The Meet-Cute

"So when were you going to tell me that you met him?"

Olivia looked up from her computer to find her young assistant Pauline eyeing her skeptically, the accusation was evident - deliberately withholding vital information, which to Pauline was tantamount to violating holy sacrament. Pauline cherished her hard earned title as 'Gossip Queen' and found it intolerable if there was any fragment of newsworthy tidbits she was not aware of. She had crossed her arms and began tapping her foot to emphasize her impatience and irritation.

"What?...Him?...Who is Him?"

Pauline sighed and looked at Olivia as if there was only one Him in the entire world and she couldn't understand why Olivia had not caught on. She rolled her eyes and finally said, "Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III!...You met him and you didn't tell me! So what's he like; everyone says he's the most gorgeous man they have ever seen. Is he really gorgeous? I keep trying to run into him all over town but I've never seen him. How is it that you have all the luck to run into him? You're not even looking for a man…I am!"

She had a tendency to overreact and Olivia found it highly doubtful that 'everyone' was talking about Fitzgerald Grant; although the description of his striking good looks was pretty accurate. Pauline was getting worked up; Olivia watched as she struggled to keep her mini skirt down as her arms flailed about to during her tirade. It was comical; she was getting hot and bothered over a man she never seen before!

"Pauline, calm down…I have seen him and he is attractive. I did not tell you because….it was no big deal," Olivia shrugged for effect but she wasn't very convincing. Pauline looked at her suspiciously and was about to say something else when the phone rang. She huffed at the interruption and left the office. Olivia heard her answer, "Avalon Vet, how can I help you?" and breathed a sigh of relief. She had dodged a bullet. Pauline was relentless; she wouldn't give up until she extracted every detail of her meeting with Fitz, then she would quickly see through her pretense of not caring.

She had seen him; talked to him and was surprised to find that he had captured nearly all her thoughts since then. She certainly was not going to let Pauline know; not unless she wanted it spread throughout the entire community within the next hour.

Taking advantage of Pauline's absence and the moment of solitude, she began to relive the event that had been on constant replay in her mind for the past 24 hours.

XXX

"Good Morning, Louisa," Olivia had said to the cheerful elderly coffee shop owner. It was her Sunday ritual – a 3 mile run around the island then stop in at the coffee shop for a breakfast sandwich and a tall green tea with lemon.

"Good Morning Olivia. You're a little early, I'm afraid I don't have it ready for you just yet. Give me a few." They were busy this morning – the coming and goings of tourists attracted to the island's good natured community and year-round beautiful weather.

"No worries. I was up earlier than usual this morning so I got done with my run faster….I'll just wait."

"Gus, Olivia's here!" Louisa yelled back to her husband in the kitchen. He yelled back, "Tell her she's early!" Both Olivia and Louisa laughed at his remark. Gus was a burly old man with a heart of gold.

As Olivia paid for her order, Louisa squealed in excitement and said, "Oh hey, Olivia did you meet our newest Avalon resident?...Fitzgerald," gesturing in the direction of someone standing next to Olivia.

Olivia turned and looked up to find the most attractive man she had seen in her entire life. He was tall; practically towering over her, with eyes the perfect shade of blue – somewhere between the clear blue sky and the crystal ocean. He smiled and her mouth dropped; she almost gasped at the sight of him; he was just too beautiful. How did she not notice him when she first walked in?

"Good Morning, nice to meet you, Olivia, I'm Fitz," he said as he held out his hand for her. That voice sent vibrations through her body and would likely haunt her in her dreams at night. It was deep, seductive and warming.

She was in a trance; staring at him; virtually immobile; wondering how he came to be here, standing in front of her, taking her breath away, leaving her speechless. As the awkward silence stretched on, Louisa cleared her throat and chuckled; Olivia finally blinked and remembered her manners. She groaned inwardly as she noticed that not only was Louisa watching her reaction but so was Gus as he peeked through the kitchen window.

