Her love is unrequited, but he likes it – everyone wants to be adored – and torments her with it. He says, for instance, you’re so mean to me, when she tries to reclaim small dignities from his grasp.
She is scrabbling. Other men send messages and signs of their affection which she misinterprets or ignores. She is comforted by her miserable love and preoccupied by its shame; it is her project.
They go together to a party – just a few drinks – and she asks if he’ll ever concede. He scoffs and chides her. Come on, now. He does not say no.