15 Years Later
Olivia was at her home in Vermont when there was a knock at her door, which was curious, because she had Huck at the gate to field anyone who came to visit and he always notified her before they even arrived. She thought perhaps it was Huck himself. She walked to the door and opened the door. She was met with the face of a young man, unfamiliar to her.
"Can I help you?" She asked confused. The young man looked past her into the house briefly before making eye contact.
"I used to live here, I wanted to drop by and see how it was going." He spoke.
"Oh. I'm sorry, how did you get past my security?" She asked, as she knew Huck wouldn't have let someone she didn't know up.
"You security guy recognised me. But I assume you don't?" The young man spoke.
"Sorry, no. Should I?" She asked, feeling like she was missing something.
"My name is Theodore Grant." He said. Olivia gasped and covered her mouth.
"Teddy?" She said in surprise, finally seeing the resemblance.
"I go by Theo now, but yes." He smiled.
"Would you look at you." Olivia said as she smiled and tilted her head to one side. "Would you like to come in?" She asked and moved aside for him to enter. She closed the door behind him.
"Can I get you a tea or coffee or anything?" She asked.
"Sure." He shrugged and followed Olivia into the kitchen.
"So how have you been, what have you been up to. I cannot believe how long it has been since I saw you last." Olivia spoke as she began moving around the kitchen to make the beverages.
"I have been pretty good. I'm currently studying at the University of Florida, engineering."
"Wow. I love that you are not doing poli-sci." She said genuinely before asking for his drink preference and made the drinks. She handed him his drink and directed him to the closest sitting area.
"Are you enjoying engineering?" Olivia asked.
"Very much so." Teddy said before sipping his drink. He then placed it on the table next to his seat and looked around.
"I like what you did with the place."
"I didn't realise your Dad had brought you up here." Olivia said after sipping her own drink. She saw Teddy frown.
"We lived here until I was 10." Teddy said. Olivia had no idea and honestly didn't know how she felt about that.
"I didn't know." She said looking down.
Teddy could see the pain wash over her face and was worried that his trip would be in vain.
"Liv, I'm sorry if I upset you." Teddy said softly.
"Don't be silly. It's really nice to see you, although I am wondering a little 'why now'?" She confessed.
Teddy sighed and took a sip of his drink before speaking again. "Well, I have a few questions that I thought you might be able to help answer for me."
"What kind of questions?" She asked curiously.
"Like what happened between you and Dad?" He said frowning, nervous to see her reaction.
"Oh. And you can't ask your Dad?" And for a fleeting moment she wondered if something serious had happened to him, that she wasn't aware of. "He isn't dead is he?" She couldn't avoid those words coming out of her mouth.
"No, he's fine. Well fine is all relative." He paused. "He is in good physical health at home in Florida." He saw relief on Olivia's face. "I have tried to ask Dad, but he doesn't like to talk about it, and Mum says it isn't her business to tell."
"And why, now, do you have these questions?" Olivia asked.
"Until recently I had been happy to go with the public perception of what happened, because I wasn't there, or I was too little to understand. But I feel like the truth is so significant to who I am as a person that it is negligible to not know the truth." He said and Olivia thought it was a good answer.
"What do you want to ask?" She asked.
"When did the two of you meet? When did you start to have feelings for one another?" He asked.
"We met on your Dad's first campaign for President. Cyrus pulled in a favour and asked me to be your Dad's campaign fixer." She said with a smile, before it fell slightly. "There were feelings from the day we met."
"So it was love at first sight?" Teddy asked beaming.
"Whatever it was, it was there from the beginning, yes. Your Dad tried to fire me because of it."
"Why?" Teddy asked.
"Because it was scary. I felt the same. It wasn't anything I had ever felt before. And we tried to not to act on it, because we knew it was wrong, but it never felt wrong when it was just the two of us." She shared. Teddy didn't respond straight away.
"So when did you start sleeping together?" Teddy asked and Olivia was surprised by how genuine the question was. There was no hidden disgust.
"On the campaign."
"So you were together until Mom ran for president?" Teddy asked.
"Not at all. Our relationship was very 'on again, off again'."
"Why?"
"I think it was because I was always so terrified of my feelings, whereas your Dad was so certain of his. He was so ready to give everything up to be with me, but I was so terrified of what that would mean, that I wouldn't let him."
"So what went wrong?" Teddy asked confused.
"A lot of things happened in those 8 years, and it all just became to much."
"Like what?" Theo asked. If it was almost anyone else, she would have refused the details, but not him.
"I ran away with someone else after your brother died, then after that I was kidnapped. When we finally came out publically as a couple I was raked over the coals and that on top of my PTSD just put a lot of strain on us. We had a fight and said some awful things to one another, things that can't be taken back, and that was it."
"It doesn't sound like you tried very hard."
"I'll agree that it doesn't. But I pushed your Dad too far. He was always the one who fought for us, so when he stopped that was it." She paused. "But I don't blame him. I just hope he is happy."
"I think he is. He and Cassie have been together for about 4 years now."
"Wow, that's great. He has managed to keep that under wraps." Olivia commented light heartedly.
"He tried to fall off the radar when we moved up here. He would wear contact lenses and grew a beard to try to avoid people recognizing him. He goes by Thomas now too."
"So you moved up here after your Mum won the election. How long were you here?" She asked.
"Five years. Then we moved down to Florida, been there ever since."
"House right on the beach?" Olivia asked. Theo nodded.
"Dog named Eisenhower too?" She joked. Theo didn't laugh.
"How did you know?" He asked. Olivia's smile dropped a little.
"We talked about it once or twice." She said. "How's Karen?" She asked changing the subject.
"Good. She is living in London with her boyfriend Aaron. He is a nice guy. She is working at the National Portrait Gallery in London."
"Wow. That's great to hear." Olivia said genuinely.