Chapter 4 DINNER DATE

Eric quickly held up his glass of wine to his lips to hide the growing redness on his face.

"Do I have to come with someone?"

"Uh yes. There ain't no way I'm letting you show up at my party alone."

"But there's no one to come with," Eric rolled his eyes in protest.

"Oh, you don't be ridiculous, Eric. A dozen ladies out there would kill themselves to be the one for you, you just have to learn not to boss the fuck out of them eventually," Olivia tapped her cutlery gently against the plate for emphasis.

She'd brought up the one topic that they always fought about. Eric knew he went hard on the ladies sometimes but surely it wasn't his fault. It was never his fault. They just had to be stubborn and compulsive, and he couldn't stand "stubborn-and-compulsive", he'd made it his life's mission to break their resolves if he had to. It was the only way he could truly wield the power that had eluded him all his life.

"Look, all I'm saying is you should let go of your boss's charm and be vulnerable. It doesn't always have to end the way it does for you. You deserve to be happy Eric," Olivia nodded as she spoke, her genuine concern for Eric's well-being evident in the softness of her tone.

Eric knew she was only looking out for him, she'd been his confidant ever since he'd learned to trust her. She knew him as well as he knew himself. Everything, from the abuse to his struggles with the women in his life, his compelling need to establish dominance over females. It just never occurred to him to lord it over her in their friendship because she played a special role in his life. But the other women had just been trophies he'd collected along the way, and breaking them had given him a special sense of gratification. He closed his eyes as he battled internally with his conscience. As he did so, he could imagine himself sitting in the cold, dark basement, hugging his knees to his face as he cried his eyes out.

"Eric?" Olivia called out. She'd rescued him, again. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Eric answered a little too eagerly.

"Stop zoning out on me like that," she pouted playfully like a child.

"You should see yourself," Eric laughed lightly. "I'm sorry. I won't do it again, I promise," he said, crossing his heart in assurance.

"All I'm saying Mr man, is that you take baby steps, find a girl and love her because you want to. Not because of some silly need to prove something meaningless. You're beautiful the way you are," Olivia said.

"You're playing therapist again, huh?" Eric couldn't help the smirk that stretched across his lips.

"Well I always have to look out for your silly ass," Olivia winked and they both laughed, the most Eric had laughed in a long time. Only Olivia had the power to do that to him.

At work, even though they wouldn't say it to his hearing, his staff called him "the badger". He had a zero tolerance for laziness and sloppy joes, if you had to work for him, you had to do it well. He knew deep down that he could be a little extra with the little details at times, but everything had to be perfect.

Olivia teased him a lot for it, declaring him an OCD patient. He smiled at the memory of all the good moments they'd shared as friends.

"I'll find a date, Liv," he finally conceded. Olivia's lips stretched into a smile.

"Good. And I'm not inviting Nicole's mum either, so you don't have to worry about putting up with her crazy ass daughter. Never really liked the little bitch anyway," Olivia scoffed dramatically, and Eric feigned a sigh of relief before they both burst into a fit of laughter.

They were both on the same page about Miss Johnson and her daughter, Nicole. She held a chapter of his life he wished so desperately to erase. She was every bit like her maniacal, manipulative mother. Every single night he'd spent with her, locked in that room, his hands secured firmly to the bedpost, dragged him many steps backwards to a past he'd only just been recovering from.

"Whatever happened to her anyway?" Olivia asked after a while, breaking through his thoughts. He watched her shovel a fork full of spaghetti into her mouth and wash it down with a sip of her drink. He watched these little gestures, the way her fingers gripped the cutlery, the way she gently held up the glass to get lips, every little gesture she made.

"Well," he contemplated his answer before speaking. "She's urrrm.., we've not spoken in a while."

"You're not together anymore? How come you didn't tell me?" Olivia gasped in shock, holding a hand to her chest in mock hurt.

"Relax, it's not like I robbed a bank and pulled you in as surety without your notice," Eric joked. "I didn't think it was any necessary news."

"Still, you should have told me. So I could begin my matchmaking already," Olivia winked.

"That's exactly why I didn't tell you, Liv," Eric laughed heartily, as he spooned the last bit of food on his plate.

"What? Were you scared I'd pair you up with someone who'd match your wild energy huh?" Olivia teased.

"I'm a six feet three walking mass of muscles. Do I look scared to you?" Eric smirked, cocking his head to the side as he spoke.

"Hee," Olivia scowled playfully.

"I'm good. Just thought it was a little too insignificant to tell you," Eric explained after a fit of laughter.

"Are you kidding me? We should have held a celebratory dinner or something to mark the end of an era," she joked and they both laughed.

Deep beneath the laughter, Eric knew his true reasons for not sharing that bit of information with her. She knew only as much as he told her about Nicole and her mother, not the other gory half of the story.

A waiter wheeled in another cart holding their dessert of gelatos.

"Lovely!" Olivia clapped her hands like an excited child as the waiter placed the food down on the table.

"I'll have to pass. I'm full already," Eric protested, pushing the plate away from him.

"More for me then. You're always full," Olivia joked.

"Gotta keep these babies in shape," he tapped his biceps lightly.

"Whatever," Olivia rolled her eyes. "Please help me put these in a takeout," she instructed the waiter. "You've chased my appetite away with your little nonsense."

"Better for you," Eric laughed.

They filed out of the restaurant, neither of them wanting for the tranquillity of the night to end, Eric most especially.

"Thanks for tonight," he said from his heart as he bent almost half his full height so he could look through the cab window. The cab driver kept his eyes on the running meter, tapping impatiently away on the steering.

"You're welcome, homie," Olivia smiled, her teeth sparkling from the rays of the streetlight. "See you around."

He waved her goodbye and stepped back to watch the cab exit the driveway. Letting out a loud sigh, Eric walked off to the spot where he'd parked his car. He'd had quite an eventful night.