"So you're just staying at David's apartment tonight?" Olivia asked, grabbing her coat. "Yeah, I think so. It will just be easier if we're going to his parent's house in the morning anyway" Abby replied. "Well that will be fun!" Olivia exclaimed. "I don't know, Liv...What if I say something stupid? Or I swear on accident. I mean, normal parents don't like that kind of thing right?" Abby asked nervously.
"I thought David said they were laid back?" Olivia asked. "He did, but you know David. He was probably just trying to keep me calm" Abby said. "Abby, I'm sure it will go great. Yes, it's a big step, but it shows David's serious about you. He's in this with you. Just be your wonderful self and they'll love you, I know it" Olivia assured her. Abby sighed. "Thanks, Liv. I hope so" Abby said, still a bit anxious. Olivia's phone vibrated in her pocket.
Fitz: I'm here!
She texted back quickly.
Olivia: Okay, on my way down!
"Alright Abby, I have to go, he's here. I'll see you later tomorrow. Good luck!" Olivia said. "Thanks. Have fun with Professor Dreamy!" Abby exclaimed. "Bye, Abby," Olivia said, rolling her eyes. She shut the door behind her and went to take the elevator down to the first floor. Ever since it had started getting colder, Fitz would come and pick her up for trivia so she didn't have to walk in the cold.
Normally, she wouldn't even mind walking in the cold, but she agreed so that she could spend more time with him, even if it was only a short drive to Oak Haven. She walked out of her complex and saw his car, opening the door and getting in happily. "Hi," he greeted. "Hi," she said back. "I like your coat," he said, smiling at it. She was wearing her favorite white coat. "Thanks!" She exclaimed. They chatted on their way there, talking about how they thought they would do tonight. Usually, Olivia carried the team, but they still never placed in the top five. They kind of sucked.
"Do you think we'll ever win?" he asked. "Do you want an optimistic answer or a realistic answer?" she asked. He laughed. "Realistic," he said. "Then hell no" she replied. "Yeah, you're probably right...oh well, we still have fun," he said. "Yes, we do. I always look forward to it" she said happily. He turned towards her and smiled. "Me too," he said.
He pulled into a spot on the street and got out to go open the door for her. He extended his hand out to her, which she gladly took. They walked down the sidewalk, hand in hand, but let go as soon as they saw Cyrus sitting in their normal booth.
"Fitz, Olivia! My favorite colleague and my favorite student!" he exclaimed. "Hey, Cyrus!" they greeted. "You know, I don't think I can technically be your favorite student if you're not actually my professor" Olivia teased. "Oh, that's alright. I know you better than any of my actual students anyway" he said with a laugh. It was true, she had become fairly good friends with Cyrus over the past couple months.
She admired his love for politics, and even got to meet his husband James a couple weeks ago, who she adored right off the bat. It truly was the best night of her week, coming here with Fitz and Cyrus. Luckily, Cyrus didn't seem to suspect anything. She and Fitz certainly never made their attraction for each other obvious in front of him; holding hands under the table was about as risqué as they got. Cyrus seemed to think that her love for trivia brought her here every Saturday, when in reality, that wasn't the whole truth anymore. Although she did like trivia, she mostly came here for Fitz.
Before she knew it, they were heading out at closing time, their night coming to an end. They said goodbye to Cyrus before heading the other way to his car. He opened her door for her and walked around to the driver's side. When he got in, he sat back in his seat, not starting the car yet. "Everything okay?" she asked. He nodded. "Yeah. It's just—these nights...with you. They go too fast" he said. She knew exactly what he meant.
"They do" she whispered. They sat in silence, not wanting their night to truly come to an end, when a thought hit her. "How do you feel about ice cream?" she asked. He looked at her funny. "Um...I feel very strongly about ice cream" he said with a smile. She giggled. "Then we should get some" she suggested. His smile grew bigger. "Okay," he said. He pulled out of the spot and started driving. They didn't discuss where they were going, but he seemed to have a place in mind.
About ten minutes later, he pulled into Ashley's Ice Cream Cafe. "I love this place!" she exclaimed. "Me too! Best ice cream in Connecticut, hands down" he said. They walked inside and ordered sundaes, just as they were closing. "It's okay, we can eat in the car," he said, taking her hand. They walked out of Ashley's Ice Cream Cafe, hand in hand with their ice cream, and got back in the car.