She took his handshake; she wouldn't hold his hand too long; that would be too obvious. "It's nice to meet you. Welcome to Avalon." She thought to reclaim her hand quickly, turn away, find a little corner of the shop to compose herself and calm her heart rate. He had other ideas. He held her hand longer; his thumb was rubbing circles on the back of it. Did he know he was doing that? Was he aware of the affect his entire presence had on her? He only released her hand when Louisa said his order was ready.

When he turned to get his food, Olivia took the opportunity to scurry away to a corner and hide behind a newspaper. She was embarrassed. She never, ever acted like that. She was a grown woman, not a love struck teenager. She could appreciate handsome men without acting ridiculously smitten. She had been around attractive men before; she knew how to maintain her self-control, well….normally. She kept her head down, glued to whatever words were on the newspaper, although she read the same line about four times already. She would not look at him again; she could not; she dared not.

"So tell me…how long have you lived in Avalon?" the rich baritone voice was talking to her again.

Oh no. Olivia looked up with wide eyes. She couldn't understand why he wanted to sit with her. There were multiple empty tables in the shop, couldn't he sit somewhere else? She unconsciously pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and realized how bad she looked. She had just finished running; her hair was up in a ponytail under a baseball cap and she had on no makeup. She looked a mess. She was thankful that the dark sports bra she had on would hide any sweat stains.

Her appearance in comparison to his blatant beauty made her feel like she was lacking in some way. She didn't like that feeling, so the only answer was to make him go away or plan her escape, quickly.

She cleared her throat and said, "Um, yes, I mean…I've been here a while." Olivia knew she was being rude; her tone was curt, uninviting, but she couldn't seem to control it.

Fitz noticed her nervousness at his attention but couldn't understand it. From the time she walked in to the coffee shop he had not been able to stop staring at her. She had an amazing body; her small frame, flat stomach; perfectly shaped ass held his complete attention. Even from underneath the cap, he could see her natural beauty; but then she laughed and he was completely drawn in.

"What do you do here?" he asked, taking a sip from his coffee.

"I'm a vet…Avalon Vet Hospital," she hurried to explain. Where was her food? She was intensely uncomfortable under his watchful gaze. She looked over at Louisa, silently urging her to hurry up with the order but Louisa merely smiled in her direction and turned back to wiping down the counter. She was stalling on purpose.

She isn't very good at conversation, he thought. Or maybe he just needed to help her relax. Maybe they just needed to keep talking. "So I hear there's a welcoming committee, are you on it?"

"No," she responded too quickly and far too blunt, "I'm not but I'm sure they will take good care of you." He frowned at her abruptness and she frowned in return, still trying to figure him out. She wasn't usually skittish or leery of strangers; living in Catalina made her accustomed to the constant presence of tourists around the city. But there was something different about him that threw her off balance. Butterflies were in her stomach; her blood was racing; unusual feelings for her, ones she hadn't felt in a very, very long time.

Her attention was turned when the coffee door chimed and two beautiful young girls, blond-haired twins, entered and walked up to him.

"Oh hey…. Cassie, Alex, where did you put Buttercup?" Fitz asked when he noticed them. They were both smiling and staring at Olivia. Olivia suddenly found her smile - he's married, unavailable, thank God. She hadn't spotted a wedding band but that was no matter; some people chose not to wear one.

"We tied her up outside. We didn't know if they let dogs inside," one offered as they both took a seat at the table – one next to Olivia and one next to Fitz. Olivia shifted in her seat; she was uneasy; recognizing how awkward this could look to his wife when she finally joined them and saw a stranger sitting with her husband and children.

"Ok thanks….Cassandra, Alexandra, this is Olivia?" he didn't recall if she had given him a last name. "I'm sorry Olivia what's your last name?"

"Pope…Olivia Pope. It's so nice to meet you both. I just met your father a couple minutes ago," Olivia rushed to explain, lest they think something inappropriate was going on. "How do you like Avalon so far?" Olivia's entire attitude had changed. She was now warm and inviting to both girls; looking from one to the other - completely different from the cold front she gave Fitz.

Fitz leaned back in his seat, amazed at her sudden transformation.

