Chapter 12, in the loom
8 years ago
Clarissa storms into the hallway where groups of kids are socializing but see her coming and move out her way immediately. You could not cross paths with a cheerleader, especially Clarissa.
She stopped in front of a locker of guys who were laughing, amongst them was Kane.
"We need to talk." She snapped at him and then looked at his jock friends, "Scram Steroid mafia!" The Jock laughed then walked away. Kane grinned the tried to hold Clarissa's waist and pull her closer but Clarissa pushed him back.
"I'm pregnant!" Clarissa hissed at him. Kane's face went cold and looked at her with stone eyes.
"What…" Kane said slowly.
"You heard me." Clarissa snapped at me, "I'm not dealing with this on my own."
"No of course not." Kane said pulling her closer, "I'll handle this, we will handle this Jean, I promise."
Clarissa fell into his comfort and felt complete. It felt surreal.
"I promise…
"I promise…
"I promise…"
Present day
Clarissa's eyes flew open and she looked around at her surroundings. It was not her apartment, this place was small, given so was her but it was warmer colors and smelt of strong musk. She pulled the blanket closer to her to get warmer. The smell was warm and comforting, the same way it felt years ago.
She moved around in the bed and looked to the left of the bed where Tom was walked in with a cup of coffee in his hand.
He sat beside the bed and looked at Clarissa who tried to smile but her face hurt too much to even comprehend.
"Did we…" Clarissa could not even finish that sentence.
"No," Tom laughed, "We didn't even sleep in the same bed."
"Where'd you sleep?"
"On the couch." Tom smiled, "I didn't know where you lived, so I just brought you here."
"And my date didn't come looking for me?" Clarissa yawned as she said that.
"You mean the future Governor of Ohio?" Tom smiled and looked at her, "What was that all about anyway."
"Ag, let's not go there." Clarissa grumbles and sips the coffee that Tom has made for her.
"Thank you for last night and now. I don't usually get drunk and when I do…"
"It's your birthday." Tom sighed. Clarissa looked down then smiled at Tom. Tom smiled back and leaned in to kiss her. Clarissa smiled against his lips and pulled back, "I have to go."
"I guessed as much." Tom smiled and stood up, "You need a ride to the office."
"Pretty much," Clarissa smiled then noticed for the first time that she was wearing Toms shirt and her underwear, "How did I get in this shirt?" Clarissa asks raising her eyebrows.
Tom's face went red and he smiled shyly, "I mean you couldn't sleep in that dress. The material would have clearly been uncomfortable."
"I'm a person who can survive that amount of discomfort." Clarissa glares at him, "But I'm not going to pretend like this did not happen and you going to borrow me a pair of sweats."
"I can do that." Tom nodded fast and walked to his closet and turned to look away from a woman he could think of loving.
#
"You're not serious?" Rowan hissed through the phone while Cyrus spoke to him about Olivia's progress.
"It's true Rowan," Cyrus spat through the phone, "We had a deal."
"I will deal with this." Rowan snapped at him, "I had other stuff to deal with too."
For the past couple of days since his encounter with his ex-wife, he's been on red alert. He's been trying to get back into wonderland without being noticed by Jake Ballard, but even Ballard is smarter than that, then trying to track down his wife was another problem. So Rowan settled for keeping Quinn and Charlie (who now wore nice arm brace due to the fact Maya shot him nicely) busy by allowing them to track her down.
"You better handle it Rowan." Cyrus growled.
"Don't tell me what I must and mustn't do." Rowan snapped at him then hung up when Olivia walked out her bedroom and saw her father in her living room.
"Dad?" Olivia said confused, "What are you doing here?"
"I can't come check how my daughters doing." Rowan smiles and kisses Olivia's cheek, "I want to make sure you're also taking your medication."
"Oh, um," Olivia looked away from Rowan, "I stopped. I went to Dr. Carter yesterday. Twice."
"Twice?"
"The first time was for…something and the second time was to pick up a prescription for my medication," Olivia says, "She says that she prescribed that medication to me. She's taking it to the lab to see what it is."
