A/N: Hi! as always, thank you so much for the reviews on the last chapter. This story is very special to me and I'm so glad that it's special to y'all too.
*six weeks later*
Fitz raised his hand to knock on Olivia's apartment door but it swung open before he made contact. She stood before him, a ceramic mug shaped like a tabby cat in her hand, and grinned. "Hi!"
"Well you're awfully perky this morning," he replied as she stepped back to let him inside. She flitted to the kitchen and Fitz smirked as he watched her refill her mug. He walked over and took the cup from her. "I think you've had enough, sugar."
Olivia smiled. "Maybe. I'm just a little nervous. It's my first day. I'm going to be a real teacher in a real class. And it's not just one class. This isn't practice anymore."
Fitz pressed his finger to her lips. "You're talking a mile a minute, Livvie."
"I'm excited! I've never had a job before. I even bought a new dress." She stepped back to spin around and give him a full view of her short-sleeved navy dress whose pleated skirt fluttered around her knees. She had paired it with light brown leather loafers. "Do you like it?"
"You look beautiful. But maybe you should wear different shoes. You look like a student."
"I do not!" Olivia gave him an adorable pouty face, her voice almost child-like.
"Yes you do, baby. All you're missing is the braces." He watched with a smirk as Olivia went into her bedroom and examined herself in her full-length mirror. She frowned at his reflection leaning against her bedroom doorframe.
"I think it's the pleats. I'm not tall enough for them."
"Change your shoes and see how you feel."
"Well I wanted to be comfortable…" She went to her closet and looked at her three rows of shoes for a long moment before finally picking out a pair of navy pumps with bows on the pointed toes. She switched out her loafers for them then turned to look at Fitz. "Better?"
"You look very grown up." Olivia stuck her tongue out at his teasing grin then went to her vanity.
"Maybe I should put my hair up. And put on a little lipstick." She sat down and set to work.
Fitz walked over and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Well now it sounds like you're trying to catch a boyfriend."
"Maybe I ought to be since the one I've got treats me so badly."
Fitz smirked and pinched her cheek. "Oh yeah. I'm a real brute. Driving you to work, coming to get you at lunch time, teaching you to drive in a very nice Cadillac, letting you hog all the covers, not complaining about your freezing feet on me all night. I don't know how you deal with such abuse."
"Oh hush." Olivia finished applying her lipstick then stood, turning to look at him. She had pulled her hair back in a bun, secured with very sophisticated yellow ceramic chopsticks adorned with intricately painted pink flowers. "How do I look?"
"Like I should make you stay home so no one steals you away." Fitz grinned as he wrapped his arms around her. "I don't think you told me good morning yet. That's awfully rude, Ms. Olivia."
She smiled up at him. "Well if you hadn't walked in the door insulting me, I might have had time to properly greet you."
Fitz laughed as he leaned down to kiss her.
XXXXX
Olivia walked into the high school's front office and looked around at all the other teachers. She had never felt so young in her life. They all looked at least 30, if not much older. She wondered how she would make friends with people so much older than her. She wondered how she would teach students so close to her age, if they would respect her. She walked over to the time card slot and looked for her name. She found it near the bottom of the list, right above Principal Thornton's, and was thankful for its place as the entire apparatus towered over her. The clock that would punch the card was well above her head and she wished Fitz was there to reach it for her. She had come to value his height in the 6 weeks they'd been dating. He was always there to retrieve things from top shelves, and hang curtains, and dust her ceiling fans. She frowned, suddenly missing him terribly.
"Now what's got a pretty lady like you frowning?" She looked up and found a man about Fitz's height standing over her. He wore a congenial smile and a very tacky blue tie over his yellow shirt.
"Nothing. Just first day jitters," she replied, reaching up to punch her card.
"First job?" he asked.
"Yes. I just graduated in May. Is it that obvious?" She chewed the inside of her bottom lip, worried that if she looked like an amateur to another teacher, she wouldn't stand a chance with the students. Teenagers could smell fear.
"Not really. You just look young…in the best way, I mean." He extended his large dark hand. "I'm Edison Davis, the math teacher."
"I'm Olivia Pope, the English teacher." She shook his hand politely.
He grinned. "We're like opposites. You're all words. I'm all numbers."
Olivia smiled. "I suppose we are. I hope that doesn't mean we can't be friends."
"We can definitely be friends…or anything else you'd like."
Olivia gave a small, nervous laugh. She hadn't meant for him to think she was flirting with him. But he was the first person she'd met, and he seemed nice enough, so she decided to sidestep his comment entirely. Thankfully, the warning bell rang. "Oh! I've got to get going. I wouldn't want to be late for my first class."
"Good luck!" Edison smiled as she flitted away. He hadn't expected the first day to bring someone so beautiful to the school. It was going to be an interesting semester to say the least.
XXXXX
"Don't forget your reading journals!" Olivia instructed as her sophomore class collected their backpacks.
