Thanks for the reviews...this chapter starts the backstory on the Olitz relationship...Enjoy
She was my friend first, but then she met you and started dating you, before long, you were engaged to her and you were both my friends. I always felt something for you from the first time I met you, but you belonged to her and I respected that, since I was her friend. I respected that until she cheated on you and then I could hold back no more. You were fair game and I was coming after you with everything I had.
Friday August 31, 2007 – 5pm – Roxy's Bar
Work had been hell, I was so glad it was over. I worked as an executive assistant for one of the partner of a giant law firm, and I loved my job. But then days happened, where you could make no one happy and that had been this day. I was really looking forward to the weekly drinks at Roxy's where I gathered every Friday with a few girlfriends and drank. We were all young and single and enjoyed our freedom and telling each other stories of shenanigans both work and relationship-related.
I was the first one there as usual, always early and the first one to get our table. I sat at our table and ordered myself a glass of red wine. When Billy, the bartender brought the glass, I thanked him and took a deep swallow of the wine, feeling so much better when I had downed it.
A blur of red hair announced the arrival of Abby, the second member of our group. Abby was a divorced single mother of a 6 year old, Anna. Who was the light of her life and who every weekend went to stay with her dad, Martin. Abby worked in real estate as a realtor, she was good with people and sales. Combined with her knack for making you want to buy something, she was in her element.
A loud laugh announced the third member of our group, Mellie, also known as Melody. Single and fun-loving Mellie, who went through guys like I went through shoes. Stylishly and very fast. She had a giant smile on her face, which I knew only meant one thing, she had a new flavor. The longest amount of time that she had been single since I knew her was 2 weeks. She didn't do long-term relationships. She did men. Not to call her a slut, but she knew what she liked and the men she dated didn't seem to do it for her, she usually found something wrong with them.
A poke on my shoulder, announced the last member of our group, Quinn. Quiet and observant, her job as an IT tech for a giant computer firm was perfect for her. She wasn't much of a people person and was happier fixing problems for people without having to deal with people directly. She was also single, wore a lot of black and didn't do relationships either. As far as I knew, she had a friends-with-benefits relationship with a co-worker of hers, Huck.
Once we all had drinks, we did our weekly cheers to TGIF. We all had Monday to Friday jobs and were pretty boring that way, but we knew how to have fun when we go together. My phone was vibrating, knowing that it was probably work, didn't encourage me to pull it out, so I ignored it.
"I have big news," Mellie announced to the group. Taking a swig of her Corona, she waited till we were all looking at her. "I've found the guy I'm going to marry, he's perfect."
We all scoffed at her, "How gullible do you think we are?" Abby said.
"You've said that about 3 guys so far, that you've dated," Quinn replied quietly, we all took that seriously, because Quinn was very observant.
"No really you guys, I'm serious, he's so dreamy, sweet, nice, handsome, and the list goes on," Mellie had stars in her eyes.
"What's his name?" Quinn asked.
"Don't laugh," Mellie said. Looking at all of us. "Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III, after his father, I call him Fitz for short."
"Where did you meet?" I asked her bluntly.
"Online," Mellie said quietly.
"Which website?" Abby asked. Blue eyes flashing accusingly, as Mellie had sworn off online dating for at least a month only 2 weeks ago, if she reneged on the deal, she owed us each $50.
Pulling out three $50 bills, she handed us each one, "It was worth it, he was worth it, I found him eharmony, our profiles matched. We both want to get married in the next 2 years, have 2 kids, we like the same kind of music, movies and books, we're perfect for each other," she sighed dramatically, head in hands.
Pulling out her phone, she pulled up his eharmony profile and showed us a picture of him walking his dog, I had to admit he was definitely hot. Dark, thick curly hair, blue eyes, killer smile, muscled body, and he loved animals.
"When did you meet him and where?" Quinn asked.
"Last week at the Jazz Club, we had drinks and then we met up again yesterday and walked his dog, Tom around the park," Mellie said.
"Tom, that's an interesting name for a dog," Abby commented.
"It's after Tom and Jerry the cartoon, since his dad's name is Jerry, I know it's weird," Mellie said, rolling her eyes.
"So when do we get to meet him?" Quinn asked. She had an intense look in her eyes, like she was going to do a background check on him. She done that before with previous boyfriends of ours, she said it was her way of looking out for us.
"Next weekend, I'm having a dinner party to introduce him to some of my friends," Mellie said.