She immediately got déjà vu, as they sat in his car and ate their ice cream, remembering drinking their milkshakes and looking at the stars just a week before. They really did have the most fun doing such basic things. She was brought back to reality at the sound of him shifting the car out of park and into reverse. "Where are we going?" She asked. "Driving" he replied, putting his empty sundae dish in the cup holder. "How did you finish that fast!? It's been like five minutes!" She exclaimed.
"Hey, it was really good!" he said with a laugh. "You're right, it is pretty good," she said, taking a bite. "Let me try" he said, opening his mouth. She giggled and scooped up a huge spoonful, feeding it to him as he drove. "Mmm, strawberry. It's not better than hot fudge, but still good" he admitted. She looked at him happily as they cruised down the highway. It was fun, having no place to go; just driving with him.
"So this is what you do when you can't sleep? You just drive?" she asked, taking another bite. "Mhm. But I have to admit, it's much better having someone with me" he said. He opened his mouth again, wanting more ice cream. She happily obliged, feeding more to him. As they continued down the highway, she began to see Paxton Hills and knew they were almost back to campus again. Paxton Hills was the nicest apartment complex in the area, and probably in all of Connecticut. Only extremely wealthy people lived there, and everyone envied them.
"Ah, there's Pax" she said. "What's wrong with Pax?" he asked. "Nothing. They're all just so lucky. Do you think the inside is actually as nice as the pictures on the internet?" she asked curiously, finishing the last of her ice cream. "Yes" he replied. "Really? How come?" she asked. "Because I live there" he said. She grew pale. "Oh—I didn't...you—you live in Paxton Hills?" she asked in awe. "Mhm" he replied. She didn't know what to say, she couldn't believe he actually lived there.
She felt him look over at her, undoubtedly noticing that she was completely in awe. "Maybe you want to...um—do you...want to see it?" he asked, seeming a bit nervous. She perked up. "Are you serious?" she asked. He nodded. "I would love that" she said excitedly. He smiled. "Okay" he said, looking over his shoulder so he could switch lanes to take the exit he needed to take. She couldn't believe she was actually going to see a Paxton Hills apartment in real life. She felt like royalty. You couldn't even get in the place unless they knew you lived there, or had proof you were a guest of someone who did.
They got off the highway and took a right on Bennett Drive, which led them all the way there. It was even more breathtaking up close. It was composed of beautiful stone, in all different shades of gray. The architectural details on the corners of the building were intricate and so well done. "This is amazing," she said as he opened the door for her. "Yeah?" he asked. She nodded. He smiled and shut her door behind her.
As they reached the double set of French doors, the doorman greeted them warmly. "Good evening, Mr. Grant. Good evening, ma'am" he said, opening the door for them. "Same to you, Alex. Thank you" Fitz replied. "Thank you," Olivia said, walking through the door. Wow, she thought. They entered the lobby and her jaw dropped. It reminded her of something out of the Great Gatsby or something. The beautiful chandelier lit up the tall, large room; the light dancing across the gold wallpaper. The curtains were a deep red, reaching all the way to the floor. There was a large front desk, and many side tables around the spacious room, all made of a stunning cherry wood.
"You like it?" he asked, leading her to the elevator. "Oh my god" was all she could manage. He laughed as he hit the button for the sixth floor. When they reached his floor, she looked around at the wide hallways and all the tall cherry wood doors. Everything was so amazing. She followed him to the second to last door on the left, apartment 639. She stood close behind him as he got his keys out to unlock the door, and held it open for her.
She gasped at its beauty. It was enormous. The layout was fairly open, she could see a living room, a dining room, and the kitchen as she walked in, but all the rooms were absolutely huge. The design and decorations were simple, but perfect. "Wow," she said, looking around. He gave her a tour of his place, showing her all the main rooms and leading her down the long hallway off the living room.
He had two guest bedrooms and a bathroom, as well as his bedroom at the very end of the hall, which they didn't go in. "So is it as nice as the pictures online?" he asked, as they came back to the living room. "Definitely. Yes" she replied with a smile. "I'm glad you like it. You want anything to drink? I have lemonade" he said. She smiled. "I'd love some, thank you," she said. He walked behind the island towards the fridge to pour her some.
She wandered into the living room to look at all the books on his bookcase. It was stacked completely full, which she admired. She saw a lot of law and politics books, but some others that were clearly just for enjoyment too. She noticed a stack of dusty boxes in the corner by the bookshelf that looked like they hadn't been opened in years, which she found odd. He came back with lemonade for the both of them, handing hers over to her.
