Thank you all for the reviews! They really keep me motivated, especially when I get stuck. I'd like to say a special thanks to ScrapAddict for encouraging me and helping through my writers block. Thank you all so much for reading. I love you all!
Chapter 11 Shutting Off Autopilot
Fitz lead Liv though the impressive glass entrance of the hotel that was flanked on both side with beautiful stone work. His eyes darted around the ornate lobby as if he were searching for someone or something. Olivia's eyes followed his as they stopped on a beautiful leggy blonde standing near large white pillar on he far side of the lobby. She lifted her hand to wave at him, grinning as she made her way toward them. A large man leaning next to her against the two story column straightened to his full height before following behind her briskly. He was imposing with broad shoulders and thick muscular arms. Olivia was willing to bet that he had served in some branch of the military at some time in his life – probably the marines. Olivia's attention was directed back to the young woman as she stopped in front of them, while the hulk-like man stopped several paces behind her.
"Hey Kate. This is Olivia Pope. Olivia this is Kathryn Chase, my personal assistant and that is Tom Flynn, my head of security.", he said gesturing to Tom.
The women exchanged pleasantries before Fitz interrupted.
"Are we all set?"
"Absolutely. Here are your new keys Ms. Pope." Kate said, handing two plastic cards to Olivia.
"Your personal affects have already been moved from your old room."
"My old room?", Olivia asked, her eyes looking between Kate and Fitz.
"I've had you moved to the Presidential Suite.", he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Why?"
"You'll be spending a lot of time in your room for the next couple of days and I wanted to make sure that you are comfortable. The Presidential Suite has a separate dining area", he winked at her before continuing "A spacious sitting room and has a private hot tub on the terrace." His was looking at her – leaning into her – his head tilting down – as if proximity alone would allow some type of unspoken language between them.
Kate quietly watched Fitz's body language when he spoke to Olivia. She had known Fitz since she was five years old, and although she had seen him around many women through the years, she never saw him act like this around any woman. She knew that Fitz could be a bastard and a womanizer, but he was different with Liv. He was being … himself – the Fitz that few people ever got to see – and he was looking at Olivia as if she were the only woman in the universe.
Olivia said nothing, because she didn't know what to say. He turned his attention to Kate. "Has everything I request been delivered?"
"We are waiting for one last delivery from Barney's, but everything else has arrived."
Liv eyed Kate and Fitz curiously. She had no idea what was going on - something that she absolutely hated because she was a bit of a control freak.
"I left menus for the top sushi restaurants in the area on the dining table. Text me when you have your order together and I make the arrangements. Also, Lauren asked me to deliver your messages. They are on the desk. Cyrus said he will be stopping by within the hour."
"Call Mr. Beene and tell him that Ms. Pope isn't up to company tonight, and that we will be working from her suite tomorrow."
"OK . Will do."
"Thanks Katie. You deserve a raise."
"You aren't going to hear any arguments from me."
"Ms. Pope, it was great meeting you." Kate said.
"Fitz, I have a date tonight, so if you are going to need something tonight, please please please need it before 8."
"Did you have Tom do a background check on this guy?"
"Yes dad.", she mocked as walked away."
Fitz motioned for Tom to come closer.
"Hello Ma'am", he said extending his large hand to Olivia.
"It's nice to meet you Tom."
They started toward the elevators.
"You did a full background check on this guy?", Fitz asked Tom as Olivia continued to walk at his side.
"Yes Sir. He had a few parking tickets, otherwise he came up clean."
"Good."
"You really look out for your staff Grant. Are you trying to win employer of the year or something?"
He laughed. "Kate is a great personal assistant and they are hard to come by.", he paused for a moment watching for a reaction. When he didn't receive one, he continued, "She has been my sister Emily's best friend since their first day of kindergarten. When she decided to move to New York with Emily, I promised her father that I would keep an eye on her."
Liv smiled, tapping the up arrow with her index finger.
As they waited for the elevator to arrive, Fitz noticed Liv toying with her bottom lip. "Are you OK?", his voice filled with concern.
"I'm fine." Stepping into the elevator, she gripped the key card tightly in her hand and they stood in companionable silence for the remainder of the ride. Fitz could see that Olivia had something on her mind, but was reluctant to discuss.
They stepped off the elevator, and entered the suite while Tom stayed behind outside the door.
She walked a few feet before stopping and turned toward him.
"Why did you have my room changed?", she inquired calmly.
"I already told you. It has more room."
