I am not a therapist nor have I ever been to one. This chapter is all just my imagination. Please bear that in mind.

Getting It All Out

On Monday morning Lila showed up at the Grant home just like she had been doing for months now. She got herself a cup of coffee, settled down on the couch, and turned on the television to wait for Lincoln to wake up, just like she had been doing for months now. The house was quiet without the sounds of Lincoln's babbling and laughter to fill it up, and instead of enjoying the silence, Lila hated it. There was tension in the air of the Grant home and while everyone most definitely felt it, no one spoke about it.

Her daughter and son in law had just come into the kitchen and silently each got a cup of coffee of their own to sip on while heading to wherever they were going to spend a few hours together. Lila knew they needed this time to talk with each other about the ugliness that they both had just been through with the ugly man who had put his hands on her daughter. Lila also knew doing so would strengthen their marriage and bring them even closer to each other. Lila was proud of the way Olivia and Fitz handled things that came their way and knew this was no exception. She expected the tension to be gone when they returned.

Olivia sat down on the couch beside her mother and put her head on her momma's shoulder. "We're going to drive to one of the marinas to talk. Fitz wanted to go to the beach, because he knew it was the one place that relaxed me more than any other. But I didn't want to bring that asshole to my happy place. So, he suggested the marina instead. It's still the water."

Lila looked over at Fitz, who was sitting at the table, trying not to eavesdrop on their conversation. He winked at his mother in law. "Fitz is a smart man, Liv. He knows the best way to take care of you." She gently nudged her daughter's head and Olivia looked at her. Lila smiled kindly at her and put her hands on her daughter's cheeks. "You need to talk to each other and get all of this behind you. Tell him everything. How you felt, what you thought, what was said. Everything."

Olivia nodded silently.

"And you listen to him when he talks. He needs to get things off his chest too, baby. He felt things, thought things, and heard things too. He needs to be heard. It's not going to be easy for you to say the things you need to say, and it's not going to be easy to hear the things he needs to say. But it will make the both of you stronger. Stronger than you already are. It will also help you both to heal, and I know you both want that more than anything. You need to be able to get back to living the life you had before all of this happened. I want that for you and Fitz. And Lincoln. Do you understand?"

Olivia hadn't even left the house yet and she already felt like bawling. This was going to be an emotional day, but also a necessary one. "It does. Thank you, momma. We'll have our phones with us if you need anything at all." She hugged her mother and stood up, joining her husband at the door before walking outside to leave.

They made it to the marina after fighting through congested morning traffic. They both voiced their thanks for not having to go to work, but otherwise, the conversation was light in the car. Both Fitz and Olivia were both lost in their own thoughts about the conversation they were about to have. How do you attempt to start to talk about what they had been through? Who would start things off? And would sitting by the water with each other, discussing your feelings really be enough to put an end to it? Neither one of them knew, but they wanted to try, and that was a great starting point.

Fitz paid the attendant and parked the car. The lot was still very empty so they had their choice of spaces. He got out and walked around to the passenger side of the car and opened the door for his wife. Olivia stepped out and Fitz extended his hand to her, which she willingly took. It was still a little brisk outside, but the weatherman promised a beautiful early summer day and each silently hoped the sun would provide a warm reception of words.

Before they started to make their way down to the water, Fitz pulled Olivia into his arms and just held her tightly. She laid her cheek against his chest and took a deep breath in and out. He felt strong and warm and simply hers. It steadied her and Olivia held him even tighter.

Fitz closed his eyes and just enjoyed this feeling of oneness with her. Eventually he pulled away from the tight embrace, but kept his arms around her and gave Olivia a smile. "We're in this together. And we're going to get through this together. There is nothing you can't say to me or tell me. I love you and you mean more to me than anything in this world. I want you to feel safe and more importantly, I don't want you to live in fear. He doesn't get to take that away from you. No one does. Okay?"

Olivia smiled at up at the treasure of a man she got to call her husband. He truly was one in a million and she loved him more deeply and in so many more ways than she even fathomed a person could love another. "Okay. But the same goes for you. I know there are things about this whole nightmare that you need to get off your chest too. And I want you to be able to say whatever you need to me about it. We'll probably yell some and cry some, but like you said, we're in it together and we'll get through it together. And I just want to put it behind us after today if it feels resolved when we're done talking. And if it doesn't feel that way, then I want to talk to someone who can help us get to that point. Someone professional. But I've got to be able to go back into my office sooner or later and not be freaked out by what went on in there. Or walk the halls and not wonder if I'm going to see his face pop around the corner. You know what I mean? I don't know if us talking about it will accomplish that, but I want to try."

