AN- Technically, it is Monday, maybe not last Monday but a Monday nonetheless, LOL.
Glad everyone is enjoying this version of Olitz. I get a kick out of these two also, especially Fitz.
Diamondprencess- Hmm, I wonder what would make Fitz uncomfortable?
Guest- Thank you for taking a chance and reading this story.
Dakidd- I used to double dutch, probably break something if tried to now. Also, there's a wedding coming up not a funeral but you're giving me ideas.
Saddie529- Fitz definitely has a plan within a plan but he shouldn't underestimate Olivia just because he's been winning so far.
MzMocha, kandyse4olitz, Monica, IAMASCANDALLOVER- I'm happy the date had you laughing.
ScandalOnica- So happy you enjoyed Hair Date, your suggestion has been a hit.
Thanks to everyone who left a review, your reviews are hilarious and encouraging. To those who just enjoy reading I hope you continue to do so.
The Challenge Part 5
Hair Date cont…
Soul Food, a Bracelet and an another Invitation
Thirty minutes later Fitz reenters the salon carrying half a dozen filled-to-capacity bags of takeout from Mama Kay's Soul Food Cafe. Equally weighed down trailing close behind him is a taller older gentleman with salt and pepper hair. They place the overstuffed white plastic bags on the makeshift lunch table set up in the waiting area. As the bags settle on the table a couple teeter on the edge threating to fall but thanks to Fitz's nimble reflexes the errant bags are caught before they have a chance to splatter sweet potatoes and black-eyed peas all over the floor.
Surprised to see Fitz's helper, Candace approaches the two, "Uncle Bobby what are you doing here?"
"I'm helping young Fitz here deliver your lunch order". At the mention of Fitz's name, Olivia immediately spins around the salon chair to face her uncle.
"Wait, you know Fitz?" Candace questions.
"Introduced myself after I witnessed the impossible".
Olivia listens intently, wondering if Fitz got himself into trouble or committed some major social faux pas. She shoos Emma's hands away from her hair, hops out of the chair and walks over to her uncle.
"What happened?" Olivia asks with a hint of concern.
"Olivia your young man here charmed tightwad Tina out of a sock-it-to-me cake, two sweet potato pies, a peach cobbler and a pan of banana pudding".
"He what! Olivia shrieks in amazement?"
Olivia is not alone in her puzzlement. Magazines fall to the floor, brushes tangle in hair, and nail polish drips on cuticles as news of the incredible feat sweeps across the salon. Head after head snaps to attention, with rivetted eyes honing in on Fitz.
Grace hearing Bobby's statement, shouts "no way".
A chorus of "how the hell", "no damn way", "impossible", fly out of other unbelieving mouths.
Candace interrupts, "quiet ladies, I for one can't wait to hear how boy wonder over here got a woman so stingy she's not above sending children out to scour the sidewalk for two cents to cover the complete cost of a fifty-cent popsicle, to willingly give a stranger over a hundred dollars in free baked goods".
Karina, ever the cop agrees with her sister and starts interrogating Fitz.
"Did she give you the freebies after she hit her head?
"Not that I'm aware of".
"Was she smoking a joint?"
Fitz grins amused by the line of questioning. "No, not to my knowledge".
"Was someone standing behind her, possibly holding a gun to her head?" "No", Fitz laughs.
"Was her speech slurred like she was having a stroke or drunk?" "No". Fitz draws back scrunching his face weirded out by the slightly morbid turn in the line of questioning.
Onika is intrigued, her predictable one-track mind compels her to take a different tack. "Did you promise to give her your banana in exchange for some pudding?"
"Onika!", Olivia shouts.
"What, tell me the thought didn't flash in all ya's minds. The woman's lower chamber is pristine from lack of use".
"True, true. Girl you know the woman is a clean as a whistle", Patrice adds.
