I had to consult three monks, two defrocked priests and Google to make sure that your guy wasn't making any sense whatsoever. I think I'm right. My first inkling is that he misused a quote, but there could be something else to it.
For beginners, the "ships passing in the night" has been used numerous times and is largely attributable to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. To wit:
Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing, only a signal shown, and a distant voice in the darkness; So on the ocean of life, we pass and speak one another, only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence.
I did find out that Paul Laurence Dunbar also has a poem of the name. Either way, it generally was an acknowledgment of a passing romance or tryst or even the mythical "relationship-in-a-night" where you meet somebody and somehow it seems like you have a full relationship with them only to never see them again, yet feel completely satisfied.
All that to say, I think you're dude misused a quote while trying to be romantic. Unless...
Unless he's trying to tell you not to get too caught up because there's no future between the two of you. Which, of course, would make NO sense considering that you two are starting a business together. In fact, the mere presence of you two entering commercial cahoots negates the very connotation of the quote as it would require further and future connections between the two of you, even amidst dysfunction.
Basically, Rico Suave probably heard somebody say that one day and was like, "wow, that sounds great" and used it on you in the middle of some exchange you all were having that involved candles and those little socks with the balls on the ankle.
So in essence, it means nothing and I'd suggest that you don't let your guy do any public speaking for your business without a script.
Basically, he's Joe Biden.
It was written.
Dude, you are an idiot about the quote. It means that "you guys missed your opportunity for a relationship", like there was a spark, but now it's gone. Come on, think about it!
Basically, this girl's business partner is saying "there was a shot, but the timing is now off".
While I clearly scoff at being called an idiot, I suppose that's one possible explanation for it. But there are clearly many, kicko.
However, that would seem TOTALLY odd for dude to be on some, "despite the fact that our beginnings were romantic, I dont have those feelings anymore, but let's really get into a financially binding agreement between the two of us RIGHT NOW." seems kind of a long shot.
So you're saying, that dude's out on the business end? Or out on the relationship?
Clearly the main bullet point here is that nobody knows what dude is really talking about.
While I'm finding Girl's BFF and I don't see eye to eye on some stuff, I have to say, the idiot comment was way out of line. Especially considering your interpretations have a very similar essence to his and any random quote could have varying meanings.
Girl's BFF's answer was good.
Maybe he will disappear tomorrow, and we will learn that he actually used the quote correctly! Because he is actually super-spy, who thinks that life is like a movie where the important bits are punctuated with a one-liners, poignant stares, and drink swirling.
Was he softly cupping your cheek as he stared deeply into your eyes, when he said the quote? Was he wearing a trench coat and did he have a five o'clock shadow? If so... I wish my life were more like the movies.
My immediate reaction to this quote is something like "you totally missed the point/me/something important." Either way, it doesn't really make to much sense unless it was used in an argument.
I think my effing brain just exploded. The cheesiness that comes out of peoples mouths amazes me.
Dear Panama, sorry for calling you an idiot. You clearly aren't but I don't think it's that hard for a guy to change his mind about a girl just the way girls change their minds about a guy.
I think girls have had crushes on guys that turn into friendship or the guy has done something that turns us off and we realize "wow, I never should have like that guy", but that doesn't mean we can't be friends, it just means "all opportunity you had to sleep with me is now gone".
The way that people use the term "ships passing in the night" nowadays is as such:
Much like two ships that are on different courses, or going in different directions, the only time the two of you "meet" one another is when you pass, briefly, in the night. Now, the night part may not literally be the night-time, but it could be. For example, for many years my parents worked different shifts--my mother worked 4pm to midnight & my dad worked 5am to 2pm. So the only time they "saw" each other, or crossed paths, was at night, in bed. Or, a colleague of mine sometimes said she & I were like ships passing in the night--we only saw each other for about 15 minutes every day, at shift change.
So, the comment doesn't necessarily have anything to do with his romantic feelings. However, that phrase makes it sound like he feels the two of you don't spend enough time together, or that you don't know each other very well, as you're not on the same course, going side-by-side, but instead are going in different directions.