She smiled as many of them turned to grab the little composition notebooks from underneath their desks. They shuffled out of the room in clumps of friends, some turning back to say goodbye. They had taken to her much more than she thought they would. She had taught three classes, the freshmen and two groups of sophomores, and so far hadn't had any trouble. She put away her sophomore syllabus, taking out the one for the Honors Junior class and placing it atop her podium. She taught 7 classes, the entire freshmen class, and the Honors sophomores, juniors, and seniors, and their non-Honors counterparts. She hadn't expected so many classes, but thankfully there weren't many students. The school was much smaller than she'd thought it would be.
"Knock knock." She looked up and smiled at Edison as he stood in the doorway. "How was it?"
"Good. They're bigger than me, but they listen." She smiled triumphantly. "And they're excited to read the book. I didn't think they would be."
"They're good kids, most of them. Watch out for the seniors though. They'll try every trick in the book to get out of doing work. Senioritis, they call it." He walked over to her desk, smiling at the back of her head as she erased her chalkboard.
Olivia looked over her shoulder at him briefly. "Did you need something?"
"I wanted to take you to lunch and introduce you to the other teachers," he replied.
Olivia's smile twitched. "Well I've already met a few of them and my—"
A knock on the open door cut her off. She looked up and smiled at the sight of Fitz standing in the doorway. He wore an army green t-shirt and jeans, and his work boots. His hands were still a little dirty but she knew it took a few washes to get all the oil off. He smiled at her as he entered. "Are you ready, Livvie?"
"Yes," she replied, picking up her purse, grinning as he walked over.
"I didn't know you wore glasses. They're cute."
"I can't read a word without them," she replied. She remembered Edison and turned to look at him. She wasn't sure if he was put off or just confused. She removed her black square horn-rimmed glasses and they dangled on a pearl chain around her neck. "Edison, this is my boyfriend Fitz Grant. Fitz, this is the math teacher, Edison Davis."
The men shook hands, sizing each other up. Fitz gave an almost friendly smirk as he wrapped his arm around Olivia's waist, his hand clasping her hip. "So you've been showing my Livvie the ropes?"
"She seems to have gotten the hang of it with no help from me at all." Edison didn't smile. Olivia hadn't wanted any tension but she was thankful Fitz had showed up when he had. She was terrible at confrontation, and she would have felt guilty turning him down when he was the first person to be nice to her.
"She's brilliant like that." Fitz grinned at Olivia as she looked up at him with a smile.
Edison gave a lopsided smirk. "I don't doubt it. I'm sure you two have to get going so I'll leave."
He hastily left the classroom and Fitz looked at Olivia with a smirk, giving her hip a squeeze. "Looks like I've got some competition."
Olivia laughed. "I thought he was just being nice."
"He was trying to get some of my brown sugar." He nuzzled her cheek with his nose.
Olivia laughed. "I thought we agreed you wouldn't call me that anymore?"
"I'd stop if you didn't smile like that every time I said it." He kissed her cheek then her lips.
Olivia smiled against his mouth. "I've missed you."
"I missed you too, sweet thing." He caressed her cheek. "What do you want to eat?"
"I don't know. Take me somewhere. You always take to me the nicest places."
Fitz laughed. "No. You take me to the nicest places. I take you to holes in the walls that you're too polite to call squalid."
She gave a cute shrug. "Well I think they're nice."
They left the school, headed for the parking lot, and waved at Principal Thornton as they passed the front office. Fitz drove Olivia to a little Cajun restaurant in the Quarter called Mama Tiana's. It wasn't a very large building but the smell of gumbo made Olivia's mouth water as they entered hand-in-hand.
"This place is famous for their po' boys. They've got the best ones in the city hands down," Fitz told her as he held the door open.
"I've never had a po' boy. My mother didn't approve of the name," Olivia replied. Maya resented the implication that a sandwich could signify her as poor.
Fitz smiled. "Well get ready to have the best one ever. They've got chicken, shrimp, roast beef, or ham."
Olivia smiled as she read the large menu. "Oh! They have artichoke. Have you ever had it?"
"If you can't deep fry it, I probably haven't eaten it."
Olivia laughed. "Steamed artichoke and butter sauce is incredible. You have to try it."
Fitz smiled at her as they moved to the front of the line. "Alright."
"What can I get y'all?" asked the big-haired, blue-eyed waitress. Olivia read her name tag: Mellie. Her eyes lit up when they recognized Fitz. "Ain't seen you in here in a while, stranger. Where you been hiding?"
Fitz shrugged, squeezing Olivia's waist. "My lady's been making me eat better."
Mellie looked at Olivia and she gave a thin smile. "So you're the flavor of the month?"
"Almost two months actually," Olivia replied, lifting her chin and locking eyes with Mellie.
Mellie's triumphant smile twitched and she shrugged. "You're a pretty one, I'll admit that."
"Mellie." She looked back at Fitz, who frowned deeply at her, and raised her hands in surrender.
"Right. Sorry. I'm supposed to forget that you had me one night and never called." She fished a notepad from under the counter. Olivia glanced at Fitz, her mouth a thin line. Fitz shrugged, saying with his eyes that he would explain. "What can I get y'all?"
"I'll have a beef po'boy meal with a sweet tea and a steamed artichoke." He looked at Olivia. "What do you want?"
"I'll have a shrimp po'boy meal with a diet coke," she replied.
