What Not to Do to the New Guy At Work

I have a very heightened sense of smell. I can pick up on smells that no one else around me does. If I smell something particularly potent, I can taste what I'm smelling in the back of my throat. Perhaps I'm crazy and half the time, this is all in my head, but I'm pretty sure, at least some of the time, I'm not crazy. I choose to believe that God granted me this awesome power of smell to make up for the fact that he completely forgot to give me any kind of co-ordination or athletic ability AT ALL.

Because of my heightened sense of smell, I've always found men who wear nice cologne or use good soap (for most, it's the smell of their pit stick), very attractive. I love cologne's on men. An ugly man wearing a nice aftershave will instantly become somewhat decent looking in my eyes. I also hug people I don't really know because I want to get a stronger whiff of whatever scent their wearing. Usually, this doesn't seem to bother people. Or at least, I've never noticed anyone get totally offended at my invasion of their personal space. Until now.

There is a new guy in my office. He started about the same time that I did three weeks ago. He's very nice, but he has the perpetual look of being disgruntled because of the set of his eyebrows. He's also very sarcastic, and for the first week I worked with him, I was constantly apologizing to him which I'm sure he found quite amusing. Last week, I was standing next to him talking to another girl we work with. When I turned my head to look at him, I realized that he smelled absolutely delicious. So, I leaned in closer and sniffed him. Now, maybe he thought I was sniffing because he smelled bad, or maybe when I leaned in and inhaled, I took too long. Or maybe having people lean in to sniff you is something that doesn't happen to the average person. Either way, my co-worker immediately jerked his body as far from me as possible and asked what I was doing. I told him that he smelled very nice and asked what cologne he was wearing. (Axe body spray) He answered in a forced polite voice and went back to his desk. Since my little sniffing incident, he has done everything in his power to avoid standing next to me or being in my general vicinity.

My feelings are truly hurt by this. It's not like I grabbed his crotch or shoved my tongue in his mouth. I don't see what the big deal is. Why would he even wear body spray if he didn't want people to appreciate how good he smelled? I have no idea how to handle this situation. I feel bad that I made him so uncomfortable, but I can't help myself. I've inherited my mother's inability to function within civilized society. Does this mean that in another 40 years, I'll be that crazy cat lady that the neighborhood kids dare each other to go talk to?