Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the wonderful reviews! I absolutely adore that you all are taking the time to leave reviews. 3
LoreneMichelle41... I squealed when I saw your lovely review...so we are even!
In response to a question from JFJD. I think that it may be a personality trait of Olivia. In public she treats Fitz differently than when they are in private. I guess that in my mind I was drawing from the scene where they were dancing at the state dinner and she wouldn't let him look at her. She kept reminding him that they were in public. I hope that I didn't portray her as too cold. :(
*** I wanted to keep some of the personality traits of the characters similar to the show, and others I am going to play with a little bit. I love that Olivia is guarded. I think it makes it even more endearing when she lets her guard down with Fitz. In the show, Olivia wears the white hat. Since she is married in this story and may or may not cheat on her husband, I am going to temporarily give Fitz her white hat for this chapter. Hopefully, that will explain some of his actions in this chapter. In my mind, loves her enough to do the right thing
Chapter 8 Blackmail, Voodoo and Phlebotomy
Fitz made his way from the ER into the main hospital. He found an empty waiting area on the second floor and decided to make it his temporary home base. Grabbing his phone out of his pocket, he looked thoughtfully at the cracked screen. He chuckled to himself, thinking fondly of Olivia. As much as he wanted to leave Edison in the dark and take care of her himself, he owed it to Olivia to do the right thing. She made him want to be a better person.
Fitz: Hello, this is Fitzgerald Grant the III calling for Senator Davis.
Secretary: I'm sorry Sir. Senator Davis is currently in a meeting and can not be disturbed.
Fitz: Everyone can be disturbed. I am calling regarding his wife. Go disturb him!
Secretary: (Pause) One moment Sir.
Edison: Hello Fitz. As I am sure my secretary told you, I was in a very important meeting. I will be sure to call you back later so that you can blackmail me or would it be easier for you to leave the list of whatever it is you want with my secretary?
Fitz: I'm not calling about you banging call girls behind you wife's back. Your wife had an accident this morning and she is in the ER.
Edison: What the hell happened Grant? My wife works for you for a few hours and ends up in the ER?
Fitz: She fell down a flight of stairs. She was in a lot of pain, so she went to the ER.
Edison: Were they your stairs? I hope they were up to code Grant.
Fitz: I think what you meant to say was, "Is my wife OK?" That is what you meant to ask isn't it Davis?
Edison: If she wasn't OK, she would have called me herself. So, back to the real reason for your call, what is it that you want to keep your mouth shut?
Fitz: You really are a special kind of asshole Edison. Listen to me carefully here. I am calling out of concern for your wife. She is hurt and I think that you should come to stay with her for a few days. She may need help and probably shouldn't be alone.
Edison: The senate is in session tomorrow.
Fitz: I can have my jet in D.C. in 3 hours. You can spend the night with her and fly back in the morning. I will make sure that my corporate jet at your disposal for as long as you need it.
Edison: Any chance for you to rub your private get in my face, right Grant. Besides, my wife is out of town and I made plans for tonight. It's too late to cancel them now.
With that, Fitz hit end on his iPhone.
He wondered how such a prick was able to marry an amazing woman like Olivia. Fitz knew that if he ever found a woman like Liv, he would NEVER cheat on her – she deserved better. He decided that he would just have to take care of Olivia himself.
He began to scroll his contact list before selecting his personal physician from the list. After a short conversation, he was on to his next call, his personal assistant. When his calls were complete, he gathered his things and glanced at his watch. He walked down a main corridor, making several turns as the signs hanging overhead directed. He opened a door that lead into another waiting room filled with people. Had he known when he left the office that he would end up in such a public area, he would have brought security with him. Most of the people in the waiting room seemed to be preoccupied by a magazine, book, or their phone. He made his way to a reception window on the far side of the room. An middle aged woman sat on the other side of the window. She recognized him immediately and smiled.
"Hello Mr. Grant. We just spoke to Dr. Wentz and we are just waiting for him to fax over the script."
She instructed him to enter the door to her left, as she didn't expect it to take very long to receive the fax from his physician.
He was pleased to be done with his errand in less than 15 minutes. Heading back to the ER, he passed a large gift shop and decided that it would be worth a look. On his left was a large cooler filled with bouquets of flowers in various types of brightly colored vases. He decided that flowers were the standard "get well" present. He pulled out his phone, google-ing which color rose meant "I'm sorry". He found himself on a page with in depth information on the meaning behind the color of a particular rose. He used his finger to scroll down the page-
RED -True Love
YELLOW: Friendship, Joy, Get Well
LAVENDER: Enchantment, Love at First Sight
ORANGE: Passion, Enthusiasm
WHITE- Purity, Sympathy
PINK- Gratitude, Love
Annoyed that there was not a specific apology rose, he began scanning the case. Fitz began punching numbers into the phone. The voice on the other end of the phone barely greeted him when he interrupted -
"I want a bouquet of one dozen yellow roses and 6 lavender roses in the back seat of the car within the hour.", he barked before hanging up.