"Diet Coke?" Fitz smiled at her. "You get any trimmer and I'm gonna have to put rocks in your pockets."
Olivia laughed as she opened her purse. "If I keep eating with you every day, there won't be any room in my pockets."
Fitz laughed, looking back at Mellie who was watching them with a half-amused smirk. "How much?"
"12 even," she replied.
"Ouch!" Fitz joked. "Dating a pretty woman's got to be the biggest racket running. Men have to be the stupidest creatures alive: blowing all our hard-earned money on nice meals and flowers just for a little sugar."
Olivia smirked at him as she fished out her wallet. "It wouldn't be so bad if you'd let me pay once in a while."
Fitz shook his head, pulling out his wallet. "Your money's no good here."
"I can buy lunch, Fitz." She pulled out a twenty dollar bill and handed it to Mellie who took it before Fitz could object.
He smirked at her. "First and last time, missy."
Mellie put the money in the register and gave Olivia her change. Olivia put the money in her wallet then put her wallet back in her purse. She looked up at him and stuck out her tongue. "Whatever."
"Hey buddy, you and your nigger girlfriend wanna hurry up! I got shit to do today!"
Olivia and Fitz turned to find themselves staring at a scowling bald man. He was dressed similarly to Fitz and looking at his dingy hands, Olivia guessed he was a construction worker.
"What did you say?" Fitz asked through gritted teeth. He and the man were about the same height but he was a little thinner than Fitz, and judging by the reddening of his face and neck, just as angry.
"I said you and your nigger girlfriend need to hurry up. You ain't got no business with her in here no way," the man replied.
Olivia gasped at the swiftness with which Fitz grabbed the other man's throat, hoisting him off the ground. "Fitz let him go!"
"I think you owe my lady an apology," Fitz hissed, not having heard Olivia. The other man's red face was slowly draining of color as he squirmed in Fitz's grasp. He sputtered but nothing came out. "I can't hear you."
"I'm sorry," he breathed.
"Louder!" Fitz demanded.
The man flailed, but Fitz's grip was too strong. "I'm sorry!"
"Fitz put him down!" Olivia repeated, stepping closer. She touched his arm and he finally looked at her.
His face instantly softened and he dropped the man. "Get the hell out of here."
The man scurried out of the restaurant and Fitz turned back to Olivia. He caressed her cheek. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I just think we should go," she replied.
"Okay." He looked at her dolefully, hoping she wasn't upset with him. Mellie appeared with their food and they took it, ignoring the murmuring and looks from other customers. They left the restaurant and headed for the little patio area set up between the restaurant and the pub next to it, called Hair of the Dog. They sat at a table and Olivia opened her plate, examining the sandwich with interest. It smelled heavenly.
"Livvie, I'm sorry about that. I just…" Fitz wasn't sure how to explain himself. He had heard that word and his only thought had been how much it would hurt Olivia's feelings. "He said that word and I figured he'd hurt your feelings, and I…I'll never let anyone hurt your feelings."
Olivia looked down at her plate. "I've never been called a nigger before. It's odd, me being 25 and all. You'd think I'd have come across it at least once, but no one's ever said it to me, not to my face anyway."
Fitz rubbed her arm. "Did it hurt your feelings?"
"No. I don't suppose. I'm not really sure how I feel. He didn't say it like he meant any offense. He said it so matter-of-factly, as if there's no other way to refer to colored people." Her feelings weren't hurt, per se. She was more shocked at the pain that came from his flippancy, how sharply his casual racism had stabbed her. He had just thrown the word at her like it didn't mean anything
"He's an ignorant bastard." Fitz frowned. "What I don't get about the whole thing, is how every colored person gets lumped in together. White people never get judged like that."
"Stereotypes are born of incorrect generalizations."
"I know, but if people got to know us, they'd know they should be more prejudiced against me than you. You're loads smarter than me, and loads classier. Hell I barely finished high school and you've been to college and everything."
"What you're talking about is classism. I'm no better than you because we were raised differently, just like you're no better than me because you're white. We've all gotta let stuff like that go. Everyone puts their underwear on one leg at a time, and we should all act like it."
Fitz smiled, leaning over to kiss her temple. "I really could listen to you talk all day."
Olivia blushed, giggling softly, as she opened the Styrofoam box containing the artichoke. "This smells heavenly."
Fitz gave her and the vegetable a dubious look. "How do you eat it?"
"You tear off a petal. See the inside? That's what you want to eat." She showed him the inside of the artichoke. "And you dip it in the butter sauce."
She held the steaming vegetable to his lips. "Bite down with your teeth and pull it out."
Fitz did as he was told and chewed the pulpy vegetable. "That's good."
Olivia wiped the butter sauce off his bottom lip with a smile. "Artichokes are my favorite. I like to stuff them with a little spiced ground beef and white cheddar sauce. It's heavenly."
Fitz smiled. "Maybe you can make it for me some time."
"I suppose I could. What do I get if I do?"
"I'll make you my famous blueberry waffles on Sunday morning."
They finished their lunch then Fitz drove her back to the school. Olivia leaned against the car and watched Fitz pull on his coveralls, smiling at her as she zipped them for him. He took her hands in his and frowned. "I'm sorry about earlier. I really am."
