bend

This man didn't feel the connection the first time.

Maybe it's because he's set a rule for himself: Never work your way to any lady in the workplace.

Emphasis on the word maybe. Currently, he's not sure anymore.

She would occasionally initiate to chat up with him. Each time, he'd be strong enough to give abbreviated reactions with either a nod or one short sentence. He didn't find her boring at all. As a matter of fact, she is terribly interesting.

He gets easily attracted to the right interesting woman and has a hundred and one insane ways to check her out without being obnoxious or obtrusive. He may choose to be naughty and fun and could get away with it.

But not here, he'd mumble over and over. There exist boundaries and he doesn't plan to cross any.

Add to that that the place and timing are not right.

But she intoxicates his curiosity slowly every time they meet at work. So he evades. Avoids. Turns around. Smiles and walks on.

Doesn't work.

She lingers. And then, he limbers.

So he'd take time now to converse. It's not a lot of minutes but it is still time. He doesn't even kill her with sweetness or brainwash her that he's a better fool than the rest. On the other hand, he lets out tongue-in-cheek comments in an attempt to bring out the ire in her.

There's a word for this behaviour. Front.

SHE: Why aren't you nice to me?
HE: I am. Considering you have this personality...
SHE: Screw you.
HE: Yes. Please. That'll be heaven.
SHE: (Smiles) I hate you.
HE: Hey. You wanna go out with me?
SHE: (Pauses. Raises an eyebrow.) You're asking me out on a date?
HE: No. If I wanted to date you, I would've asked if you wanted to go out on a date with me. Sabi ko, do you want to go out?
SHE: Are you gonna take me to McDo? Or Starbucks?
HE: Pasta. Then maybe, coffee.
SHE: Uuuy. You're totally asking me out. Bumabawi ka, no?
HE: Ang tagal naman ng sagot.
SHE: Sure! Ako pa, tatanggi. Ay! Can we take those two with us? (Points to two ladies who are our colleagues.)
HE: No.
SHE: Di ba, it's not a date? Eh di isama natin sila.
HE: I will not ask them out with us.
SHE: (Smiles) Why not?
HE: Because it's a trap waiting to happen. I'm not going to dine with three women who will just spend the night talking about shoes, bags, boys and...I don't know.
SHE: (Laughs) Eh di, we won't. We'll talk about you.
HE: Naku! Lalo na. I'm not going to pay dinner for my own roasting.

She stares at him with a silly smile on her face.

HE: What?
SHE: (Shakes her head) Wala. To think inaasar mo ko palagi...
HE: Unintentionally.
SHE: Suplado ka kaya, no! If I don't approach you, you won't talk to me.
HE: That's not true. Kanina ako ang lumapit sa yo.
SHE: Alam mo, yung mga pinsan mo sa St. Scho, they look aloof pero din naman talaga.
HE: So? Anong connection?
SHE: Does it run in your family?
HE: Pinansin kaya kita kanina. I even chose to approach you.
SHE: (Softly) Liliparin ata ako.
HE: (Pretends didn't hear.) Huh? What was that?
SHE: Nothing.

* * *

kids should know that...

Interpersonal attraction can be thought of as a force acting between two people tending to draw them together, and resisting their separation. According to a personality psychologists' view, interpersonal attraction is a person's qualities that tend to attract by appealing to another person's desires. When measuring interpersonal attraction, one must refer to the qualities of the attracted as well as the qualities of the attractor to achieve predictive accuracy. (wikipedia)