"Life is 10 percent what you make it, and 90 percent how you take it." - Irving Berlin.
"Welcome to the Governor's office!" Fitz said smiling like a boy on Christmas Day as Olivia walked off the elevator into their foyer of the Governor's offices. He had been waiting there for the past 10 minutes, excited about seeing her beautiful face again.
"Hi Fitz." Olivia said as she giggled at his enthusiasm. She had barely slept since they had talked but she was excited to start working.
"Welcome Liv. I'm so excited to have you as a part of our team." Fitz said smiling as he took in her outfit of a high waisted tight black skirt and tucked in white button up silk blouse. She was the picture of work professionalism with her perfectly below the shoulder laid hair along with her signature black heels.
"Me too. Nervous but excited." Olivia said breathing in the look that was Governor Grant, a perfectly fitted black suit with white button up top and blue tie. If anyone saw them together, they would look like the impeccably dressed matched couple.
"Come on let me introduce you to some people and show you your office." Fitz said as he guided Olivia from the foyer by a hand on her lower back, smiling at people as he walked by, introducing Olivia to a few as they walked by. She was struggling to take in everybody's names and she was feeling a little overwhelmed, catching Fitz's eye she gave him a weak smile.
"You ok?" Fitz asked catching the overwhelmed look on her face.
"A lot to take in, a lot of names and people. I forget that I'm a fully-fledged person now. I'm not a student anymore. I'm a lawyer and major in communications. People won't cut me any slack." She said breathing in deeply to calm herself down.
"Liv you helped run a Governor's campaign, remember that?" Fitz said smiling softly at her first day nerves.
"I helped Cyrus, who ran it. I didn't do a lot. Well except cater to the candidate's personal needs." She said smiling cheekily.
"Olivia Pope I never!" Fitz said feigning shock as they continued to walk, shaking his head as he laughed, she was going to be fine.
Olivia had spent the day talking and meeting people, seeing things and learning information, she was exhausted. Throwing her head on her desk as she tried to regain her breath after talking about the Governor's schedule for the next month. Her thoughts were interrupted when a knock came to her door.
"Come in." She yelled as she sat upright and regained her posture of her professionalism.
"Hey." Fitz said as he poked his head in before chuckling at the amount of paperwork on her desk. "How was your day?" He asked as he closed the door behind him.
"Long." Olivia replied as she slouched in the chair after seeing it was Fitz. "Good but long." She said smiling.
"Good to hear, usually you'll see me more but I was caught up with crap today." He said taking a seat opposite her. Olivia was immediately aware of the ease they had around each other that they had effortlessly slipped back into. It was like no time had passed at all.
"That's okay. I look forward to actually getting work done, you have a great working environment here Fitz. You should be proud of yourself." She said, the awe of him showing in her voice.
"Thanks Liv." He said smiling before his thoughts changed, remembering what he came in here for. "I came to just confirm something with you." He said seriously, gauging Olivia's attention.
"Okay?" She said sitting forward, her elbows resting on her desk.
"I assume you want no one to know about our past right? That our relationship was purely professional and that you helped get me elected, nothing else?" Fitz asked, it had been in his mind all day. He didn't know if they could really hide that they didn't have a history, but they could at least try.
"I think it's best if no one knows. Not that I am ashamed or anything, but you were married and I was young and we know how it will be viewed. Basically all the reasons why we kept it a secret last time should be reinforced now I guess." Olivia replied, she didn't want to hide the fact they were together, it was the best time of her life, but she knew there was no way they could ever say they had a history.
"That's what I thought." Fitz agreed, smiling at her whilst he took in the beauty of her.
"Thank you for last night." She said breaking the silence that had lapsed as they took in one another.
"You're welcome." Fitz said sitting back in his chair, a hand resting on the side of his face, a finger on his temple.
"I shouldn't have called you so late, it won't happen again." Olivia said looking away, hiding her vulnerability from him.
"Liv, you know you can call me whenever you want." Fitz said, he never wanted her to think she couldn't call him, no matter what the time was.
"I know, but I shouldn't. I shouldn't lean on you Fitz, it isn't fair to you." She said as she looked down at her hands in her lap.
"I thought Edison was home anyway, was he out?" Fitz asked curiously.
"No he was home." She said looking up at him.
"You couldn't talk to him? About whatever it was that you still won't talk to me about." Fitz asked, still uncertain of the reasoning behind her calling him.
"It was nothing, I was just emotional. Seeing you, being back here in Cali, nervous for my first day. Nothing serious." She said trying to backtrack on why she had called him last night.
"Liv, I heard your voice." Fitz said leaning forward.
"Fitz." Olivia warned, she didn't want to get into it.
"You can't pretend that I don't know you Liv, because I do. You may have changed a little in these last few years but your tone of voice when your upset hasn't." Fitz said looking at her, a small smile on his face.
"Only a little?" She said cocking an eyebrow.
"Liv you're basically same, give or take a few things." Fitz said as a smile broke out on his face, their conversation lightening up a little.
"It's been 5 years, I would like to think I've changed a bit more than a little." She said as she got up, grabbing the files of her desk and began to place some in the filing cabinet for tomorrow.
"Well I mean, your body has changed, you're wearing your hair different, no more curls and you're more certain of yourself. But you're still you Liv. That's not a bad thing, it's a good thing." Fitz said as he looked her up and down whilst she had her back turned to him, admiring her body.
"My body has changed?" She questioned, instantly turning to look at him.
"That's all you got from that?" Fitz said chuckling.