"That is a bull shit answer, and you know it." She took in the enormity suite. He did have a point. There was more room, but she didn't actually need more room. Her other room had a bed, bathroom, desk and a small table. That was really all she needed – aside from the mini bar.
"It's not a bull shit answer."
"I assumed that Edison would be flying to New York to stay with you. I thought that you would need more room, so I decided to book you a larger suite. When Edison said that he couldn't make it, I decided..."
"What do you mean, 'When Edison said he couldn't make it?", she interrupted him her voice laced with displeasure- possibly hurt or anger – or a mixture of the two.
Fuuckkk", he groaned inwardly. He didn't want to have this conversation. He refused to lie to her, but he wouldn't risk hurting her with the truth either. When he met her, he could see that she had sad eyes and he didn't want to contribute any additional pain to her life. He couldn't tell her that her husband would rather screw some whore than take care of his wife. He thought carefully about what he would say next.
"I called him from the hospital. I didn't know how badly you were hurt, but I thought he should know. I assumed he would want to come to stay with you for a few days."
"You assumed wrong, huh?", she said – her voice laced with sarcasm. She regretted speaking the words as soon as they left her lips. Tears were pricking at her eyes threatening to overflow onto her cheeks. She closed her eyes tightly, inhaling deeply. She couldn't understand why this still effected her like this – Edison being indifferent was not a new revelation to her. She was fine, and in reality, he really didn't need to be there. But, her mind flashed back to the times when she desperately needed his help – his support and sometimes just him. But he always had something more important – something was always more important than her. Her eyes felt full as she looked up toward the ceiling, trying to hide her watery eyes. She was not going to cry in front of her him. Instead she inhaled deeply and smiled like her life depended on it.
"Liv, why don't you call and ask him. I'm sure that he said he wasn't coming because I was the one who asked. The guy wouldn't take a life raft from me if he were drowning, not that I'm sure I would throw him one.", he added.. "I have the jet on standby in D.C. in case he changed his mind."
She was utterly shocked. "You sent a jet to D.C to pick up my husband to fly him here to spend time with me on the off chance he changed his mind?" Fitz simply nodded his reply looking down at her with his lopsided smile.
"Go ahead and call him Liv. The senate is in session tomorrow, so the jet will fly him here, he can spend the night with you and he can fly back to D.C. first thing in the morning. He will change his mind if you are the one asking him to come."
Liv shook her head. "He won't. I'm married to a senator. He has commitments and priorities." she said making an escape toward the bedroom, "I'm just not one of them." she mumbled quietly to herself, although he heard every word.
Before she knew it, Fitz was by her side.
"I need a five minutes." she said increasing her pace to get ahead of him, never turning to look at him. She was holding it together the best she could, but she was hanging on by a thread.
"You don't need to run Liv. "
She turned to face him. "I'm not running. I just need five minutes.", she said with all the fierceness she could muster – an angry fire blazing her her dark eyes.
He was entering the danger zone and knew it. The only way of breaking through her emotional fortress was a head on attack. If he pushed her too hard, she might bolt. He decided to take his chances. She was pissed at Edison, so the chances that she would leave for D.C. were slim.
"You're upset and you're running away because you can't bear to let anyone see what you consider weakness."
She opened her mouth to interrupt, but he continued.
"Your eyes are like a window into your soul Livvie. Everyone else might miss it, or ignore it, but I see it. I see you." He reached out, putting a hand on each cheek, tilting her head up – his gray eyes locking into hers. The warmth of his hand radiated over her entire body. She wanted desperately to free herself from him, but she found her feet rooted to the floor - her body unwilling to be without his touch.
"Today, I saw your joy, your excitement, your pain, your fear and your sadness. I get that you're a fixer, and that the 'showing emotion is weakness' bullshit comes with the job."
Finally, she regained some control over he body, pushing his hands away from her as if they were burning her skin. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about.", she hissed.
"I know exactly what I'm talking about."
"Who fixes you Liv? Who puts you back together when you're broken?"
"I fix me. That's who.", she said fiercely.
He sighed. "I've never had anyone on my side. To my parents, I've been a legacy or a disappointment. I'm a meal ticket to my co-workers and to the women in my life I'm a good fuck and a quick payday."
She wanted to interrupt, and tell him that he was wrong – but he probably wasn't.
