Elephants Suck

Looking around the kitchen, Fitz saw that all was in order. The table was set to perfection, the scallops were done, the salad was plated, the vinaigrette was chilling in the refrigerator, and the wine was poured into long stem glasses.

He had showered after his swim in the pool earlier and once dinner had finished cooking, he had gotten dressed for the evening. Wearing jeans or shorts had crossed his mind, but he had opted for a pair of khakis and a polo shirt instead, hoping he wasn't over or underdressed. He'd know the minute he saw what Liv was wearing if he would need to change before they left or not.

Why was he so nervous?

As if right on cue, he heard a knock on the door that separated the first from the second floors. Getting to his feet he opened the door to greet her.

She was a sight to behold as she stepped into his territory. Her natural curls, in all their glory, fell to her shoulders. The dress she had on was a beautiful V neck short sleeved ruffle dress that hit across her mid thighs. It had a small floral print, and it probably looked simple on a store mannequin, but on Liv it was stunning. Her gorgeous cocoa skin looked like it had just been rubbed down with some kind of lotion and she smelled divine. A quick glance at her feet showed a cute pair of sandals and painted toenails.

"You look amazing. Really beautiful."

She smiled up at him. "Thank you. You look quite handsome too."

Dropping his head, he looked down at his chest and asked in a doubt filled voice, "do you think I should change into something a little dressier?"

"Do you wanna change?" The look on his face told her the answer.

"Not really."

"Then stop stressing about it and go with the flow."

That was easy. "Yea. Okay. Are you ready to eat?"

"I've been dying for you to bring up dinner. Partly because I'm starving and whatever you've been working on smells delicious!" She sauntered past him to the kitchen. Gesturing to the table she said, "everything looks so nice."

"Thank you. And the other part?"

"Hmm?" She hummed as her eyes flew around the table. They snapped back to his curious blue ones and she smoothly said, "Oh! The other part is that I wanted to believe that you really couldn't cook very well. I assume one of these is for me?"

He nodded before moving to the table and handing her a glass of wine. "You assume correctly. I hope you like red?"

"Good guess." She winked at him. "Red is my favorite."

Why did that little wink give him butterflies? "Sorry to disappoint you about the food."

Liv touched him forearm, rubbing it with her thumb. Giving him a smile she said, "Please! Don't be."

It was hard trying to ignore her fingers caressing his skin, but he did his best. Go with the flow, Fitz, he told himself. Picking up his own glass, he held it towards her and said, "to new beginnings."

"To new beginnings." she repeated. They clinked their glasses together and each took a hearty sip. She was pleasantly surprised when he pulled her chair out for her to sit down. It seemed not all gentlemen were dead. It was nice to know.

Fitz put a plate of food in front of Liv and one in front of his own chair before going to the fridge to retrieve the dressing he had made. He sat down the moment everything was on the table. "Let's eat."

"Look at this! It's pretty and colorful, and oh my gosh, I hope this tastes as good as it looks. I'm dying to try it."

He held his breath as he watched her take the first bite of food. She closed her eyes as she chewed, almost like she was thinking about the taste as she ate. The happy sounds Liv made reminded him of the comment she had made earlier about him drinking his coffee. Opening her eyes, and keeping them on him, Liv's eager nod as she continued to chew was all the encouragement Fitz needed. Smiling, he took a bite of his own food.

"When you said you could cook grilled scallops and miso corn salad, I'll admit I didn't believe you could pull it off. But this is absolutely amazing."

"Thank you. I did my best just for you." He told her with a grin, watching her eat another bite.

She sent him a look and said, "somehow I don't think that's true."

Fitz knew Liv had no way of knowing just how true it was. He liked their fun little conversations and wanted to surprise her with new information. "Can you keep a secret?'

She chuckled. "No."

"You're a woman. It's assumed." He laughed as she flashed her middle finger at him. "You know how some guys are accountants, lawyers, baseball players, or something like that?"

Liv was already shaking her head. "Don't say it."

"I'm a chef."

Her eyes doubled in size. "I told you not to say it!"

"I'm a very good chef too."

"Obviously."

"Some would say excellent."

"Would they say humble though?"

Now he chuckled. "No. They wouldn't."

The two of them ate comfortably together. Liv groaned loudly with each bite, and Fitz watched her enjoy the food he had made. His pride was at an all time high, while his brain was concocting what to make her for dinner the following night.

"What made you want to become a chef?"

"I've always liked to play with my food. Even as a kid. I would randomly go into the kitchen and pull down the strangest items in my mother's cabinets and tell her I was going to make something."

"Was it a mess?"

He chuckled at the thought. "Always. I'd have some crazy concoction mixed up in a bowl and she'd help me cook it. When I got tired of that, I'd leave the mess and go play with my brother."

