Olivia was determined to make her mark. She had Fitz and Mellie follow her every instruction, she told them how to touch, how to caress each other even when they thought no one was looking because someone always was. She rolled out a full press blitz featuring Fitz and Mellie on every network that would take them…and every network did . Fitz's shift in the polls was staggering. He went from 3rd place to 1st place. He won New Hampshire then Nevada then South Carolina. He won all of the caucuses since Olivia joined the team and he was the candidate to beat.
That made her a valuable asset.
During that entire month, Fitz tried to keep his glances and hands to himself but it was exponentially more difficult than he expected. She was so utterly perfect. Her smile was uniquely kind and dazzling. She was usually the smallest person in the room but she still managed to command any space she was in. She was kind but still demanded respect.
He tried to behave, he couldn't keep his eyes off her and he knew she was perceptive enough to feel when he was watching her.
Her first month at the campaign were better than she expected. She and Cyrus quickly found a workable dynamic. Occasionally she would have to take a day to fly to New York from wherever in the country she was to deal with a case and every chance Fitz got he flew out to visit Karen, his young daughter who was 6 years old and living in California. She had managed to become more than cordial with Mellie who hung on to her every word, much like everyone else. The awkwardness between her and Fitz was also at its peak when they weren't performing. His eyes were always on her and every time they were, she could feel it. She didn't know how or why she knew that he was watching her, she just knew that her skin would feel like it's on fire and she would turn around and there his eyes were piercing her.
It was the morning before the Alabama caucus, both Mellie and Fitz had an interview. Mellie had a rack of clothes to pick from.
"Liv? Can you come here for a sec please," she called.
Olivia gave final instructions to a few interns and then headed over to Mellie.
"What's going on Mellie?"
"I can't decide which dress is best, the Armani or the Donna Karan, you have a great sense of style, what do you think?"
"The Donna Karan."
"I thought Armani was a better choice."
"It is a better dress yeah, but it's not the one you should wear, it's too flashy, the country already knows you and Governor Grant are extremely wealthy, they don't need reminders, that doesn't work in your favor."
Mellie huffed.
"Fine, you know Olivia, it's not like you walk around wearing old navy, I've seen you in nothing but high end designers since you got here."
She wasn't lying. Olivia's outfit for the day consisted of a blush pink mid thigh A-line Valentino dress and nude Christian Louboutin So Kate pumps. Olivia had a few news program interviews of her own.
"I'm not running to be first lady, no one cares what brands I wear."
"Olivia, I need you," Fitz called across the room.
She walked away without saying a word. She tried not to involve herself in their relationship but she just couldn't help but wonder how Fitz put up with her. The more she got to know Fitz the more she realized he wasn't exactly a brat, as she had thought before, he just had no tolerance for people who annoyed him. She also couldn't understand how Mellie never wanted to be around their daughter, she couldn't imagine having a child and not wanting to see her, the way Mellie did.
She made her way over to Fitz who was across the auditorium and stood right in front of him.
"Governor?"
"Which tie for the interview?" he asked.
She took a look, she didn't like either.
"Both of these suck, any other options?"
"Not with me."
An intern was passing and was wearing a teal blue tie, she stopped him.
"That's a great tie, can I have it, handsome?"
He looked nervously."Uhm ye-yes Ms. Pope," he stuttered.
He took it off quickly and handed it to her and took off.
"You can call me Olivia," she said to him before he dashed off.
Fitz chuckled.
"This one, it brings out your eyes."
'Did I just flirt with him' she thought.
She saw the shock on his face, he was surprised she did it, she was ultra professional.
She found someone who needed her and walked away, which caused Fitz to chuckle, he could tell she was put off by her own behavior.
It was early March. With the exception of a few ultra conservative states, Fitz had maintained his position of front runner both in state primaries and the polls. It was a hectic day in the headquarters, the day before the debate of all the candidates and it was sure to be a bloodbath. Olivia's only goal was for Fitz to emerge as the clear winner.
She walked around making sure the volunteers were on task as you usually did to start her morning. Fitz, as he usually started his morning, was watching her, whenever he could. There was this one girl in particular that seemed to be on the edge. Olivia walked over to her.