He continued to walk through the store looking at small knickknacks and stuffed animals. There was a small collection of bears with strategically placed bandages and band-aids. He picked up a large brown bear with gauze wrapped around it's arm, looking at it before returning it to it's place on the shelf. A bear on the shelf above it caught his eye. It was medium sized with huge brown eyes. The short tan fur felt buttery soft beneath his fingers. He placed the bear back on the shelf, and then watched it slide off the shelf and onto the floor. Looking down at the bear that had face planted into the floor seconds before, he smiled as he bent down to pick it up. He wasn't sure if Liv was the stuffed animal type, but this was just too perfect to pass up. He chuckled looking at the bear with two large band-aids displayed crisscrossed on its rear end. This would either make her smile, or hit him. In his mind, it was a win win – either she would light up his world with her beautiful smile, or she would be touching him. He got lost in thoughts of her touching him – her playfully punching him - him mock restraining her tight in his arms – her playfully trying to wriggle out of his arms, brushing herself against him. He felt himself getting hard just at the thought. He dragged himself back to reality as he continued walking through the store. As he walked by a shelf filled with boxed chocolates, his mind drifted back to the small moan that escaped as she bit into the chocolate cupcake earlier in the day. He wanted to hear her moan again – he NEEDED to hear the sounds of pleasure escape from her lips. He began to look through the elaborately decorated boxes of chocolates. He had never heard of any of the brands. He thought about her reaction to the cheap chocolate cupcake earlier in the day and decided that where chocolate was concerned, Olivia Pope was probably one of those "Hooch is Hooch" kind of girls. In his eyes, she deserved the best and that is exactly what he would give her. Fitz realized that if he called his personal assistant one more time this afternoon, she would finally buy herself the personalized Fitzgerald Grant III voodoo doll that she had designed. It was their running joke when he got to be too demanding. He pulled his phone from his pocket and sent a quick text.
Me: I need the best chocolate in NYC sent to Olivia Pope's hotel room. Also, a bottle of Armand de Brignac Ace of Spades Rose chilled.
Kate: Truffles, bon bons, cake?
Me: All of them. I don't care. It just needs to be the best and it needs to be there within the hour.
Katie: Gr8. I was getting bored with all the free time I have between your requests and Cyrus calling. Katie: Call him BTW. He has been harassing Lauren and I all afternoon.
Me: Thanks K. Your sparkling personality is always a pleasure.
Katie: I found a website with virtual voodoo doll. I don't need to wait until Xmas anymore.
Me: Too bad. I was going to buy you one for putting up with all my shit today.
Me: You and Lauren were going to get a bonus Cy doll.
Katie: .com They are the most realistic and offer express shipping :)
Me: Thanks K.
Fitz made his way to the register, placing the bear onto the counter before pulling out his credit card. As the cashier scanned the bear, a white coffee mug with orange writing caught his eye. "May I see the mug with the orange writing?" he asked. She retrieved the mug from the shelf and placed it on the glass counter in front of him. He knew that Olivia would never use it, but he couldn't resist buying it for her. He loved seeing her playful side, and he was convinced that this would lure it out. The mug was simple – plain white with an orange stick figure falling down stairs – the words "I do my own stunts" printed above. "I'll take it.", Fitz said handing the mug to the clerk.
"Would you like the items in a gift bag?"
Fitz nodded before handing her his credit card. Checking his watch, he realized it was time to head back to the ER to pick up Liv.
His phone buzzed alerting him to a new text message.
Unknown: Hi Mr. Grant
Unknown. It's Olivia.
Fitz: Hi Livvie.
Fitz: How r u feeling? (He immediately added her to his contact list)
Liv: I had my X-Ray and I am waiting for the doctor to come back.
Fitz: Do u need anything?
Liv: Just some company. If the offer is still on the table.
Fitz: Always Livvie.
Fitz: On my way. Where r u?
Liv: I'm in the same room as before.
*Chapter 8 and 9 were originally one chapter that I split up because it was just too long as one. This chapter has a lot of foreshadowing of what is to come, especially Fitz's errand. I know that there is no Liv and Fitz in this chapter, but it is a transition chapter. I will be posting the next chapter tonight.
