March 26th, 2015

White House

"Fitz...are you listening to me?"

Fitzgerald Grant reluctantly raised his light blue eyes from the golden table cloth and inhaled deeply. "We'll talk about this later, Mellie."

Mellie Grant looked like she had just been slapped across the face, leaving Fitz to sigh again. He hadn't meant to disrespect his wife, but he couldn't stand arguing in front of his son, Teddy. He couldn't stand arguing at all, period. He just didn't see the point. Not anymore.

Mellie slapped her hand on the table next to her plate, making Teddy look up at his father. "Fitzgerald, you got inaugurated one month ago and you're approval rate is already in the lower thirties. That has to be some kind of record. How can you single handedly be the most disliked President of the United States?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?" Fitzgerald joked, to lighten the mood if nothing else.

But Mellie narrowed her eyes, obviously not in a laughing mood. "We have to do something. Now. Or else you won't live to see a second term."

Fitz gently bounced their four year old son on his knee. "Everything is going to be okay, Mels. But if we're being fair, it's not me they hate. It's the entire administration- especially Sally. Nobody can trust her." He paused, frustrated. "Hell, I can't even trust her. How can we ever get anything done?"

Mellie rolled her sea blue eyes before getting up, napkin thrown on chair. "Figure it out."

"Can we talk for a second?" Cyrus approached Fitz the next morning, which happened to be Easter. The President was about to go on the Truman Balcony and deliver a brief introduction to welcome all the guests to the annual Easter Egg Roll.

It was a defining moment for Fitz, but he didn't feel up to it. He had no idea how to bring back the charisma and image that won America over on his campaign trail. He was heartbroken and totally disconnected. The worst part? Nobody seemed to notice - or care.

Fitz tightened his golden tie and nodded curtly at Cyrus. "What is it?"

Cyrus lowered his voice. "Mellie came to speak to me after you went to bed last night."

Fitz rolled his eyes. He found that very hard to believe…he didn't get much sleep these days. "Ignore her, Cy."

Cyrus chose to instead ignore Fitz. "Listen, I know there is a problem in the administration. And it's definitely not you...it's Sally."

Fitz couldn't disagree.

"Frankly, Sally is too conservative and cold," Cyrus said, as if Fitz didn't already know this. "The American people want someone they can relate to and that's just not her."

"Good luck getting her to step down." Fitz mumbled.

"For this administration? I'll do anything," Cyrus whispered in a serious tone. He broke into a small smile. "And I think I'm already a step ahead of the game. I'm thinking about her replacement."

"Andrew Nichols?" Fitz offered.

"A white man won't win over the liberals," Cyrus said frankly. "I'm thinking of an old friend of mines. Not the most well known candidate. In fact, I'm not sure you even know of her. But once I have her vetted, you'll be impressed, sir."

Fitz shrugged. It couldn't get much worse than Sally, he reasoned. "Are you gonna tell me who it is?"

"I don't want to jinx it," Cyrus began. "I don't want you to rush to conclusions about her. She is inexperienced. But honestly, sir, she is a political genius. You two think alike and I believe you'll be a helluva team."

"Who is it, Cyrus?" Fitz asked impatiently.

But Cyrus walked away, leaving an even more frustrated Fitz to walk onto the balcony. Alone.

As he almost always was.

Olivia Pope's brown eyes gazed at Fitzgerald Grant over the rim of her second glass of wine. She had seen pictures and videos, of course, but it was becoming so evident to her how attractive he really was.

From his fit figure, to his light brown curly hair, to those eyes. Yes, Olivia had a thing for those sad blue eyes.

It intrigued her, seeing him in person. Although his approval ratings were trash, Liv always knew better. She knew his ideas, his goals, his plans and she wanted to help him. And he definitely needed it.

She watched as he towered over the thousand plus guests on the Truman Balcony. She listened as he genuinely thanked them for coming. She pulled out her iPhone immediately and began typing notes - everything from how he was standing, to his tone and facial expressions.

She knew she wasn't a campaign manager anymore, but she couldn't work with Fitzgerald if he wasn't on his one hundred.

She waited a few more minutes, typed a few dozen more notes and then politely tucked her phone back in her clutch. She couldn't help but notice the lack of communication between the President and the First Lady. They held hands, but didn't even look at each other. It looked forced and certainly wouldn't help their approval ratings.

"Again, thank you all for coming," Fitzgerald announced to the South Lawn. "Please enjoy the beautiful day celebrating this joyous holiday."

The First Lady then introduced a pop singer and they both went inside, through separate doors.

Olivia cringed at the sight of that. It just looked so uncomfortable and everyone on the lawn could sense it. Liv quickly grabbed her Visitor's Badge and slipped it over the collar of her maroon lace dress. She went over and was escorted into the entrance of the White House.