"When something in my life needed fixing, I fixed it myself. I had no one to count on - no one on my side. So I drank, snorted and fucked my problems away. Sure, it fixed things temporarily. Now my world is crumbling around me, and I can't fix it alone anymore. I don't want the same thing to happen to you Liv. You deserve better."
She was stunned into silence. Maybe he did understand. She wanted to reach her arms up and wrap them around him. She wanted to put her mouth on his – to use her lips and tongue and hands to show him that she was on his side. But, she resisted. In that moment, there was no question that she would always be on his side. He saw her eyes begin to soften.
He took a step closer to her – and another – until he could feel the heat radiating between them. "Let me be on your side Livvie."
She nodded, tears were forming in her eyes, this time for a different reason.
He leaned down, placing his lips gently on her head and gave her a tender kiss. He let his hand slide down, gently running his finger tips over her cheek and cupping it his hand.
"Do you want to call him?"
She shook her head, trying desperately to get the words out.
"Not right now. He said he would call me later, so I'll talk to him then."
"OK. Would you like the 50 cent tour or your present?"
"I'm not passing up the present, Grant.", she said, forcing the saccharine smile back onto her face.
He walked over to the coffee table to retrieve the bag, holding it in front of him as Liv limped toward him. He thought about picking her up and carrying her to the couch. He was fully aware that once his hands felt the curves of her body – he would not be putting her down on the couch unless he was on top of her.
She reached for the bag, but he playfully pulled it away, leaving her grasping at air.
"Hey, hey, hey. There is a procedure here.", he said hoping that it would bring out her playful side. He loved when he could pull her out of whatever was going on in her head. He found her most alluring when she let her playful side show – he knew it was a part of her reserved for very few.
She stuck out her bottom lip into an exaggerated pout and batted her long eyelashes. "That isn't going to work on me Liv", he said running his finger gently along her bottom lip. Her breath caught as soon as his skin touched hers. Her lips parted slightly, a prelude to taking his finger into her mouth – trying to deepen their contact. He body was betraying her – craving his touch and doing whatever was necessary to get more of him. She fought to slow her breathing and take back control. He took her in. He knew that she thought he was giving her a bull shit line before about seeing all her emotions in her eyes, but he wasn't – he saw her. He saw that he was getting to her. He saw the want and the need that she was trying fight with every fiber of her being.
She sighed. "Fine, what is the procedure." she mocked lifting her fingers to put air quotes around the word 'procedure'.
"First, sit down." He helped guide her gently onto the plush couch before lowering himself next to her.
She looked at him expectantly. "Now, you need to say, 'Fitz, can I please have my gift now'?".
"Fitz, can I please have my gift now?", she purred in her most seductive voice. If he wanted to play games with her body, she was more than capable of playing them right back.
He felt his cock twitch in his pants and he moved the bag onto his lap to hide the erection that would surely occur if she spoke to him in that voice again.
"Close your eyes and put out your hands Liv."
He placed the mug into her hand. "Hmmm. Well... It's hard.", she said.
"Yes, it is. Nothing gets by you.", he joked. "Oh wait, you were talking about the mug weren't you?"
She opened her eyes, and holding the mug in one hand, she playfully smacked him on the arm with the other.
She looked down at the mug and couldn't contain her smile. It was quite possibly the most original gift that she had ever received.
"Is this supposed to be me making an ass out of myself?"
"Of course not Liv. It is supposed to be you hurting your ass.", he said pointing to the little orange stick figure flying off a flight of stairs. "See."
"I can't wait until you do something humiliating. I'm going to have a billboard made.", she joked with a mischievous smile.
"You don't think that my current predicament is humiliating enough? Have read a paper or turned on the TV in the last two days?"
"To be fair, I was thinking more along the lines of toilet paper on your shoe – not your sex life being dissected in national publications.", she said giving him a sympathetic smile.
"I know."
"I'm going to fix it Fitz.", she said trying to put his mind at ease. "My team is already working on it. So, consider it handled."
"Your team?"
"They are back in D.C. They are my gladiators."
"Gladiators, huh?"
"Mmmmm hmmmm. We are lawyers, but I don't exactly run a law firm As my friend Harrison would say, 'Law firms are for pansies'. We are gladiators and we solve problems, manage crises and save reputations."
"And why are these gladiators back in D.C. trying to save my reputation and not here with you?"
"Everything we need to do can be done from Washington. I am only here for a few days to make sure that you understand how things are going to work and then we will manage everything from D.C."