"It's okay. No one's ever stood up for me that way." She smiled sweetly at him. "You're my white knight."
Fitz laughed, pulling the long curl on his forehead down. "How do you like that? I'm Superman."
Olivia laughed, her head falling back, and Fitz grinned proudly at making her laugh. There was possibly nothing that gave him greater pleasure. "Well how about a kiss for your hero?"
Olivia pulled his face down to hers and kissed him, giggling when he bit her bottom lip. Fitz's hands slid down her waist and he gripped her bottom in his large hands.
"Get a room!" Olivia and Fitz sheepishly separated and turned to find a group of cheerleaders grinning at them.
Olivia blushed and let Fitz go. "I'll call you tonight."
"I'll be home…alone." He smiled.
"Or you could be at my place." Olivia pulled her keys from her purse and held them out to him.
Fitz smirked. "Why do you want me at your place? What chore do you want me to do?"
Olivia widened her eyes and opened her mouth in feigned shock. "I can't believe you would even say that to me. You've hurt my feelings!"
Fitz laughed. "Oh please, Livvie. There's something you want me to do and you know it."
"Well maybe you could take down the curtains in my bedroom. They've got to be washed."
"I suppose I could." He took the keys. "But I get to pick what movie we see tonight."
"But you always pick!"
"That's a lie and you know it, Livvie."
"Is not!" Her voice was almost child-like. "You made me go see that awful movie about the birds last week."
"And you made me see Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow the week before that so we're even."
"Well what do you want to see?"
"The new James Bond movie."
"Or we could go to the drive-in. They're having a week-long festival of movies that were adapted from books. They're showing Breakfast at Tiffany's at 7 and A Streetcar Named Desire at 9. Doesn't that sound fun?"
"Streetcar is he one with the guy who reminds you of me, right?"
"Yes. You're my very own Marlon Brando." Olivia smiled, her hands resting on his broad shoulders. She gave him her best doe eyes, knowing he'd give in. "So what do you say?"
Fitz sighed and smirked, running a hand through his hair. "Stop making that face."
"No." She made her eyes wider, grinning sweetly. "Pretty please?"
"Livvie…" Fitz felt his will bending.
"Come on. For your brown sugar?" She poked out her bottom lip and gave him her sweetest eyes.
"Fine." He sighed. "You're the worst, you know that?"
Olivia kissed his lips and let him go. "I'll see you tonight."
"Bye, Livvie." He got in the car and waved as Olivia headed for the building.
Inside, Olivia gave Edison a friendly smile as she approached the time clock in the office. He smirked at her. "I didn't think you'd be into grease monkeys."
Olivia gave a smirk of her own. "Better a grease monkey than a horse's ass."
She left him there, frowning at her back as she walked away.
XXXXX
*six days later – Saturday*
A horn honked and Olivia went to look out the living room window. She could see Fitz sitting in his car in front of the building. She went to her purse, stopping to check her appearance in her mirror. She wore a bright yellow eyelet sundress with a bow on the back of the waist and fuschia pumps that matched her handbag. She picked up the small mint valise holding her tennis clothes then left the apartment.
Fitz smirked at her as she came to a stop beside the passenger side door. "What's with the luggage, princess?"
"It's got my tennis clothes in it."
Fitz's smile twitched. "You have tennis clothes? You know what I wear to play tennis? A lawn chair and a glass of sweet tea."
Olivia laughed as she got into the car. "Well when you said your parents had a court, I figured I should look appropriate."
"My mother has a court. My dad just drinks beer and watches her play against my sisters when they visit."
Fitz pulled away from the curb, draping his arm over the back of the seat. Olivia slid over until she was in his embrace. She looked up at him. "I get the impression you're a lot like your father."
Fitz smiled. "There's definitely a reason why I'm named after him and not my older brother."
Olivia opened her valise and pulled out a book. "I brought The Awakening."
Fitz looked down at her. "That's the one about the married woman, right?"
"Yes." She opened it to the marked page. "As Edna walked along the street she was thinking of Robert. She was still under the spell of her infatuation. She had tried to forget him, realizing the inutility of remembering. But the thought of him was like an obsession, ever pressing itself upon her. It was not that she dwelt upon details of their acquaintance, or recalled in any special or peculiar way his personality; it was his being, his existence, which dominated her thought, fading sometimes as if it would melt into the mist of the forgotten, reviving again with an intensity which filled her with an incomprehensible longing. Step by step she lived over every instant of the time she had been with Robert. She recalled his words, his looks. How few and meager they had been for her hungry heart! She wondered when he would come back. He had not said he would come back. She had been with him, had heard his voice, and touched his hand. But some way he had seemed nearer to her off there in Mexico."
Fitz asked, "She killed herself over that guy, right?"
"No. She killed herself because she couldn't live freely. Some people say it's because she had done irreparable damage to her life and couldn't deal with it, but that's not true. No one even knew what she did except that she moved out of her house for a little while. She killed herself so she never had to go back into the box she'd worked so hard to get free of."