"Oh my gosh! Fitz! That's so mean!" Liv told him laughing.

"It was a pretty terrible thing to do. But in my defense, I was only seven."

Liv smiled at him, imagining the creative little boy. "Is your mom still supportive of your cooking."

"She is. Once a month she comes to eat dinner at the restaurant I work at. She's always been my biggest supporter." He dragged his fork through his food, wanting to keep the conversation going. "How about you and your mom? Are you close?"

"We are. In fact, she came here to stay with me for a few days last week. She went back home after we had done a deep cleaning on the second floor."

He found it strange that she had cleaned the second story rooms. He was about to ask her about it when she asked a question that changed the entire mood of the room.

"So. How did you come to find our little slice of heaven here?"

Fitz took a bite of his salad, chewing slowly to give himself time to think about his answer. He could have said a million things, gave a sob story, or a jilted lover story. In the end, he decided to tell Liv about his elephant. "About six months ago I made the reservation."

"Ahhh, you were thinking about getting away to someplace warm while it was still winter. Reserve early for a cheaper price. Smart planning."

"Well, not exactly." He began. "I had ulterior motives."

"This just got interesting." Fitz took a sip of his wine.

"We haven't even begun to reach the interesting part yet."

"You're really great at building up a story, Fitz." She informed him. "Let's hear about these ulterior motives."

Last chance to keep it to yourself, his brain told him in a sing song voice. Instead, he pressed forward. "I was going to propose to my girlfriend here."

"Oh." Liv replied. She was not expecting that. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"I'd like to. If you think you can stand to hear it?"

"Of course." She touched his arm again. "I'm assuming it didn't go well, since you are here alone?"

"It didn't."

"I'm sorry. That stinks."

"It's okay." He told her with a smile. "It feels good to say that out loud. This is the first time I have said it since she let me know she didn't love me anymore."

"She did what now?" Granted, she didn't know Fitz from Adam, but the things she did know about him were that he was genuine, kind, patient, clean, and funny. He could cook, and he was handsome. This woman must have had someone on the side or Fitz was hiding his own crazy. There couldn't be another explanation. "Well, we've already established that you're not a serial killer."

He was lost. "Huh?"

"Sooo, what are you hiding?"

"Hiding?" Who said he was hiding anything?

She eyed him. "Bad attitude?"

"What? No. No, bad attitude."

"Anger issues?"

"Definitely not."

Making a face, Liv asked, "mommy issues?"

This was kinda fun. Not the rehashing of his break up, but the teasing. Maybe a small part of the fun was talking about the break up. He felt infinitely lighter the second he had told her. The weight of it was just...gone. That was weird and wonderful and refreshing and, yea, kinda fun. He chuckled at her question. "Not even a little bit."

"Then what the hell is wrong with you? There has to be something for her to drop you like yesterday's news."

"I'm no saint." He told her with a shrug. "I'm sure I'm partly to blame for things ending the way..."

"Don't do that." She said firmly.

"Do what?"

"Don't accept blame for what someone else has done to you."

"Yea, but..."

"No! If she ended things because she didn't love you anymore, then that's on her. Not you. That's not your issue to deal with. It's hers. So let her."

"I ummm..."

"I ummm what?" She asked, taking a sip of her wine. Liv wanted to ask him if there was any more food. It was good!

"I've never thought of it like that. Not really. I just figured I had done something to make her not love me anymore. I tried to win her back once after she ended things. It was completely pathetic, but I'm long over it now. It's nice to think that I don't have to feel like that anymore."

"I never said you were an angel."

His grin was automatic. "I never said I was an angel."

"You are a man. It's assumed." She teased.

"I wondered if that was true."

"In all seriousness, you need to set the bar higher for yourself. Be with someone who loves you for who you are. Exactly the way you are."

He leaned back in his chair. "I'm not looking for love for quite some time."

"That's the thing about love though, Fitz. It pops up when you least suspect it."

"Is that a fact?" He asked, watching the wistful expression on her face.

"Fraid so."

"Is that your elephant too? Love?"

That yanked her out of her wistful moment. Keeping some degree of calm, she lightly replied, "who says I have one?"

"You said it yourself last night."

Bringing her glass to her lips, she muttered, "I need to learn to keep my mouth shut more often."

"I showed you mine." Fitz teased, hoping she was as comfortable with his teasing as he was with hers.

Comfortable and fun loving looked good on him. Taking a deep breath, Liv simply said, "My elephant is health related."

Giving her a questioning look, Fitz simply waited her out. She'd tell him when she was ready.

After draining her wine glass and signaling to him for a refill, she told him. "Breast cancer."

"You have breast cancer?" Why was a bubble of panic starting to rise inside of him?

"I had breast cancer. I'm in remission now. Have been for a few months."

