8:30 AM

Olivia was late. Truly one of the things she hated the most. She hated when people were late, and she hated being late. In her business, time was always of the essence and NEVER to be wasted. She usually watched the news in the morning, but the only sound being made right now was that of the pads of her feet hitting her hardwood floors in her apartment as she searched for her gray blazer. She would just have to catch up on what was going on when she reached the office.

'Where is that thing..?' she lowly grumbled, the words barely audible behind her grinding teeth. She walked into her walk-in closet and found it hanging in a clear plastic bag with the 'Clean As a Wink' cleaner's logo on it. She didn't remember taking it to the cleaners but she didn't have time to to contemplate the designer blazer's history of where abouts, the important thing was that she had it now. She hadn't even had her coffee that morning and there was no way she would be able to concentrate until she had a cup. She quickly removed it from the protective wrapping and pushed her arm through and after a deep breath, pushed the other one in.

She hated being late.

She turned and picked up a pair of gray heels from a shelf in the middle of her closet, dismissing the flats of the same color. She walked to her front door and turned towards her living room, doing a mental checklist of things that she should have.

Blazer: Check

Cell Phone: Check

Coffee: Check

Watch: Check

Purse: Check

With a sigh of relief, she reached and gathered her things from the table near her door, shut the lights off, and locked the door behind her.

When she got on the elevator she checked her watch.

8:37 a.m.

She rushed to the parking garage that housed her black SUV and quickly put her key in the ignition made her way to her destination. It would be a 10 minute drive, which would be plenty enough time to finish her coffee. She reached and turned her radio on, flipping through stations until she found her favorite morning political talk show. She drove in silence, occasionally sipping her coffee as she listened the host and his guest, quietly critiquing both of their arguments and allowing her apolitical mindset to give both the liberal and conservative their fair chances.

She was political junkie. That was one of the main reasons she moved to Washington. She wanted to be up close to the political action but she never got her hands dirty, directly. The closest she got to it was coming to the aid of a Senator running for re-election with a mistress he needed to cover up or something of that matter. She was a fixer and she planned on keeping it that way.

8:50

'Damn it' she hissed at herself.

It would've been a 10 minute drive if it weren't for her getting caught up at two stop lights. She began walking towards the park benches, turning heads as she walked.

Olivia definitely didn't fit in with the other people there in their jogging attire. She stuck out like a sore thumb in her neutral colored outfit and high heels.

'You're late' he looked up from his Blackberry.

'Only 5 minutes' she tried to excuse herself.

'What happened to the Olivia whose motto was to always be 5 minutes early?' he scooted from his place in the middle of the bench to the left side to make room for her.

'It's nice to see you too, Cyrus' she rolled her eyes and sat beside her old teacher.

Cyrus had taught at Harvard when Olivia was in school. He was known to be one of the toughest teachers there and most students attempted to avoid his class at all costs, but not Olivia. She wanted to take his class. She liked the challenge and her hard work paid off. She was his star pupil and they even developed a friendly relationship towards each other. At graduation, Cyrus gave her his phone number and told her to call if she ever needed any type of favor. She jokingly gave him her number also, she never thought that he would ever need any of her help until today.

2007 (One Year after Olivia's Graduation)

'Dear President Faust,

I'm writing to inform you that I am resigning from my position as a teacher.

I would like to thank you, the board, and all the other staff for a wonderful 25 years of work, but now I must leave and pursue other opportunities. My last day of work will be May 5, 2007.

Sincerely, Cyrus Beene'

Word spread quickly that Cyrus was leaving and the campus was in an uproar of mixed emotions. The students were all very thankful to hear that 'Big Bag Beene' wouldn't be returning the next year, but he had become a very trusted colleague and friend to others. Nobody understood his sudden resignation and not even President Faust could try to put any explanation to it.

April 16, 2007

'So is it true?' James looked up from grading some papers at one of the desks in Cyrus' classroom. He was working as Cyrus' Grad Assistant and he had obviously heard the rumors, but Cyrus never talked to him about them.

'Is what true James?' he was erasing the board with his back turned to James. He truly enjoyed having James around and if he were completely honest, he had to admit he liked him. He had slowly fallen in love with the young man over the year but had never admitted his feelings. James was extremely handsome and Cyrus always saw girls around campus trying to get with him. Why would he want some old, ugly man like him? James had been the subject of many of his dreams in the past year and source of many erections. He rolled his shoulder, trying to relieve its achy feeling from erasing so much.

'That you're leaving. Word has gotten all around campus that you're not going to be here next year.' James cocked his head to the side, something he did when he was curiously trying to figure something out and yet another thing Cyrus loved about him. He was so curios, but so smart, and willing to learn anything.

Cyrus sat at the chair behind his desk, directly across from James. He had loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt, relaxing a bit more now that he was finished with his last class and they were getting ready to go home. He rubbed his tired eyes and leaned back in his seat.

'Yes. The rumors are true. I won't be back after this year'

'But, why? You've worked here so long and there were rumors that when Dr. Faust retired next year, you would take her place as President. Why now?'

Nobody has asked him that. All his students wither didn't care enough to ask or were too afraid, but Cyrus already had his answer. He reached into the drawer in his desk and pulled out his old Harvard yearbook and opened it, he had a paperclip on the page he wanted so he immediately turned it around for James to see.

'See these guys?'

