I'm the absolute worst, I know. It's been way too long. This story has never been too far from my mind though. This chapter will be a two parter, to which I hope to have up before the month is over. But I felt that I owed you guys a bit of an update, so here's some cute, happy Olitz for you! Thank you to everyone still reading, still sending me messages, it means the world!
Fitz yawned as he stretched, running one hand through his wavy chestnut hair. He brought his arm down to eye level, reading the time on his watch. 1:47 AM. Shit. He had stayed up to add some finishing touches to one of his paintings, he just hadn't realized how late it was. His first gallery with Amanda Tanner's studio went well, he sold three out of six of his paintings showcased. Almost three months had passed since then. His next showcase was coming up in the next week, and he wanted to make sure he was more than prepared for it. Liv told him a few weeks prior that he was obsessing, but when he gave her a look that said "I know you're not talking", she quickly changed the subject.
He put down his paintbrush and turned off the desk lamp, making his way to the bedroom. He carefully turned the knob, silently opening the door as to not disturb Olivia. The sight he was met with made his heart flutter.
Olivia lay sleeping, in his grey NAVY t-shirt, her natural tendrils surrounding her face. The duvet hung loosely around her waistline, her upper thigh peeking out into exposure. Both her hands were cupped under her pillows, and the formidable Olivia Pope had never looked more at peace. Without another moment's thought, Fitz found himself heading back to his drawing room. He grabbed a medium sized canvas, and a couple of charcoal chalk sticks, and made his way back to the bedroom.
He took a few pillows off of the bed, propping up the canvas on the floor. He sat down in front of it, leaning back against the loveseat, looking up at Olivia with a smile on his face. He ran his hand once more through his hair, moving it out of his line of view, and he began to draw the love of his life.
Fitz lifted his head up off the pillow, looking around sleepily. His hand grasped at the empty space next to him, the spot cold, confirming that Olivia had been up for awhile. He sniffed the air, his mouth watering slightly at the scent. Bacon. He threw back the covers and jumped up from the bed. He brushed his teeth and washed his face, then walked downstairs towards the smell wafting out of the kitchen. Olivia stood at the kitchen island with her back to Fitz. She wore her lavender satin robe, her curls gently bouncing as she began to stir something.
"I knew the smell of bacon would awaken the sleeping giant." Olivia hadn't even turned around before she started speaking.
He smirked. "How'd you even know I came down here?" he said as he walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. He placed a kiss on the side of her head. "Good morning."
"Good morning. And honestly? I felt you. I don't know how to explain it." She shrugged.
"Felt me, did you?" Fitz said smoothly as he pressed himself against her.
She laughed, squirming out of his arms. "Don't even try it, Fitz, I've got a lot to do today." She walked over to the stove, putting the bowl down on the counter. She turned the burner on under the pan.
"Ah yes, and what is on today's agenda Ms. Pope, that you can't let your fiancé take you back to bed after breakfast?" He grabbed a piece of bacon from the plate.
"Oh, you know…" She dropped some butter in the pan. "My wedding dress came in today, and the girls and I are going to see how it looks on me." She tried to keep her tone nonchalant.
"Livvie!" Fitz exclaimed. "That's great! Is it here, can I see it?" His eyes widened.
She laughed again as she grabbed the ladle and began to ladle out the pancake batter into the pan. "Fitz, no, you can't see it! You know that's bad luck. Besides, you have things on your agenda as well, I thought you were going to meet Amanda at the gallery, so you could drop off your remaining pieces?"
Fitz smiled, his latest finished artwork fresh on his mind. "Yeah, that's still happening. I ended up drawing last night, created a whole new piece in addition to everything else." He bit into the piece of bacon, his mouth watering a little.
"Wow, no wonder you came to bed so late. That's why I figured it'd be good for you to have a nice breakfast before you start your day." She smiled over at him. "Oh! and by the way, thank you for putting my bonnet on for me last night, I felt asleep before I could."
"You know I've always got you, Livvie.
"And I thank you for making breakfast," he said, with another bite, wiping his hands clean, "and I give Stacy the gold medal for turning you into this cooking extraordinaire. But tonight, dinner is on me."
"Is that right?" She said as she put the blueberries into the pancakes.