Both girls giggled and Olivia frowned in confusion, thinking she said something wrong. She looked back at Fitz for clarity; he chuckled and said, "I'm not their father; I'm their uncle."

"Oh," was all Olivia could say. She thought for a moment she was safe. She certainly could have contained her attraction to him if he was married and had two young daughters. Now she couldn't hide her disappointment; her shoulders visibly slumped, which made Fitz frown again. He couldn't understand why that information seemed to deflate her. He wanted the Olivia back that was with them two seconds ago.

"Girls….Olivia is a doctor, a Veterinarian."

One of the two girls, the one seated next to her, started beaming with a big, bright smile at the mention of Olivia's job. Olivia couldn't yet tell them apart but she believed it was the one named Cassandra. "That is so cool. I love animals – horses mostly. I have two horses back home – Jessie and Scotty. I want to be a large animal vet when I grow up."

Olivia was impressed. "Really…well then you will have to ask your uncle to bring you by the hospital and I can show you around."

Fitz spoke up drawing her attention back to him, "That won't be a problem at all." The look was clear, the gleam in his eye unmistakable; he was definitely flirting with her. She was all of a sudden very hot and needed to get back out in the cool morning air.

Louisa saved her. She called for Olivia to come and pick up her food. Olivia smiled and said goodbye to Fitz and his nieces before hastily leaving the table and retrieving her order. She couldn't get out of there fast enough. But by the time she reached the door to exit, Fitz was there; being a gentleman, smiling, opening the door for her. "Goodbye Olivia, it was very nice meeting you." There was sincerity in his voice; a tone, a look to let her know that he was serious and he was attracted to her. But Olivia didn't quite know how to handle it at that moment; she was overwhelmed by his attention to her and she couldn't account for it. So all she could think of to say was "Goodbye."

XXX

Mondays were extremely busy. It was the day they took walk-in, non-emergency appointments. The groomers were also on staff so that increased their patient visitations. Most of their patients were small, domesticated animals except for the one farmer on the island who had a variety of other animals but thankfully his house calls were few and far between.

Olivia was walking out of her office reviewing a patient file. "Pauline, can you please have Stephen review his notes for the Jefferson's dog, Trixie's last visit? I think the medication he prescribed had too low of a dosage. And they called saying that it's not working."

She was met with silence; unusual silence. Olivia's head popped up and she immediately noticed why her chatty assistant, Pauline, had gone silent. She was in the midst of staring; scratch that, drooling over the one and only Fitzgerald Grant. For his part, he was completely unaware of the stares from Pauline and several other women in the room; he continued to play with his nieces and their dog Buttercup.

"Pauline!" Olivia said a little louder, causing her to jump and give Olivia a sheepish smile.

"Oh yeah OK…no problem I'll talk to Stephen when he gets in…He's running a little behind…He sailed this weekend."

"Of course he did," Olivia said sarcastically. By now she had become used to Stephen's party-boy antics. "So who's next?"

"Mr. Fitzgerald Grant," she called for him; he looked up locking eyes with Olivia and there was that charming smile, which still managed to make her feel like hurling herself into his arms. It was contagious and she smiled back. As he walked over, Pauline whispered, "Sexy, fine ass man…Oh my gawd!"

Olivia gave her a stern look of censure before turning her attention to Fitz and his nieces. "Well good morning, it's nice to see you again."

"Good Morning Dr. Pope," the girls said in unison.

"Good Morning Olivia," Fitz said afterwards.

Olivia bent down and said to their collie, "And you must be Buttercup….aren't you a beauty," she said as she stroked the dog; getting her used to her touch and scent.

"Follow me," she said as she stood up and led them back to an exam room. "So what brings you in today?" she asked as she washed her hands and put on medical gloves.

"Well, Buttercup will be with here for the entire summer and I need to have her registered, which according to City Hall requires a check-up from you."

"Why just the summer?"

