yes, Mother give it to me

"I just, um... I feel like you've been kinda distant lately, and I wanted to check in to see if there was something going on in your life you wanted to talk about."

"Don't worry about it," she chuckled. "I'll be OK, just dealing with a lot of stress, that's all."

She knew as she sat back in her office chair that Henry was worried about her. It reassured her but also made her feel a twinge of guilt as she stared at her computer monitor. From across the empty room, Mona could just about feel the panic with which he clicked his pen against his desk. It was late December and everyone else was out for the day, but they had gotten on the boss's bad side and been stuck with shit detail. It took an hour for him to work up the courage to approach her, delicately tapping her shoulder.

She turned her chair to find a very perplexed Henry cocking his head. She turned a bit red and tried to keep her voice level.

"It's you. I, um... You're..."

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked, eyes wide.

"No," she assured him. "I'm just usually into women, so it's weird how badly I want to take you out. I really like spending time with you, and I was wondering if you wanna go out for drinks or a movie."

"Oh," he blushed, somewhat dumbfounded. "So that, that was... that's why you..."

"Yeah. I mean, if you're gay or taken or whatever, that's fine!"

"Well, I've been with a few guys before, but... Did you think I was gay? I like girls, too, you know."

"Sorry, I shouldn't have assumed," she admitted. "Should we just pretend this didn't happen?"

"I'm not saying no," he corrected her. "I'm just, you... OK. Sure. I can give this a shot. I'm just not a very good date. I mean I've dated before, kinda. I mean, sex. I mean, no one's ever..."

His face was scarlet, deep and ruddy like he was out of breath. Her coy smile made it worse.

"Women have never been so forward with me," he chuckled, fiddling with his hands. "I-I've never really been hit on before. I've matched on Tinder, but not often, and only with guys looking for one night stands."