Olivia

Olivia followed Ada to her office where Abby, the Secretary of State, sat talking on the phone. Abby glanced up at Olivia before returning to her conversation.

"One moment, Mr. President." Abby said before she stood and held the phone out to Olivia. Olivia grabbed the phone from Abby's outstretched hand and sat in the cool leather chair behind her desk before placing the phone to her ear.

"President Grant." Olivia said by ways of introduction.

"Madam President. Good evening." President Ito greeted in his thick, Eastern accent. "I wish to congratulate you. I meant to call earlier; however, I was preoccupied with arrangements for the signing of our new trade agreement next month."

"Thank you. Nevertheless, I feel that I must remind you that Congress is still debating on ratification for the agreement and you must demonstrate that Samje is moving toward a democratic state." Olivia reminded him.

"I can assure you that we are. Next month we will hold elections for president."

"Excluding yourself." Olivia interrupted, twirling the phone cord around her finger. There was a brief pause before Ito responded.

"Why of course. You have made that stipulation quite clear in all of our negotiations."

"As long as you do not forget that. Your party is to be disbanded as well. I will not negotiate with a communist state." OIivia stated, dropping the cord and reading the note that Abby passed to her. She opened her mouth to address the issue that Abby had raised; however, Ito began speaking first.

"You may be rest assured that my party will be disbanded. I want what is best for my country."

"As do I. What do you intend to do with your...Anti-American propaganda in your country?" Olivia demanded, using Abby's words.

"Surely we can come to some form of agreement…"

"Yes we can. You can order all of it destroyed and concede that your government made all of it up as a propaganda campaign. The first statue that I demand be torn down is your nation's appalling tribute to the U.S.S. Maine." Olivia cut in.

"And once again the American integrity may not be even slightly questioned."

"Mr. President, you are not in a position to criticize me. Congress and I are both well aware that we are not the ones who are in need of this trade agreement. You are the one whose country is going through an economic slump because it has been cut off from most of the world." Olivia glanced up to notice Abby staring at her.

"Of course." Ito said, somewhat meekly.

"Very well. Do not forget that I will be sending a team out in two weeks, headed by my nominee for Ambassador. If you need anything else, you know to reach my administration. Good day, Mr. President."

Olivia waited to hear what Ito had to say before hanging up. Then she turned in her chair to face Abby.

"You probably could have been less direct." Abby stated, laying a few newspapers on Olivia's desk.

"He needed to be reminded as to whom is calling the shots. What are these?" Olivia asked, glancing over the headlines.

"Tomorrow's headlines. I managed to get some of them."

"You have got to be kidding me. These are horrible." Olivia picked one newspaper up and read the headline. "New Director Goes Berserk, Attacks President."

"You can blame all of that on Gage. Some newspapers are even questioning her capability to carry out her duties."

Olivia glanced at the clock before grabbing the television remote and flipping the tv on. Cyrus Beene, her Chief-of-Staff, had recorded the CNN broadcast for her earlier. She pressed the play button and waited to see what damage had been done.

"Welcome back. Well, if you missed the President's press conference today, you missed quite a bit of excitement." One of the news anchors stated.

"You know, Kelli, in most Presidential conferences regarding the Cabinet, the President allows those people to speak, they answer questions…" The second news anchor, a young man with brown hair and glasses, began.

"And Brian, that is exactly what happened." Kelli interjected.

"That is what happened until a reporter asked the President who her new FBI Director was going to be. After a slight delay, the President finally announced that Gage Adlee, who appeared to have arrived late, would be the new Director."

"And then the new Director practically attacked the President. Take a look at this clip." Kelli said as the clip of earlier filled the screen. Olivia fast forwarded through the clip, knowing all too well what had happened. She pressed play once the clip had ended. Both reporters were laughing.

"That was ridiculous! What are this woman's qualifications anyway?" Kelli demanded, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Actually, her credentials aren't that bad. She served in the Army Reserves for two years before beginning work for the FBI as a special agent. She and the President have a long history of working together." Brian countered.

"I still wonder what the logic behind this appointment was…"

There Olivia muted the volume and turned to look at Abby.

"What did Luke write for tomorrow?" Abby questioned.

"Nothing yet. I gave him the rest of the evening off." Olivia responded, piling the newspapers into one pile on her desk.

"Why?"

"To mess with Gage." Olivia said, handing the newspapers to Abby, who grabbed them, shook her head, and left the room. Olivia sighed and placed her head in her hands, rubbing her forehead as she felt a headache beginning.