"Hi Alessa, what's driving you crazy?" Olivia asked gently and she leaned against the desk.
Alessa was a 20 year old college student, who has been volunteering since the beginning of the year.
"This thing won't go into the format I'm trying to put it in and Cyrus said I need to have these done by like… I don't know 20 minutes ago," Alessa said in a panic.
"Alessa it's okay, calm down, we're not saving lives, not yet," Olivia chuckled softly.
"Scoot over, let me see what's wrong here," Olivia told her, Fitz watched and listened intently.
Olivia sat beside her on the chair, Olivia was small, no more that 110 lbs and Alessa was a little heavier but they both fit perfectly fine on the chair.
Olivia scrolled through the document on the computer screen for a few seconds, troubleshooting until she figured out what the problem was.
"Oh, I see what's wrong, change the attributes, the person working before you must've saved them in the wrong format, no biggie," Olivia giggled.
Alessa sighed in relief."Oh thank god, I thought it was me."
Olivia pondered.
"Alessa, you need a break, I'm gonna give you my card and you can go and get yourself something to eat, I'll finish this up for you."
"Are you sure?" Alessa asked.
"Yes sweetie, go relax for a little while and come back refreshed."
"Oh my gosh, thank you," Alessa said joyfully.
Olivia walked Alessa to her purse and gave her her credit card and then went back to Alessa's desk to complete the document.
Fitz walked over to her.
"You should've charged that to the campaign."
"It's only $20 and I guess now you can't say I never made my contribution for the Grant campaign," Olivia countered.
He smirked at her sass.
"I would never."
The next morning, the minute Olivia stepped out of her hotel room, Cyrus was there.
"Liv you have got to see this!" Cyrus screamed.
She rushed behind him as fast as she could and went to the hotel conference room, where the temporary campaign office was.
When she got in the room, Fitz and Mellie, Verna and Hollis were there. Verna had been on the trail several times, she and Olivia had become friendly and Hollis had been there one other time since she met him.
"Good morning Olivia, you look absolutely beautiful as ever. My offer for dinner still stands," Hollis complimented.
"Thank you Hollis, I really appreciate the reminder," She said with a distracted smile.
Fitz raised his eyebrows at Hollis' greeting, annoyed. He'd never seen them interact before but he didn't like how Hollis spoke to her.
"What's going on?" she asked.
Cyrus pointed to the television.
BREAKING NEWS
"Presidential candidate Governor Grant's wife Mellie Grant caught in photographs with Literature professor Paul Mosley, who claims they are having an affair."
"Fuck," Olivia said flatly, if you weren't close enough, you wouldn't hear it but everyone heard it including Fitz.
"I'll deal with Paul Mosley, Cyrus you get on T.V and shame people for covering this."
"That's good," Cyrus said.
"We're gonna lose this debate tonight," Cyrus said. "Everyone on that stage is gonna throw this shit in your face, Fitz. I'm learning towards you pulling out. What do you think Olivia?"
"We might lose for sure but we might not, if you pull him out, it'll make us look weak. We're not weak, we're not on defense, we're winning," Olivia turned to Fitz, "you're gonna go to the debate and you're gonna stand on that stage and you're gonna take every single hit they give you then give it back harder. You're gonna be rightfully incredulous that they would defame your wife by repeating demonstrably untrue rumors."
Cyrus sighed then smiled, "Fuck- this is why you're Olivia." He chuckled, "this might work."
Olivia smiled, "we're definitely gonna drop in the polls but if we can get on top of this quickly, the damage won't be irreparable. We'll be fine and like I said, I'll take care of Paul."
"Liv, aren't you gonna ask me if I did it or not?" Mellie asked.
"I don't care whether you did it or not," Olivia said hastily and pulled out her phone.
Cyrus couldn't help the smirk that tugged at his lips.
She would need help from Huck but he didn't have a phone. He was homeless and he wasn't in the town she was in. She couldn't contact him until she was back at the campaign headquarters now in D.C.
Olivia dialed the first person she could think to help.
The phone rang 3 times.