"So she didn't really love him? She just wanted the freedom to love him?" Fitz had half-read the book but found it uninteresting. He couldn't identify with Edna. He couldn't comprehend her confinement, never having been confined in such a way himself.
"She absolutely loved him, but she loved the freedom that came with the love even more. In learning that she could fall in love and know passion, she learned what it really meant to be human. But it wasn't a freedom that could last in the current society so she took the only out she had."
Fitz nodded. "I don't understand why she didn't just cheat. It's not a good thing to do, but at least she'd have been alive."
"She did cheat. She slept with Alcée Arobin, the town seducer, but she didn't love him so the sex didn't fulfill the need she was looking for. And she tried to cheat with Robert, but he couldn't go for it. He loved her just as desperately, but he was worried about society so he left her again."
"That's sad."
"But there's beauty in the tragedy."
Fitz shook his head. "We'll have to agree to disagree. I liked the Hemingway book but this one isn't a favorite."
Olivia laughed. "Next we're going to read Their Eyes Were Watching God."
"What's it about?"
"A woman's journey to self-discovery and sexual autonomy."
Fitz smirked. "I think you're trying to turn me into a woman, Livvie."
"I've never been into women but I suppose if you were one, I could give that a try." She gave an impish grin. Fitz laughed and pinched her cheek.
XXXXX
"Fitz!" A tall woman with silver-blonde hair rushed down the steps of the large plantation house to greet Olivia and Fitz as they got out of his car.
Fitz smiled as his mother hugged him. "Hi Mama."
She stepped back and smiled at Olivia. "And you must be the Olivia I keep hearing about. Fitz didn't mention that you were so pretty."
"Thank you. It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Grant. Fitz speaks very highly of you."
The woman laughed sweetly. "Oh dear, Mrs. Grant is my mother-in-law. Please call me Naomi."
"Where's Big Gerry?" Fitz asked.
"Where else? On the back porch killing off the last of the Johnny Walker," Naomi answered. "You know he likes to get loose before our dinner parties."
Fitz nodded. He turned to Olivia. "My father's got what we call liquid charm."
"Better than being sober and sour," Olivia replied.
"Let's get out of this heat." They began walking up the brick walkway that led to the house. "I was just about to change for tennis. Olivia do you play?"
"Not as well as I used to. It's been ages," Olivia replied.
They entered the house's spacious foyer and Olivia looked around as they headed for the receiving room. Naomi turned to smile apologetically. "You'll have to forgive the gaudy furniture. It's all antique and my husband thinks it's lovely. I'd just as soon outfit the place in milk crates than keep it but I've given up the fight."
The room looked like an old movie set. Olivia could tell it hadn't aged past the 1870s. Everything was a relic, from the wagon wheel coffee table to the portrait of the slightly glowering man sitting astride a horse on the mantle above the fireplace.
"Fitz take Olivia up to your Elizabeth's room so she can change for tennis," Naomi instructed.
Fitz smirked. "Mama, Liv can change in my room. I'll be a good boy and won't peek."
Naomi laughed. "Take Olivia to Elizabeth's room and go get your father. I've got some gin that's begging for lemonade."
Olivia smiled at Naomi. "Are you making Tom Collins?"
"A whole pitcher. Do you like them as much as I do?" Naomi asked.
"They're my favorite cocktail in the world."
Naomi's grin broadened. "I like you."
Olivia blushed. "Thank you. I like you too."
She turned to Fitz and he gestured for the stairs. "After you, ma'am."
"He's a gentleman sometimes, a tramp others. The joy in him is discovering which you're getting," Naomi teased as she turned to head for the kitchen.
Olivia laughed as they headed for the stairs. She looked around at the art on the walls lining the hallway, and the flower arrangements sitting on small pillars between the doors. "Did your mother do all this?"
"Yes. Every season she changes the flowers and the color of this main wall because you can see it from the front door and the bottom floor. When she throws parties down there, she wants people to look up and see the theme of the season. Big Gerry's managed to get her down to four parties a year. I don't think he could live through the paint fumes otherwise." He stopped in front of a door and opened it then stepped into the room ahead of her and turned on the lights. "You know this place was one of the first places in the county to have electricity and running water."
Olivia followed him into the room and looked around. The walls were painted a deep shade of green that matched the bedspread. There were model airplanes hanging from the ceiling and bookshelves lined the wall behind the bed. Fitz sat on the bed and placed Olivia's valise next to him. "Pawpaw died when I was 10 and Mama inherited the house. She's been talking about leaving it to me since I'm the only one without a house. I don't think I want it though."
"You don't want it?" Olivia couldn't understand why he wouldn't want a house so beautiful.
He shook his head. "I don't think so. It's so much house, and what am I gonna do with it?"
"Throw parties like Gatsby." She laughed as she turned for him to unzip her dress.
Fitz looked up at her with a grin. It was too soon for him to tell her that he could see them filling the house with babies just as his parents did, throwing barbecues and birthday parties, sitting in the double rocker on the back porch. He unzipped her dress and Olivia slipped it off then folded it into the valise after she took out her white tennis dress and white Keds. Fitz smiled. "Now why haven't I seen this little outfit before?"
