Later on Valentine’s day

I’m so excited to finally be able to spend Valentine’s day with the only person I actually wanted to see today - Wyatt. I’m also however feeling a bit tired, since today was so hectic, what with Henry’s antics and receiving so much attention from strangers. 

Wyatt and I decided to have a romantic dinner date at my place as our Valentine’s day date, so I’m setting things up and getting ready as I wait for him to show up. I’m not much of a cook, as I’ve never had to make a meal myself, so I thought it best to order the food. Luckily, I was able to get my family’s private chef to deliver a fancy dinner to my place on time. They dropped it of just now and Wyatt is supposed to be here any minute now. 

I’m lighting a few candles around the dining room and choosing some romantic background music, to set the mood for our date. This is going to be the most romantic dinner date ever, I’ll make sure of it. I’m all dressed up and I really think this date is going to make all the stress and discomfort from earlier on campus completely vanish. Smiling and humming, I take a last look around - it’s perfect. 

It is perfect. For a cozy, romantic date at home. So why am I kind of wishing we could go out to a fancy restaurant instead…but no… I guess we both agreed to keep this relationship private… although, if we were together publicly, maybe Henry and all those others who gave me gifts today, wouldn't have felt as comfortable approaching me if they knew I was in a relationship…but… I’ll think about it later, we did agree after all…

The doorbell rings. It must be Wyatt! I’m suddenly almost giddy with excitement, this will be so special, it doesn’t matter that we have to stay a secret, right? I take a last glance at myself in the hallway mirror before I open up the door with a wide smile. As I open the door, I see that it is Wyatt as expected, he’s dressed up a bit as well, at least a bit more than his usual style. He smiles back at me, but for some reason he doesn’t look as excited as I’m feeling…He is smiling, but the dimples I adore so much aren't out in full force like usual and he’s not quite meeting my eyes. He looks a bit tired. Huh. I can feel my own excitement dim a little, but as he is clearly trying to put on a good face, I decide not to comment on it. Instead I smile wider, hoping to cheer him up. Maybe he’s just a bit tired, it has been a long day, after all. 

As Wyatt steps in and we close the door, he hands me a bouquet of red roses. It’s an average sized bouquet, unlike the one Henry tried to give me earlier which was absurdly large and probably too big for any vase anyway. Somehow Wyatt doesn’t seem too pleased with the size of the bouquet he gave me as he mumbles something that sounds like an apology for the size as well as something about me probably already having enough roses. I don’t really know how to answer that so I pretend like I didn’t hear it, instead oohing and aahing over the flowers. 

“I should go put these in water right away! So pretty!”, I say cheerfully as I walk towards the kitchen so I can put them in a vase. When I get to the kitchen, I realize I don’t actually know if I have a vase or how one is actually supposed to put flowers in vases, I think I’ve seen the maid cut off the stems a bit? But is it necessary? And what kind of… knife? Scissors? Should I use… That’s too much of a hassle, a vase will do… I find one in one of the kitchen cupboards and stuff the roses in there with a bit of water. Best I can do for now. 

After that we eat and talk for a bit. We are getting along fine, but Wyatt still seems a bit distracted and distant. What’s up with him, I wonder. Valentine’s day is just once a year, he could put in a little more effort even if he is tired or something, tonight is supposed to be perfect, so why is he not being himself.

It’s time to exchange gifts. Wyatt already gave me the roses, but he also now hands me a heart shaped box filled with chocolates made by him, which I think is cute and heartfelt, but he seems so embarrassed and apologetic about it, that it kind of makes it hard for my happiness about it to seem genuine, even though I think it is a cute gift. It also makes me hesitate a bit about revealing my present to him. Logically I guess I’ve known that we are in quite different places, socioeconomically speaking, but I didn’t really think he would feel so inferior about not being able to afford lavish gifts for me…and it makes me worried that he also won’t want to receive any expensive gifts from me. 

“Thank you so much for this Wyatt, I love it.”, I say as I taste one of the chocolate pieces. “It’s delicious!”. 

Wyatt smiles a little, but I don’t know if he’s convinced. 

“So…my gift is a bit different, it isn’t really anything you can touch right away, but…”, I say as I hand Wyatt an envelope, “It’s an appointment! For this really prestigious tailor from Italy. When we attended the charity gala I noticed you needed a better tux for formal events, so I thought I would get you the best one! Since it will be hand tailored it doesn’t exist yet, hence the envelope, but after you get your measurements done and stuff…” I’m blabbing on when Wyatt interrupts me.

“I…Audrey, this is… a bit much”, Wyatt says quietly, “I can’t accept this.”

“Sure you can, silly!”, I answer, “It’s no problem for me.”

“But still…”, he says.

“No, no, really it’s fine. I want to give it to you. Please accept it.”, I say, but it’s as I feared, Wyatt seems uncomfortable receiving the present, probably due to how expensive it is. “It’s already paid for anyway, so you better take it, I have no need for a suit myself so it would be a waste if you didn’t go to the appointment.”, I add, but I now don’t feel as excited about my gift for him anymore. 

Not long after, we call it a night quite early, Wyatt claiming he’s tired and I’m not feeling super inclined to keep the date going either. So I give him a quick kiss at the door as he leaves, but this Valentine’s day really was a mess through and through. It was far from the perfect date I had envisioned.