"Then let's go try." He took her hand again and led her down toward the water.

Fitz sat down and Olivia sat in front of him, leaning against his chest. They watched the bright orange yellow glow from the sun play on the surface of the dark blue water for a while in silence. Fitz could practically hear his wife thinking out loud, but he wanted to give her space and time to get her thoughts together. They had all the time in the world and he wasn't going to rush a single moment.

Finally, she admitted, "I don't really know how to start talking about it."

Fitz shrugged. "Just say whatever's on your mind."

"I didn't know he was anything more than an asshole. I mean, the first time I met him –and I'm going to refer to him as him because I'm not saying his name –but the first time I met him, I interrupted Abby and Yvonne ogling him from behind my couch. They thought he was handsome and I agreed that he was."

Fitz stiffened some, but remained quiet.

"But he kept calling me Miss instead of Mrs. almost every single time we spoke. It was really annoying. Like he was doing it on purpose." Olivia thought about that for a moment and realized it was true. "Anyway, he was very confident in himself too. I know most lawyers are like that and that's basically what I brushed it off as at first."

"Did you join them in the ogling?" Fitz asked quietly.

"What? No! It wasn't like that. It was more like, yea he's handsome, but so what? I remember telling them that someone was going to come along and knock him down a peg or two. Something like that. His ego was off the charts."

Fitz knew he shouldn't, but he was actually glad that he was the one to knock the asshole- and that is what he was going to refer to him as – down a peg or two. "Okay, so what is the next encounter you remember having with him?"

"We had a meeting scheduled with the team for that morning and he walked up to the door just before Yvonne and I got there. He held the door for us. For some reason that annoyed me, but I was pleasant. And then he did it again."

"Did what?"

"He called me Miss Grant, and this time I know he did it on purpose!" Olivia's voice was getting louder and she stopped to take a breath while Fitz rubbed her shoulders.

"Did you do anything? Say anything to him?" He felt her relax some and it settled him as well.

"Yea. I corrected him again. I told him if it was so hard to remember that he could call me Olivia." She shuddered and it had nothing to do with the cool morning temperature. "That made it even worse."

"How is a man calling you by your first name worse than calling you by the wrong surname?"

"It was the way he said it. He made it sound personal. Like...I had just given him permission to watch me take a bath or something. It felt...dirty somehow." Olivia felt Fitz stiffen again. She wished she could spare him the things that she was sharing, but knew going through it step by step, like he was apparently leading her, was the best way to remember it. "I can't really explain it better than that."

"I see what you mean. Did he behave himself while you were all in the conference room? He probably had to, right? Too many people there to pull anything?" Surely the asshole wasn't that bold?

"He asked me when I would need him to assist me in court and when I said I would let him know, he said he was at my complete disposal. Fucking weirdo! I reminded him that we were a team and we all worked together."

"And that was the end of that?" Fitz asked.

"No."

"What could he have done in front of your team?" Fitz sat up and Olivia turned to look at him.

"He waited until everyone left the room."

"I don't understand why I am hearing all of this for the first time, Liv? You told me that night that he was an asshole who was hitting on you without actually hitting on you. What you just described is not typical asshole behavior. It's fucking stalker-ish." Fitz knew his voice was getting louder but he couldn't hide his frustration at the news.

"We worked in the same building, for the same firm, Fitz. How is it stalker-ish if he spoke to me while on the job? That makes no sense! And it's certainly nothing out of the ordinary."

"It makes no sense to me that this asshole wasn't shut down on day one when he started giving you creepy vibes by someone like me...or...Stephen!" He pushed to his feet and started pacing. "You felt something off about him right from the beginning, and while I'm not judging you, I'm just asking why didn't you talk to someone about it?"

"I DID!" She yelled. "If you would let me finish without screaming at me, that would be helpful."

"I'm sorry. I just fucking hate knowing that it got to the point where he put his hands on you! I'm not blaming you. I'm blaming myself." Fitz took a deep breath and calmed down some. "I'm sorry. I'll try to be more patient. So, what did this dickhead do or say next?"

Olivia sighed loudly. "He invited me to lunch. He said he wanted to discuss the case more in depth or something like that, but we literally just talked through the entire case with the whole team, so I declined. I also told him that I work through lunch when I can so I can go home to my family. I hoped he would get the picture." Olivia tried to recall if anything during that exchange was suggestive or could easily be misunderstood by Aaron. Nothing came to mind. "I was very clear with him from the beginning that I was not interested, that I was married, and that I wasn't going to put up with him acting inappropriately. I honestly can't think of anything he could have taken the wrong way."

