The Challenge

Chapter 10

Wood v Steel Part 1

Olivia paces in her living room, glancing at the clock every few minutes. Fitz only lives 15 minutes away but 40 minutes have passed since he said he was on his way over. Where could he be? He's never late; granted he didn't specify an arrival time, but 40 minutes seems excessive. He can't be lost because he's been to the apartment before. Maybe someone called delaying his departure or he's having car trouble. Oh god, what if he's had an accident . She stops mid step seized by the thought. He may be incapacitated, lying in a ditch somewhere or on the hood of his car after flying through the windshield because he didn't put on his seatbelt and the faulty airbags didn't deploy. Geez Olivia get a hold of yourself. Chocolate deprivation is making you fatalistic and morose.

Seconds later the doorbell rings, followed by three rapid knocks. Flinging open the door she finds Fitz standing on the other side with his trademark crooked smile looking adorable.

"What took you so long?" Olivia barks standing at the door part miffed, part excited, mainly elated he's finally arrived in one piece.

"I stopped to pick up some protection."

Olivia's brow furrows, her eyes narrow. "You stopped to pick up what? Did you say protection, she asks in a low slow growl. He can tell the rapier tongue he finds so sexy is about to unsheathe from plump pursed lips.

All the progress they've made, him meeting her family, the quiet moments they've shared all come into question. Was he running a con on her? In an instant anger, disappointment and self-reproach fuel her need to thoroughly ream him. She wants to make him feel the same embarrassment she feels in having been duped by his suffusing charm.

"Excuse you! Why in the world would you need protection? Are you reverting to type? Have you been keeping yourself in check waiting for an opportunity to take advantage of a perceived moment of weakness or something? Are you that horny? Do your glands override your sensibilities on a regular basis? Do you really think I'd have sex with you just because we've kissed? Do you always expect a reverse cowgirl after a few tongue tousles? Grant are you some kind of perverted SOB wanting to deflower me while I'm on my period. What, you figure is blood is blood? In for a hymen penny, in for period pound. What's the difference huh? Well, let me tell you...". Olivia gears up to rip him a new one, stitch it up and rip it again when she notices him smiling. "Why are staring at me with that stupid grin?"

Fitz shakes his head and holds up the bag he's carrying. "I stopped by the store to pick up sweet and salty snacks to protect you and apparently me from your intermittent TOM symptom onset."

Egg-faced and embarrassed beyond belief, Olivia opens the door all the way and steps aside, letting Fitz enter without a word. A faint, "I'm sorry", welcomes him as he passes her.

"Fitz I'm sorry but you have to admit your opening remark set my little tirade in motion. "

He places the bags on the kitchen counter. He turns to look at her, her head is down embarrassed by her rush to judgment. He grins and opens his arms inviting her in for a hug.

"Pope I'm not interested in jumping your bones".

Offended Olivia draws back. "Since when? The challenge is about you winning the chance to jump my bones."

Fitz pulls her in, tilting her head to gaze into her eyes. "Now Olivia you and I both know I don't have to win this challenge to have my way with you." He dives in capturing her lips, giving her a toe curling, body throbbing, mind dazing kiss. His lips are soft, and he tastes of cherries and mint, an odd combination she thinks but likes very much. She wraps her arms around him. His body warm and muscular, and his manly scent divine. He squeezes her bottom knowing what her reaction will be once his comment registers.

Olivia's eyes fling open. Damn, he's doing it again. Keying her up, making her putty in his hands. "What did you say", she growls pushing him away.

"Olivia we both know things have changed between us. What started off as a bet has morphed into something deep and meaningful. I'm as surprised as you are how the trajectory of our little wager has shifted from winning the right to have sex with you to something more. I want you not as a prize or a conquest but as a friend, a partner and a lover. Every kiss we share confirms the feeling is mutual. Admit it."

"Fitz...I...I, are you saying you want to end the challenge?" She asks with a hint of relief.

"Hell no. I'm going to beat you at your own game."

"Fine game on. What's the prize now that my treasure trove is off the table. "

"Your treasure trove?"