"You heard me, loud and clear. I know you've had a lot going on with planning and taking care of every detail for the wedding, and we haven't had a night out in a few weeks while I've been working on my showcase. I want to take you out tonight." He walked over to her, cupping her face in his hands. He placed a gentle kiss on her lips, lingering a little. "Is that okay?"
Olivia, eyes still closed, a smile on her face, just nodded. He kissed her again. "Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Let's have some of those 'World Famous' omelets you're always bragging about." Olivia teased, flipping the pancakes.
"Look, it's been seven years, and you're still talking about them!" Fitz pointed out.
The pair cooked and ate their food with flirty banter, sharing an occasional kiss or gaze. Olivia filled Fitz in on what other errands she had to run that day, and Fitz refused to drop any hints as to what their dinner plans were going to be. As they loaded up the dishwasher, Fitz proposed an idea.
"Okay, how about this? If I keep my hands to myself, can we take a shower together?"
Olivia thought for a moment. "You'll keep your hands to yourself?"
"I'll keep my hands to myself."
"I don't know how I always fall for that!" Olivia said as she half ran into the bedroom, to check her phone for the time. 12:04 "Damn it." She said under her breath. She had wanted to be out of the house already.
"I'm sorry, Livvie, it was an accident." Fitz said with his best pout as he walked out of the bathroom, running a towel through his hair. His towel hung dangerously low on his hips, and Olivia had to fight the urge not to rip it off.
"Oh bullshit, you had every intention of having sex, and you know it." She half ran to the closet, her eyes on an olive green maxi dress. Simple, easy. She pulled open the top drawer to her dresser, grabbing for a strapless bra with matching panty set, running back into the bathroom.
"Do you need any help getting ready?" Fitz said, turning to walk after her.
"NO!" She closed the door, locking it behind her as Fitz just chuckled.
Olivia opened the door to the Starbucks, her eyes instantly finding her bridal party. She walked over to them, apologizing profusely, but Abby waved away her words. "Yeah yeah, tell Fitz to just keep it in his pants, alright? Imagine if you weren't an overprepared maniac who had us meet three hours before your dress fitting though!"
Olivia blushed slightly. "Well, I had you ladies meet three hours early, because a certain someone was going to pay for us all to go wedding shoe shopping…" She pulled out Fitz' black Amex card, sighing. "But I guess if you maybe just wanna go home?"
"NO!" the ladies shouted in unison, drawing the attention of almost every patron. Olivia laughed, going to order her drink, as the three women muttered their apologies. Olivia looked back at Stacy, Abby, and OPA's newest addition Quinn Perkins, happy to have them by her side while she planned this whole thing. Olivia still wasn't back at OPA, but she helped three months prior in the hiring of Quinn. She consulted with the team on a few cases here and there, and over time she and Quinn grew to become friends. Quinn was quirky, and sometimes annoyingly energetic, but she had heart and she was damn smart. Olivia was nervous, but when she asked, Abby and Quinn said yes to being her bridesmaids right away. Stacy without question, was her maid of honor. She had helped Olivia out in so many ways over the last year, she was practically a sister.
Olivia paid the cashier, heading back over to the table. She placed down her laptop bag, looking through it.
"Okay, so what do we got, folders? A powerpoint presentation?" Stacy questioned, rubbing her palms together.
"Ha ha, very funny." Olivia said dryly. "Ahem, I do however, have planners for all three of you that I've filled out with all of the important dates you need to know going forward from now until September 23rd." She placed a blue, pink, and green planner each in front of Stacy, Quinn, and Abby. The trio looked through their planners, taking note of what had been filled in.
"Also," she continued, "I was thinking since we're going to be seeing my dress today, that maybe you'd all look at your dresses today too and order them? We're a little more than four months away from the wedding, so ordering them now would leave enough time for alterations, just in case."
The ladies nodded in agreement.
"And to balance out the wedding party, I'm going to ask Ingrid to be one of my bridesmaids. I figure she'll just sit out most of the planning and the bachelorette party." Olivia told them about her ideas for the color scheme of the wedding, and Abby thanked her for not choosing colors that clash with her bright red hair. They finished up their drinks, making their way to the mall to treat themselves to the perfect girls day.