"Okay," we all agreed. We moved on to other topics of conversation but my mind was stuck on Mellie's new boyfriend. I'd known Mellie since sophomore year of high school when she'd moved here with her dad who was in the Navy, she'd moved around a lot since she was a Navy brat. We'd been friends ever since, not best friends, but still pretty close. In the 11 years that I'd known her, I'd never known her to gush so much over a guy. I was so going to look him up on Facebook when I was alone. I had to see him to see what she was talking about.
After several drinks and gossip, we poured ourselves into cabs and went off in our respective directions for home. Living in a big city was nice, but I missed the small town suburbia, I'd lived in for the first 12 years of my life. After my mother had died, my father had moved us clear across the country to California. I loved living in California, it was home. Living near the water was amazing.
I unlocked my door, walked into my apartment, kicked off my high heels, threw my jacket on the sofa and sat on the couch, pulling my phone out of my purse. I saw 1 missed call from my boss, 3 texts from a co-worker, Donna. Logging onto Facebook, first I went to Mellie's page and looked for any friends by the name of Fitzgerald Grant, seeing none. I went to the search bar and typed in his name, still nothing, I tried Fitz Grant and voila, there he was.
I briefly wondered why he wasn't friends with Mellie, then stopped and looked at his page. Most of his stuff was locked down, but I did see that his birthday was October 31, 1979, which made him almost 28. I was almost 26, as was Mellie, Quinn was 27, and Abby was 28. He had a few other pictures on his page, his profile picture was the same one that Mellie had shown us. The other pictures showed him with an older man with gray hair blowing out candles and with a young girl probably 6, at an amusement park. I was quite interested to meet him next weekend at Melle's party.
Friday September 7, 2007 – 5pm – Roxy's Bar
I was actually the last one there, surprisingly work had been killer today and my boss had been reluctant to let me go, but we had rules and one of the rules was that I didn't stay past 5pm on a Friday.
Abby was hounding Mellie for more details on Fitz. I had been monitoring his Facebook page, since then and saw that Mellie and Fitz had finally become Facebook friends yesterday.
"Should we bring anything to tomorrow's dinner party?" I asked Mellie.
"Yes, please bring some wine, you have excellent taste and Fitz loves red wine, so I know you will two will bond over that," Mellie said as she turned to answer a question from Quinn.
Sitting there, I watched Mellie and she did see to have a certain sparkle about her that was not normally so bright.
"What time should we be there tomorrow night?" Quinn asked.
"About 5, it's going to be the three of you, Fitz, my neighbors Cyrus and James, and Edison, my co-worker," Mellie said.
"Sounds swell," Abby said sarcastically, "Are you trying to fix up one of us with Edison, since he's the only single guy coming."
"No, he just happened to ask what I was doing this weekend and when I mentioned this dinner party, he asked if he could come, it's for friends to come and he is one of my only male friends that I haven't slept with or dated," Mellie said.
Abby rolled her eyes and the topic of conversation moved to Abby's daughter, Anna and the ballet recital she was in that was coming up soon.
Saturday September 8, 2007 – 5pm – Mellie's apartment
I'd stood in front of my closet and wondered what to wear for this dinner party, after spending two hours trying on outfits, debating on what to wear and finally throwing my hands up in a huff. I'd put on blue jeans, a white sweater with a v-neck, black boots and straightened my hair except for that rebellious side curl that I could never get rid of.
Grabbing the two bottles of red wine that I'd purchased, full-bodied red wines, I knocked on Mellie's door. Cyrus opened the door and I followed him through to Mellie's living room. Seeing Abby, Quinn, Cyrus and James were there, no sign of Edison or Fitz yet. As I handed the bottles of wine over to Mellie, the doorbell rang, "I'll get it," as I was the closest to the door.
The door opened and there stood a tall, dark man, not Fitz. "Hi, I'm Olivia, you must be here for Mellie's dinner party, please come in," I shook his hand and escorted him through to the living room as he was introducing himself to everyone. There was a knock on the door, quiet but I heard it. No one else seemed to as I looked around, walking over to the door, no one had noticed me leave.
I slowly opened the door and there he stood. We stared at each other for a minute, his pictures don't him justice. He looked at me questioningly, "Sorry, this is Mellie's place, I'm Olivia, nice to meet you," I put my hand out and he took it with his own, a spark of electricity shot up my arm when he touched me.
"Please come in," I stepped aside and took his jacket as he took it off. "It's nice to meet you Olivia," his voice was husky and I could feel it vibrating through my body, almost erotically. He could read the phone book and it would be sexy.
I walked him through to the living room, watching him mingle with the others, realizing I was still holding his coat. I walked through to Mellie's room to put it down before I could, I held it up to my nose and inhaled sharply. My whole body trembled, I wanted him and I couldn't have him because he belonged to her. Damn it.
More soon...