"I need to speak with him," Olivia announced to the Chief of Staff's Secretary. "Now."

"Mr. Beene is off enjoying the event," the Secretary explained, for the fifth time.

Olivia rolled her eyes. She was knew she was being stubborn, but she also knew that the administration needed her help - immediately. She had been a White House intern once, in between classes at GeorgeTown, and she knew how they worked. If Cyrus said he needed her, he would make the time to see her.

"Ms. Pope, I'm going to have to ask you to -" the Secretary began, but was cut off by a figure behind her.

"Is there a problem?" Fitzgerald Grant asked the two girls.

The Secretary stepped aside immediately and stayed in her lane as Fitz walked closer to Olivia.

His eyes were attached to hers. He found them absolutely infatuation, a dark mix of brown and hazel. He had seen them on the balcony - her eyes were the only ones glued to her phone and not on him. He found it really funny and cute.

But up close, there was nothing funny about this girl. She was absolutely breathtaking. Maybe it was the dress - a lacy one that managed to be classy and revealing at the same time. Or maybe it was her absolutely flawless mocha skin. But once again, it came back to her eyes. She was beautiful and there was no question about it.

"H-hi," Olivia stuttered. She had expected herself to be calm with this but holy shit, it was the President. He was twelve inches away from her - talking to her. And he was so incredibly attractive.

"Hi," Fitz couldn't help but smile.

Olivia inhaled deeply and began walking. He walked with her, down the hall. He would follow her anywhere at this point. "Have we met before?"

"I don't think so," Olivia began, then pause. "Well, I did run for congress once, but…"

"You lost?" Fitz grinned, hoping she would catch his playfulness.

Luckily, she gasped in fake offense. "I'll have you know that I would have won…if I didn't quit."

Fitz kept his eyes on her - it was impossible to take them anywhere else. "I do know you. You were running for Virginia Congresswomen last year...you were up in the polls, you know."

"I do know, thank you," Olivia smirked, inching closer to him. She didn't do it intentionally - he just had a warm aura around him and she didn't want to be any further. "But then I got a call from my friend. He had bigger plans for me."

"Bigger than congress?"

Olivia hesitated, wondering exactly how much she could say. Finally, she sighed. "Much bigger."'

Fitz and Olivia collectively stopped in front of a door in the virtually empty hallway. "Okay, I'll accept that answer. Can I help you find who you're looking for?"

Olivia opened her mouth, only to find that she had forgotten. She'd forgotten everything. Fitzgerald Grant had that effect on her. "I don't really know, Mr. President."

"It's Fitz," he corrected her, his voice lowered a few octaves. "Call me Fitz."

Olivia looked away. What the hell was going on? Her heart was beating so fast and the reason was beyond her. She moved a curl away from the side of her face. "That would be...inappropriate."

Fitz's eyes trailed from her eyes, to her lips, to her neck. "Then let's be inappropriate."

Olivia stared at him. "What are you doing?"

"I don't know," Fitz admitted in a whisper. And he really didn't know. All he knew is that he wanted her for whatever reason. He never felt the need to cheat on Mellie, even though the relationship was trash. He never felt the need to…until now. With this incredibly gorgeous, amazingly bright...stranger. "I don't know."

Olivia glared at his eyes, hoping to find an answer. She didn't have one. And she wasn't sure why she wasn't walking away. It's what she usually would have done. But this was different.

He was different.

Fitzgerald cleared his throat, trying to force himself back to reality. She looked uncomfortable and he really wasn't trying to make her feel that way. He would hate himself if he did. "I, um...I'm sorry…"

Olivia looked back up at him one last time. All she could manage to say was 'Don't be' before she pulled him into the room behind both of them.

Fitz's hands made their way from her waist down to her ass. His lips grazed against her jaw, then eventually back up to her mouth for a full kiss.

Olivia leaned back a table top, her hands completely entangled in his curls. Her legs wrapped around his waist and she tilted her head back, allowing him access to her neck. He lowered his mouth on her kissed her neck. Olivia parted her mouth and her hands went down to Fitz's broad shoulders. Her nails dug into his shirt roughly but he didn't stop. There were very few things that could make him stop and a few scratches were not on the list.

Cyrus, however, was. He opened the door without realizing what the hell was going on. "Liv, I heard you were looking for-"

Olivia and Fitz turned to face him in record speed. Fitz slowly back away, swallowing hard. Olivia simply blushed and put her fingers to her lips, where Fitz had given her the best kiss of her life.

Cyrus was in complete and utter shock for a moment. He slammed the door behind him and turned beat red. "I-...I…" He continued to literally shake from pure anger.

"Cyrus," Fitz mumbled, caring more about Olivia's feelings than his own dignity. "Stop it."

"I…" Cyrus pressed his lips together. "I see you've met the new VP candidate."

Like he had said, one hell of a team.