His head was spinning. Did she just say a few days? She was planning to leave in a few days? Leave him? He couldn't let that happen. He had to move his plan along. He needed to keep her here. His mouth was getting dry and he could feel his chest constricting. He had never had this kind of response to anyone before.
"Liv, I think there is a little more to it than Cyrus told you."
She sighed. "I assumed. I didn't think that Cy would drag me to New York just for this. For me to help you, you need to be completely honest with me." She was looking at him like a mother who found her son's stack of Playboys under the bed.
"I thought that Cyrus had explained to you that this was not a short term job offer."
He had her attention. He was going to run with this - hoping that the truth was going to be enough to make her stay. "This is not just about the IPO launch. I have a 6 year plan."
"OK. And that is?"
"Right before the IPO launch, I am going to step down and run for Governor of California. I planned to serve one term before running for president."
"You are in the middle of one of the biggest sex scandals since Bill and Monica, and you are planning a run for the presidency?", she said a hint of sarcasm evident in her voice.
"It has always been the plan Liv. A sex scandal was not part of the initial vision, but that is why I need you to get me through it. My father wants me to run after his second term is over. I need to do this. I can't always be the disappointment of the family." He paused before continuing, "Cyrus said you are the best. When this scandal is behind us, I want you to run my campaign."
"Fitz, I can honestly say that I am at a loss for words. I'm going to have to talk to my team."
"Just think about it Liv."
"OK.", she said as she tried to stand. She had to think – and when she had a lot on her mind – she had to pace. This was huge opportunity.
"You don't want the second part of your present?", his voice breaking into her thoughts.
"There's more?", she asked as her eyes focused on the bag situated on his lap.
"Yup. Come on." he said patting the seat next to him.
She slowly lowered herself back onto the cushion next to him. She was trying to focus on the bag, but he had just blown her mind with the possibility of heading a national campaign.
"Earth to Olivia." he joked as he moved her hands into the appropriate position in front of her. "Close your eyes."
He placed the bear into her outstretched arms. She slowly opened her eyes and let out a squeal.
"You got me a teddy bear", she said as she squeezed the soft bear into her.
"There is a theme here Livvie. You are missing the best part.", he said as he turned the bear around.
"Oh my God" she laughed as she looked at the two band-aids on the bear's backside. "This is fantastic Fitz. Where on earth did you find it?" The sound of her laughing paired with his name coming from her lips was almost enough to push him over the edge.
"I had some time to kill, so I decided to browse in the hospital gift shop."
"You found everything in the hospital gift shop?" she asked a little surprised.
"Mostly. I had to outsource for somethings.", he said, his lopsided smile alerting her to the fact that he was up to something.
"Well, he is perfect! I have a soft spot for teddy bears."
"Really? Do tell."
"When I was a little girl, I hated dolls, but I was obsessed with stuffed animals. I probably had at least a hundred of them. Our house was small, and I didn't have a lot of space in my room to keep them. One night when I was nine, my mother tried to smuggle some of them out of the house. I still remember waking up and seeing the big garbage bag full of stuffed animals that she was trying to drag out into the hall. I cried and cried, telling her that she was getting rid of my friends. After about an hour, she gave in and emptied the bag. The next morning, I lined all of my stuffed animals up and pinned a number to them. That way, she couldn't throw any of them out because I would know they were missing."
He couldn't help but smile. Fitz imagined a feisty young nine year old biting her lip and furiously pinning little numbers onto stuffed animals. "You were even a fixer back then.", he chucked.
"I guess I was."
"Did she ever get rid of them?"
"When I was a teenager. She practically skipped out to the garbage can. She hated the damn things.", Liv said thinking back to that day.
Fitz pulled a pen out of his inside jacket pocket. He flipped the bear over and wrote a 1 on the small tag attached to the bottom of the bear.
"Just in case you need to keep track of this guy."
There were so many thoughts filling her head – so many things that she wanted to tell him – but she couldn't figure out how to formulate her thoughts into coherent sentences. She had this strange feeling – something she couldn't describe. Suddenly it hit her. She was happy. She had been living her life on autopilot for so long, that enjoying herself was completely foreign to her.
"So, are you getting hungry?", he asked pulling her back into the present.
"I'm starved."
They perused the menus, finally deciding on a variety of rolls to share. Fitz texted his assistant their order as Olivia smiled down at her bear. Fitz had surprised her today. Cyrus had told her that he was something special, but not she was a believer. She leaned back into the couch and wondered what other surprises Fitz had in store for her tonight.
