ATTN: There is a SMALL amount of violence in this chapter. I know some people were offended when I wrote a violent scene in other story. So if you don't like reading about violence, then please skip the section after Alex meets with her band. Save us both the trouble of you writing a hateful PM and me reading it. Thanks in advance, and sorry for giving the story away to those who will read it. Enough rambling.

Chapter Ten: Help

"Momma?" Olivia called out to her mother, as she walked into her parents' house. Her dad was teaching a late class at the college, and her mother was home from work. Olivia had given her mother a copy of the contract she got from Marcus Walker's assistant. After their meeting almost three months ago Olivia had given the contract to her mother to look over. It only took Dianna three days to look over, but Olivia never made an effort to come and pick it up. She was conflicted about what she was going to do. On one hand, what she had at GAI was going well for her.

She was making good money, more than she'd ever made from her art selling it in Valerie's shop. Even though she hadn't been back to a Paris trip, her art was still selling in one of Fitz's galleries. But it was a fierce selection. She had to compete against all the other artist Fitz employed. But at Marcus's gallery, she wouldn't have to fight for space at all. He only displayed five other artists work in his New York gallery. He like to keep the numbers small and intimate. He felt the art would get drowned out if there was a multitude of artist and art.

Fitz had a bigger name and brand than Marcus, so Fitz could offer her more exposure. But Olivia was still thinking about working for Marcus since his connections were so different. And now since Olivia and Fitz were officially dating, for almost three months now, she felt she had to move on. People already thought she was sleeping with the boss to further her career when she and Fitz were just friends. And now that they were dating, she could only imagine what they were saying about her.

And after she spoke to Fitz about it, initially he was upset, although he would never tell her. She could tell by the way his jaw instantly tightened and he made his serious business face with his chin resting on his fist. She explained to him the opportunities this would open up for her, leaving out the part about them dating, and he eventually got on board after a while. He apologized for his initial reaction, and even gave her a Pandora bracelet with a cute little paint brush and easel charms.

"Momma you home?"

"Olivia dear don't yell." Dianna came around a corner still dressed in her suit from work, barefoot with her glasses perched on the tip of her nose.

"Sorry." Olivia apologized.

"Is that a new sweater?" Dianna pinched a piece of hair from Olivia's shoulders. "It's nice, I like it."

"Thanks." Olivia had on a long sleeved cream colored sweater with tan pants and a pair of brown, knee length boots. She was trying to change her wardrobe lately, from her baggy pants and oversized shirts to something still as comfortable but more casual.

"Pants are a little too tight."

"Momma my pants are fine." Olivia started pulling at the sleeves of her sweater. It was why she loved that sweater so much, it was soft and the sleeves went well past her hands and to the tips of her fingers.

"You still have that contract right?"

"Yes. It's in my office." Dianna walked away, knowing Olivia would follow. "Who is this Marcus Walker guy anyway?"

"He's an artist. But nowadays, he puts most his focus on running his art galleries."

"So he's like Mr. Grant then."

"Sort of. Marcus only puts your art in his gallery, he doesn't go the extra mile that Fi- Mr. Grant does."

"So why are you quitting with Mr. Grant."

"I'm not quitting necessarily. My contract is up in about a week or so, and I don't think I'm gonna resign. Mr. Grant has given me great exposure, and now I need Mr. Walker to give me more. He just had connections that Fitz doesn't have yet."

"Fitz huh?"

"So you have the paper, I'm kind of in a hurry." Olivia asked, changing the subject. She was not about to get into this with her mother right now. She had a late breakfast meeting with Marcus and his assistant in about thirty minutes.

X

"Hi, I'm meeting Marcus Walker." Olivia told the woman behind the podium. She pushed a button on her tablet, and smiled back at Olivia.

"Mr. Walker has already arrived, right this way please." She led Olivia up a short staircase and onto the balcony. But thankfully, their table was away from the railings and more so against the glass wall of the building.

"Olivia, you made it." Marcus stood, as Olivia approached the table.

"I am so sorry I'm late." She took off her jacket, hanging it on the table. Once she sat down, she realized that she was and Marcus were alone. "I thought your assistant was meeting us." Olivia only agreed to the dinner meeting out of the office because his assistant was supposed to be meeting with them. The last time she was alone with Marcus, he made her a little uncomfortable. But she supposed it was alright, considering they were surrounded by people on the balcony.

"She uh, had an unexpected family issue arise. So it's just the two of us." Marcus sat back down once Olivia did.

"Can I start you off with some drinks?"

"I'll just have a tea thank you." Olivia answered, and Marcus ordered coffee and water.

"So, you finally said yes to one of my meetings. I take this as a good sign."