Fitz opened the door to the gallery and looked around before he called out. "Amanda?"
"In the office" a distant shout replied back.
He held the door open with his back as he gingerly walked in with a few more of his pieces. He leaned them up against a table before walking back to Amanda's office. She sat behind her desk, typing away at her laptop. She looked up as he entered the office.
"Hey, there's the man I've been waiting to see. How's it going, got anything good for me?"
"Yeah, I think so. I ended up adding another piece, so there's twelve in total. I hope that's okay." He suddenly felt nervous; he hadn't though of how many he might need.
Amanda smiled. "That's perfect Fitz. We'll give them all a onceover before we make the final decision on if all of your artwork will be in this gallery, you may change your mind once we work on placement." She stood up from behind the desk, walking out to where his artwork awaited.
She looked over the new pieces he brought with him, giving his Olivia drawing a second look. "This is exquisite. Is this Olivia? I've never seen her with her hair like this."
It was Fitz' turn to smile. "She wears it natural from time to time. She's beautiful no matter what she does, honestly."
"That she is. Okay Fitz, truthfully, I love them all. Make sure you write out the names for all of them that way we can type up the title cards. Great job, I'll reach back out to you in a few days to finish setting up some last minute things." She made her way back to the office, before turning around in the doorway.
"By the way, I'll be at this gallery showing. There's some people I want to introduce you to. I think you've got great potential." She waved at him, walking back behind her desk. He smiled to himself as he picked up a pen, writing out the names to his paintings and drawings, his anxiety gone, and his excitement fully kicked in for what was to come.
"Olivia, hurry up, we wanna see!" Quinn said loudly, bouncing in her seat.
"I'm coming, I'm coming, it's a lot harder than it looks to put one of these on."
"She's right," Stacy agreed, "there's a lot more layers than you think."
The dress attendant asked Olivia if she was ready, and she nodded. The woman pushed open the curtain, and Olivia walked out into the room as gasps replaced the conversations.
Olivia stood in front of them in a graceful, off the shoulder, ivory colored, satin wedding gown. The dress flared out slightly, giving it shape, which Olivia loved. As she walked, she practically glided, the train of her dress in tow behind her. She wore a cathedral veil; a beautiful embroidery dancing along the end. Her hair was up in a bun, showing off her cheekbones, and her neck was bare. She was absolutely radiant.
"Liv.." Stacy started. "You."
"Look." Quinn said as she shook her head for words.
"FUCKING SPECTACULAR!" Abby shouted, jumping up to hug Olivia. Olivia laughed as tears stung her eyes. She looked at her reflection in the mirror, the moment taking ahold of her. She took a deep breath, looking back at her friends as a tear fell. "I'm getting married." She choked out. The girls screamed and all surrounded Olivia, making this moment one of the best in their friends' life.
Olivia was on her drive home, feeling elated, when Fitz' call came through to her phone. She patched it through to her car Bluetooth.
"Hi."
"Hi," he replied. "Are you on your way home?"
"Yeah, I should be there in a couple of minutes."
"Okay, great. I'm just finishing up one last thing, I should be there in about twenty minutes. You didn't forget about our night out tonight, did you?" he asked.
She rolled her eyes. "I didn't forget, it crossed my mind once or twice." On the contrary, she had been thinking about it all day, wondering just what he had up his sleeve. "You gonna tell me where we're going?" She kept her voice casual, nonchalant.
Fitz let out a hard laugh. "Not knowing is eating away at you, isn't it?"
She groaned, pulling into the driveway. "Just give me a hint as to what to wear."
Fitz thought for a moment. "Dress classy/casual." He smirked, Olivia's words from all the way back when coming perfectly in handy now. And the moment wasn't lost on her. "Touché', Grant."
He laughed again. "I'll see you soon, Livvie. I love you."
"I love you, too."
Olivia exited the car, locking it behind her. She went inside to shower, hoping to get in and out before Fitz could get home and repeat this morning's activities. Although she got a late start to her day, she still accomplished a lot. Her bridesmaids all chose their burgundy dresses, each girl choosing a style that complimented their body type. Olivia gave Ingrid a call, and they were going to meet up to look at her dress together. And best of all, she found two pairs of wedding shoes for both the ceremony and the reception.