"I have no doubts that you were crystal clear with him, Liv. He had his own thoughts and ideas though and apparently wasn't going to be deterred from them." He looked into her troubled brown eyes and said, "You didn't do anything wrong. Get that idea out of your mind and stop asking yourself if you did. It was all him. You have to know that."

"I never felt like I said anything misleading or acted unprofessionally with him. But it definitely has me re- thinking everything I said or did in his presence. It's very unnerving. But at the same time, I want to be absolutely sure that my conscience is clear." Olivia hated that she had to second guess herself, but a small part of her thought it was probably a good thing to do every so often, to keep herself from getting too comfortable. Just like he had been accused of.

"I remember you leaving early the next morning. You had to go to the police station to talk to the investigating officer about something to do with the case. And asshole was going to meet you there. Tell me about that." Fitz was trying to be encouraging, without accusing. He supported his wife one hundred percent and knew that his leading her through the events that took place might sound accusatory, but it was the opposite. He wanted her to think it through step by step to feel more confident in how she handled it so that the niggling thoughts of what if wouldn't linger in her mind. He hoped she understood what he was doing.

Olivia stood up and walked toward the water, taking her time to gather her thoughts. "We got some great news for the case and he seemed perfectly normal. No weird innuendos, no snide comments, nothing. I asked him if he wanted to grab some breakfast and we stopped at McDonalds." She turned to look at her husband and added, "I wanted to go to the bakery, but it was too early and I knew you wouldn't be there yet. Anyway, it was very" She shrugged. "Normal. He saw the picture of Lincoln on my credit card as I paid, I told him how you and I met, we talked about how he never wanted kids. It was a very normal conversation I would have with anyone at the office. And for the record, I spoke about you and Lincoln a lot. I was not interested in him. I wasn't acting like a single woman in any way. He knew I was happily married and had a baby and that I loved my family. I was clear on that, Fitz!"

He went to her and ran his hands up and down her arms. "Babe, I don't doubt that you did. I have zero doubts about you having feelings for him or that you lead him on somehow. No. I'm here to help and to listen so we can move forward. We can't do that until we've dealt with what's behind us. So, stop. You don't have to reiterate to me that you didn't send out signals to him. I was more jealous of an imaginary Alexander than I ever was this asshole." He dipped his head to her eye level and gave her a small smile.

"Okay. So, when we got back to the office Yvonne and Abby were in mine and they were pissy because I had ruined their morning routine of checking him out."

Fitz chuckled and shook his head. "I love those crazy women."

"Yea. Anyway, that was when I told them that something seemed off about him. We talked about it and they seemed to listen to me and took what I said to heart. They said they would keep an eye out for me when he was around. They seemed to be concerned because I was concerned. We were on the same page about him. And then he was in my door and the shit hit the fan."

"What do you mean? Is that when Abby let him have it?"

"Oh yea. And it wasn't pretty. She set him straight and left no room for wondering what she meant."

"I've always appreciated that about Abby. She's a straight shooter. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall at that moment."

"She told him that he needed to stop being casual about our names. We were to be called Mr. or Mrs. That the office wasn't a place to be so friendly around other employees or the partners. He was pissed off and embarrassed and apologized, but it was obvious that he was seething under it. If I'm honest, Abby should have addressed those things with him alone, not in front of us. It wasn't dealt with very professionally. But I know she was trying to make a point or an example of him. Maybe she just wanted me to know that she had taken care of the situation? I don't know. After he left, that's when I called you to let you know I'd be running late."

She immediately got quiet and Fitz knew why. He put his finger under her chin and lifted her gaze to his. "Do not shut me out now, Olivia. This is the hard part. Don't crawl inside of yourself like you probably really want to do. Stay with me and talk it out." She looked into his crystal clear blue eyes and nodded before walking away from him.

The brisk morning had warmed up considerably by now and Olivia shed her jacket, throwing it on a bench nearby. She needed a minute to calm down. And she really didn't want to be touched while they discussed the rest of it. She took a nervous deep breath in and let it out. She described the rest in a monotone voice. "We went into the conference room because Stephen had good news about the case. He sat well away from me but kept shooting me angry looks from across the room. We had secured a new witness and it was looking like this case would be a win. Everyone was excited. When the meeting broke up, lots of hugs and handshakes were given by almost everyone. It was all very normal feeling to me. We had reacted like that to great news for a case a million times before and it was never misconstrued."

