Art Heaux

Stroke Five

"Girl, you didn't ask him about the kid," Olivia's college friend, Ashlee, exclaimed on the other end of the call. "You're going out with a guy that may or may not have a whole family on the side. It's giving, you're a side chick. You that dickmatized?"

"Damn, you didn't have to go that hard on me," Olivia replied, frowning at her screen. "I'm going to ask him about it and if he lies then at least I get a free meal."

"Do you hear yourself," Ashlee laughed. "What the hell has this guy done to you?"

"Okay, I get it. No need for any more insults, Ash. Damn," she huffed in response, regretting even sharing the news with her judgmental friend. "I'm getting pretty swamped today so I'll talk to you later."

As usual, Ashlee made sure she let Olivia know that she was there if she needed an ear to vent to. Olivia was starting to realize that listening ear was Ashlee's way of getting the latest gossip, then judging her choices. Ending the call was a relief. Olivia didn't have many close friends and she hated that she depended on Ashlee to be her support system outside of her mother.

Going back to her current creation, Olivia zoned out, letting her brush flow across the canvas lazily. Humming to herself, she thought about texting Spencer the magic question. Lowkey, she was afraid of what his answer would be or if he would even answer her at all. She was tired of being embarrassed by men. Scottie was enough of an embarrassment. She stuck with that man through too much and he should have served as a valuable lesson. The professional world of athletics was a cesspool of unfaithfulness. Olivia's own father was a living example of what that world had to offer. Yet, here she was. Thinking about a guy she barely knew and possibly being his side project while he played house. The thought was triggering and Olivia suddenly felt shame. Was she turning into her mother?

Vanessa was a great mom but Olivia remembered the times people in Billy's family would talk about the groupie he impregnated on the east coast. The woman he met one weekend when he was traveling for business and she caught his eye during his meeting with the company's President. Vanessa was the President's executive assistant. Olivia hated to be embarrassed by her mother's choices but there was no denying that she sometimes wished her father didn't have to be some other woman's husband.

Seriously, was she following Vanessa's path to becoming some other woman's worst nightmare? The thought made Olivia shudder. Taking her phone from her pocket, she sent four heavy words by text.

We need to talk.

—---

Spencer got the message but was unable to answer it, leaving Olivia on read for the afternoon. He had gotten a call earlier that morning from Kia, telling him that their daughter was running a dangerously high fever.

"She may have gotten it from my friend's son. He had a high fever about a week ago," Kia explained, watching Benni crawl over the pillows on the couch and into Spencer's lap. "I think we should get her to the doctor. I can't get the fever to break and she can't keep anything down."

"My Benni B not feeling well," Spencer hummed, cuddling his daughter into his chest. "Yeah. we should probably get her to the doctor. She's burning up."

For the next several hours, Spencer was tending to his sick daughter. The doctor determined she had come down with a bad case of the flu. Once they got her back home, Benni was fussy and fighting sleep. The toddler only wanted Spencer and there was nothing the young mother could do to comfort her.

"She's not going to let you leave, ya know," Kia smiled at the picture perfect scene in her living room. Spencer was laid across her couch with Benni sprawled out across his chest. They were on their 20th episode of Cocomelon and she still hadn't fallen asleep, even though her eyes were growing heavier by the second.