"Liv, what's up?" Harrison greeted over the phone.
"I need a favor, Harry, I'm gonna need you on standby okay," she said quickly as she walked further away from the group of 5 so she could have some privacy.
The next morning when she was back in D.C, and went out early in the morning to search for Huck. She didn't have to look far, he was in his usual spot. She gave him a cup of coffee and a croissant that she brought for him from the hotel.
"Huck, I need your help.
Huck never told her no. He followed her back to the campaign headquarters, when he entered everyone stopped and stared. He was dirty and smelled unpleasant. Some looked in horror while others looked in disgust.
"Ignore them," Olivia said softly as they walked over to Fitz, Mellie and Cyrus. She saw their eyes open wider the closer they got towards them.
She sat Huck on the couch and called the group over towards them. She handed Huck her laptop and gave him instructions to find what he could on Paul.
Cyrus called her over to him, Fitz and Mellie.
"Liv, who the hell is that?" Cyrus asked.
"That's my friend Huck."
"Your friend?" Mellie said scornfully.
Fitz was quiet.
"Yeah the friend that's hacking into Paul Mosley's bank accounts and email right now to see if anyone blackmailed or paid him off to say you two were sleeping together, the fastest way to discredit a story is to prove someone was coerced or paid to tell it."
They were all quiet. Then Mellie continued again for some time until Huck called out.
"Hey Liv, I got something," He yelled.
She walked over quickly to Huck, the rest of them followed.
"What did you find Huck?" she asked.
"I found small payments over the last 30+ years from Tiny Step Productions, NY, NY, for 30 cents, $2, $5.47 and so on and so forth."
"What does that mean?" Fitz asked.
"Uh…Mr. governor, small payments are interesting because in his email, there is a threat of messages where they correspond about releasing a video, it seems they are blackmailing him," Huck began. "I need more time to find out more."
Olivia wasn't interested in listening to Huck explain it to Fitz, she pulled out her cell and called Abby.
Abby answered on the second ring.
"Liv?"
"Abby before you kill me no I didn't forget about your birthday and secondly I need a favor, like get dressed right now, I need you to visit a company called Tiny step Productions, I'm gonna text you the address and Abby, for fuck's sake please stop baking, I can hear my mixer in the background and I'm not there to eat any of those cupcakes anymore so what's the point. Call me and let me know when you're there," Abby was about to say something but Olivia hung up.
Fitz stopped paying attention to Huck, Olivia the second she said 'Abby'. He found her conversation amusing, she was always so professional with him and laid back with everyone else except for the few times she slipped up and flirted with him. For someone as outwardly prim as Olivia, she cursed like a sailor.
About 2 hours later Abby called.
"Liv, it's a porn production company," Abby chuckled in her usually judgy tone.
"Really?" Olivia asked, surprised.
"Yep. make sure you get the night off for my birthday, I'm not kidding Liv."
"I will, I promise, I have to go, I love you so much, bye" she hung up and went back over to Fitz, Cyrus and Mellie.
"Great news everyone," she announced with a grin.
They all turned and gave her their attention.
"Tiny Step productions is a Porn company," she said, barely stifling a laugh.
"What?" Mellie choked out.
"Yes, and he's been getting royalties from them for the past 30 years so obviously he either starred in one of their films or directed one, either way it doesn't look good for him and it seems someone is trying to blackmail him with that info," Olivia said matter of factly.
"So how can we stop him?" Fitz asked.
"We just have to make sure he's more afraid of what will happen if he doesn't deny the rumors," Olivia said with a smirk.
Huck found his porn tape and Harrison contacted Paul and convinced him to deny all rumors of an affair with Mellie. That night, Fitz won the debate and by the next morning, the entire narrative changed and all the media cared about was that Paul lied and that Mellie had been defamed.
A week later, it was Caucus voting in Wisconsin and it was also Abby's birthday. Olivia was worried because she knew she needed to stay and assess the standing of the campaign since the scandal. They hadn't lost much ground but they were not where they were before the scandal.
Everyone was busy. Abby had flown down to D.C. from New York and was staying with Olivia at her hotel, they made plans to go partying in the night to celebrate.