"You never play tennis with me." Olivia pulled the dress on then put on her socks and sat on the bed. She placed her feet in Fitz's lap. He looked at her with a smirk but put her shoes on and tied them.
"So if I played tennis with you, you'd wear miniskirts all the time?"
Olivia smirked. "Am I really a miniskirt kind of girl?"
"You've certainly got the legs for it."
"Perhaps I should do a little shopping then."
Fitz leaned her back on the bed, reaching beneath the perfect pleats of her skirt. "Maybe we should put this one to good use."
"Fitzgerald Thomas Grant you let that girl up off that bed." Olivia's eyes widened at the sight of Naomi standing in the doorway. She smirked at them as she shook her head. "You're certainly your father's child."
"I didn't get the name for nothing." Fitz grinned as he sat up so Olivia could too.
Naomi smiled at her. "Are you ready, dear?"
"I am if you are." She hopped off the bed, giving Fitz's hand a squeeze so that he would get up too.
XXXXX
After their game, Olivia and Fitz sat opposite Big Gerry and Naomi as they ate lunch on the patio beside the tennis court.
"So Ms. Olivia, what do you do?" Big Gerry asked. He and Fitz were like past and present versions of the same man. Big Gerry had the same curls and clear blue eyes, though his hair was shiningly silver, and the same earnest smile.
Olivia giggled. "Fitz used to call me the same thing when we started dating, Mr. Grant."
"Now put away that Mr. Grant business. Call me Big Gerry. My own kids do," he replied.
"Well, Big Gerry, I'm an English teacher. Fitz is my worst student. He is quite possibly the most argumentative man I've ever met. My analysis is never good enough. It's always too highbrow. There's always some simpler explanation. It's gotten so that I could practically strangle him over dinner." She grinned cheekily at Fitz.
Naomi laughed. "He didn't get the name for nothing."
Big Gerry chuckled. "Well, he's a man. Men are simple creatures."
"But everything in life isn't simple. Complexity is the hallmark of the human experience."
"Complexity is the hallmark of the female experience," Fitz argued. "Did you know that women speak more than 25,000 words a day? That seems excessive already, but when you learn that men only speak about 7,000, you get a much clearer picture of the difference between the sexes. By the time I'm hitting my stride in a conversation, you've already lapped me twice. And that's not the end of it. You girls have a million clothes, a million shoes, makeup, hairstyles, nail polish, magazines. You've got so much of everything that you can't make the simplest choices."
Big Gerry nodded. "Exactly. You know what men have? Shirts, pants, shorts, shoes. When it's cold, we put on shirts and pants. When it's hot, we put on shirts and shorts. Men get one haircut at 5 and wear it until they die. It could be the ugliest thing ever done to a head but it's on his head and who's going to change it? Not him. We read the newspaper, we drink beer, we eat whatever's good no matter how fat we get. You gals change your hair every week, have a million dresses—none of which seem to ever be the right one—and you can't eat just anything. A hundred restaurants in the city and Naomi can never pick. The only thing she's sure of is that she doesn't want whatever simple thing I've suggested."
Naomi smirked. "Don't you start with me, Fitzgerald."
Olivia turned to Fitz. "You don't have the name for nothing."
Fitz shrugged. Big Gerry laughed, putting on a comically high-pitched voice. "We can't go there. It's date night. We have to go somewhere fancy! Oh and wear a tie, honey, would you? Not that tie! Wear the one with the stripes that I bought from Sears! Oh, and wear that nice jacket. And put on the nice cologne I got you from Macy's, not that stuff you wear every day."
Fitz laughed heartily, his head falling back and imitated the voice. "Can't we go back to the place with the string quartet? I know you didn't like it that time but maybe this time will be different? Can you wash your hands again? That oil never comes off. Will you fix this? Let's go to the ballet. Will you wear that suit I like? Can you comb your hair again? Didn't you love that movie? How could you not love it? I cried."
Olivia smirked at Naomi. "We should have left them in their caves dragging their knuckles around."
"It seems like the best place for them if this is the thanks we get for a little culture and civility," Naomi agreed.
Fitz draped his arm around Olivia's shoulders and kissed her cheek. "I'm not saying I don't like your classy ways. I'm just saying there's a lot of fun to be had on my side of the fence too."
"I do have fun on your side of the fence. And unlike you, I agree to hop that fence without complaining." She poked the tip of his nose with her index finger.
"Because you don't have to wear a monkey suit on my side of the fence and listen to people like Edison Davis talk on my side of the fence."
Olivia smirked at him. "Oh hush."
"Well you're going to hop it again in a little while." Fitz smiled at his parents. "I brought Livvie out here to ride the tractor. She's never ridden on before."
"It's not exactly a carnival ride," Naomi replied. "They aren't meant to be riding anyway. They're for work. You and your hillbilly daddy are the only ones who don't think so."
Big Gerry smirked and nudged her with his elbow. "Hillbilly? Well you married me, so that makes you a hillbilly too."
Fitz grinned, giving Olivia's shoulders a squeeze. "You'll be one too by the time you leave."
"Oh I doubt that," Olivia replied with a smile.
XXXXX
"Climb up here in my lap," Fitz instructed as Olivia looked at him dubiously. He sat atop his father's new red John Deere tractor, grinning at her.