"Wow. That's an elephant people would only know about if you told them. Thanks for trusting me with it."

She gave a slight shrug.

"How are you feeling?"

"I feel fine health-wise. It's my mind. I can't quite conceive of being healthy enough to live my life to its fullest without the fear of cancer coming back."

"You certainly don't come across as fearful to live however you want. Not to me anyways."

"I'm usually very guarded around strangers." At his doubtful look she added, "no, really. I don't know why, but I don't feel that way when I'm around you."

"I'm gonna take that as a compliment."

"Good. I meant it as one." Tilting her head slightly, she flicked her eyes to his pretty blue ones. "You are very easy to talk to, Fitz. It's nice not to have to hide my baggage from you or feel judged when you do see it."

"That is quite literally the same way I feel around you. It's...light. And easy. Effortless really."

"Exactly!"

"For clarification purposes, do you have a husband or boyfriend?"

"Does it matter?" She couldn't wait to hear his answer.

Hell yes it mattered! "If I come walking down the steps at six am in my underwear looking for coffee and some guy is surfing the internet at the table, he's not gonna be too happy."

A weird sound escaped her lips. It was something that was a cross between a snort of laughter and moan at the thought. She was immediately mortified and her face registered the feeling.

Fitz couldn't help it. He laughed at her. "I hate to say these words to you, but I'm sorry for laughing. Sounds like I'm not the only one mildly interested though."

He wisely went back to eating his meal in silence.

Liv had her hands over her mouth to cover the escaping giggles that had spilled out. When she had herself back under control she said, "No boyfriend or husband. I'm sorry too, but you feel free to walk down here in your underwear any time you like."

"Glad we got that cleared up." He said, taking a sip from his wine. "In all seriousness, I'm really glad to hear that you are in remission. It makes me sad to know that sometimes you live your life in fear."

Liv hoped the look on her face told him that she had elaborated about as much as she wanted to for now. Pivoting again, she simply said, "elephants suck."

"I'll drink to that." He held his glass towards Liv and waited for her to clink her glass against his again.

"To elephants sucking."

"To elephants sucking." After putting her glass back down on the table, Liv said, "thank you for cooking dinner. It was truly fantastic."

"You're welcome. I saved the leftovers for you in the fridge."

Well damn. That was sweet. "Thank God! I love you!"

"That's all it takes?" he teased.

Liv cleared her throat. She was making herself look like a fool. Funny thing was she didn't really care. She'd do just about anything to keep that smile on Fitz's face permanent. "Food isn't the only way to a man's heart. It was really thoughtful of you, so thank you."

He nodded, taking note of the sappy look on her face. "Are you ready to go out and have a drink or two?"

She stared at him from across the table with a somber look on her face. Shaking her head back and forth she said, "no."

"What?! I thought we had a deal, Liv?"

"We most certainly do. I told you I'd take you out so we could forget elephants even exist, and that's what we're gonna do! It's gonna take a lot more than a drink or two."

"You're not gonna judge me for my beverage selection, are you?"

"That depends. Does it come with a tiny umbrella?"

He wanted to laugh, but kept his face solemn. "What if it does? Is that a problem?"

"Not for me. The locals might give you a hard time though."

"We don't know them, so it doesn't matter what they think." He winked at her and got to his feet.

He was making her insides do somersaults, and he wasn't even trying. It was gonna be a long night. "Look, I would offer to help with the dishes, but if..."

"If we are gonna get out of here, you need to go freshen up, pee, water the plants, write a novel, and all that. Does that about cover it?" he joked.

"You're good. I'll be ready in five minutes." She was grinning like an idiot as she left the kitchen and headed towards the stairs. In a loud voice she called out, "those leftovers better still be in that fridge when we get back!"

"It's gonna cost you." He called back chuckling. "See you in a half hour."

Ten minutes later, he walked down the stairs inside the house to find Liv waiting for him on her sofa. "Are you finally done primping?"

She was funny. He couldn't wait to get her out of the house. "My hair was doing this weird thing, and it took me forever, but I finally got it fixed."

"You're such a princess." Liv teased.

"Let's go!"

Opening the door, he watched her step outside and followed behind. The sun was hovering over the water on its way to hide for the night. Children and adults of all ages peppered the light colored sand and beautiful blue water. But Fitz wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings. He kept his eyes on Liv. She was more beautiful than any sunset, but she was interesting too; and funny.

After locking the door of the beach house behind them, Liv led the way across the sand toward the multi colored lights and sounds of music playing somewhere nearby. Taking his hand she said, "stay close and I'll protect you from the judgey locals. If anyone says anything about your drink of choice, I'll kick their ass."

Throwing his head back, he laughed loudly. She was amazing. Giving her hand a little squeeze, he said, "my hero."