"Thank you," she said. "What's in these boxes?" she asked curiously. He looked down at them, seeming a bit hesitant. She figured they just had some old books in them that couldn't fit on the bookshelf, but based on his reaction, she wished she hadn't asked. "Do you wanna see?" he asked. Well, now she was very curious. She didn't want to seem nosy, but she couldn't really say no at this point, so she nodded.
He set his drink down on the table and grabbed the stack of boxes, bringing them over to the couch so they could open them. They took their coats off and sat down together, as he let her open the top box. There were lots of things inside, but her eyes were first drawn to a wooden box near the top. She looked at him for confirmation, and he nodded. So she opened it. Inside was a small revolver, with a nameplate under the lid that read:
Governor Fitzgerald Grant III
She figured it belonged to his father, but then she read the name again.
"Wait...this says Governor Fitzgerald Grant the third," she said. He nodded at her. "But that's you" she stated. "That is me" he replied. "Governor?" she asked. "Of California," he said. She was beyond confused. "But I thought...your dad...wait, what?" she asked. "My dad served two terms as governor. And...I served one" he said simply. "What!? Why didn't you tell us that?" she asked in awe, remembering the first day of class when he had told them that his father had been governor.
"I never do. That period of my life was...I wasn't...a happy person. Those years weren't so good to me, and I came here to get away from all of that. I don't want my students to think of me as a governor, I just want to be their professor" he said. She nodded. "I understand," she said. She felt that this was a very personal topic and didn't want to push him on it. "Well...just for the record, I think that's...amazing," she said quietly. He smiled. "Yeah?" he asked. "Yeah" she replied.
"So...not many people know, huh?" she asked. "Not many. The other professors in the department know, of course. And on occasion, someone will recognize me or a student will come ask me about it. It's not hard to google" he said with a laugh. "But otherwise, I try to keep it...in the past," he said. She nodded, continuing to look through the box. There were tons of newspaper clippings from his time as governor, which she thought were incredibly cool. She saw one with a picture of him on the front, looking so young. Underneath the picture in bolder letters read:
Fitzgerald Grant III, son of former Governor, Fitzgerald Grant II, becomes youngest Governor of California, and second youngest ever, sworn in at the age of twenty-seven.
Her jaw dropped. "Wow. Twenty-seven?" she asked. "Yeah. I got a job right out of law school at twenty-five, at Roberts Law Firm in Newport Beach. Worked there for a couple years, expanded my resume. I did everything my father asked me to do, married the woman he wanted me to marry, and there I was, being elected governor before I even knew what hit me" he said.
She was bombarded with so much information, it took her awhile to process it all. She was beginning to understand, though, why he didn't talk much about it. It was clear he didn't have the best relationship with his father, and was thrown into something he didn't necessarily want. It was all still extremely impressive to her, though. She was also beginning to understand where his wealth came from.
His family was undoubtedly well-off, plus she figured his law firm job had paid well. She saw another newspaper clipping of him and his father, and a beautiful brunette woman standing by his side. She took it out of the box and inspected it more closely, knowing that it must have been whom he had referred to earlier, the woman he had married. She decided it would probably be best not to ask about her, seeing that it didn't seem like he was a big fan of the woman.
They continued to look through the boxes together, getting closer and closer as they did so. He rested his arm behind her as they leaned close together, looking at news clippings. Eventually after they had gone through both boxes, they just leaned back on the couch, side by side, and he told her more about his life before he became a professor. "So then you just...left?" she asked.
"I did. I left everything behind in California; came back here to get my Masters in Political Science, and started teaching right off the bat when they offered me a position" he explained. "Wow. You've been quite a busy man" she said with a laugh. "I know! I'm happy that things have sort of settled down for me now. I like where I've ended up" he admitted. "I'm happy too. And I'm happy that you're here. You're an amazing professor" she said. She could see him blushing. "I'm glad you think so" he replied.
He looked at her for the longest time, not saying a word. Just looking. She smiled back at him as they sat there, bodies touching, turned towards each other. They were so close. She could see him looking down at her lips, and she found herself doing the same.
