Fitz and Harrison are on the highway heading home. Fitz is finising a call with his aunt as he says, "Okay aunt Ro, we'll see you and dad tomorrow." She smiles as she replies, "Sure thing Fitzy, love you." He replies, "Love you too Aunt Ro, take care." She responds, "You too. Bye Harry."
He smiles as he responds, "Bye Aunt Rose." The call ends and Harrison says, "She's always so pleasant man." He replies, "Yeah, she is. She's great." He agrees as he says, "I agree. So what's with Liv having dinner with you and the family?"
He sighs as he says, "My aunt and I were having dinner, and then things kind of took a turn with my dad, and he's invited himself to eat with us. So I am having Liv come as my buffer, does that sound bad?"
He thinks for a moment and then responds, "No. I don't think so. Liv stabilizes you, so if she's there you're less likely to lose your cool with your dad. I get it."
He nods as he says, "Exactly. Things have really trended toward being positive between me and my father lately, and i'm really surprised about it. But, I just don't know how real it is, you know?"
He nods as he says, "Given your history with your dad it makes sense that you'd be apprehensive about things suddenly getting better between you two. That said, it's a good thing man; family is important and if somebody is trying to make amends, it's likely for good reason and you should give them a chance."
His response settles with him as he replies, "I hope you're right man, I'm tired of fighting with him. I just want answers about my mother, and it's like pulling teeth. I don't get why he's so tight lipped about her, you know? I mean I know all the hard stuff already."
Harrison surprises Fitz by saying, "You mean you think you know the hard stuff. You really only know what either he wants you to know or what you've read about the accident or heard from others about their life together bro,, so there's likely allot more to the story than you know, and clearly more than he's willing to share."
Fitz responds, "I never considered that before, but it actually makes sense. Since when did you become so well rounded in considering multiple perspectives?"
He laughs as he replies, "I don't know about all that, but I do know that dealing with my parents separation when I was in high-school it taught me allot about picking sides, and making determinations about things without actually getting the facts from the source."
He replies, "Damn, I forgot you went through that man, I'm sorry." He responds, "It's cool man. They got back together and have been right as rain since then. But that time period was rough. i thought I knew what was up with my dad, but it wasn't what I thought it was. At least not in it's entirety. It wasn't until he and I had a talk well after the fact that I found out the whole story. And when I got the details that only he and my mother could give to me, not just the basic facts of the situation, it made a huge difference in how I saw their situation."
Fitz asks, "How so?" He responds, "I learned that although they are my parents, they're a married couple too. And there are things that go on between a man and a woman in a marriage that should be kept between them. It's basically none of mine or my sister's business."
Fitz replies, "Ouch, that sounds both harsh and real all at the same time." He laughs as he says, "You telling me, bro I was in denial for a minute about it. But it all made sense after working on it with my therapist."
Fitz is in shock as he asks, "Wait, you were in therapy?" He openly shares, "Were, I'm still in therapy. It works for me." Fitz replies, "Dude I had no Idea. Does Drew know?"
He responds, "Yeah, he knows. I didn't mention it to you because it's not something I advertise, it's just something I privately do for me. Drew only knows because he saw my therapist's card in my room once and asked about it."
He nods as he says, "I get it. And I'm glad it's working for you man. I've been thinking about seeing somebody too. Liv told me about grief counselling and I've been looking into it sparingly. Maybe it's time to pull the trigger on it so I can start dealing with my issues around losing my mother."
Harrison replies, "I think it's cool that you're considering seeing a therapist. And I hope you make the choice to do it. Grief counselling could definitely help you process your loss so you can manage your feelings around losing her in a healthy way. That's really all therapy is about."
Fitz responds, "That's a good way to think about it. Liv mentioned something to that effect too. She said it helped her mom quite a bit."
He nods as he says, "It helps allot of people if they let it, and they are committed to putting in the work. It took me some time to learn that lesson too. I had to realize there wasn't a magical session that would cure me. Again, it's all about retraining your brain to process things and develop healthy coping mechanisms around the events that have happened in your life."
Fitz replies, "Well, I'm definitely in need of learning those techniques. Because doing it on my own has proven to be a mistake given how things have been with my father till recently. So, I'm game to follow a different path for the sake of having some sense of peace, you know?"
He responds, "Absolutely, if nothing else you'll find peace with yourself which will help you deal with others and have a better outcome. That's another thing I've learned myself."
Fitz responds, "Sounds good man, I'm proud of you and happy for you too." He smiles as he replies, "Thanks man, i'm a work in progress though you know? Like i said, there's no magic cure. I just have to keep using the tools I've been given and keep it pushing."
Fitz receives the message loud and clear, and is inspired by his friend to work on himself to be better mentally and emotionally.
The lull in conversation breaks when Harrison asks, "Hey, how'd you know that you were ready to be more with Liv than sex buddies?"
He grins as he replies, "Well damn that was subtle?" He chuckles as he says, "No disrespect intended man, you know that. I just couldn't figure out how else to say it."
He smiles as he says, "it's cool bro. I think for me it was the thought of somebody else being with her once we'd hooked up and I realized I liked her more than sexually."
Harrison asks, "So after the first time you two hooked up you were convinced you wanted something more?" He sighs as he says, "Yeah. I guess so. Because I honestly couldn't stop thinking about her. Not just sexually, I mean in total.
Like I'd be getting dressed and wonder what she'd think about my outfit, or I'd see something I knew she'd like and end up texting her about it. It's wild to me how easy it is to be with her, and how much she helps me be better, she calms me some how."
Harrison can relate as he says, "Man, I need you to get out of my head." He laughs as he replies, "I take it you're feeling something similar for Abby?"
He replies, "Yeah, it seems that way. I'm just not sure yet how deep it goes. So I invited her to dinner to see if there's something really there, or is it a matter of our connection feeding off of the group, if that makes any sense."
Fitz nods as he replies, "Yeah, it makes sense. But for what it's worth, given that little exchange at breakfast it's apparent that you two have mad chemistry."
He smiles as he says, "That was nothing man, just us palling around."
He replies, "Yeah, but it was the way you were doing it. You're feeling her and she's definitely feeling you. Where are you taking her?" He replies, "Either Osteria or Evviva La Ciccia, I haven't decided, but I've booked both just in case."
He nods as he responds, "Damn, that's fancy my guy. I'm impressed." He smiles as he says, "I can't take a woman who is half Italian to a bootleg Italian restaurant."
He replies, "True, but we both know you don't have to spend $200.00 per plate to get a decent Italian meal." Harrison responds, "Touche."
They share a laugh as he turns into the parking garage of their building. When he finds his parking spot, he backs into it and just as he kills the engine, a black car with government plates drives by, and both of them see Nyemah walking toward the elevator as if she just got out of the car.
Harrison looks at him and says, "Did we just see what I think we just saw?" He replies, "Yeah, but what exactly did we just see? Why is she getting out of a government vehicle?"
Harrison responds, "I don't know, but I don't get a great feeling about it. You were right to avoid her bro, something is definitely off about her. I don't know what she's up to. Did Liv's friend ever get back to you about her background?"
He responds, "Not yet. But it's only been a few days. And he mentioned last time we talked that her information was harder than normal to find." Harrison replies, "Well I hope he gives you some answers soon, because this is getting weird fast."
He agrees, he feels the same way. They exit the car and make their way to the apartment where Fitz gets ready for work and Harrison prepares to enjoy his day off.