EPISODE 12: A Very Good Thing
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

"Which do you want first, the good, the bad or the ugly?"

Fitz had put Cyrus on the special ciphered speaker-phone he'd had installed in the kitchen, while Olivia made herself comfortable on one of the breakfast bar stools. Fitz moved to stand next to her, reaching out to take her hand in his before he answered his Chief of Staff.

"The choice is yours, Cy." Fitz told him; he knew that Cyrus wouldn't have called without good reason, but he didn't care. Fitz looked over at Olivia and saw the same thoughts mirrored in her eyes. There was nothing the other man could tell him that would touch what he was feeling right now.

"Not that I want to, but I think we need to start with the ugly." Cyrus said. "I think you might want to address this first."

"What is it, Cyrus?" Fitz asked.

"It's Mellie." Cyrus said. "Or not exactly Mellie. She's demanding to speak with you, sir. I couldn't get much out of her except that she's concerned about Gerry. Something about you need to talk to him, because he's refusing to talk to her - and that was all that I could get out of her. We all know that Mellie will over-exaggerate any and everything if given the opportunity, but I'll leave it up to you to make the decision as to when to call her back, Mr. President."

Fitz looked over to Olivia and saw the same indecision on her face that he sure mirrored his. They both knew what machinations Mellie was capable of and that meant questioning her motives.

"What else?" Fitz asked - not that this wasn't enough. "What's the rest? What's the good and the bad?"

"The good is good - the overall mood from last night's event seems to have put you in a sweet spot, politically speaking. Even your being seen with Colleen Cassidy has spurred some good talking points and interesting speculation - apparently it made you appear very forward-looking. That makes the donors happy because their association with you makes them look very forward-looking."

There was no mistaking the gleeful sarcasm in Cyrus' voice. "Happy donors mean generous donors. Happy and generous donors attract other donors and other donors mean a deep war chest when the real fights begin."

Fitz had to agree that this was good; it had been a part of Cyrus' job last night to let it be known that any support they might offer came with no promises of preferential treatment from the White House and it seemed that it had been an acceptable measure.

It had been a part of Cyrus' job last night to let that be known among any and all donors showing favorable attention to his campaign.

Cyrus goes on to tell them what he knows - the rest of the evening had gone smoothly - but he had noticed Sally and Elizabeth engaged in a moment of what would have looked like to anyone else as idle chit-chat. "But we all know that Lizzie-Bear doesn't do chit-chat."

"No, she doesn't." Olivia and Fitz both said at the same time. This was definitely the bad. Both women were powerful enough in their own fields that if they were even contemplating joining forces, they could be trouble.

"Sally isn't known for her conversational skills, either - unless it's of the evangelical kind." Fitz said. "So what do we think that we think about that?"

Cyrus answered his question. "You both know Elizabeth and I have been in close contact lately. Closer than I'd like, but I've considered her from the start to be a necessary evil and I'm not convinced that this has changed. Up until now, I've been willing to take the hit for the team, but now my instincts are telling me that now is the time to suggest a little one on one with the two of you, sir."

He just might be right, but in her present mood, Olivia wasn't having it. "Maybe a one on one with me would be more…efficient?"

"Efficient like an machete, perhaps?" Cyrus asked.

"More like a scalpel." Olivia replied sharply.

"What do you think either option would accomplish?" Fitz tried to see the upside to either scenario and couldn't find it.

Cyrus tried to offer a solution. "Maybe we could come up with an offer that would make her more politically relevant on a purely controllable level?"

"I thought her position as RNC chairperson already puts her there." Fitz's tone made it clear that he was definitely not pleased about the idea of granting the woman any more political leverage than she already had. "I'm not fond of the idea of letting her inside the campaign any more than she already is."

"Neither am I." Olivia said.

"We can decide on that when you return to DC, sir." He hadn't expected either of them to like it, but at least he'd planted the seed in the eventuality that such a move became necessary down the road. Cyrus believed in planning for any eventuality. There was also no mistaking the question in Cyrus' voice or his hope for a concrete answer that told him that Fitz's return would be soon.

Olivia gave Fitz a look before she answered. "Fitz will probably be back sometime today, Cy."

