Charlotte banged open the door to Mellie's house, not caring if she broke anything. Furiously, she stomped up the stairs, and straight into the bedroom she had hoped would be hers for as long as she needed. But, apparently, her mom hadn't had the same thought process. Unbeknownst to Charlotte, Evan had followed her into the house, curious when she had blown past him like he was nothing. Curious, and very angry. What Charlotte didn't know was that he had just gotten off of the phone with his boss, getting fired for being caught in "an inappropriate relationship with a woman far above his paygrade." In layman's terms, someone had caught him and Charlotte tonguing, and now he was paying the price.
The zipper on her suitcase was stuck again, and Charlotte wrestled it with all her anger, wanting to get out of the house as fast as possible. In her anger, not even the sound of Evan's voice was powerful enough to stop her.
"What are you doing?" Charlotte didn't answer, just kept tugging uselessly at the stubborn zipper. Evan strode to her side, staring down at her like some sort of overlord, hands planted on his hips. "Charlotte, what are you doing?" Again, Charlotte didn't answer, but he knew she had heard him by the way she shook her head with a tiny movement. Pissed, he grabbed ahold of her arm, and yelled. "What the fuck are you doing?"
That did it. His words, so full of an anger that bordered on hatred, snapped her out of whatever painful trance she was in, and she yanked her arm out of his grasp, quickly and furiously. The inertia caused her to spin around, as Evan stood in shock at her disobeyment. Charlotte was done. She was finished being someone else's toy, or pawn, or thing. She was done living her life for anyone but herself. She wouldn't do it for her mother, and, she realized, she couldn't do it for Evan. Her life was hers, and she fully intended to live it however the hell she damn well pleased to. The independence was hard in her eyes as she stared at Evan in defiance.
"I'm leaving." Two simple words. Two words that gave her the freedom only she could give. But Evan just laughed, a cold, bitter sound that actually surprised Charlotte. She stood there, crossing her arms, strengthening her defiant attitude.
"Do you realize what you did?" Charlotte was confused. As of right now, she hadn't actually done anything, it was a plan in progress. But Evan didn't wait for an answer. "You got me fired."
"I- what?"
"You got me fired." Evan spoke slowly and clearly, as if he thought he was talking to an idiot. "We were kissing, and we were seen, and now I have no job."
"I'm sorry." Charlotte's voice became smaller, losing some of the independence she had gained in the last few minutes. It was replaced by fear. This was a kind of anger she hadn't seen in Evan before. It was a simmering anger, resting just below the surface of his emotions, and it was more dangerous, she sensed, than any other kind of anger. He took a step toward her, and she backed out the doorway, trying to still his advance. But he kept coming, so after a moment's hesitation, she turned to flee down the stairs.
Mellie sat at the table, Olivia across from her, in tense silence. Marcus, sweet Marcus, brought her a glass of cold water, setting it on the table, and kissing her forehead lovingly. She closed her eyes at the soft contact, very much in love. This man was able to warm her heart with a simple gesture, making her fall in love all over again. That was something Fitz hadn't done since before the rape, and something Andrew had never done for her. Mellie didn't pick up the glass, just simply stared at it. How was it possible that things could go this wrong between her and Charlotte? Just when they were starting to get along, something came up and broke apart whatever reparations they had forged. She needed a way to fix this, to prove to Charlotte that she wasn't the leak.
"Mellie," Olivia started out carefully. "We need Charlotte on this one. We can't make a statement to the press without her there, it will look too fake. Maybe we could as Fitz too-"
"No." Mellie was quick to cut her off. "He stays out of this. We are not playing the 'my ex-husband is the President' card here."
"Fine." Olivia was disgruntled at Mellie's bossy attitude, but decided that right now was one of those times where she just had to let Mellie get her way to get anything done.
"And we're not making a statement until we know who leaked this, and we can use them."
"Mellie, I don't think that a good idea. We may never know who leaked it."
"Why?"
"Mellie-" Marcus began, trying to calm his girlfriend before he had two angry women on his hands. Mellie, however, dismissed him.
"No, I want to know why. Is it because the leak is you, Olivia?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Sure you don't. And that's why you immediately wanted to make a statement to the press. That's why you already knew what to say, and exactly how to say it. That's why you don't want to find out who the leak is. Because it was you."
"Mellie, I think you've had a hard day. Why don't we talk about this later, focus on some of the more boring issues for now."
"NO!" Mellie stood from the table forcefully, shaking the whole thing. "We are not discussing anything more. You just couldn't stop, could you, Liv? You ruined my marriage, you took my husband, but that just wasn't enough for you. You had to take my baby girl too."
Marcus stood up, trying to rub one of Mellie's shoulders, hoping she would calm down. He hated seeing her like this, so unhappy and damaged. This Mellie hardly showed through anymore, but when she did, Marcus's heart hurt for her. His hand on her shoulder was unwelcome, though, and she threw it off, turning on him now. Olivia was relieved not to be under that withering glare anymore.
"And you, baby," Mellie used the word ironically, the way she used to with Fitz. And she hated how she sounded, hated how the word slid off her tongue as she was referencing Marcus. But she was too far gone to change that now. "Did you know?" Marcus didn't need to answer her; the look in his eyes, one full of sorrow and regret, told her everything she needed to know. She inhaled a breath softly and sharply, not wanting to show how much he had just hurt her. Before her eyes betrayed her, Mellie turned on her heel towards the hallway. Olivia stood now.
"Mellie, where are you going?"
"To talk to my daughter." The words were rough and angry. Marcus turned to Olivia, asking her a silent question.
"Go." She nodded, and he took off after Mellie. She acknowledged his presence, making it clear that it was unwanted, but did nothing to stop him.