"Yes, there are unparalleled pleasures and mysteries to be found in my undiscovered country."

"Wait, are you comparing your untapped v-chamber to peace between the Federation and the Klingons? You sure you want to use that metaphor?"

"Okay obviously it's not the best but I like the phrase undiscovered country. And it is uncharted territory and we are kind of declaring peace in a sense."

"I suppose we are," he whispers leading her to the couch for more toe-curling kissing."

"Fitz, she moans. We need to move this to the bedroom." Immediately Fitz stops kissing her, his hands stop roving, his eyes open and he sits up.

"Olivia are you sure you want to do this?"

"Of course I'm sure. My heating pad cord isn't long enough to reach the socket in here." Fitz sits up hot and bothered, his ears red and his pants tight. Olivia pecks him on the lips, gets up and walks to her bedroom grinning mischievously.

"Okay last round, the tiebreaker. Are you ready?"

"I was born ready." Olivia rolls her eyes.

"As much as I hate to admit it Grant, you're going to be tough competition. Are you sure you've never played this game before?"

"I told you I'm going to beat you at your own game. You've met your match in me Pope. You are going down."

He pecks her on the lips, and she throws popcorn at him giggling. They're in her room on the bed.

"The word is tapleyism." She hands him a handmade vocabulary card with the word written in cursive, then flips over the minute sand timer. Fitz stares at her, deep in thought. She grins thinking he's stumped. He writes his answer on a blank index card and hands it to her.

"Let's see what you have here, ah hmm. Extreme optimism, enthusiasm, idealism, Pollyannaism, transcendentalism, utopianism. Pretty good, 30 points."

Fitz pulls a card from the deck. "Okay your word is contumacy."

Olivia immediately starts to jot down words. Fitz looks on shaking his head, Olivia feverishly manages to write almost three lines of synonyms. She hands Fitz the card before the last grains empty the sand timer upper chamber.

"Insubordination, rebelliousness, defiance, disobedience, insolence, implacability, pigheadedness, mulishness, hardheadedness, bullheadedness. Damn 50 points."

He leans back against the headboard. "This is rigged. You made the cards and you've been practicing. You have the upper hand Pope."

"Nonsense, I told you and have demonstrated on numerous occasions I have an extensive vocabulary. I enjoy learning new words. It's one of my things. Plus, once you understand word roots discerning the definition of a word is easy. These are words I came across two years ago." She hands him the popcorn bowl.

"One of your things. I expected something a little more erudite or highfalutin from you." She pinches his arm.

"Ow! Look, two years, ten years, or two days, it doesn't matter. The fact is you made the cards. You are familiar with the words, therefore you have an advantage."

"Really, okay here you big baby." She hands him her iPad. "You choose the next word. Pick a 14 letter word you can't even pronounce. Pick any word, so long as it's not some esoteric word from an archaic lexicon." She kisses his cheek and hops off the bed. "I'm going to the bathroom. You have four and half minutes."

Fitz goes to a rare word website to search for a challenging word-nothing. Phobias, no. Rare diseases, no. Sex terms? Hmm, maybe, it needs to be rare or abnormal though. Wait, there is actually a word for that, he chuckles Perfect.

Olivia returns with two cups of hot chocolate. "Here you go babe."

"Babe?"

"You don't like it?"

"No, I love it. I'm just surprised you're ready to move into the endearment phase of this relationship."

"Given the recent discussion about my lady days and the number of times you've stuck you tongue down my throat, Fitz seems rather formal, don't you think? "

"Point taken. How do you feel about me calling you sweet baby?"

"Hmm, I guess it depends on the context."

"Context?"

"Yeah, if you're asking me to pass you something, it doesn't work. Sweet baby can you please pass me the salt and pepper. You see what I mean. Honey, love, sweetie pie or sweetheart is for day to day routine conversation. But if you are singing in my ear while we're in a slow tenuous dance or in the heat of passion kissing with abandon or otherwise occupied and you moan sweet baby, I'd find it perfectly acceptable."

