7

"I am...your first love?"

At that moment, the Waiter knocked, then entered with their appetizers. He looked between a kneeling Ethan -who didn't budge from his position- and Wynn who looked like she was about to rain down hell. 

He awkwardly dropped the plates on their side of the table, his steps echoing in the silence of the room, then he hurried out. 

Wynn scoffed. Then she broke into a chuckle, and soon, a laugh. 

Once again, Ethan Sterling had managed to leave her speechless with yet another good joke. 

She ran her fingers through her hair- ruffling it in the process, then placed her hand on her hip. 

"What on earth am I supposed to do with you?" She chuckled bitterly. 

Ethan simply remained still, watching her frantic movements. 

Wynn was in her own world- her thoughts swirling in her mind like the contents of a powerful blender, mixing and grinding away in a loud, agitating sound. 

And she whipped around to face him, her nose flared in anger. 

"Are you kidding me?! Are you seriously freaking kidding me?! You used a sixteen year old girl to 'blow off steam'? Did you really like me, or are you that desperate to play with me?"

"I think you can tell that I'm being serious."

"THE HECK I CAN! WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO WITH THAT INFORMATION, ETHAN?! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?!"

"Because I love you, Wynn."

She scoffed at him, in absolute disbelief of his consistency. 

"I need to get out of here."

She quickly grabbed her bag, then stormed out of the room. 

The sound of the door slamming shut drew a soft, deep sigh from Ethan. 

He lowered his head, a brittle smile pulling at the corners of his lips. 

"I'll give her some space for now."

Suddenly, the door burst open, and Wynn stormed back into the room. 

"Wynn?"

She threw her bag at him, but he caught it, then furrowed his brows. 

"I'll take you up on your stupid offer." She glared. "You better try your best to win me over, Ethan Sterling."

Ethan widened his eyes, and he let out a breath he had no idea he was holding. 

"But you can be sure that I won't make things easy for you. You have three months. If you don't succeed by then, you'll get out of my life for good."

"I'll succeed." Ethan smiled, then walked over to her and handed her her bag. "And I say that as humbly as I can."

She snatched her bag from his hands, her glare still fixed on him. 

"I don't care. Eat your ridiculously expensive meal yourself."

And she left. 

Ethan stared after her, then let out a breathy chuckle. 

He threw a fist bump in the air, the corners of his lips threatening to rip from his wide grin. 

Then he paused. "I hope she doesn't change her mind when she finally calms down."

•••

"WHAT HAVE I DONE?!!" Wynn screamed, pulling on her hair as she recalled the last thing she said to Ethan. 

She closed her eyes tight and groaned. 

"Why on earth would you give him another chance, Wynn?!"

"Because you like him."

Wynn yelped, startled by Ingrid's presence. 

"How did I not hear you enter my office?"

"Well, you were groaning pretty loudly." Ingrid shrugged, provoking an exhausted sigh from Wynn. 

She froze up.

"Wait, what did you mean by that?"

"By what?"

"The thing you said when you came in!"

"Oh." Ingrid breathed. "I heard 'him' and 'second chance' and my mind automatically came to that conclusion."

Wynn blinked. "Why? Why would you come to that conclusion?"

Ingrid furrowed her brows at Wynn, noticing a familiar deranged glint in her eyes. 

"I sense I'm in trouble..."

"Too late, Ingrid. Sit and Speak."

Ingrid robotically obeyed, saying a silent prayer in her head. 

"Well, giving a guy a second chance means two things; you pity him, or you still have feelings for him. I'm assuming your friend still likes him, that's why she decided to give him a second chance."

Wynn cocked her head to the side. "My friend?"

"The person whom you're stressing about." Ingrid explained. "Your friend asked you for advice, so you're stressed about it right?"

Wynn's brows wrinkled. "Why aren't you assuming it's me?"

Ingrid stared at her, a silence passing them by, then she burst into a chuckle. 

"Yeah, right." She let out a cute snort as she stood to her feet, then dropped the documents she came to deliver on Wynn's desk. 

"I like your funny side, Miss Mayfield." She kept chuckling till she walked out of the office, leaving Wynn frozen in absolute disbelief. 

She blinked, unsure of how to react. Shaking her head, she focused on the matter at hand. 

"Either I pity him, or I still like him?"

She recalled the things he said about his Mom, and she leaned back on her swivel chair with a low sigh. 

She didn't understand him, but she did sympathise with him. 

"Thinking back, he seemed more depressed in our second year of highschool."

Back then, every time she saw him, he was alone- his headphones on and his eyes to the floor. He pushed his friends away for a long time, and she was extremely worried about him. 

She held her face in her hands, then sighed. 

"Of course I pity him."

She groaned, then threw her head back. 

[It's just three months. I'll simply let him do what he can, and after that, we'll leave the past in the past and go our separate ways.]

"I mean, he couldn't be serious about challenging my list, right?"