Chapter 2

A few days have passed and Maria forgot all about the lunch with the two of them until a familiar scene on her grandfather's television show caught her eye.

He was currently watching one of his many beloved soap operas with a tissue box in hand. This scene didn't really require it though. There wasn't even a relationship between the two of them yet.

It was the actress that reminded her so much of her sister that caught her attention. She was very nervous around the boy she liked. Anytime he spoke to her she would turn away shyly.

"Why is she so scared?" Maria spoke out loud, and Lory jumped as if just noticing her.

"Maria. When did... never mind." He shook his head and answered her question, "She isn't scared. She is nervous."

Maria watched the girl's eyes constantly flutter up to the boy talking to her, while the boy never removed his eyes from her. "Why is she nervous?"

"She loves him," Lory answered with a wistful sigh. Maria was tempted to roll her eyes and leave but she had more questions.

"He isn't nervous. Does that mean he doesn't love her?" She asked.

"Actually, the fact that he is talking to her means that he loves her too."

Maria looked up at him completely lost. "So then when a boy talks to a girl that means he love her? You talk to lots of girls. Do you love them all?"

Lory gave her a patient smile. "No. I guess I said that wrong. It's how they talk to you, what they talk about and how often. There are lots of different clues that tell us that he loves her. Here let me show you." He picked up Maria and set her in his lap then took the remote and started to rewind and fast forward the scenes.

"Look at how he looks at her. He is smiling and his eyes are always on her because to him, she is the only thing that exists in his world." His voice started out strong but slowly started to get that dreamy sound that he will often go into when talking about love.

"Well she isn't looking at him so then how do you know she loves him?"

"It's actually almost the same reason we know that he loves her. She is taking time away from her day to talk to him. She is smiling and laughing if he says something funny. Also look at her hands."

Maria did as he said and watched her hands for a few moments. They were constantly moving, fingers playing with fingers, playing with her ring or bracelet; sometimes she would play with the buttons of her jacket.

"She won't stop moving," she finally said and Lory nodded.

"And he is hiding his. Sometimes it will be opposite but they are trying to occupy their hands so they don't touch each other but deep down they really want to," he answered eagerly as if he desired the exact same thing they were.

"So why don't they then?" Maria was confused.

"Well, they aren't dating for one. Two, they don't know how they feel for each other yet." She could hear the anticipation in Lory's voices when he said the word, yet.

Maria sat and watched the episode finish. Then she sat and watched the next three. She watched the two characters take one step forward and two steps back.

It was frustrating!

So many times she saw how much they liked each other and yet they were too dumb to see how they felt about each other. Her friends would constantly tease her about him, always bringing him up and telling her things about him.

"Do her friends like him too?" She asked suddenly.

"No. Why do you ask that?" Lory asked shocked out of his trance of the show.

"Well they are always talking about him and they seem to know everything about him while she doesn't. It seems like they like him more than she does."

"They bring him up because they know she loves him. They want her to be with him just as much as she does."

Finally, on the fifth episode she watched with her grandfather, the boy summoned up the courage to ask her out but…

"WAIT! Why didn't she say yes right then!" Maria yelled out and slapped her little hand on Lory's knee in excitement making Lory laugh softly

"She is playing hard to get. She actually wants to say yes but she didn't want to seem too eager to just scream out yes."

"But she wants to! Why doesn't she just say yes?" She huffed.

"She will," he replied calmly. "Watch. He will keep asking her with a smile and eventually she will say yes."

The actress did. The hero of the story asked her why she couldn't come and she stammered with a lame excuse and then he smiled and countered her. Finally, she agreed with a bright smile.

"She should have just said yes right away. That was dumb." Maria crossed her arms angrily.

"But that would make it too easy for him. She did the right thing. It made him try more and makes her more attractive to him."

"More attractive?"

Lory thought about it for a moment before explaining, "He liked her more for it. Did you see how happy he was when she said yes?"

"But he would have been happier if she just said yes right away," Maria countered.

"Hmmm… maybe, but people want what they can't have. It goes the same for people and love too."

Maria blinked at him confused and he laughed.

"Okay, let's see. Why do you think everyone wants to date Ren?" She thought about the things that the women in the building would say about him. They always talk about how good looking he was and that he was so kind.

"Because he is kind and pretty, but they can't have him!" Maria frowned and crossed her arms in absolution.

"Exactly, they can't have him so they want him even more. People always try to get what they can't have." Lory let her think about it. He patted her head and hoped she understood his explanation. He turned the show back on but then was interrupted once again.

"So playing hard to get means that you make that person love you?"

Lory paused the show again and looked at her. "Sometimes. Some people see it as a challenge and want to beat it like a game. Others do fall in love and stay happy together." Again she sat and thought about it and he grew curious.

"Maria, why are you asking all these questions? Is there something on your mind?"

Maria blushed and looked away timidly. "Um, I only wanted to know." She hopped off of her grandfather's lap and bowed down slightly.

"Thank you, grandfather," she said with urgency and then ran out the door. Lory watched her go and then settled back to watch the show unconcerned.

Maria buzzed out of the office, her mind filled with thoughts and images. She had to find out if it was real or a game or what. The only problem was how.