"And I'll be sure to let you know when the decision about the timing of our departure has been made, Cy." Fitz's eyes were locked onto Olivia's as he corrected her.

"I'm sure that you will, Mr. President" Cyrus didn't bother hiding the relief in his voice. He'd said what had needed to be said and he knew better than to push further. "I'll let you two go now, but before I do - I had one last question…"

"What is it, Cy?" Fitz asked.

"It's just that - if I can ask - Olivia, are you all right?"

"Why would you ask, Cyrus?" His question startled Olivia.

It was a few seconds before he answered.

"I don't know - call it a gut feeling…" Cyrus said at last. "I'm not trying to pry - but the fact that you hadn't been at the fundraiser and then later, the way you came and went last night. I was - concerned."

"It's all right Cyrus." Olivia said, both surprised and touched by his concern. "Fitz thought I'd overworked myself and insisted on me taking a little down time for myself while you and he did the heavy lifting last night."

"Good." Cyrus didn't bother to hide the relief in his voice. "I might even have to agree with him for a change; things are going to heat up soon enough."

He hesitated. "But you're good now, right?"

"I'm good." Olivia looked at Fitz, her fingers tightening against his as he brought them up to his lips and trailed a kiss across her knuckles. "Believe me, I'm good."

"Glad to hear it. We need you on top of your game." Cyrus tucked his concern away behind his political needs. "Does that mean that I can now congratulate on the news of your latest promotion? I did get the buzz on that."

"You can." Olivia smiled. "Thank you."

"You're welcome and I'm glad to hear it. I'm also guessing Lizzie-Bear was a little disappointed at the announcement." Cyrus showed no remorse in his voice. "I'm sure she had plans for one of those deputy chief-of-staff spots for herself."

"I'm heartbroken on her behalf." Olivia said.

"Yes, I can hear the tears in your voice." Cyrus said with a short laugh.

"I'm handing her tissues as we speak." Fitz added, actually plucking a few sheets from a nearby box of tissues.

He leaned forward and threatened to tickle her nose, his eyes sparkling with laughter that turned out to be contagious. Olivia was unable to stop the laughter that bubbled up inside her which of course was due to more than the banter between the three of them, and was a welcome little bookend of the last little while. Whatever else that happened - what was going to happen - or not happen - what she did know was that right here, right now, both the inner and outer parts of her life were aligning perfectly and right here, right now, what else mattered?

She was laughing, Fitz was laughing and even Cyrus joined in from his end of the call and it was another of the moments that was making this day all the brighter.

When they finally wound down, Cyrus was the one who pointed out that this news probably explained the conversation between Elizabeth and Sally.

Olivia agreed and turned to Fitz. As happy as she might be, there was still business to be taken care of. "Do you think this might be the beginning of another faction within the party we need to be concerned about?"

Fitz thought about it for a moment, frowning from the effort - it wasn't enough to take the smile from his eyes. "Sally has never quite approved of me, even when I was married to Mellie. She probably sees Elizabeth as a worthy candidate for my affections - and Elizabeth has probably set herself up in Sally's eyes as the same."

"The power of the evangelicals is not something we can afford to ignore." Cyrus warned.

"I'm aware of their concerns and I'm certainly willing to listen to what they have to say - as long as they understand that I will not support any actions that are meant to advocate laws that infringe on the rights of anyone else.

"I have no intentions of letting them or anyone else dictate the way I conduct my campaign, Cyrus." Fitz knew the other man understood how serious he was about this, but he felt a sudden need to underline it. "We made that mistake with Hollis Doyle the last time around and we're not doing it again."

Olivia spoke up. "We'll put a priority on finding out what Elizabeth and Sally may or may not be up to because while I'm sure they're not the only faction who would love to see Fitz with some brunette or blonde-haired - blue eyed ice queen, those two are a little too close for comfort."

Fitz nodded. "In the meanwhile, make it clear that I will be living my life on my terms in this White House. Plan or no plan - this needs to be made very clear from here on out."

"I understand, Mr. President." Cyrus said. He had no intentions of letting any of the factions currently circling the White House like sharks getting the idea that they could influence policy for this White House - now or into the foreseeable future. If anything, that was his job.

"Consider it handled, Mr. President."