Hi everyone! I have been absolutely overwhelmed with the reviews for my new fic! I have the first 6 chapters written and the first I think 16 planned out (so now just have to find time to write themt!) This chapter spans over a month, nothing big yet but you have to remember they're only just meeting and getting to know one another. I hope you enjoy and please please review xx
"She wanted something else, something different, something more." – The Notebook.
Olivia had been working at the White House for almost a month now, she had fit in easily, quickly finding a rhythm with the other staff members. She and Cyrus were like a well-oiled machine so it had only taken a matter of minutes for them to fall back into their old routine. She was however a little surprised at how well she and the President had gotten along, she had of course been nervous for the first week or so but after that, they also fell into a comfortable daily routine. One which included said President forcing her to call him by his first name.
"Mr President." Olivia said as she entered the Oval, the room no longer daunting but still as exciting as the first time she had stepped in. She quickly looked up from her file to see the President sitting on the lounge, a file on his lap and his glasses on, a rare look for him.
"Olivia if I have to tell you one more time to call me Fitz, I will fire you." Fitz said without even looking up and she had to physically stop herself from rolling her eyes at the leader of the free world.
"Sir." She huffed out, crossing her arms over her chest like she always did, they had been playing this game for about a week already, Fitz slouching back in the lounge as he took her in. She was becoming more relaxed with him and he appreciated it, he liked having her on his team.
"Olivia." He teased out, Olivia shaking her head at the sound of her name.
"Sir, you're the President, we go over this every morning when I bring you the daily notices."
"And need I remind you that as the President, you must do what I say. Come on Liv, you've been here almost a month, you know I'm not some old white politician man." Fitz said laughing as he realised he kind of was, but not in the way he meant.
"I know, you're the best politician I know, I just don't feel comfortable." Olivia argued, she wasn't sure why, Cyrus called him Fitz, so did a few others, she just felt like she hadn't earned the right, sure they were friendly but they weren't exactly friends. Everything she knew about him was related to the job and his position, she knew the President, she didn't know Fitzgerald Grant.
Fitz sighed heavily for dramatic effect causing Olivia to actually roll her eyes at him as she sat down across from him.
"Why are we on the couch today?" She asked, looking at him thoughtfully. "And you have your glasses on, please tell me you got more than 3 hours sleep Mr President." Olivia asked as she opened the file she had been carrying.
"4 hours." Fitz said rubbing his fingers across the bridge of his nose, it was only 9am and he was ready for this day to be over. "Ok, hit me with it. What's happening today?" They fell into the pattern that they had established from day one, usually Fitz sat at his desk whilst Olivia gave him a rundown of the day, today on the couch was another new step in their routine, a more relaxed one and both realised they didn't mind the more comfortable aspect of it.
"I can't do the 4pm address, Karen has a doctor's appointment." Fitz said and Olivia looked up.
"Oh for her heart or just a check-up?" Olivia asked, pencilling in the appointment, she had met Fitz's children during her second week and Karen had quickly told her she had heart problems.
"Olivia come in." Fitz had said as Lauren announced her, he had his children with him and had said he didn't want to be interrupted by anyone except for Cyrus or Olivia. "Hey." He said as she entered the room, correcting the word Gerry had just said before looking up.
She felt like a dear in the headlights, not only was The President in a personal meeting but he was in a personal meeting with his children. Olivia had yet to meet Gerry and Karen, they had been getting settled in their new school and home and honestly she hadn't really thought much about the 7 and 4 year old.
"Liv come over here." He had taken to calling her that this week, Cyrus did and well it had slipped out in a meeting the other day and when she hadn't corrected him, he decided he would continue doing so. Two little heads popped up from the coffee table, two sets of eyes spinning around to greet her.
"Sir, sorry for the interruption." Olivia said quickly, 'I can come back later." She said as the two small children looked at her, they were beautiful, a perfect mixture of their parents.
"Who are you?" Gerry asked, a curl slipping down across his face as he took Olivia in.
"Gerry that's rude." The little girl Karen said, hitting her brother lightly as Olivia took them in, uncertain of what to say or do.
"Guys cut it out. This is Ms Pope. Olivia. She works for me and guess what? Just like you guys, she's new to the White House." Fitz said softly, creating a comfortable environment for the children, they had meet a lot of people in the past few months and he wanted them to know that they could trust Olivia.
"Hi." Olivia said tenderly, raising her hand a little giving them a wave. She wasn't much of a kid's person but she knew how much The President adored his children and she was certain she would see a lot of them.
"You're pretty." Gerry said and Fitz let out a laugh, leave it to his son to be the first Grant to tell Olivia how pretty she was. Olivia giggled softly.
"Thank you Gerry. It's very nice to meet you both." Olivia said as Fitz gestured for her to take the couch opposite him, the kids between them colouring on the table.
The two kids observed Olivia as she moved to sit down, placing her folder down next to her when she did, giving them her full attention, a smile on her face as she got a good look at them.