Olivia did as she was told but looked down at her pumps resting on the dirt-caked pedals with a frown. "What about my shoes?"
"They'll be okay, baby." Fitz leaned over, pressing his back to her chest and stretched his arms out, covering her hands with his on the steering wheel. "It's easier to drive than the Cadillac."
Olivia started the tractor and it hummed to life. Fitz rested his chin on her shoulder. "Now you wanna put it in drive and press the gas."
Olivia did as she was told but the tractor didn't move. Fitz smiled. "You've gotta give it a good push baby. It works better in boots cause the sole's harder."
"I don't have any boots." Olivia pushed harder on the gas and the tractor lurched forward.
"Well we can fix that." They drove around the backyard down a path cut through the orchard that led to the lake. "Stop right here at this hill."
Olivia stopped at the hill and Fitz cut the ignition then hopped off the tractor. He helped Olivia off and led her up the small hill. They sat down on its summit and Olivia gasped. "I've never seen a sunset so pretty."
The sun gleamed off the lake and bathed everything in golds and reds. Fitz wrapped his arms around her. "I love the city at night but nothing beats this."
"I've never seen anything like it. Mama never even took me to the country, even though we've got family out here."
"I take it your mama's awful uppity," Fitz replied.
Olivia looked back at him with a smile. "You have no idea."
"Do you think she'll like me?"
Olivia bit her lip and replied, "She's going to hate you. She's going to say I could do worlds better, and that you're a hick. But do you know what I'll say back?"
"What?" He smiled when she took his stubbly face in her hands.
"That there's no one else in the world I could be so crazy about." She smiled and leaned over to kiss him.
Fitz lay back on the hill and pulled her on top of him. His hands roamed down to the hem of her skirt and pushed it up so he could grip her warm, soft flesh. He rolled them over and Olivia paused to remove her dress, mindful that the grass would stain it. She giggled as Fitz's fingers fluttered over her thighs. Her own hands moved to his belt buckle and she quickly got his pants undone. Fitz tugged off her panties and pushed her bra down to expose her breasts. Olivia tugged at his curls, her breath hitching as his fingers explored the apex of her thighs. finding her delightfully warm and wet, Fitz eased inside her, pulling her legs up around his waist.
XXXXX
"Wake up, Livvie." Fitz rubbed her back as she lay atop him. "It's night time. We've gotta get going."
Olivia yawned as she awoke. "I didn't mean to fall asleep. It's just so quiet out here."
She put on her dress and shoes and climbed onto the tractor behind Fitz, wrapping her arms around him. She lay her head on his back as he started the tractor and put it in gear. "So how'd you like your first tractor ride?"
"It was much more fun than I expected." She hadn't expected to like riding around on a tractor of all things, but anything with Fitz
When they reached the house, they found themselves in the middle of the party. There were about a two dozen people scattered around the sunken living room, talking and laughing while Naomi flitted around entertaining everyone at once. Big Gerry sat in a chair in the corner, sipping his Scotch and grinning at his wife.
"Olivia! I've been raving about you! Come meet my friend Eileen. She's an English teacher at Hanover Day School in Baton Rouge," Naomi said when she spotted them. She took Olivia's hand and led her away to a group of women drinking wine.
Fitz smiled, watching as they walked away, then went to join his father in the corner at the bar where Big Gerry was mixing the punch. "So what do you think of Olivia?"
"She's a sweet girl, reminds me a lot of your mother," he replied. "I hope you're keeping your wits about her, though."
Fitz frowned. "What does that mean?"
"I'm not saying you should stop seeing her. She's a delightful girl: pretty, smart—"
"Then what are you saying?" Fitz didn't like where the conversation was going.
"Just that you ought to be careful, more for her sake than your own." Big Gerry looked at his son earnestly. "New Orleans is an open place. Everybody's so mixed up that you can't call anyone any one thing. But she's… I grew up around colored people. We were too poor to live anywhere else so I understand that race isn't the big divider people like to think it is. But the rest of the world doesn't get that. And God forbid you get her in trouble."
"What kind of trouble?"
Big Gerry smirked. "Don't play coy with me, Fitzgerald. You know exactly what I mean. This world ain't no place for mixed race babies."
"First of all you're a good two to three years ahead of me. We haven't even been dating a solid two months. And if I did 'get her in trouble' as you put it, she'd be my wife first so it wouldn't be trouble anyway."
"And who, pray tell, is going to marry you and that girl?" Big Gerry asked. "Sure as shit ain't gonna be anyone this side of the Mason-Dixon."
"I can get to D.C. and get it done easy. Supposedly it'll be legal there in a few months. But, again, you're way ahead of me. Who's to say she'd even wanna marry me?"
"She'd marry you and you know it just like I do. And no one's saying that you two couldn't have a nice life together after people got used to y'all, but that period of getting used to y'all isn't going to go so easily. Just think about her in all this, son."
"I am, Dad. I think about her all the time. Sometimes I can't breathe because I'm thinking about her. I'm so full of love I can barely eat. So, thank you for whatever concern you have, but I don't need the advice." Fitz frowned and sighed. "I think we're gonna head out."