"Noted. If I want condiments no sweet baby, slow dancing, or hot and heavy breathy moaning, yes to sweet baby."

"Good, now moving on, what's my word?"

"Amomaxia."

"Amo what?

"Amomaxia."

"Give me the card," she demands snatching the card from his hand. Fitz turns over the timer, pleased he may have actually stumped her.

Olivia cogitates, writing down the first words that come to mind. Axia is value or worth in Greek, amom is hidden one. It must mean treasure, loot, booty, prize, money, wealth, plunder.

"Times up." She hands Fitz her answers and retakes her iPad to look up the word.

"What the fa..? Having sex in a parked car! Why would anyone need a word for that? Arrrgh, had to be man to come up with this one."

Fitz starts striking through Olivia's answers with a red sharpie. " Let's see, no, nope, not even close, nice try." He pretends to add up her score. "You've earn a grand total of, how should I put this, zero, nada, nil, zip, zilch. How does it feel to have certain victory snatched away in the blink of an eye?"

"Bold words Grant but this was grade school compared the real contest. Let's see how erudite you are after having to consume a boatload of tequila shots."

"My, my, Ms. Pope I'm getting the impression you are a sore loser."

"I don't lose Grant."

"I'm sorry, you are aware of what just happened."

"This was a one-off caused by my weakened state." Oh no, did I actually say that out loud. Olivia cringes realizing she just set women back a hundred years.

"Oh come on, you're playing the P-card? Seriously. Let me see, who should a share your excuse with first, Candace, Onika or Keisha? No, I'll tell Abby!"

"Don't you dare." I'll never hear the end of it if he spills the beans to my family or girlfriends. She pounces on him. "Okay, you won fair and square." She kisses him playfully until she hears the front open.

"Liv I'm home."

Abby pulls a plastic wrap covered plate from top shelf in the refrigerator. "Thank you Olivia, I'm starving." After popping the plate in the microwave, she takes a fork from a drawer and a bottled water from the frig.

She hears laughter coming from Olivia's room. Fitz emerges carry his shoes and jacket in his hands, Olivia by his side. Abby stares at the chummy duo, perplexed, confused, dumbstruck and curious.

Olivia is quick to explain they've been practicing for the Must Exceed Six competition.

"Uh, I see. Nice to see you Fitz. How's Stephen?"

"He's good, eager to take on you two."

"Feelings mutual."

"I better get going. Good night Abby." Abby waves

Olivia walks Fitz to the door, Abby's curious eyes follow them to the door.

"I had a nice time. Thanks for bringing the care package. Since our text date was over, I felt it safe to buy $20 worth of salty and chocolate snacks to tame the red beast."

"Ow.. that hurt." Fitz over dramatizes.

"Now you can truly say you empathize with my pain." Olivia rubs his arm. "You big baby."

A soft kiss ends their evening and Olivia reenters the apartment. She snags a bottle of water from the refrigerator, opening it and taking a few sips before closing the door.

"Really Olivia, fraternizing with the competition. Did you share strategies?

"No, of course not."

"Raaaaight", Abby drawls shaking her head.

One Week Later

Students crowd both sides of the bar cheering on the final two teams.

"Do we even know what we're playing for?"

"No, I wasn't paying attention. Red kept ragging on about how she and Pope are undefeated and how games of intellect are out of our league. Look at them over there, acting all smug and high and mighty. Time to dethrone the Know-it-all sisters."

"Alright this is for the win, a year of bragging rights as the Must Exceed Six champions, this collector's item trophy, and for the first time a surprise prize. Last year's champion team Pope-Whelan are in the lead by 30 points. A huge lead but not insurmountable. The newbie Grant-Finch team have more than proven their mettle by taking the lead several times this evening. Both teams have had a generous number of tequila shots yet have managed to remain coherent wordsmiths. This word is for all the marbles."

The moderator turns to Fitz and Stephen. "In order to tie the leaders and force a sudden death round you need at least six words. Seven words will give you the win."

The Grant-Finch team fist pump and smile wryly. "We've got this man, Stephen boasts. One more word and red and Pope are inhaling the putrid funk of defeat."

