"Have you slept at all?"
"No, I've been running all that needs to be done."
Standing outside Fitz's hotel room door, Liv was ready to go downstairs and get him set up for his first conference speech. Having been up all-night answering emails and texts from clients and partners at the firm, she did manage to get a swim in and got their coffees. Dressed in her heels and white dress, she fixed his tie to make it straight and took a step back.
"Perfect."
"Thank you," he smiled and looked down at her ankle. "Any better?"
"Just fine. I told you I would be. Come on, we've got just enough time to get you some real breakfast and head over to the ballroom."
Walking behind her, he watched her bring her phone out of her purse and read a text.
"You are always on that thing, what are you doing anyway? I swear if you aren't on your laptop then you're on the phone doing something. And lately it sounds like whatever it is has been pissing you off. Maybe I should take your phone away," Fitz tried to tell her seriously, but his tone dropped when he smirked.
"I'm running your life is what I am doing."
"And when you're off the clock?"
"I'm never off the clock."
"If I remember right, office hours are from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm. Did they change and no one told me?"
Olivia turned in the elevator and looked at him as if he'd grown two heads. "You honestly don't know what I do?"
"You're my secretary, you run my files and coordinate with the court."
"Oh, I wish that was all I did for you."
Fitz tried to think fast of what else it was that she would be doing for him that would make her busier than what she should be but came up with nothing. Other than his clients at the firm he didn't have much else to be done. On occasion there were speeches at seminars he would do but those were scheduled out far in advance. What else are you doing? As people moved in to go to the main floor on the elevator, he stepped behind her to give them room, reading over her shoulder the emails and texts she was sending out.
"What does Cyrus want?" he asked seeing Cyrus Beene's name on her text.
"The same thing your father wants, an answer."
"I've told them no."
"I think they want a different one. So whatever answer they are looking for either give it to them or make them understand that you aren't. These two are the most persistent ass holes I have had to deal with in years."
Heading over to get a bagel in the small breakfast lobby, Fitz sat down to eat. "Aren't you eating?"
"No, when are you going to give them an answer?"
"Liv, I have no intentions of running for any governmental seat. I don't want to be a Senator, or a Governor, or President. I like my life the way it is."
"You like being fifty and married to a drunk who demeans you at every point with no regard for what she says to you or who hears her say it? That's the kind of life that you want?" Olivia asked without thinking. Realizing what came out of her mouth and seeing the look on his face, Liv looked down at her hands to hide her embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I don't know where that came from. That was completely out of line."
Fitz was stunned with what he heard. Hearing the tone of her voice with the words made him wonder if she was sad or if she was possibly jealous. Putting his hand over hers to make her feel at least okay and that he wasn't angry with her, it made her look up at him. "Mellie is not exactly a ray of sunshine, I know that. And I really am sorry for what she's said to you."
"I don't give a damn what she says about me or to me. I can ignore her. I can hang up the phone or walk away."
"Then why are you so upset?"
"Because she treats you like shit, Fitz. Her tantrum at the Christmas party in front of everyone was an embarrassment not only for her but for you as well. She has no right to call you all those names when all you do is defend her and work so hard for her to only drink. The way she treats you just pisses me off. I don't know why you put up with it."
"She's my wife. And I," Fitz paused trying to find the right words.
"You love her."
"I guess, sure."
Not wanting to continue the conversation, Olivia looked at her watch and saw the time. "We need to head over to the ball room, so you aren't late."
Fitz nodded and stood up waiting for her to join him before he took a step away. Together, they headed down the hallways to the side entrance where the stage was set for the speakers to come through.
"Anything on my tie?" Fitz laughed knowing she would catch it before he walked on.
"No, all set. Here's your note cards in case you need them. I'm going to sit in the back by the door just in case I get pulled by the phone." Watching him switch from standing on his left foot then his right, then back several times she recognized his nervous habit. "You've done these speeches a million times. Why are you so nervous now?"
"I've never done a speech in front of five hundred people."
"You've been doing seminars for two decades; you'll be just fine."
"That's with two hundred at most. Five hundred is a bit higher. This is a national conference. There's a lot of important people here."
"All of which you've already met. You know all these people. No one here is going to hold it against you if you miss a line or say something wrong."
Both of them stopped when they heard the announcer start talking. "One minute."
"Mr. Grant," Liv started but he made her stop.
"I need one minute where nothing else exists. It's just you and me standing here not caring about whatever is going to happen in that room. Nothing happens for one minute. We're just Fitz and Liv who couldn't care about anything. Can you do that?"
Locking eyes with him, Liv could tell this was something he needed for himself. "One minute," she nodded and crossed her arms.
Sixty seconds was all he needed to compose himself and with her standing in front of him less than a foot away for some reason made him more than happy. Fitz didn't want to look away from her eyes. The two chocolate pools that could change his mood within seconds were ones that he wanted to spend forever looking into.