He walked away without waiting to hear Big Gerry's reply. He understood that his father meant well, but nothing in the world could stop him from seeing Olivia. He searched the crowd and found Olivia standing with his mother and Eileen. He walked over and wrapped his arm around Olivia's waist.
"I hope you ladies are behaving," he said. He had grown up around most of the women standing with Olivia.
"We're just having fun with your girlfriend. She's delightful, and so pretty," Eileen, a short red-headed woman complimented.
"She is," Fitz agreed, giving Olivia a squeeze. "But it's time I got her home."
"Are you leaving so soon? That nice boy from across the street and his friends have a little band. They're about to play some dancing music. Won't you stay and dance a little?" Naomi implored.
Fitz shook his head. "Mama you know I hate dancing."
"But you're so good at it."
Fitz looked at Olivia. "Do you wanna stay and show off my two left feet?"
Olivia smiled. "I suppose a dance or two couldn't hurt. You're really not as bad as you think."
"Wonderful! Will you teach us to dance like they do in that movie?" Naomi asked.
Fitz looked at his mother in surprise. "You mean Dirty Dancing?"
"Yes. Eileen says all the kids are doing it. We're just trying to be… What do the kids call it?" Naomi turned to Eileen.
"Uh… Hip! That's it. Help us get with it, Fitz." Eileen grinned.
Fitz turned again to Olivia. She just shrugged, only having been "with it" for a few weeks. He looked back at his mother and shook his head but went to where the boys were setting up their amps and talked to them. Olivia smiled at the boy's surprised face as Fitz talked to them. A moment later, Fitz was headed back to them and the slight teenaged lead singer was standing at his microphone, his guitar hanging at his side.
"We were gonna play you folks some slow stuff, but the hostess has requested we make y'all hip. Let's hope none of you break one? Am I right?" He grinned and a few people laughed. "Anyway, this is 'Stay.' It's the ultimate groove."
He played the opening strains of the song and Olivia smiled at Fitz as he offered her his hand. They moved to the center of the floor and he presented her to their audience with a wave of his hand. Everyone clapped, quite interested in the latest dance crave. Olivia smiled shyly but took hold of the folds of her skirt and wound her hips. Fitz watched her lose herself in the dance with a smile. Olivia began moving in a small circle, kicking out her feet behind her as she flapped the skirt of her dress. Fitz smiled. She was challenging him to chase her, a move he knew to be from the rumba she'd taught him in their only successful dancing lesson.
She tossed him a flirtatious smile when he didn't chase her the first time, and repeated the move, beckoning him to her as she wound in an almost serpent-like way. Fitz followed her, copying her moves. She stopped at the beginning spot of her circle, allowed him to catch her. At the contact of his body with hers, Olivia closed her eyes. She could almost pretend they were in her apartment. Fitz's hands found her hips and she raised her arms, wrapping them around his neck. She was surprised that he could copy her movements so seamlessly as he wasn't a very good dancer. He was better than he thought but Olivia was much better. Despite her reluctance to learn the dance, she had picked it up and run with it. She was a favorite at Lou's and everyone gathered when she and Fitz took the floor. What Fitz liked most about the way she danced was that it looked like he was leading, even though he usually had no idea what he was doing. He took her hand and spun her around, smiling at the way her hips never faltered in their winding. He pulled her back to him, grinning as she danced against him.
Olivia smiled at him as she wound backwards, the way she'd seen Amanda do. The crowd applauded her and Fitz smiled shyly. He'd never felt more like his father, looking on with adoration as people mooned over his girl. The band ended the song and the room erupted in claps. Olivia only blushed and smiled as Fitz presented her to with a wave of his hand.
"Isn't she something?" he asked the crowd. Everyone nodded. He smiled at his mother grinning at Olivia. He knew Naomi had been quite the dancer in her youth but that her ankles weren't what they used to be so she could only waltz now. They held hands as they walked over to say their goodbyes.
"Well now I'll never be able to do that in this lifetime, but it was incredible! You could be a professional, Olivia!" Naomi gushed.
"I don't know about that, but thank you. Fitz is the one who taught me that dance."
Fitz shook his head with a smile. "I taught her the basic steps but she's the one who made it so special."
"Will you stay for another dance?" Naomi asked.
"Mama we've gotta hit the road."
Naomi nodded and walked them to the door.
"Thank you for a wonderful time." She returned Naomi's hug with a smile. "We'll definitely be at the next party."
They said their goodbyes then walked to Fitz's car. He looked at her. "Did you have fun?"
"Much more fun than you'll have when you meet my mother," Olivia replied with a smile.
They got into the car and drove back to New Orleans. When they came to a stop in front of Olivia's building, they kissed like teenagers. "Call me when you get home?"
"Maybe. I've been neglecting my other girlfriends so I might have to call them first." Fitz touched her nose affectionately.
Olivia laughed. "Don't make me hurt you, Fitzgerald."
"Please do."
Olivia went upstairs and Fitz drove home, both wearing the same immovable grin.
A/N: Next chapter will cover Olivia's birthday. What does Fitz have up his sleeve? And what will Maya say when she meets Fitz? Don't forget to review! XOXO