"I love being a professor, but...sometimes I wish I wasn't...your professor" he whispered. "Why?" She whispered back, never taking her eyes off him. He looked at her for a moment, seemingly contemplating what he wanted to say. "You know why," he said softly. And there it was. The confession. She knew she should leave. She should make him take her home right now. But she couldn't will herself to ask. She didn't want to. "You're right...I do. And you know it's mutual" she replied. Their faces were inches apart. "I do" he whispered.
She felt herself leaning forward, and saw him doing the same. Last time this had happened, Cyrus had interrupted them. But this time, there were no interruptions, and they didn't pull back.
The gap between them disappeared, they closed their eyes, and their lips met. His lips were so soft, and so warm. They felt good against hers. It started off as a fairly innocent kiss, but he soon pulled her bottom lip into his mouth and sucked on it gently. His hands, although hesitant, slowly pulled her closer to him. She shifted her body, swinging one leg over him so she rested in his lap as they made out, all sense of personal space gone.
It wasn't long before he gradually slipped his tongue into her mouth, grazing hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck, gently running her fingers through his hair. It was soft. So, so soft. He finally pulled back to look at her, both of them trying to catch their breath. "Is this...okay?" he whispered. Her heart melted, loving that he had asked. "Yes," she whispered back. He smiled and leaned back in, pressing his lips against hers once again. His hands, planted firmly on her hips, began to slide lower and lower, before he gently picked her up as he stood. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her from the living room, down the hallway, and into his dark bedroom.
She could barely process what was happening, she just focused on him. On his lips. On his body. She suddenly felt a softness beneath her, and she knew he had laid her down on his bed. She couldn't think straight, she just knew she wanted more. Her hands began to fumble with the buttons on his dress shirt, trying to get it off him as quickly as she could. She took it off and threw it to the floor, watching him strip his undershirt off as well. She ran her fingers along his strong, sculpted chest.
His fingers found the bottom of her shirt, so she sat up and lifted up her arms, letting him take it off. His hands reached around her body, unhooking her bra in one swift motion. She watched his eyes travel down her bare chest, his breathing becoming heavier. She reached for his belt, starting to undo it. She wanted all of his clothing off. And, it appeared he did too. She undid his jeans quickly and he slipped them off, leaving him in only his boxers.
"Lay back for me" he whispered. She laid back and watched as he moved to her waist, quickly sliding her skinny jeans off and throwing them to the floor. She pulled him back up to her lips, wanting to feel them against hers again. His tongue was instantly in her mouth again, fighting hers for dominance. He pulled away and started planting wet kisses down her neck, sucking gently on her soft skin. She knew he was leaving marks, but she didn't care.
He continued all the way down her chest until he reached her panty line. She breathed heavily, wanting more. "Don't stop" she pleaded breathlessly, grabbing his hair for support. He looked up at her for confirmation before he slid her underwear off slowly. He eyed her up and down, running his hands over her soft skin. She knew he could feel how wet he had made her, as his hands began to move to places they had never been before, touching her in ways he had never touched her before.
He made her feel so good, she never wanted him to stop. He also made her feel comfortable. She had always been a bit self-conscious of her body, feeling she didn't have big enough hips, or big enough breasts. But the way he looked at her made her feel beautiful, wanted. No sense of self-consciousness in sight. She wanted to see him, too. All of him. She reached down and tugged at the waistband of his boxers, letting him know that she wanted them off. He did what she wanted, slowly pulling them off.
The light from the hallway illuminated their bodies just enough, casting shadows on their bare skin. She breathed heavily, admiring his exposed body for the first time as he hovered above her. He smiled that soft smile she knew so well, and leaned his forehead against hers. He reached down and opened her legs wider, allowing himself better access. A moan escaped her mouth as he entered her slowly. He kissed her and intertwined his fingers with hers as their bodies became one.
His other hand traveled down her body and gripped her tightly while he made love to her. She dug her free hand into his muscular back, trying to keep herself from being too loud. But she couldn't help it, because man, was it good. So incredibly good. "Oh god, Olivia" he whispered breathlessly against her mouth, making it known that he felt the same way she did. Hearing him say her name in that moment turned her on immensely, and seeing how hard he was breathing because of her only added to her arousal. He continued to leave her wanting more, all night.
The Professor-Student line was officially crossed that night, in the most beautiful and intimate way possible. And despite how wrong they both knew it was, it didn't feel wrong. Needless to say, Fitz got the best sleep of his life that night, lying with Olivia in his arms, both of their bodies exhausted and bare.
She the student, and he, the professor.