"Are you guys helping your dad work today?" She asked as the kids giggled, it was obvious they weren't.
"Nope! We're colouring Miss Olivia. Daddy had to do some work but we like to spend time together." Karen said, her eyes looking at said Daddy, the look taking her breath away, the Grant children truly thought their dad hung the moon and it made Olivia's heart melt. She was also shocked by how well Karen could speak at only the age of four.
"Oh, well isn't that what Daddies do all day? Colour?" Olivia replied, a gleam in her eye and a smirk on her face as she looked at Fitz. The kids bursting into laughter at her words.
"No silly! Our Daddy is the President!" Karen said with her chest pushed out, proud of what she was saying but clearly having no idea what it meant.
"He leads the world!" Gerry chipped in and Fitz laughed at Olivia's face, pretending she was taking it all in.
"Oh of course, how could I get that wrong?" Olivia said laughing softly as the door opened and the woman she knew to be the kids' nanny walked in.
"Oh no." Karen whispered under her breath as the older looking lady walked in and addressed The President, Olivia raised her eyebrow in confusion.
"It's okay Kar, the appointment is tomorrow." Fitz said as he leant down and bundled his daughter into his lap. "Miss Tess is just going to take you back to the residence whilst I talk to Olivia, then I'll be up for dinner before you know it." Fitz said as she rubbed circles on the little girls back, Olivia's heart melting at the sight of the leader of the free world comforting his daughter.
"It's only Tuesday Karen." Gerry said as he packed up the pencils and paper per Tess's instruction.
"Oh." The little girl said more to herself than anyone, looking up she caught Olivia's eyes and obviously sensed her confusion. "I have a bad heart." She said simply before jumping off Fitz's lap, kissing his cheek softly as she did. "Bye daddy, bye Olivia!" Karen said as she skipped out of the room, Tess and Gerry saying their goodbyes as they left.
"Heart. They just want to check up but you know I can't miss it." Fitz said and Olivia moved some things around so that the address could be earlier.
"Didn't expect you too." Olivia said smiling softly, The President truly was a remarkable man and she thought this the more and more she saw of him, the actual man, Fitzgerald Grant.
"Did you and Cyrus work out the Iran issue?" Fitz asked as he flicked through the speech he had written for today's address.
"Yeah yeah, all good." Olivia said reminded of how Fitz had walked in on Cyrus and her almost tearing each other's throats out. It only had taken 3 weeks for them to have one of their infamous screaming matches that they were known for. Fitz had walked in on the middle of it, laughing at the two who were basically arguing for the same outcome but wanting to be the one to be right. The more he saw of Olivia Pope, the more he liked, she was smart and strong minded and anyone who stood up to Cyrus Beene was at the top of his favourites list.
"No more fighting?" Fitz asked laughing as Olivia rolled her eyes.
"Not today anyway, but it is only 9am, we have time." She said, it wasn't even one of their worse, they had made up 10 minutes later, she couldn't wait to see Fitz's reaction when he witnessed one of their massive brawls. "You have lunch with Mellie at 12, you have to do it. I know you don't want to, but you have to." She said changing the topic and ignoring Fitz's groan.
"Liv." Fitz said as he looked up from his speech, taking in the woman in front of him and for a second thinking about how so different she was to his wife.
"Mr President, she is your wife, you're going to lunch at that Italian place you like, you're going to talk to the press for 2 minutes whilst you leave, let the paparazzi take photos of you and you'll be done. 30 minutes top." Olivia said telling him of the plan she and Cyrus had worked out. The public was starting to question where the Grants marriage currently was, they hadn't done any public outings together since moving day into the White House and Olivia knew they had to get above the curve and stop the rumours before they started.
"30 minutes Olivia." Fitz said giving in, he knew she was right and he knew if Mellie had signed on that it was what they had to do. "How is my lovely wife today? Had the presence of her yet?" Fitz asked, it was no secret in the White House that they couple didn't spent a lot of time together and over a bottle of wine during her first week, Cyrus had told her the truth of the Grant Marriage.
They had married young, the ultimate business marriage for the Grant and Campbell families, they had been married for years before having the kids and beginning the journey to the white house. Olivia had the pleasure of meeting Mellie on her second day, the curls and pearls cornering her and 'welcoming' her to the team. Olivia was glad she was on Fitz's team and not Mellie's as she rarely had anything to do with her.
"Not today Sir." Olivia replied not wanting to talk about Mellie with Fitz, that was personal and she didn't do personal, she only dealt with the professional, The Presidential side, like she had told him before.
"I'm firing you." Fitz said as he heard her call him Sir, Olivia rolling her eyes like she always did when he did this.
"Okay, my desk will be cleared by this afternoon." Olivia said without even looking up, a smirk crossing Fitz's face as he glanced at the woman in front of him, she truly was the force in his life that he had been missing, slowly but surely he was going to break down the wall that Olivia had put up and he couldn't wait to see the woman behind them.
Up Next: Drunk Fitz is talkative and Liv sees inside the residence. X