Haven't You Pretended Enough?
Elaine thought everything was going well until Silas asked her a question that made her choke on her strawberry tart. "Elaine, did you give me permission to use your given name because you like me?"
So straightforward! She hadn't been expecting that from him since he had never been this blunt with her before.
"What other reason could I possibly have?" she coughed, trying to deflect and get control of her watery eyes at the same time.
"I don't know…" he said hesitantly. "But it was rather sudden, though not unwelcome."
Elaine managed to regain her composure after taking a sip of water. She needed to answer this correctly. It seemed he might be catching on to what she was trying to do and that wasn't allowed.
She smiled at him and reached out shyly to take his hand on top of the table. "Well, we have been seeing each other for a while. The timing seemed right to me. And I thought it a shame that no one ever uses your given name. It suits you."