Sydney totally clueless to the real subject joins in innocently. "Why do they say clean as a whistle? How can blowing into a whistle leave it clean. Spit, food particles or whatever else is in a person's mouth gets blown into the whistle. Whistles are completely gross and unsanitary", she declares never looking up from her iPad.
Everyone snickers under their breath.
Uncle Bobby finding his niece absolutely adorable praises her observation. "That's right baby girl. All sorts of nasty business can be found in a whistle. Right ladies", Uncle Bobby solicits with a glare.
The women wink at each other and add their agreement.
"Yes, sure, absolutely".
"Doesn't make sense".
"You're so right Syd".
"Yeah, never thought about it that way".
Back on the topic, Grace asks, "Did you slip and in order to avoid litigation accept cakes and pies as compensation?"
"No… I…really ladies? Do you really think I put out for pie or take tumbles for pudding?" Fitz puts his hands on his hips and feigns offense shaking his head.
Onika determined to uncover the truth to this mystery presses on, "Did you see winged pigs circling the room?"
Willow speaks up, "Did you tell her you were from yelp, good eats, Zagats or Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives?"
Patrice grabs the calendar off the wall and flips through the pages. "Nope it's not the 12th of never".
Emma turns on the tv, "Let's see if the Pope is announcing hell has officially frozen over".
"Ladies stop interrupting and let the man answer the question. Go ahead Fitz tell us how you accomplished the impossible".
Fitz clears his throat and moves closer to Olivia. "Well, while standing in line to pick up your order, I noticed the cashier Tina seemed rather brusque with the customers. Since no one seemed phased by her behavior I figured it was part of the place's charm, you know like the "no soup for you", guy on Seinfeld".
"Brusque, lawd Tina is downright abrasive. Customers put up with her kiss my black ass attitude because the neighborhood loves Mama Kay and Mama's other children make up for Tina's rude tail".
"Girls", Bobby admonishes again. "Please continue Fitz".
"Sure, I noticed Tina was wearing a very usual blue bracelet".
"Yeah, she never takes it off", Candace interjects earning a scowl from Uncle Bobby. She apologizes for interrupting and gives Uncle Bobby the, my lips are sealed gesture.
"The stones in the bracelet are very rare".
"How do you know?" Olivia asks.
"My uncle was a gemologist. He used to take me to trade shows, rock quarries, or on buying trips and to his personal gem digs. He taught me lot before he died. He even left me his precious stone collection. We had the best adventures". Fitz gets a little chocked up. Olivia takes his hand. He continues to talk firmly clutching Olivia's hand.
"Anyway, when I got to the counter I told her the bracelet was beautiful and asked how she managed to acquire such extremely rare stones. She said her fiancé sent it to her instead of a ring while he was stationed in Iraq. She said he died the day before he was scheduled to return home. I told her the bracelet is made of blue garnet, benitoite and blue amber. Blue garnet alone is incredibly rare. It can go for as much as million a carat or more. She was stunned and started to cry. Apparently, her fiancé always collected rocks and colorful stones but she thought it was just a hobby. She said she has two shoe boxes full of his colored stones. I gave her the number to my uncle's partner and told her he'd be able to appraise the stones for her. She hugged me and thanked me. She always wondered why Jesse, her fiancé, insisted on an engagement bracelet instead of a ring. I told her based on the shape of the stones, cutting anyone of them to fit a ring would have diminished the number of facets. So that's how I got the freebies".
Stunned silence.
Sydney breaks the pause in conversation. "Now I get what you all are talking about. She has a million-dollar bracelet and all she gave him was a few pieces of cake. She really is cheap".
Laughter erupts and everyone takes a break to eat lunch.
Fitz and Olivia sit in the corner away from everyone else. Olivia stares at Fitz who is really enjoying his food.
"What?"
"Nothing?"
He puts down his plastic fork. "Spill it Pope".
"What you did for Tina, well it was nice".
"I just gave her a phone number".
"No, you gave her and her family a better future. Who knows if she'd ever do anything with those stones? Now she knows Jesse wanted to give her the world. She can take care of her mom, go on a long vacation, do anything she wants. You gave her wings, freedom".
