Then I missed my chance
And chances are it won't be coming back to me
Why can't I ignore it?
I keep giving in but I should've known better
'cause there was something 'bout the way you looked at me
- Michelle Branch
How long have these encounters been going on? Neither one of them knew, they couldn't even recall when it had started. Just one day their eyes met across the cafe they regularly visited before they shyly broke the gaze. Since then, this happenstance has occured on a regular basis and yet they always seem to be caught by surprise when their gaze fell on each other.
And the same thing would happen every time. One would be looking at the other, their eyes would meet and they would quickly look away too embarrassed to have been caught. Sometimes they would linger in their respective spot in the cafe, trying to conjure the courage to approach the other to only realize that the opportunity had passed when they would look up to not find the other.
It would seem like the universe planned on keeping them apart. The one time Rick talked himself into approaching Michonne, she walked in with someone. And he was not ready for the humiliation of being rejected in front of a complete stranger.
And things weren't better for Michonne. Everytime she gained enough courage to get up from the table and walk to him, he would choose that exact moment to look at her direction, freezing her in place. She would then pretend to have an important text to reply to. They were maybe both too gutless to enact their attraction, both awaiting for some miracle to bring them to each other.
So until then, they will pine, wish and hope that one day they would have the courage to approach the other.