Miss Stubborn

seventeen

EDITED: 18/08/2018

I sat on my bed staring into the depths of my wardrobe, I knew I had plenty to wear but for some reason I felt the need to impress Wesley Doyle. 

My eyes scanned the dresses that hung messily and finally I pulled out the perfect outfit. A navy spaghetti strap dress that would hang loosely along the curves of my body. Quickly throwing it on I made my way over to my bathroom, ready to finish getting ready. My mind wandered as I applied a small amount of makeup to my face, thinking about how I felt about Wes and the relationship that was developing. 

I thought about the way he treated me when we first met, how he tried so hard to impress me on our second and third meetings. I also thought about how rude he was to me and how he did not know how to take no for an answer. My mind also wandered to how he looked, how much I enjoyed seeing the smirk he called a smile, plastered onto his face every time he greeted me. 

No matter how much I thought about all of the good things about Wesley Doyle, I could not help but think of all of the bad as well. It was in that moment that I decided that he needed to prove himself to me, prove that he was not just some rich guy that got what he wanted because of the person he was and the money he had. 

I was pulled away from my thoughts by the sound of my doorbell, quickly pulling on my shoes, I rushed to meet Wesley. 

"Good evening, Ms. Valentine." Wesley greeted with what I would almost classify as a smile. 

"Well, don't you look dashing." I respond, opening the door further, gesturing him to come in.

"You look beautiful." Wes whispers, taking a step closer to me and gently kissing my cheek. "We need to get going though, our reservation is for 7." 

I pick up my bag and take Wesley's hand that is outstretched in my direction. Following him out of my apartment building I am surprised to see him heading in the direction of Betsy.

"Oh you brought Betsy!" I laugh, remembering the first time he showed her to me.

"A very pretty lady deserves to ride in a very pretty car." Wesley teases as he opens my door for me. 

The drive was silent except for the soft radio music playing in the background. Fortunately, the drive to the restaurant was short and I was pleased to see that it was a small diner rather than a fancy restaurant. 

"I hope this is okay, I didn't want to take you somewhere that made it seem like I was throwing money around." Wes mumbled, opening the door for me once again.

"You are in luck. I love this place!" I exclaimed, jumping out of the vehicle and making my way to the entrance. 

~~~~

"I honestly don't think I have ever met a woman who can eat as much pizza as you can." Wesley stated with a laugh, biting into his final slice.

"Isn't there some rule about not talking about how much a woman eats?" I reply smugly, not feeling at all self-conscious about the amount of food I'd just consumed.

"You know I didn't mean it in a bad way. I'm just glad you enjoyed dinner. I hate taking out other women and having them order the smallest, blandest meal on the menu only not to eat it all." Wesley blurts out.

"You take out other women." I reply slowly, not sure what he means.

"No." He stutters, "Well I mean yes." Wesley runs his hands through his hair, pausing to try and find the right words. "I have taken out other women, in the past, not recently. I've only taken out you recently."

I laugh a little, enjoying how flustered I had just made him.

"I understand what you mean, don't worry about it." I tell him.

"Let's talk about you, I feel like I should embrace the time I get to spend with you. I'm worried if I ask you out again you'll say no." Wes said with a laugh. "What do you like doing in your spare time?"

I was a little shocked at Wes' comment about my saying no to the next date we have. I had enjoyed spending time with him, he was a lot sweeter when he wasn't trying to get my attention.

"I enjoy photography, mainly landscape but sometimes people too." I say softly, not really confident about my ability.

"Photography? That's awesome! Why landscape?"

"People move too much. It's much harder to get a good shot especially if the person know's you are taking a photo of them. They change the way they respond when they know they are the focus of the image. Landscapes don't move. I feel like I can get a better image from a landscape." I explain, trying to get it to make sense.

Wes nods in agreement, clearly showing he understood what I meant.

"You know," I begin. Not really sure what I'm planning on saying. "If you were to ask me on another date, I probably wouldn't say no again. I was stupid to say no the first few times."

"Duly noted." Wes responds with a smirk.