"The girls are only here for the summer; it's their dog not mine. But….I'm a resident. I'll be here as long as you'll have me," Olivia chose not to respond to the playful comment. She didn't know if he was deliberately trying to rattle her but if she had any hope of concentrating on her job, she couldn't give him the attention; she had to focus. She led the dog to jump on the exam table to give her a once over.

It was difficult; her exam room felt different now; there was a different kind of energy in the room and she knew it was only because of him. His presence continued to affect her in a way that was inexplicable.

"So Alex and Cassie, what are your plans while you're here?" she asked; a good diversion to occupy her mind.

Alex and Cassie took their cue and began their tag team chatterbox technique where you couldn't get a word in edgewise. Olivia paid keen attention to what they said; laughing at all the right areas of the conversation. Fitz was content to sit back and watch her work. She was amazingly beautiful. Seeing her now, minus the baseball cap, he could watch her all day; he was being granted a full unobstructed view of her doe eyes, high cheek bones and full lips. He could tell she was good at her job and able to multi-task by keeping the girls engaged in conversation which in turn, kept Buttercup calm while she examined her.

"Well don't forget to check out the Boys and Girls Club. They have activities all throughout the summer that I think you will like," Olivia laughed when she noticed the girls' reactions to the word 'boys'. They were definitely starting into the 'boy-crazy' stage. From then on they started question after question about the club and Olivia had to apologize profusely for knowing very little about the club specifics. She looked to Fitz for a life line but he merely smiled and shrugged his shoulders; offering her no help at all.

"OK…we're all done Buttercup," Olivia now said before addressing the girls, "You two are taking very good care of her." She went to the cabinet and retrieved a form; completed it and handed it to Fitz. "So if you take this form down to City Hall; they'll register Buttercup for the summer."

"Great, what do you say girls?" Fitz asked his nieces.

"Thank you Dr. Pope."

"Of course, no problem and please, call me Olivia."

"Thank you Olivia," they said and giggled.

"Girls, wait for me outside, I need to talk to Olivia," Fitz told them. They looked at each other and giggled again; leading Buttercup back to the waiting room.

Once they were alone, Fitz stepped closer to her and said, "So what was with the cold reception at the coffee shop? I thought this was supposed to be a community of good neighbors and all that."

"Sorry about that…you kind of….well you caught me off guard. I'm sorry," she knew that she had been rude and it was unlike her. "Maybe…maybe we can start over again."

He smiled again. "Of course we can. Come to dinner tonight….The girls are cooking…Sort of a thank you to their favorite uncle…It'll be horrible and unrecognizable but they need the encouragement and I don't want to suffer through it alone." He took another step closer to her; she wanted to retreat to another corner of the room but couldn't move.

She knew the moment she went to his house the news would be all over Avalon. Everyone would know about it and the constant prying would start. She had been through that before and it ended horribly. She prided herself on keeping her private life out of the purview of her neighbors. But with him under the watchful eye of practically everyone, anything they did would be public knowledge soon. Her eyes darted across the room nervously. He was asking her out on a date, wasn't he? She had been out of the dating game for so long, she didn't know how to recognize when she was being asked out or not. Maybe it wasn't a date…but if not then what was it?

"Olivia, say yes…you know you want to say yes…so just say it," he said confidently, taking yet another step closer to her. If he came any closer she would be cornered.

"Fitz," she said breathlessly. That was the first time she said his name; the way she said it; the way it rolled off her lips; he wanted to hear her say it over and over again. He was watching her lips hoping, waiting for her to repeat it. "I….I'm not dating…I don't date," she licked her lips and bit her bottom lip; he almost plunged in and kissed her right there.

He had no idea what that statement meant and she was not inclined to explain. It wasn't possible that a woman could look the way she did and refuse to date. It didn't matter; he wasn't deterred.

He gave her a half-smile; at least he got the assurance that she wasn't attached to someone else. "It's not a date Olivia. I would never make our first date an evening of bad food and giggling 10 year olds."

She had to laugh at that. She liked his nieces; she liked him, much more than she cared to admit at the moment."OK, then I'll be there." She was still cautious; careful not to give the wrong impression – this wasn't a date; it was something else.