Fitz smiles and goes back to eating his food. "Mmm, this good. What is it?"
"Grant you've been wolfing down everything on that plate and now you want to know what you're eating".
"Look Pope, despite what you think I did eat more than tuna casserole, pot roast and cucumber sandwiches growing up. He points to the remnants on his plate identifying each leftover scrap, "oxtail, catfish, collard greens, black eyed peas, yams or pumpkin, not to sure, and this I have no idea. It looks and tastes like boiled chicken skin". Olivia giggles, eager to see his reaction when she enlightens him.
"Those my dear WASP fellow are chitterlings also known as chitlins".
"Oh, I think I've heard of this; unfried cracklings, right?" He takes another forkful.
"Hmm, not quite but it is from a pig. You're eating pig intestines".
"What?" He spits the partially chew substance into his napkin.
"Hey people from the south eat pig from the rooter to the tooter. Today you're eating..."
"A pig's crap shooter".
"It's not the anus".
"Does waste travel through it?"
"Yes".
"Then it's a crap shooter, a dump canal, tooter duct, whatever euphemism you want to use. No matter how you slice it, in the final analysis it's a conduit for pig waste". Fitz wipes and buffs his tongue with a napkin.
"Olivia lunch break is over I need to finish your hair, then help Lavern Velcro some hair on Keisha".
"Hey', Keisha objects.
"Liv go, I'll keep your young man company", Uncle Bobby volunteers.
"Uncle, why were you at Mama Kays?"
"Oh, I was picking up lunch for Grandma Minnie".
"You've been gone quite a while; her food must be cold and she's going to be super cranky after the long wait".
"No, she's fine, cousin Mona tagged along, she took Minnie her lunch".
"Oh, oh, okay". Olivia gives Fitz the squinty eye. He grins returning the same ' I got my eye on you' expression.
"Olivia today would be nice if you don't mind", Emma appeals sarcastically.
An hour later Emma is done with Olivia's hair and she and Fitz prepare to leave the salon. Uncle Bobby comes to give Olivia a hug goodbye.
"Okay shooting star we'll see Thursday. We're combining Grandma Minnie's birthday dinner with the rehearsal dinner since everyone will be here".
"Good idea". She hugs her uncle and turns to open the door.
"Fitz it's been a pleasure and I'll see you Thursday for dinner. Be ready to play big whiz, dominoes and to grub down on more lip smacking food".
"I look forward to it". Fitz shakes Bobby's hand.
Olivia closes the door with more force than she intends. Playing it cool, trying to mask her alarm, "excuse me, Uncle Bobby what did you say?"
"Oh, I convinced Fitz to come to dinner on Thursday".
Olivia is speechless. Fitz has somehow finagled his way further into her family. First, the wedding invitation, now this. No, no, no, this is not happening. He's destabilizing her challenge upper hand using her own family. Time to deploy countermeasures. I just need to figure out what measures to use.
Aside from the occasional whish from a passing car and sniffle from Fitz, the ride back to Olivia's place is cloaked in silence. Fitz is uncertain to the origin of Olivia's sudden somber mood so he decides to break the conversation stalemate and find out.
"Can you swim in a weave?"
"What kind of idiotic question is that, of course you can swim in a weave, it's hair".
"Why are you being hostile Pope, it's a legitimate question. I heard African American women don't like to get their hair wet. It's natural for one to assume the same dislike applies to weave hair".
"No more talking!"
"What?"
"I can't take any more of your infantile questions. Your voice is grating on my nerves and your constant sniffing is driving me insane. Use a hankie, grab a tissue, do something, blow your nose for god's sake".
"Excuse me!" Fitz is completely caught off guard by Olivia's attitude.
"I didn't stutter, you heard me". Olivia is spiraling out of control and she can't stop herself. This is not how she wanted the day to end.
