"From now on, treat me like how you treated your past partners." Maevie suggested.
"It might be that you think you care about her, but she obviously didn't feel your care… So, let's see if I can find the problem…"
So, the first half of the day, Maevie followed Zenot's lead and went around the downtown for the date.
Once in a while, she reminded him to treat her as his partner and as much gave him the permission to hold her hands.
Though it was awkward at first, after holding hands for a few minutes as they walked the sidewalks, they got used to each other's presence.
They went to a park. Zenot kept on asking her if she was tired from all the walking she had to do. Then he offered to take pictures of her which he did a phenomenal job and even made Maevie want to hire him as her photographer for her posts.
It turned out, he was a part of the photography group during his school days. Throughout this period, Maevie silently observed every bit of movement Zenot made and marked them all in her mental notebook.
After roaming around the park for about two hours, the two felt hungry. The single cup of coffee did nothing for their stomach. So they went to a nearby restaurant.
They did receive a lot of attention walking around followed by huge cameras. But once they took their seat, other than being stared at once in a while, they were not disturbed. It was not a surprising event to find people being filmed in this part of the city.
"So… Let's talk about your performance till now…"
Maevie suddenly announced her desire to announce the man's score which made Zenot very nervous and his fear came true.
"… If you had been treating me as your partner till now, I think I can understand what your past partners meant by you not caring enough."
"…"
The man did not say anything, just bit his lower lip and looked at her without blinking. It was as if he was holding back his tears.
"Don't think too much…" Maevie comforted him first. "Hear me out first."
Zenot nodded as he took a breath to relax again before he gave the woman in front of him all his attention.
"But before that… Let me ask about some things… Especially, your routine…"
"Okay…"
"How often do you call your partner? How many times a day?"
"Twice a day. Once in the morning. I used to send a good morning text and call when I receive a reply. And make a call at night at around nine, talk for a while and before I start my stream at ten."
"So… In the morning and at night. Is it at the same time?"
Zenot thought of a sec.
"Could be said so…"
"How about during the day?"
"We're usually busy with her classes during the day so I don't want to disturb or be disturbed."
Maevie frowned at that answer.
"What if she experienced something unfair and wanted your comfort? Did she have to wait for the night to get your comfort?"
"…"
It was obvious that the man had never thought about this. Zenot really did not.
"How about dates? How often did you meet up?"
"Once a week and holidays."
"Okay…." Maevie nodded and continued "I'll give you my observation now."
Zenot: "…"
It was not only him that paid attention to Maevie, even the crew was curious about what she had observed.
"First of all. From your side… you are making an effort…"
Zenot nodded. But it was the best thing that she said that distressed him.
"But it's not necessary that the other side feels your efforts. You said that you make calls every morning and night right?"
"Yeah…"
"But never during the day…"
"Unless we've a plan. No."
"What if she felt that what you're doing is not a sign of your desire to communicate with her but a routine you had arranged fufill your daily task?"
Zenot was shocked to hear that. He almost stood up as she denied.
"No! It's… It was never like that… I…"
"I know that you don't mean to do that. But what if they felt it like that… And what if they had to wait for a day off and had to make an appointment to meet up with you…"
Zenot did not have the face to protest anymore. He honestly didn't think about it from this angle. It was just that he thought since they were still in college and busy with class and projects, nighttime was the best time for conversation. But he also had to stream so they couldn't talk for a long time.
"And lastly… Is there a very independent woman in your family?"
The man could not understand why he was suddenly with his family but he still replied to Maevie honestly.
"Yeah… You could say that I'm brought up by my older sister. She's very independent being the oldest sibling in our family since our mom is not with us anymore."
"I see…" Maevie nodded and came to a conclusion.
Children often learn from what they see. And in the case of Zenot, he had been exposed to a very intendent woman as an example. So, he could not understand the type of attention a woman would want. Hence, his cluelessness often came off as uncaring.
"Am I really… bad?" To say that Zenot was upset was an understatement.
"No." Maevie was honest. "You just need some guidance. And that's what I'm here for…"
She didn't know how contradictory she was with what she said when she was told that she needed to help him with his relationship problem at the beginning.
"For the rest of the day, I'm the man and you're the woman."
Zenot: "?"
The crew: "?"
'What did she say?'
Getting the weird looks, Maevie rephrased her words.
"What I'm trying to say is I'll act like a man and you just be the recipient? I'll show you how a woman wants to be treated… At least how I'd like to be treated."
"Okay!!" Zenot was excited once again. "That's a great idea…"
"Then let's go!!!"
Maevie raised her fist.