Olivia's personal cell died halfway through the day. She only had her work phone and Abby didn't have the number of her work cell.
She was so occupied that she lost track of time. By the time the polls closed and they declared the winner , it was Sally Langston with a narrow lead over Fitz.
They all gathered in Olivia's office to strategize about how to get back to the top. The few points he lost to Sally from Mellie's scandal was starting to become a problem.
"Fitz you need to call your father, the right loves him, he'll be able to rally the base back to your side," Cyrus pleaded.
Mellie and Cyrus had been trying to convince him to call his father for half an hour. Olivia kept quiet because she wasn't sure what was going on.
"Come on sweetie, it won't hurt to just call him," Mellie added.
"Don't call me that -"
"Excuse me, is this Olivia Pope's office?" Abby asked.
Olivia stood up surprised, she checked her watch and realized she was supposed to meet Abby almost 2 hours ago.
"Fuck!" She blurted out.
When she turned around and Abby saw her face, she scowled.
"Oh my god Abby I'm so sorry, time got away from me and I forgot," she said as she pressed her palms against her cheeks.
"I flew from New York for you, it's my birthday Liv, you're supposed to fly to me."
Olivia tittered."I know, I'm sorry, if it makes you feel any better I you a really great gift, just let me finish this meeting and you can kill me after I swear."
Mellie cleared her throat, annoyed that the attention had gone from her.
Olivia turned around. "I'm sorry, this is my best friend Abby, it's her birthday today," Olivia smiled at Abby in an attempt to cheer her up.
"Happy birthday Abby," Fitz said.
Mellie and Cyrus joined.
"Thank you all," Abby said, she was still annoyed at Olivia.
"Abby, can you just give me a few more minutes?"
Abby huffed.
"It's okay I think we can call it a night, Mellie and Cyrus were just failing to make their point."
Abby squealed. "Thank you governor, now Olivia, where is my gift?" Abby asked.
Fitz, Mellie and Cyrus began packing up their folders and documents.
Olivia stepped behind her desk and handed Abby a Jimmy Choo shopping bag.
"You didn't Olivia, Jimmy Choo's. I love you." Abby half screamed.
"Open them. I think you'll love them"
Abby began opening the box.
Fitz watched Olivia and Abby's interaction.
"It's not too late, we're gonna have to go home and get ready really quickly, I told you, I'm getting you drunk tonight and I'm gonna get you to lay some cute random guy. It's gonna be fun," Abby said loudly.
Fitz froze momentarily.
Olivia grabbed her face in embarrassment.
"Abby my boss is still here," Olivia scolded.
"I'm sorry, I don't have a filter sometimes," Abby directed towards Fitz and Cyrus.
"Good night," Fitz said flatly then walked out.
Olivia noticed Fitz's attitude changed.
"I hope you get laid, Liv," Cyrus teased.
"Cyrus get out," Olivia screamed jokingly.
Abby finally got the wrapping paper off the box and opened it.
It was a pair of Swarovski Crystal studded pumps, the ones Abby drooled over for months when they debuted on the runway.
"Liv, I love them. Thank you so much."
"You are very welcome Abby but I don't think we can go out tonight, I have so much to do tomorrow there is no way I can do it hungover."
"Boo, hiss!" Abby said dryly.
"Let's rent movies and have a girl's night in, we'll raid the minibar and order a whole bunch of room service," Olivia suggested.
"You are so boring, you used to know how to party back in your college days."
Olivia chuckled.
"Yes Abbs but now I have a campaign to run."
An hour later they were back in Olivia's hotel room. After Olivia showered and changed into something comfortable, she plopped down on the bed. She was exhausted. When Abby joined her on the bed a little while later they ordered food from room service and tried to pick a movie to watch as they waited for the food.
The room service was taking longer than Olivia expected so she decided to go to the front desk and see what was taking so long since she couldn't get them on the phone.
She had on a gray oversized t-shirt that reached her mid thigh and some Kate Spade pajama shorts under even though they weren't visible. She had on light blue over the knee socks and fuzzy puppy bed slippers from the hotel. She walked down the hallway to the elevator then pressed the button and waited for the elevator to come.