Olivia crossed her arms in front of her chest and stood there gazing at the water trying to make sense of it all. Nothing made sense about it. "I can see where he got mixed messages."

"Liv..." Fitz began.

"No, I can." She turned around to look at him. "One minute Abby berates him for being too casual at the office, and the next minute we are all hugging each other like old friends. It sends a mixed message and someone who is new to the firm would definitely be confused by that. I'm not saying he was right. I'm saying I can see where the uncertainty on his part could have been felt."

"Olivia, you are a partner of that firm. You have every right to act the way you always have in the past with the other partners. They are your friends away from work too. He was new and he stepped over a line. There is nothing wrong with him being called out for his behavior. It's normal office practices. I am not going to let you excuse the way he acted because that asshole saw everyone acting the same way he was talked to for acting. That's not on you."

"I know it's not on me. But it does send a mixed message, doesn't it? It says we can do what we like, but you'd better get in line and do what's expected. We should act like co-workers when we are at work, and friends when we are away from the office. I think it should be addressed in front of everyone at work."

"That's probably a good idea. I'm sure that there will be a lot of things discussed at your office with all of the staff after the news of this incident makes its way around." Fitz wanted to keep them on track and veered the conversation back to the topic at hand. "What happened after the meeting broke up?"

"He said he wanted to talk to me. That he had questions only I could answer. So, I told him we could talk on the way to my office and finish it on the way to our cars as we left for the day. I had no idea."

"That sneaky bastard!" It was Fitz's turn to walk away. He bent down and picked up a few rocks and threw them as far as he could into the water. He knew what was coming and he really didn't want to hear it. He needed to, but he wasn't looking forward to it at all. And he knew Olivia wasn't looking forward to speaking it out loud either. Knowing this man, this...asshole, had used his wife's helpful nature to get her alone so he could hurt her, was almost more than Fitz could process. Still, he was just a bystander. Olivia was the one who went through it. It would be harder on her than him by far.

When the rocks were gone, and he felt somewhat calmer, Fitz turned to face Olivia. He could see the fear on her facial features and went to where she stood. He held his arms open and she went into them without hesitation. They both felt better for it. "So you went into your office. Then what happened?"

"I noticed that he was intentionally blocking my door, so I made up an excuse to leave my office. But he didn't buy it and wouldn't budge." She felt Fitz tighten his grip on her and it made her feel safer as she recalled every single thing as her stomach twisted. "He wanted to know why I called him by his first name but Abby had chewed him out for doing the very same thing. I told him to talk to Abby since she had been the one who addressed it with him."

"That seems reasonable. What did he say?" Fitz asked.

Olivia's voice was barely a whisper. "He yelled at me. He screamed 'I'm asking you!' It rattled me so I told him that the reason I called him by his first name was because no one else was around. If other employees had been around, I would have addressed him as Mr. Huggins." She picked her head up off of his chest and said, "It was like he was back to being the normal version of himself. He politely said thank you. It was very strange. Then I tried to leave again, but he said he had another question for me."

"Which was?"

"He wanted to know why I called Stephen by his first name in front of everyone in the conference room?"

"Jesus! Why was he so twisted up in names and titles? I already hate his nit picking over it and I wasn't even there! I think you're right by the way. I think that is something that should be addressed with everyone at the office. If it was this easy for him to get bent out of shape over, it could happen again."

"Exactly!" Olivia tried to pull out of his arms, but he wasn't ready for the separation. "He took a step towards me. I apologized for the way it looked and he asked me if the rules applied to me? And then he suggested that we finish the conversation on our way to our cars. I really thought I would walk out the door, run for my car, and go home. He kept going between being super mad to apologetic. He...wanted to talk about the case. Out of the blue. He wanted to talk about the case again. I told him I was going home and he said I owed it to him. That's when he grabbed my arm."

"And that's when I got there. I was beyond pissed off that this...guy had his hand on you!" Fitz spat out angrily.

Olivia looked up at him with a confused face. "You know, you never told me why you came by the office? I'm beyond relieved that you did, but why were you there?"

Fitz smiled at her and leaned down to rest his forehead on hers. "You sounded exhausted on the phone when you called me. I thought I would bring you some dinner and we could have a picnic in your office. It turns out that ants aren't the peskiest things at a picnic."

"Did you just make a joke in the middle of my story?" She asked.

"I'm sorry." Fitz said.