Olivia started to worry. The way he looked at her worried her. She hadn't seen it before. Not in him, or in anyone. But his cool blue eyes drew her in more. Fitz scared her in more ways than she would admit, even to herself, at the moment. Seeing the smile from his lips hit his eyes nearly made her melt. If he asked her for the moon right now, she'd figure out a way to get it to him, no matter what it took.
"Here's the cards. I'm going to sit in the back of the room. You'll do fine, Fitz," she told him breaking their gaze.
"Thanks, I'll meet you in the hallway when I'm finished," he said taking the notes from her and handed her his phone.
Once Fitz was on stage and took the microphone, she walked back to the ballroom and took a seat in the back row.
"I didn't think you'd be sitting in here listening to him too," Abby whispered when she appeared taking the seat beside her. "I'm sure you wrote the speech yourself."
"This one was all him, I just gave him a few facts. Thank you for setting it up here."
"No problem, that's my job," Abby smiled. "You should join us for dinner tonight. Fitz and David want to go to some steakhouse that's popular here."
Olivia hesitated a moment before she spoke. "I'll think about it. There are a few things I need to do." Feeling her purse shake, Olivia looked in her bag and saw Fitz's phone ringing on silent with Mellie's name lighting up the screen. Reaching in, she hit ignore and continued to listen to Fitz speak. After a few minutes, the phone rang again. Looking in, Mellie appeared, and she hit ignore. For twenty minutes, Mellie continued to call Fitz's phone, and each time Olivia hit ignore and would see she left another voicemail.
Fitz kept everyone intrigued with his topics. Criminal reform and how to make it better, how the money would be saved, and relating it to everyday people without using his legal terminology. Every once in a while, he would look towards the back to see where Olivia was. He didn't miss that she was talking with Abby when he first looked back. Checking his note cards to make sure he didn't miss a topic when he would stop for a sip of water, he looked back to see her. What is so important in your purse, Liv? Continuing on, he'd finally finished his three-hour speech. Looking back to her, only Abby sat in the back row as he caught the slow closing of the door with Olivia on the other side.
"I'll be right back," Liv told Abby when she had enough. After the forty missed calls on Fitz's phone, Mellie had started calling Olivia's. By the fifth time, Olivia was beyond irritated, and stepped outside to answer. "Mrs. Grant, what do you need?"
"Where's Fitz? He's not answering me," Mellie yelled at her.
"He's giving his speech. That's why we are in San Diego. Is this life or death?"
"It's going to be your death if you don't stop fucking my husband and lying to me about where he is."
"Mrs. Grant," Olivia turned on her most stern voice she could find. "I am most definitely not sleeping with your husband and if you would stop drinking for a minute then you would realize that. Fitz and I are not together, nor have we ever been."
"Put him on the phone now!"
"As I have told you he is giving a speech and even if he weren't, I would not let you talk to him. He is here on a business trip that needs his utmost attention. This is what he does, this is part of his job. This is what keeps you drunk all the time and you need to realize that he does so much for you."
"Is his whore telling me how I need to treat MY husband? You tell him that he better call me back within the next ten minutes or he will not like what happens."
"I'm not going to tell him that, he is very busy. I'm sure when he has a moment tonight, after his speech and everything else going on today, he will call you if he wants to. Until then, do not call me and do not call him. I have his phone," Olivia told her and hung up.
Putting her head against the wall to take a breath she heard someone come behind her.
"I feel really sorry for you, Liv."
Turning back around, Abby stood in front of her and handed her a water.
"I'm not afraid of her."
"She's not one who likes to be fucked with. And standing between her and Fitz will only cause you problems with her. She's a real bitch when she wants to be."
"That's fine. I can handle whatever she throws at me. But I refuse to let her derail Fitz when he needs to have his attention on what is happening here. I'm sure Mellie can take care of herself for a few days. And even if she can't, she can call a friend there."
"Liv, Mellie is a loose cannon waiting for the right moment to burst. Pushing her over the edge will only do more damage."
"So, you think I should bow down to her?"
"No, not at all. I just think you need to pick your battles wisely."
"Thanks for the advice."
After a few minutes when people started to come out, Liv and Abby stood against the window waiting for Fitz.
"How bad was I?" he asked when he found them.
"You were great," Abby said, clapping his shoulder. "I need to find David, see you two for dinner."
Fitz stood beside Olivia trying to gauge her thoughts. "Was I that bad?"
"Hmm? Of course not, you did great. Everyone seemed to like it," she smiled and finished the bottle of water.
"I saw you leave, what called you away?"
"Nothing to worry about. What would you…"
"You're lying. What called you away? Whatever it was had you looking in your purse an awful lot, too. Now, what called you away? The truth, Olivia."
Letting out a sigh, she handed him his phone and saw the look on his face when her name appeared.
"She called mine five times and I had enough of it and answered."
"Liv, I'm so sorry, I'm going to take care of it. She's being ridiculous. Did she say what she wanted?"
"Just you to call her."
"Mellie is… I don't know, but I'm going to take care of that. Anything else I need to know about?"
"Just the usual. I'll handle that though."