What to say when she says she'd love to meet but her work trip got extended

When she writes that she would love to meet and then explains the delay, the signal is in the first half. She is telling you she wants it. The frustration in the second half is about her schedule, not about you. A message like this usually means she is busy, a little annoyed at the client, and now has a mental note that she owes you a rescheduled plan. She is not asking you to solve anything.

The main thing to watch is whether she offers anything concrete after the news. If she says something like 'maybe the week after' or 'text me when you're back in town,' she is already steering toward a plan and you can match her. If she only apologizes and moves on, she is probably not ready to commit to dates, and pushing for one now will read as pressure.

Your reply should be easy to read on a phone between meetings. Two things carry most of the weight. One is acknowledging that the trip dragged on, in a short line that shows you heard her. The other is a light bit of forward motion, such as a mention that you're still up for it when she's back, or a small reference to something she said earlier that shows you were paying attention.

The kind of reply to aim for is warm and short, with one thing for her to respond to if she wants to, and nothing she has to answer. Avoid stacking questions. Avoid saying you'll wait forever. Avoid explaining how much you'd been looking forward to it. A reply that feels relaxed and a little playful tends to land best here, because it gives her permission to be disappointed about the delay without having to manage your feelings too.

Send your reply within a few hours if you can, or the same day. Waiting a whole day to answer a message about a delay can make it look like you were unsure how to take it. If she sent it late in the evening, a relaxed reply the next morning is fine.

After that, give her room. If she doesn't come back to the thread, wait about five or six days before anything else, and make that next message about something else entirely, like a meme or a question about her week, not a pointed reminder about meeting. If she still doesn't engage, let it sit. Stop when two of your messages have gone unanswered in a row. Keep your dignity, and assume the trip or the week got away from her rather than that she lost interest.