"You have some nerve. Your control freak attitude is beyond annoying and the pitch of your carping voice sounds like you're summoning small rodents. And for your information, I'm allergic to nutmeg, obviously one of the desserts from the cafe must have contained it. Glad to see the keep it real veneer you show the world is just that a veneer. The real Olivia has little patience for anyone not meeting her impeccable personal standard. Tell me do you make fun of the infirmed or mentally impaired in your spare time? What if I told you my sniffles were a type of tick that pops up from time to time for no apparent reason. I guess I'd have to hold off on our dates until I was tick free. Wouldn't want to drive you insane". Turning away from her Fitz stares out the window thoroughly pissed.
Olivia is silent for next the few minutes. She can admit it, she is being an insensitive prick. Fitz keeps throwing off her game and she's beginning to like it and hate it at the same time. One minute he's adorable brimming with curiosity, the next he's either pushing her buttons or showing her kindness. He makes her lose focus and forget their relationship is based on a wager.
Olivia checks her side and rearview mirrors for clearance, then pulls over to the side of the road and cuts off the engine. She grips the steering wheel at eleven and one, slightly bowing her head. Fitz continues to stare out the window ignoring her. She takes two deep cleansing breaths to gather her thoughts before speaking.
"I'm sorry Fitz. I...I..., I mean you...you. It's just my family has never taken to anyone I dated and I don't understand what it is about you they find so appealing".
"Maybe they aren't saddled with preconceived notions about me. Maybe when they look at me they don't see rich, spoiled and arrogant. Maybe your family sees and accepts me for me. Maybe the problem is with you Olivia".
"You're right", she whispers.
"I'm sorry come again, I didn't quite catch what you said". Fitz turns facing her with a smug look of triumph.
Head still down, Olivia repeats softly, "You're right. I am a control freak but not intentionally. Fitz, you…you".
"I what Livy?" Great now he's giving me a nickname and damn it I like it.
Facing him, as well as her foibles, she opens up. "You throw me off my game. We're competitors, adversaries, combatants and you make it difficult for me keep up my guard. You make me forget we're in the middle of a wager. Now you've managed to add my family to the mix. Look if you're blowing smoke up my family's ass end this game now. I will not allow you to hurt my family. The challenge is between you and me".
Fitz places his hand on top of Olivia's on the steering wheel. "Olivia, listen to your famous gut. What is it telling you? When I said I wanted to spend time with you today without the pressure of a scorecard I meant it. Today was one of the best days I've had in a long time. I love your family. They're witty, loving, generous and very protective of you. I would never do anything to betray their trust, or trick them or hurt them or you. Please believe me. Besides Candace and Karina scare the shit out of me. I think they're both capable of cutting off my balls, binding them with rope and beating me senseless with them". Olivia giggles at Fitz's serious expression.
"Okay, I believe you".
"So, we're good?"
"Yeah, we're good".
Fitz lets go of Olivia's hand. She starts the car and eases unto the highway.
"You're not talking".
"I'm reflecting".
"May I ask what on".
"You can ask doesn't mean I'll answer".
"I get it, you're nervous about me meeting the rest of your family".
"Not nervous more like apprehensive, leery. In less than a day you've managed to impress and charm your way into my family".
"Pope your family are good people. They're simply being nice and welcoming to the guy you're dating. Is it so hard to believe someone other than country club members, frat boys or political brownnosers find me worthy of getting to know?"
"I'm onto you Grant".
"Good we can end this contest now. There's no shame in conceding Pope."
"What…what are you talking about? I didn't conceded".
"Didn't you just say you want on top of me?" Fitz grins devilishly.
"Arragh!"
AN- Fitz is throwing Olivia off her game and she is not a happy camper. She wants to slap him one minute, kiss him the next. She's fighting to not find Fitz attractive but she's losing the battle.
Next up, rehearsal date and wedding date. What could possibly happen?
Have a great week. Keep Houston and Sierra Leone in your thoughts and prayers.