Abby opened the room door.
"Liv, remember to get the marshmallows okay," she half screamed. "And wine."
"Yea Abbs, I'll definitely won't forget the wine, I need it!"
Abby nodded and closed the door. Olivia was still facing Abby's direction when the elevator door opened. She whipped her head around and hit something hard and fell to the ground.
"Owww," she grabbed her nose as she felt something warm running down her nostrils.
"Livie, I'm so sorry," Fitz said as he bent down to see if she was okay.
She looked up and realized it was Fitz.
"Governor, it's okay I wasn't paying attention," she said
As she tried to get up, she felt his big arms pull her up.
"That's a lot of blood, do you need me to take you to the hospital?" he asked in a panic.
"It's a gusher but I think I'll be fine," she chuckled softly although she felt pain in her nose.
"At least let me take you to get some ice for it," he handed her the handkerchief from his pocket and she used it to control the blood flow from her nose.
They stepped into the elevator and Fitz pressed the level floor button.
"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked again.
"Yeah, I think it stopped bleeding too."
"Good, I'm glad," he said softly.
They stood awkwardly in the elevator until they reached the main floor.
When they got off Fitz followed her to the service desk and asked for an ice pack for her. While they went for the ice pack Olivia asked the other receptionist about her room service.
"Okay, we'll check on your order right away ma'am," the receptionist told her.
Fitz stood beside her trying not to give her a once over.
"So..." he said, breaking the silence. "Is this what you and Gabby party in? Pajamas and fuzzy slippers?" he smirked.
Olivia chuckled.
"I can't exactly work and nurse a hangover, which is exactly what I would have had in the morning after a night partying with Abby, she doesn't exactly have boundaries, so I convinced her to slumber it tonight."
"Oh…such a tragedy" he said with an utterly satisfied look on his face.
Olivia realized that the reason he acted that way earlier was because he didn't want her to go. She was momentarily annoyed. Then suddenly she had an idea to see if he was really upset about that or maybe it was all in her head.
"Another night though, I know Abby had big plans for me."
She saw his face fall flat immediately and his satisfied look was replaced with one of contempt.
"What is your problem?"
"I don't have a problem," he said flatly.
"Yes, you do, when Abby said we were going out earlier your entire attitude changed and you just did it again. What you're holier than thou and you smite everyone who parties."
Fitz was about to say something when the clerk brought back an ice pack for Olivia along with some tissues and told her that her room service order would be sent up within 5 minutes.
She cleaned up her nose and threw the tissues away. She was good as new.
"Fantastic," Fitz said and then walked away. She walked behind him and when he pressed the elevator button, the doors opened immediately.
They both stepped in, Fitz had his back almost turned to her.
"Are you gonna tell me what your problem is?" She asked.
He didn't say anything as he pressed the button to the 23rd floor.
Olivia huffed in annoyance.
Fitz debated whether or not he really wanted to ruin his marriage over one woman. It wasn't just any woman, it was the perfect woman, his perfect woman. He was running out of the resolve to control himself around her and as the seconds ticked by he lost all reason and turned around and wrapped both hands around her face and pulled her into him and kissed her.
Olivia was caught off guard when he grabbed her and kissed her. When his lips touched her, she knew she should've pulled away but every inch of her wanted it and she listened. It felt good, it felt better than good, it made her see stars. He started off softly and tender but the more she join in, the more urgent it got, he drove his tongue in and out of her mouth hungrily as if she was the last person he would ever kiss, they were both in a haze, forgetting everything around them while there were in the moment until the elevator dinged and snapped them out of it.
Fitz pulled away, he gave her a once over, with the same satisfied look from earlier and then turned and headed out. She stood breathlessly in the elevator and when the elevator door closed, she pressed the open button and stepped out.
She held on to her lips and she could still feel them tingling from his contact. Fitz disappeared into his room, a couple doors down from the elevator, while hers was at the end of the hallway. She walked slowly trying to process what had just happened, the kiss…it was indescribable. It made her salivate at the thighs but he was married, it was wrong and so why was she praying it would happen again.