Language of Love

Mater

    The love of my life sleeps next to me. I've never thought to call him that. But that's what he is. I look over to him, he sleeps so peacefully. I look around the room. I see his boxers laying on the floor next to the bed. Near the door lays my shirt and not too far from it lays my bra. My thoughts are interrupted by my bedroom door opening.

    A tall woman stands at the opening. I kick Fitz. He wakes up.

   "Ow! What the hell, Gray?" He yelps. I point to the woman at the door.
   "Mom?" Fitz blurts.
    "Good morning, Fitzgerald. And Fitzgerald's girlfriend." She comments.
    "Good morning, I'm Gray." I say.
    "I know," She says.
    "How the hell did you get in here?" Fitz asks. She dangles the key.
    "Under the doormat? Seriously?" She remarks. I glance over to Fitz.
    "Sorry..." He mutters.
    "Get up....Both of you " His mother demands.
    "I'm not wearing any clothes," I say.
    "I noticed. Get up." She repeats.
    "She's naked, Mom." Fitz exclaims.
    "You get up too," She says.
     "I'm naked." He clarifies.
    "I understand, get out of the bed." She says.
     "No!"
     "For God's sake you came out of my vagina I can see hers." She mutters.
     "No you can't!" He declares.
     "Fine, wear this." She says and tosses me Fitz's tee shirt. I slip it on. He leans over and grabs his boxers.

    We get up. She looks at me and then looks to
Fitz.

    "She's pretty. A little slutty, but pretty." She says.
    "Uh, thanks?"
    "Mhm. How long have you been dating?" She asks.
     "5 months." Fitz answers.
     "Hm. Okay, well, I heard you moved in with some girl so I needed to meet her." She says. I smile.

     "Well, you two should shower. I need to too, can I use that one in the back?" She asks.
     "Sure." I say. 
    "You two might as well shower together, it's not like your strangers to each others naked bodies," His mother remarks. She walks out of the bedroom and into the hall.

    I grab a dress from our closet and Fitz takes jeans and a tee shirt. In the bathroom Fitz sighs.

    "I am so sorry," He says.
    "It's not your fault..." I say.
    "I should have known one of my roommates called my mother." He says. I laugh.

We shower and get ready.

   "How long is she going to be here?" I ask him.
    "I don't know," He mutters. We all go to Lincoln's Waffle Shop.

    Fitz and I sit down at a booth and his mother follows. We order and then his mother begins to interrogate.  The beginning was bad, but I underestimated how utterly horrible and revealing the conversation could get.

    "What do you do? You don't seem very intelligent," She comments.
    "Ma!" Fitz blurts.
     "I'm a Latin teacher at Caldwell Prep," I say. She nods.
    "Hm, surprising. Does your family have money?" She asks.
    "Mom." Fitz growls.
    "No, no, definitely not," I say.
    "Fitzgerald, you are dating a gold digger." She declares. I look over to Fitz. He grumbles.
    "I hadn't told her yet." He says to his mother.
    "Told me what?" I remark.
     "Always loved to play the common man," She comments.
    "Fitz?" I ask.
    "I know, but I knew you'd say that, and it's always been a problem while dating, so I didn't want to tell her," He says.
     "Tell me what?" I say, louder this time.
     "Smart." His mother comments.
     "You going to tell me now?" I ask.

     "Well, uh, you see..." Fitz starts.
     "He's a billionaire." His mother finishes.
     "I'm gonna need you to say that again," I reply.
     "My family owns a huge series of farms throughout the South. So, inherently I'm a billionaire." He says.
     "And when exactly were you planning to mention this to me?" I ask.
     "I don't know! Soon, definitely soon." He exasperates.

    I'm about to argue back, but the waiter arrives with our waffles. Fitz stuffs his face with bites of waffles to avoid my questions. After a few minutes, I stand up.

    "I need to use the bathroom." I say and walk to the bathrooms. I walk in and lean against the wall. I dial Courtney.

    "Hello?" She says.
    "Hey, I'm hiding in the bathroom of Lincoln's from Fitz." I say.
    "What happened? Did he propose?" She asks.
   "No! Well, I'll just start at the beginning. This morning, his mother shows up. She took the spare key I hid and let herself in. She then, walked in on me and Fitz, well, naked," I start.
    "Oh good god. Devin's here and curious can I put you on speaker?"
    "Yeah. So anyway, she's made all these snarky comments about me being slutty, but that's not the big deal." I say.
    "What is?"
    "So we go to Lincoln's and she's literally interrogating me. And then when she learns I grew up on the street, basically, she called me a gold digger." I say.
     "Fitzgerald makes same amount you do." Devin says.
     "Right? So I was naturally confused and then they are going back and forth about something Fitz hasn't told me," I say.
     "And? Did they tell you?" Courtney says.
     "Yeah. He's a goddamn billionaire." I say. They both gasp.
     "Billionaire? Like with a B?" Devin clarifies.
     "With a B. My question is how the hell did he go 5 months without mentioning he was damn billionaire." I remark.
     "Dude..." Devin says.
     "I should go, I can't cower in the bathroom forever and I actually have to pee." I say.
     "Good luck with that, bye."
     "Bye."

   As I'm washing my hands, the woman next to me looks at me.

   "Girl, I was in one of those stalls and I couldn't miss the end. You okay?" She asks.
   "I guess," I say.
   "If my man did that, I'd be a little mad at him, but girl, he's a billionaire. Imagine what you can do with that kind of money." She says and leaves the bathroom.

    I walk out and see Fitz and his mother arguing. I sit down and eat my waffle. His mother wipes her face.

    "I should let you two talk this out. I'm going to go sit outside." She says.