"What do you mean? I'm basically the same weight I was when you were with me and I didn't see you complaining then Governor." Olivia said crossing her arms over her chest, feigning anger. She knew he didn't mean it like that but she wanted to see him sweat.
"Liv I didn't mean change for the worse, I meant the better. You've grown into your body more. You're still stunningly gorgeous in every single way. Your hips and breasts are a bit more filled, more womanly than they were before." He said as he openly checked her out, Olivia's mouth falling opening as she caught him.
"Fitz." She warned in a half attempt before he continued.
"You were self-conscious when we were together, wearing certain clothes. That part of you has changed, you've grown to love your body, probably not as much as I love it, but you own it and work with it. It's a beautiful thing when a woman loves her body." Fitz finished with a grin on his face, hoping she would believe his sincerity.
"You think I'm still stunningly gorgeous?" She asked as her hands dropped to her side.
"Of course I do Olivia. You love your body now and that shows, your confidence when you walk into a room is ten times what it used to be." Fitz said as Olivia moved to the other corner of the room, grabbing some more paperwork to distract herself with.
"You made me love my body and I guess as I got older I accepted who I am and what I look like. You always made me feel beautiful." She said loud enough so he could hear as she put her back to him, overwhelmed with emotion.
"Because you are beautiful and I'm happy to see that you've embraced that." He said as he stood up and leant against the desk, facing her and the door.
"Thank you Fitz." She said honestly as she spun to face him, a metre or so between them.
"Just in case you don't believe me, there's a storage closet right outside the door where I can show you just how much I still appreciate your body." Fitz said making reference to their many closet rendezvous on the campaign trail.
"Governor Grant!" She said feigning shock as she giggled at his comment.
"I'm just joking with you Liv. But I'm not about how beautiful you are, don't ever forget that. I hope that fiancé of yours tells you every day how gorgeous you are." Fitz said as the conversation took a turn for the serious.
"He's not as appreciative as you are Fitz, I don't know any man that could be. It's like you make it your mission to make me feel good about myself." Olivia said looking at her feet as Fitz walked over to her.
"Liv, don't ever think I am making stuff up or using lines on you. You are beautiful, you were when I fell in love with you all those years ago and you still are today." He said as he brushed a finger over her cheek, the tension bubbling between them both. It would be so easy for him to just lean down and kiss her ever so softly and remind her just how beautiful he thought she was.
"Guidelines. We need guidelines." Olivia said backing away from the intimate look they were sharing.
"What?" Fitz asked shaking his head, trying to shake the moment from his brain, taking a few steps back.
"We've established that this, connection or whatever, is still there. So we need guidelines." Olivia stated, crossing her arms over her chest, trying to feign professionalism.
"Okay Livvie. Always with your rules, nothing has changed." Fitz said chuckling softly before leaning back on her desk, his hands placed beside him.
"Shut up. We need to be professionals. No flirting, no touching, no late nights." She said listing the things off.
"Is that it?" Fitz said, his face showing his clear amusement.
"Fitz! This is serious. I'm engaged!" Olivia said flashing her hand with her ring on it.
"And if you really loved him Liv, we wouldn't even need to have this conversation." Fitz said his voice showing his detest for the situation.
"This is exactly what I'm talking about." Olivia said her voice slightly raised.
"You didn't deny it." Fitz said, his arms now crossed over his chest.
"I care very deeply for him Fitz and I'm marrying him." Olivia said angrily.
"Are you? You've been engaged for a year." Fitz stated heatedly.
"I'm 25 Fitz! I'm not in a rush. I just finished my degree. Look, I don't even have to justify this to you! Be appropriate and we wont have an issue." Olivia said, her tone of voice showing how furious she was.
"Liv you know I would never do anything you weren't comfortable with." Fitz said softly, the conversation had taken a turn for the worst.
"That's what I'm worried about Fitz. We weren't some fling, we were in love with each other and there was a time when I thought you were the love of my life." She said quietly, avoiding his eye contact. "I gave you everything and I would never say no to you Fitz, that's what I'm worried about." She said wringing her hands together.
"Liv I will never put you in any position you aren't comfortable with. You know that." Fitz said tenderly, forcing Olivia to look at him.
"Fitz that's not what I meant. All I meant was I'm with Edison and we both have to respect that." She said gently, this is not the conversation she wanted, she just wanted to make sure they didn't do something that they would both regret.
"I'll always respect you and your decisions Liv." Fitz said lifting his hand, softly running his fingers over her hands before dropping it back to his lap.
"Thank you. We can do this. I believe in us." Olivia said smiling a small smile.
"Me too. This is going to be fantastic Liv." Fitz said beaming.
"No Fitz, it's going to be great." Olivia said her face breaking into a grim similar to Fitz's as he left her office, both thinking the same thought. They were both lying themselves, there was no way they were going to fight the connection that was still bubbling between them. Olivia threw her head on her desk, working with the love of your life when engaged to someone else was not her smartest idea but she was determined to make it work. No matter how hard it was, but would it be enough? Could she really move on from Fitz when he was in her life every single day? Only time would tell.
A/N Hi guys! This is one of the longest chapters I've ever written but it just flowed out. Thanking you all so much for the reviews, trying to not make it to long between updates. I am so thankful for your reviews, they really help me going and I love your feedback and thoughts. Loved how you all hated Edison and how he treated Olivia, trust me more on that later. So please review this chapter so you can get the next one which involves some more Olivia and Fitz intense moments. Thanks! :)