Rowan's face was drained of color.
"Are you ok Dad?" Olivia asked. Rowan just smiled and looked away from Olivia.
"Did she say when the tests would be ready?" Rowan asked and looked at Olivia.
"Well it is Saturday today." Olivia shrugged," We'll have to see wont we. I don't want to be rude Dad, but I have to get ready for the dress fitter whose coming today."
Rowan smiled until Olivia went into her bedroom. He took his phone out and dialed.
"Charlie," He hissed, "You need to take out Dr. Vanessa Carter for me."
#
When Clarissa walked into OPA wearing oversized shirt and sweat pants, she saw Harrison sitting at the briefing table with Kane.
"Nice clothes." Harrison said as Kane smiled at her.
"It's Saturday." Clarissa said, "Where's Abby?"
"She has a dress fitting with Olivia." Harrison smiled, "Have you and Mr. Phillips met Clarissa?"
"Yes." Kane said as Clarissa said, "No."
Kane glared at Clarissa and said, "I met her yesterday."
"Oh," Harrison said, "Well Delphos was a waste of time. Jean's completely off the grid. Whatever happened to her or the baby, no one will ever know. Her parents have pretended like she never existed. There's not even a single picture in the house of them with a daughter."
Clarissa looked at Kane and looked down.
"She was good at disappearing." Kane shrugged, "So what now?"
"Now we continue with the campaign." Harrison stands up, "I'll keep you posted. Shall we say Monday we meet again?" Harrison shook his hand and walked out the briefing room leaving Kane and Clarissa alone.
"You disappeared last night." Kane said standing.
"We had a deal," Clarissa said, "I go with you to the President's birthday and you leave me alone. Now stink to your end of the bargain." Clarissa turns as her phone rings.
"Hello?"
"Eli is up to no good again." Maya says.
"Where have you been?" Clarissa snaps at her phone walking into Olivia's empty office.
"I've been busy hiding," Maya says harshly, "He's been looking for me but with the software you implanted in his phone, I've been keeping tabs on him."
"Good because your husband is out of control." Clarissa sighs, "What's new?"
"He's asked Charlie to kill the doctor."
"What?" Clarissa gasps.
"Olivia went back to Dr. Carter after her meeting with POTUS." Maya explained, "From what I can see, Olivia wanted to know why the medication she received was not working. Dr. Carter looked at the medication and explained to her that she didn't prescribe them to her. They are taking it to the lab to see what it is. Olivia told Rowan, Rowan isn't happy."
"Of course he's not." Clarissa sighs, "I need you to take out Charlie."
"I can do that." Maya says then sighs, "Clarissa…Happy Birthday."
Clarissa glares at the phone, "My birthday was yesterday." Clarissa then hangs up and looks at her clock, it was past ten. She missed Tom.
#
Abby opened the door as the dressmaker from Allure Bridals helped Olivia choose a dress along with Sabrina aka Lana aka Rowan's little helper.
"Fitz, I mean Mr. President?" Abby gasped letting him in.
"Thank you Miss Whelan." Fitz smiled and walked to the living room where there was a rack of dresses. Olivia was not in the room, she was in her bedroom. Lana and the dressmaker gasped at the presence of Fitz.
"Mr. President!" Lana gasps, "What are you doing here?"
"I'm a dear friend of Miss Popes." Fitz explained, "She asked me to help her choose a dress for her…um big day."
"Oh," Lana smiles slightly as the Dressmaker beams at Fitz, "I'm Lana, the wedding planner. This is Doris from Allure Bridals." Fitz shakes hands with both women.
"It's so nice to meet you sir." Doris smiled at Fitz as she shook his hand.
"Likewise." Fitz smiled, "I hope this isn't going to uncomfortable for you."
"Actually-" Lana began but Abby interjected.
"Not at all Mr. President." Abby smiled then smirked at Lana, "It would be great to have a man's view on all this, especially one who has known Liv as long as I have."
"Well I don't know if a Man's view is a good to have." Fitz smiled.