She had just finished applying her face mask, when Fitz walked into the bedroom.
"Aw man, you're out of the shower already. No fair." Fitz pouted as he started to undo his belt.
"It's faster this way. You won't have any distractions." She said, lotioning herself up.
He walked over to where she sat at her vanity seat, placing a kiss on her shoulder. "That's fine, I can wait until later." He walked into the bathroom whistling, closing the door behind him.
At 7 o'clock they were both dressed and out the door in Fitz' car, off to spend their night out together. They held hands the entire time Fitz drove, Olivia telling him about how much today made her look forward to the wedding. Fitz told her about how Amanda was going to introduce him to some people she knew, and that she was going to attend his showcasing.
"Fitz, that's great! Hey, you should call my dad and see if he'll come out to support. Having him back you while big time art collectors are looking at your work? You can't lose." She squeezed his hand, smiling up at him.
"You're right, I'll give him a call tomorrow." He brought her their hands to his lips, kissing the back of hers.
"You gonna tell me where we're going yet?"
Fitz thought for a moment, thinking of what he could say without giving up anything good. "We're driving into the city."
Olivia nodded, her mind racing.
They drove awhile longer, going through two tolls, and before long, the city life Olivia immersed herself with for so long, was around her once again. They sat stuck at a red light, and Olivia smiled as she looked out the window, watching a little girl on the sidewalk try to get her mom to stop at the pretzel kart. The mom didn't even turn around, just dragging the little girl along as she talked on the phone. Olivia's smiled faded. I would have stopped, Olivia thought.
The light turned green, and Fitz made a right turn, driving straight for a block before coming to a full stop. Olivia looked at the sign of the restaurant as they passed by, her eyes lighting up. "We're eating at Negril?!"
Olivia unbuckled her seatbelt as Fitz somehow managed to find a decent parking spot. Negril Village was one of the first restaurants Olivia had taken Fitz to when they were dating in college. He had never eaten Caribbean food, and Olivia took it upon herself to expand his cultural taste buds. "It's the closest thing we could get to Jamaica, without actually going." She remembered saying.
They exited the car, meeting at the trunk. Fitz held a bag in one hand. Olivia kissed him, her arms crossing at the back of his neck.
"Were you surprised?" Fitz asked , kissing her lips again. Olivia nodded. "Good," he said, kissing her forehead. "The night's just begun."
"Oh?" she asked.
Fitz looked down at his watch. 8:15. "We're a little early for our reservation, what do you say we grab a drink at the bar?" He reached for her hand with his free one.
She grabbed it, eyeing him skeptically, wondering what he meant by the night had just begun.
Fifteen minutes later, the hostess came over to the bar to let them know that their table was ready. Olivia grabbed her Rum Cream, and Fitz grabbed his scotch, and they followed her to their table. Once seated, she alerted them that their server would be with them shortly and handed them their menus. She walked away as they opened them, eyeing their options.
"I don't know about you," Fitz said, "but I think I'm going for the oxtail." Olivia looked up from her menu incredulously. "What?" he asked.
"This coming from the man who refused to try it."
"I was young and culturally inexperienced, Olivia, you can't hold that against me anymore. Besides, I believe I made up for that with the whole surprise Jamaica trip, the eating oxtail in Jamaica thing, making love in a beautiful suite at a beautiful resort- "
Olivia laughed, cutting him off. "Okay, okay! You've made your point." She looked at the menu again. "Gosh, everything looks so good. Hmm. What if I get this Chef's tasting plate so we can have a little bit of everything?"
"You can get that, but I want my whole thing of oxtail to myself."
"You're so greedy." Olivia laughed as Fitz rubbed his hands together.
Their server came over and introduced himself before he took their order. They chose their previously discussed options, and ordered another round of drinks, giving their menus over when they were done.
"I'm so full." Fitz said as he sat back in his chair. His plate was nearly spotless.
"Me too." Olivia said, her plate still more than halfway full.
Fitz raised an eyebrow. "I guess your eyes are bigger than your stomach huh?" He alerted their server that they needed a box to go, and asked for the check. "Wanna get some ice cream?"
