Carlos was taken off-guard, but he merely gave the other a contemplative frown before reaching out to comply. “Uh… alright,” he said.
“O-
Okay, but… please let me know if that was… inappropriate for me to
say,” she said quietly. “I really hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable…”It did, but that’s all
on my part, Carlos thought to himself. He still smiled at her. “No worries,”
he told her. “I ought to be flattered, shouldn’t I?”“Well I don’t know if you ought to be anything,” she said quietly. “If I made things uncomfortable for you, I sincerely apologize, and you don’t have to thank me for that, just for the sake of being polite. I- I am sorry, I’ve… obviously made a mistake, and I’ve obviously made you uncomfortable, and… Please, don’t feel obligated to thank me…”
Carlos was starting to panic and his smile slipped from his
face. “No, no, I promise, it’s okay!” he said quickly. “I just – look, it’s me, okay? I-I just – I have trouble
really believing what you’re saying.
Make sense? Nobody’s ever said those sort of things to me before… and it’s all just a bit much for me to accept
with any grace is all.”
The Perfect Scientist 