"But we'll take it." Olivia said from behind Fitz walking through the hallway wearing a silk dress that came flowing down. She beamed when she saw Fitz.
Fitz was lost for words when he saw her, she looked beautiful, she glowed, and he couldn't even comprehend how this beauty had once been his.
"Liv…Livvie…" Fitz tried to say but he just gazed at her, "You look…"
"Elegant," Doris smiled and walked up to her to make some adjustments, "Graceful."
"Perfect." Fitz whispered and Olivia turned to gaze at him.
The lump grew in Fitz's throat. He had always thought that the first time he would see Olivia in a wedding dress, it would be on their wedding day while she walked a long aisle on her way to the alter where he would meet him.
Olivia looked in the mirror trying to avoid looking at Fitz.
"Omigod," Olivia breathed, "I look like my mother."
"She must have had such beautiful taste." Doris smiled, "This is a classic and-"
"I don't want it." Olivia said stopping her from talking.
"What?" Doris asked.
"It's not for me." Olivia said and looked at the rack and took another dress, "I'll try this one on." Olivia turned on her heel towards her bedroom.
"Let me go and talk to her." Fitz said and when Lana tried to stop him, Abby stopped her.
When Fitz entered the bedroom and closed the door behind him, he saw Olivia still in the dress looking out the window.
"She told me when I was nine, that when I got married I could wear her dress." Olivia sighed, "And that my father wouldn't walk me down the aisle, she would."
"You miss her." Fitz sighed sitting down on her bed.
"Yeah," Olivia sighed, "She used to make me popcorn every time I was sad. Even if we were out, she would run to the store and make it happen."
"Liv," Fitz said sincerely, "You don't have to wear this dress because it reminds you of your mother-"
"No, it doesn't remind me of her, it reminds me that she's gone" Olivia said firmly, "And I have no one to turn to about anything anymore because she was my best friend."
"You have me." Fitz smiled. Olivia looked at him and couldn't contain herself; she went up to him and kissed him fiercely. She held his face as Fitz held her waist.
"We're ready to see the next one." Olivia and Fitz jumped as Lana opened the door and saw them kissing, "Oh!"
"I should go." Fitz said standing up and walking slowly past Lana and storming out. Lana stood in front of Olivia.
"It's not my business." Lana said forcing a smile.
"Please don't tell anybody." Olivia said, "I don't even know what's going on."
"I'm very loyal to your father," Lana smiled, "I won't tell a soul, if you promise to end it."
"What?"
"Come on Olivia," Lana shook her head, "The man's married. He's the leader of the free world. You need to be realistic. Stop making something happen that won't happen. Edison is a good man."
"You're speaking out of turn here." Olivia said harshly.
"Take it any way you want." Lana shrugged, "But takes my advice, stop this think you have going on with POTUS."
"Are you coming out Liv?" Abby asked from the door.
"Yes." Olivia said looking at Lana, "I'm coming out."
Olivia walked into her bathroom to change. Abby walked out. Lana took her phone out.
"Rowan, I've handled it." Lana smirked.
#
"Clarissa," Maya sighed over the phone that night.
"Is it done?" Clarissa asked.
"No, it's done. But the doctor and Charlie are dead. Someone beat me to it." Maya looked at Dr. Carter's body on her office floor with a knife in her back and on top of her was Charlie's whose clothes were all missing and his eyes were wide open but with a single hole in his head that had blood slowly pouring out whereas the Doctor was pouring out with blood.
"What?"
Maya looked at Dr. Carter's desk, "And they took the results."
#
Lauren walked into Fitz' office where he was busying himself with a drink.
"Sir, he's here." Lauren nodded.
"Send him in Lauren." Fitz said not looking up. Fitz heard someone walk in and close the door.
"It's done Sir."
Fitz looked up and smiled, "Thank you Jake…drink?"
"I won't say no." Jake smiled.
Oooh bet you didn't see that coming…
Hehe, let me know what you think and please follow if you are not already.
I hope you enjoyed it, promise to post another juicy chapter soon.
Chani