"You just said you were full!"
"You didn't answer the question." He said, placing his card in the checkbook, handing it back to the server.
"Well…I can't say no to ice cream."
They waited for the server to come back with Fitz' card, tipped him generously, and got ready to leave. Olivia noticed Fitz once again pick up his bag, averting her gaze when she knew he was looking at her. What did he have in there? He motioned for her to go first. "After you, my love."
They had such a good parking spot and didn't want to lose it, so they decided to walk over to I CE NY before it closed. It was Friday night, and there was a little bit of a line, but it wasn't too long before they got their desserts. They walked outside, walking back towards Washington State Park.
"Looks like something's going on over there." Fitz pointed to where people were staring to gather. "Let's check it out."
They walked into the area of grass where everyone started to lay down blankets and sit comfortably. A giant projection of a white screen lit up the arch. A countdown from ten began, went down to zero, and the screen went black. Cursive writing faded into the screen, and Olivia had to read it twice.
For the future Mrs. Grant,
Love, Fitz.
Olivia turned around to find Fitz had finally emptied his bag. He had lain out a red cashmere blanket for them to sit on, one to cover themselves with, and a bottle of her favorite wine with two glasses. She turned back to the screen as the words Breakfast at Tiffany's flashed across the screen. She laughed, looking back at him. She sat down, careful not to knock over his bowl of ice cream and placed hers next to his. She kissed him, her hands holding his face to hers. "How the hell did you pull this off?" she whispered against his lips.
"Shh." He kissed her again lightly. "The movie is starting." He picked up his ice cream, handing her hers, and she laid in his lap taking the occasional bite.
The screen faded to black as Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard shared their big kiss, and Olivia couldn't help but marvel at just how amazing Fitz was. She looked at her phone, checking the time. 11:57 pm.
"It's so late. Want me to drive back? You did all of this and drove all the way here, I don't mind driving." She put her hand out for the keys.
"Come on, I'm driving." He said as he started to fold the blankets. "You can put everything back in the bag though."
They packed up the rest of their things, walking hand in hand back to the car. Fitz unlocked it, and they got inside. Fitz waited for Olivia to put her seatbelt on before he pulled out of the parking spot, on their way home.
When Fitz kept driving straight instead of making the right like Olivia's GPS suggested, Olivia questioned him. "Fitz, are you paying attention? You missed the turn."
"Oh, did I? Sorry. I think I know a shortcut."
Olivia rolled her eyes. Men always think they have directions or shortcuts on lock and then you end up getting put 20 minutes out of the way.
He continued going straight, and then made a right turning onto Madison Ave. Olivia groaned, her hand massaging her forehead. "Fitz really? This is the worst possible way to get home."
"Shit. Uhh, okay let's just pull over here and get directions." He pulled into the valet area of the New York EDITION Hotel, putting the car into park. "Okay, let's go inside." They got out of the car, and Olivia saw him going into the trunk. As she stopped to wait for him on the sidewalk, he peeked out. "Go on ahead to the front desk, I'll be right there, I just wanted to check for my charger, my battery is low."
Olivia sighed, walking into the hotel lobby. "Wow." She said under her breath, stopping in her tracks. It had to have been one of the most beautiful hotel lobbies Olivia had ever seen. The sleek wooden front desk was bare save a small plant that stood off to the edge. Next to it was a beige chaise on one side, and a small wooden table on the other. The seating area was almost loungelike; couches and armchairs were comfortably strewn around the room. Lit candles took up a majority of the tables, and taupe curtains hung down from the near ceiling to floor windows. To her right, up a small flight of stairs, was another seating area with a stunning fireplace. She walked up to the front desk, and almost instantaneously someone appeared.
"Good evening, madam, checking in?"
"Oh, uh no, I'm supposed to be asking for directions on the best way to get back to Rye, but I'm pretty sure I could just type it into the GPS and-"
"Hi, sorry, reservation for two. Under Grant." Fitz appeared next to her, plopping down two overnight bags on the lobby floor.
And there's your update! What'd everybody think of Fitz and his many surprises? I hope this made up for my terrible terrible update times! As always, reviews are loved and appreciated. Til next time.