"It's okay. I was done. You were there for the rest of it. It was scary, you know? It was almost like I was dealing with two different people and I didn't know which one I was going to be dealing with at any given moment. I think that was the scariest thing. Obviously, aside from being alone with him in the building. He did a number on my head, turning on the charm at times and screaming at me at other times."

"As much as I hated to hear you re-live those moments by telling me, you didn't break down when you told it. You weren't cold, you were affected by simply telling me everything, but you handled it perfectly. You answered his questions, you didn't bait him into anger further, and you tried to stay calm yourself through the entire thing. I'm pretty damned proud of you, Liv and you should be proud of you too."

"I'm pretty proud of you for taking care of me and keeping me safe. It could have been so much worse if you hadn't shown up and I..."

Fitz put his index finger on her lips to keep her quiet. "We aren't going to talk about what could have been. The facts are bad enough without us adding more scary shit to them."

"You're right about that. You haven't really shared too much about what you're thinking. Do you have anything you'd like to say?" Olivia took his hand and led him to sit down on a bench facing the water.

"Of course I do. I want you to pay better attention when something or someone gives you creepy vibes. Or any kind of an off feeling. It's more than female intuition, but it's there for a reason and part of the reason is to keep you safe. You need to make sure Yvonne is in your office at all times when you are with a client or co-worker that you don't know very very well. Anyone new, and she'd better be sitting on your lap the whole fucking time or I will come down there and cause a scene that will embarrass everyone! That's not a threat, Liv. It's a promise.

I know you are a big girl and can take care of yourself. I unequivocally trust that you are able to do that. But you need to be more aware of your surroundings when you're at work. Not fear stricken, but aware. Don't be the last one to leave at the end of the day, unless it's an emergency. And if it has to happen, make sure someone stays with you.

And last but not least, you need to remember that we don't keep things from each other. You gave me very little information about this asshole, and because of that, I didn't worry about him. You should have shared everything with me, from the beginning. I'm not blaming you in the least. But I don't expect this to happen again." He led her to a bench and held her hand. "We tell each other everything. And it hurts that you didn't tell me about his past behavior until today. You should have."

Tears finally started to fall down Olivia's face and she couldn't look Fitz in the eye. But she nodded her head in agreement with what he had just said. Looking down at her lap, she said. "You're right. I should have told you. I just assumed I could handle it myself. I never dreamed it would end up being this big of a situation." She wiped her eyes and slowly raised her head so her eyes could connect with his. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you sooner. But it won't happen again. I love you too much to let anything or anyone have any wiggle room between us."

Fitz pulled her onto his lap and held her tight as her arms went around his neck and she cried into it. "That's my girl. I love you, Liv."

She cried for a while as Fitz held her and the sun warmed them. When she was all out of tears, she wiped her face and looked up at him. He was sitting there, looking at her with all the love he had for her shining in his beautiful blue eyes. He was her strength. And while he had voiced his concerns about her keeping important things from him, things that she thought at the time were insignificant, she knew that he was her biggest champion. He really was her hero. She couldn't imagine going through life with anyone but him.

Fitz watched his wife wipe her eyes and sit up to look at him. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying. Her perfectly applied make-up was smeared on her flawless face. He pushed a strand of hair back away from her cheek and tucked it behind her ear and gazed into her eyes. She was so much stronger than she realized. She had been through an ordeal and came out on the other side of it clinging to him, as well as a better grasp of who she was as a person. He was so proud of his wife. He smiled at her, cupped her cheek, and asked, "How are you feeling?"

Olivia leaned her face into his palm and replied, "So much better. I'm really glad we talked about this together. I never want that to change. It's going to take some time for me to be completely comfortable in my office again, but I feel better in myself. And I feel better for being able to share all of it with you without being made to feel reckless or naive. You're good for me."

"Are you saying you plan on keeping me around?" He teased.

She shrugged noncommittally. "I guess so. Who else am I gonna turn to when I want another beautiful baby?"

His eyebrows went up to the sky. "Oh? And when do you think you would want another ridiculously beautiful Grant baby?"

"Soon. Really soon." Olivia smiled as she watched the one on his face grow wider in surprise. "I think I should get pregnant this summer so I don't have to go through another summer pregnancy. It would mean that you would have to be at the top of your game since summer is about to start. What do you think about that?"

"Babe." He said tightening his grip of the beautiful woman sitting on his lap who never failed to surprise him. "I will get you pregnant by the end of the week if that's what you want." She giggled and he kissed her lips.

"That's what I want, Mr. Grant."

Fitz stood up with her still in his arms. "Then let's go make a baby, Mrs. Grant."