The one where Michael talks to Martha as if she simply was a friend he hasn’t seen in a while.
Panel 1:
Mike says: So…how’s it going? I haven’t seen you ‘round!
Mike thinks: How do we do this again? I walk away and talk to her over my shoulder. No. Wait a minute! That’s what you do when you are trying to leave someone. What do you when you want to be with someone? Why has no one ever taught me how to do this?!!
Martha says: I guess I’ve been busy.
Martha thinks: What does he mean he hasn’t seen me around? He’s been ignoring me for months. Is he trying to pretend that was my fault?
Panel 2:
Mike says: Well, gotta go.
Mike thinks: I gotta go find out what you do when you want to be with someone. I can’t do what Gordon does. Hormone attacks definitely do not work. Maybe Lawrence knows. He does great with the girls.
Martha says: See you.
Martha thinks: Now we are back to normal. Michael walks off after only a few sentences and ignores me.
On a side note: What is up with this mall? We have a large white ceiling in panels 1,3 and 4 showing no signs of an upper level. In Panel 2, the railing tells us that this is at least a 3 floor mall.
Panel 3: Michael’s eyes go goggled as he questions why he chased (not stalked) Martha around the mall only to say “hello.” Well, Michael, it’s not like you ever had a long conversation with Martha in the last 4 years. We have seen how you operated around Martha in and out of a mall before and heavy conversation was not involved.
Out of the mall
In the mall
And to be clear, being a self-centered boy unable to relate to other human beings is not the same as being depressed.
Panel 4: Is Mike trying to figure out Martha, a girl he has dated for four years? Maybe he could take her at her word when she said she did not like being ignored in favor of Gordon and cars. Martha is pretty straight forward. I suspect the issue is that Mike can’t take Martha at her word and because he believes he knows her better than she does about her own self, he must try and figure her out.
Summary: Michael fails with Martha after 4 sentences and heads back to the silhouette of Elizabeth in the distance. See you in August, Martha.