"We've got this," Abby whispers to Olivia unconcerned. They both yawn and check their watches.

"Abby if we do not crush them we will never live the humiliation down. Failure is not an option."

"Okay the final word is Finnish in origin. The word is poronkusema."

Olivia immediately comes to full attention bracing both hands on the table. "Unbelievable. This cannot be happening. What are the freaking odds?"

"Olivia what's wrong?"

"We're going down."

"What?"

Flashback

"Grant you've gotten to know my family but I know very little about yours. Why is that?"

"There's not much to tell. My father is a career politician who has a wife with an impeccable family lineage, and a son who's attending an Ivy League school. My Finnish great-grandfather came to this country with nothing only to become rich the old fashion way by earning his wealth through hard work and sacrifice. He was a true rags to riches story.

"Grant isn't a Finnish name."

"My great-grandfather changed his name from Ruotsalainen to Grant to give his children a name people could pronounce and a shot at greater opportunities. Aside from the name change, our family has never lost touch with our Finnish roots. We've always had Finnish nannies and housekeepers, learned the language and practiced the traditions of the old country. "

End flashback.

"What do you mean we're going down?"

"Fitz is half Finnish."

"What? No way. There are no Finnish people in California. They keep to the cold states, states where you can find reindeer like Wisconsin, Minnesota, or Vermont."

Fitz winks at Olivia who stares back in disbelief.

The display lights up with Fitz's quickly jotted answers: distance, measurement, proportion, lengthiness, breadth, measure, standard, interval, longness, segment, section.

"Time", the moderator calls. Starting with the definition, poronkusema is a unit of length equivalent to 4.7 miles or 7.5 kilometers and originally defined as the distance a reindeer can travel without pissing." Groans and laughter fill the bar.

"Let tally up the score Two, four, six, eleven words. Nah, interval is a stretch so let's toss that one, which leaves ten. Well ladies take your shots and everyone else join me in congratulating this year's Must Exceed Six Champions Team Grant-Finch."

The bar erupts in applause, confetti and balloons fall from the ceiling. Abby and Olivia take their last shots, then make their way to the stage.

"Congratulations to Team Grant-Finch. Fitz, Stephen not only do you win this awesome, one of a kind, highly coveted trophy, the admiration of this distinguished rowdy bunch, and a year of bragging rights, this year you also receive this." The moderator holds up a red envelope. "What could it be? Dinner for four at Chez Paris?" No the crowd roars. "Gift cards to Pottery Barn?" The bar boos. "Maybe all day passes to Sextopia, the porn gadget convention." Whistles, hoots and hollers, foot stomps and the sound of beers slamming against tables ripple through the bar like thunder. "Judging from the crowds reaction, it's no mystery how you all spend your free time. Sorry to disappoint but these aren't porn passes but an adrenaline rush is indeed involved. I'll give you a few hints. Do you have acrophobia? Or maybe a touch of tachophobia? Do you prefer wood or steel?"

With the words, wood or steel, Fitz's cocky smug smile of triumph from besting Olivia at her own game vanishes in an instant, supplanted by an extremely uneasy feeling. His stomach immediately drops and his ears ring. Concern spreads across Stephen's face hastening him to whisper something in Fitz's ear. Neither hears the moderator announce the prize, they don't need to, it's obvious.

"Yes my friends in this envelope are four VIP front of the line passes to Kingda Ka, the world's tallest roller coaster and the faster coaster in the US. This behemoth of steel and height accelerates to 128mph in 3.5 seconds, climbs to 456 feet, and drops 418 feet before your brain can register the altitude change. So get ready to hear the phrase that will rocket you to thrill seeker heaven, "Arms down, Head back, Hold on."

Fitz mumbles one word, "fuck".

AN - The idea for a roller coaster date was suggested by Scandalmistress. Fitz does not seem too thrilled with his prize. Is he afraid of heights or is something else causing his disquiet? Will he use the prize or give it away?

Happy New Year. I hope 2020 brings you health and prosperity.

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