Chapter 2: Breakdown
"Invite me in, because I'm a man and I don't play games and you and I are very good together."
There I've said it. I've wanted to say this for weeks and have finally worked up the courage to express what I had been thinking for a while. There I am in the hallway holding two reusable shopping bags filled with popcorn and wine for her, a meatball sub and beer for me and a couple of Angelina Jolie DVDs. I stand there. Waiting. Olivia just stares at me. A slight tremor of emotion flutters across her face. And then, without warning, a tsunami of tears comes rushing out. Her body shakes, wracked by sobs, as something painful she has obviously been holding on to inside for a very long time comes bursting through.
"Olivia! What happened?" I exclaim, momentarily shocked by the sight of seeing her so distraught.
She flings herself at me and begins to frantically kiss me. She anxiously tugs at and angrily pulls off my jacket as she drags me into the apartment. She's delirious. I have never seen Olivia like this before and as we kiss I can feel her tears trailing down my own cheeks. She's upset, very upset and I feel weird kissing her like this, but I don't want to stop. I'm turned on and yet confused. This is what I wanted - for Olivia to give herself to me without reservation, right? But this feels wrong, all wrong. I have the distinct impression that Olivia isn't truly giving herself to me but rather trying to drown some secret sorrow, bury some perpetual pain that has cut her very deeply. I want her, but not like this.
We're now inside her bedroom. Olivia scrambles to quickly undress, as though she knows that at any moment she might come to her senses and call the whole thing off. There is a whiff of desperation, not seduction, around the whole scene. I want to have sex with her, really I do, but she truly doesn't seem like herself. The cool, confident, professional woman I admire has been replaced by someone who is frantic, uncertain and emotionally vulnerable and now collapsing in front of me. Something terrible has happened to her, something horrible, but I don't want to be a sedative fuck that will momentarily dull whatever pain she is experiencing.
Her hands grasp at my belt buckle and she's still crying as she frantically struggles to unbuckle it. I grab her hands and take a step back. "Olivia, what's wrong? Tell me what's wrong."
"Edison, I didn't invite you in to talk. I want you. Isn't that enough?"
"Olivia, I've been dying to hear you say that, but something is obviously not right."
Her hands disappear behind her back, and with the flick of a wrist, she unsnaps her bra. She strips off her panties and then scrambles on top of the bed and spreads her legs open wide. "Edison, just shut up and fuck me. PLEASE!"
I look at her tiny form on the bed. I am aghast. What the hell has gotten into her? This is not the Olivia I knew, the Olivia I care about. She was acting like a crack ho clamoring for her next hit on the pipe.
"Olivia, have you been drinking? What happened to you?"
"Edison, I am not drunk! Do you want to have sex or not?"
"Olivia, not like this. This is not sexy. This is not you. Talk to me. What happened?"
The tears begin flowing once again. She painfully rolls onto her side and curls up into a fetal position. I stand there, shocked and bewildered by the sight splayed out in front of me of Olivia Pope having an emotional breakdown. It's like a car wreck. I want to look away, but I can't.
There's a folded blanket at the foot of the bed. I take it and cover her with it. Still fully dressed, I climb into the bed, on top of the blanket, and lay next to her. She continues to bawl her eyes out, as the sobs violently shake her entire body. I roll over a little closer to hold her and she feels so tiny and fragile in my arms. I hope that my embrace will give her some measure of comfort or relief even though I feel like a brazen intruder who is witnessing a moment of very private grief.
A/N: When I wrote chapter one this was originally supposed to be a one shot. But after the latest episode, "Spies Like Us," I felt like there was more to say about this tortured "romance" between Edison and Olivia. Should I continue this story? Personally, I still haven't decided whether or not I have the energy to expend on a Liv/Edison fan fic. Let me know what you think in a review. Thanks!