How to get to Sesame Street
He is the silent one. Never lifts his head from his notebook. Headphones nestle to cover his ears from the daily bustle of the office. You have to go stand in his line of vision for him to notice you and remove his headphones. And for that one or two minutes that he is oblivious to my presence, I ogle.
For the first three months of my existence in the office, he only talked to me twice. The first one, to lead me to my cubicle. The second time when I asked him about the boss' schedule for our Davao trip. Ok, count the Davao trip in, and that makes it three when he escorted me to the ground floor from their hotel room at his mom's behest.
Now, he laughs a lot. Makes the first attempt to say something to me. Butts in on my meaningless conversations with the staff. Even attempted to set me up with a former office intern who dropped by for a visit.
I don't know if it is simply his way, but he looks at me in the eye when he talks to me. I feel transfixed to his gaze. I don't maintain eye contact when I talk to people. I feel so aware that the person I am talking to is looking at me. But with him, somehow it feels like a game. Whoever looks down first loses.
So far, I have yet to win. But I am trying. =)