James nodded and studied the picture for a few seconds and then read the names at the bottom.

'Cyrus Beene and Fitzgerald Grant II- Debate Team Co-Captains'

His head shot up. 'You knew Fitzgerald Grant?'

That's another reason he loved James. James lived, breathed, and ate politics. He dreamed of being a journalist and his determination in his research knew no bounds or limitations. Cyrus would often find him engulfed into books or some type of papers around campus.

'Ya. He was my best friend back in the day.' He chuckled at the memory and closed the yearbook back and put it back in his desk.

'He's asking me to do a favor for him and I owe him from a couple of years ago.'

James cocked his head to the side 'What is it? If you don't mind me asking.'

'I don't mind. His son is going to campaign for President in the upcoming election. He wants me to join the campaign. He's hoping that with Fitz' ambition and my experience, we may be able to win the White House.' He smirked and shook his head at the thought. He felt it was a ridiculous dream of Big Jerry's. He was always a dreamer and when he found something he wanted, he'd do anything to achieve his goal.

'So, you're just going to pick up and leave? All your hard work into the school and the legacy you've created. You're just going to leave it behind?' James leaned forward in his seat, obviously getting passionate about the situation. Cyrus usually taught to never let your emotions get involved, but he could never tell that to James. He loved seeing the fire in his eyes.

'That I am. I'm going to get an apartment in Washington but I'll probably be on the road soon. It would be impossible to continue teaching here when the campaign needs to be my priority'

'So you haven't even thought about any of the students? How is it going to affect them? And what about your colleagues?' James' voice was slowly rising.

Cyrus chuckled, 'As for the students, I'm sure they're more than willing to push me out. They want me to leave today! And my colleagues will be fine. It will be an adjustment I'm sure but they'll get used to it. This next year, a lot of people are going to be looking to you for help. You're probably the only one around here who knows how I ran things. Plus, I'll probably be back after the campaigns over. You're going to have to help guide the other grad assistants.'

'And you never thought about how your grad assistants would feel about your move?'

Cyrus raised his eyebrows 'I never thought you would care. You get the same check no matter which teacher you're assisting and I'm sure you guys would be happy to see me leave. I'm sure none of the other instructors work their assistants as hard as I probably do. Nobody's going to miss me.'

Cyrus laughed again but James obviously saw nothing funny. He stood up and walked over to where Cyrus was sitting, forcing his laughter to stop out of confusion. Before Cyrus could question his young assistant, James slowly bent over and kissed him right on the lips. When he pulled back, his eyes were shining with unshed tears.

'I. I would miss you! Cyrus.. I. I can't lose you before I even had you!'

He had never called him Cyrus before, always ' '. Cyrus slowly stood up.

'James. I never knew you felt this way'

'I'm so sorry. It was stupid to believe you felt the same way. I should've known I wasn't enough to keep you here. You should go. I know you want to be directly involved in the political side of things'

James was rambling now. Cyrus grabbed his hands and pulled him to his chest and hugged him there tightly. James slowly looked up at him and Cyrus smiled at him warmly.

'I do. I feel the same way. We can do this. We can make this work.'

With that being said they kissed like and, unsaid agreement put the major discussion on hold. Right now was the time to simply enjoy each other.

PRESENT DAY

'So. Why did you call me here? I never thought you would actually need a favor from me.' She smirked and sat back on the bench. It's been years since she's seen or heard from him. Well, at least in person. Cyrus had become President Grant's Chief of Staff so she often saw her him on television.

'Well as I'm sure you're aware of, President Grant will be running for reelection soon' he reached on the ground and picked up a cup of coffee and handed it to her. Olivia gratefully took it and started working on her second cup of the day.

'Thank you and yes, I'm aware'

'Well I also assume you're aware that Nick Hitchenson has retired from the fixing business and now we're without a campaign fixer.'

Olivia smirked. She could tell where this was going.

'Are you asking me to leave my firm and come on the tail?'

'Please Olivia? We need you this time around. The Demacratic Party is coming for blood this time after our last victory.'

'A 522 vote win out of Defiance County. I know the story.'

'They're going to play dirtier this election. Hitchenson wouldn't have been able to handle this type of pressure like you can.'

'And how exactly did you know I got into the fixing business?'

'You have one of the biggest names in Washington in the political realm and you're not even a politician. You're also hard to get a hold of I hear. Boy if I had a dollar for every time I heard a Senator handling a crisis cry the name Olivia Pope.'

'Flattery will get you nowhere, Mr. Beene.' She smirked.

'Right. So will you do it?'

Olivia sipped her coffee and looked forward, obviously weighing out the pros and cons. Cyrus saw the look in her eyes and could tell that the gears in her mind were starting to go. He leaned forward towards her.

'Trust your gut Olivia.'

Olivia turned towards him.

'Alright.'

'Alright?'

'Alright, I'll do it.'

Cyrus grinned victoriously. He knew he wouldn't get far without her this year.

'That's the Olivia I know.'

He handed her a badge from his pocket.

'We'll meet at Camp David this weekend'

'We?'

Cyrus stood up and turned towards her 'Yes, we. Me, you, President Grant and some other staffers. We're a team now Liv.'

He touched his index and middle finger to his forehead as a gesture of goodbye and walked away.

Olivia sat back in the bench, now alone with the exception of the fore mentioned joggers.

'What did I get myself into?' she thought to herself.

And it was only Monday morning.