so don't be so quaint to see him and weird as it sounds try making the outtings between you guys alot less fun and spotaneous. He will either get the hint or just not want to invite you anymore because of your lack of interest. You have to think for yourself sometimes.. if all else fails try to seperate distance by pulling the age difference card