"Hey, good morning!"

She forced a smile and mumbled back as he passed.  Three months of  'hey, good morning', EVERY morning.  Nothing more; she waited for him to follow up his salutation with conversation, but he always sailed past her before she could respond.  She kicked her foot against the counter in disgust at her stupidity.  Was she really that desperate for attention that she misconstrued a friendly greeting to be an overture to romance?  An invitation to a relationship?  She finished wiping the counter top and threw a wad of used paper towels in the trash, turning away before she could catch him looking back at her, struggling to contain a pout as he was once again rebuffed.  What does it take, he thought, to get her to engage in conversation?  For three months he'd greeted her, EVERY morning.  He shrugged, and went back to work.