Olivia pulled the contract out her oversized purse. Alex makes fun of her for carrying such large bags, but they were very efficient. She kept everything in her bags, half the time she didn't even know what was in them. "I signed."

"You don't know how happy you just made me." Marcus had a huge smile on his face as he took the papers from Olivia. Not only was Olivia gonna bring in some money to his gallery.

"You face gives you away a bit."

"We should celebrate, how about some champagne."

"It's barely ten."

Marcus shrugged, "So what? Live a little. How about a mimosa, would that make you feel better?"

"I don't really drink, I'm fine really. And you really didn't have to go through all this trouble, we could've did this at your office. I really just wanted to give you the papers."

"Well I like to get to know who I'm working with. I thought we could do that."

"I thought you already did your homework on me."

"I'd still like you to tell me about yourself."

"Are you ready to order?" Their waitress came back, batting her eyelashes at Marcus, and he winked back at her.

"I'll take the steak and eggs, sunny side with mushrooms, no onions. And the potatoes and wheat toast. Be sure to get whatever you want Olivia."

"And for you ma'am." The waitress said in a less than chipper tone, than the one Marcus got before. Olivia guessed the woman thought they were together.

Olivia gave the menu a quick glance. She really wasn't hungry, but she figured she ought to eat something since she hadn't eaten since early last night. "Um, I'll just have the fruit salad with granola and honey and another tea please."

"I'll get that right out to ya."

"You sure that's all you're gonna have?"

"Yeah, I'm not really a big eater. I probably only have one big meal a week." Olivia said, finishing off the last bit of her first cup of tea. "My momma used to call me birdie because I ate so little like a bird."

"Is you mom local?"

"Yeah, she and my dad. They don't like living in the city though, they catch a train everyday into the city. They love working and shopping in the city, but they can't stand the small apartments and no front or back yards."

"And it's just you and your parents?"

Olivia cocked her head and smirked, "So did you not do your homework like you said?"

"I'll be honest, my secretary did the homework, and I just skimmed."

Olivia laughed, "Well it's not just me and my parents, I have a sister, a twin actually."

"Really? She as beautiful as you."

Olivia smiled awkwardly. She didn't know if he was flirting with her or not, she couldn't tell. She wasn't a real expert on flirting herself. "Well uh, we're fraternal but some people say we could pass for identical. But I don't really see it."

"So no one special? You didn't mention a boyfriend and I noticed the 'Alex' tatt on our wrist."

Olivia subconsciously rubbed at the tattoo on her wrist. "Uh no, Alex is my sister. Its short for Alexandra, I would never get a guy's name tattoo on me. Unless it was my daddy."

"Not even Grant?" Marcus asked with a smirk.

Olivia cocked her head at him again, this time with a frown. "I'm sorry?"

Marcus just shrugged, "People talk Olivia, I hear things. Things about the two of you. By the way, he couldn't have been happy about you decision to leave, how'd he take the news?" Marcus had this little smile on his face, as if Fitz's turmoil brought him happiness.

"Fitz was thrilled for me."

"Really?"

"I, I'm not going to talk about us with you."

"So there is an us?"

"I-"

"Here you go." Their waiter came back with their food, before Olivia could answer. "Steak and eggs. And your fruit salad."

"Thank you." Both Olivia and Marcus answered at the same time. For the next half hour or so, they both ate in silence having small talk here and there. When it was finally time to leave, Marcus paid and walked Olivia out the restraint.

"Can I offer you a ride somewhere?"

"Uh no, I have a ride." Olivia pointed to the sleek black car on the curb, just as the vale man was getting out the driver side of a black Range Rover.

"Nice."

"My car's in the shop for like the thousandth time. Mr. Grant was nice enough to lend me his car for a few days." Fitz had also offered Tom, his driver, to her as well. But Olivia assured him that she was just fine driving herself around. His Range Rover was the most normal car he owned, and the only one Olivia felt comfortable driving.

"Some boyfriend you've got."

"So I'm going to go ahead and go. Thanks again for the breakfast and I look forward to working with you in the future."

Marcus took the hint, and shook Olivia's hand. He watched as she climbed in the open door Tom held for her, then drove away.

X

"My property was not damaged when it was packaged and sent to your office. But somehow between leaving your facility and transport my package was damaged. You see the problem I'm faced with Mr. Daniels?" Fitz spoke into his office phone. "Oh you don't know how it got damaged? Let me tell you something you little maggot, I don't give a damn how it got damaged. All I know is that you were responsible for its safe delivery, and the next day I get a call from my buyer about a hole in the painting that he purchased-"

The man on the other end interrupted Fitz as he spoke, and Fitz had to count to five to call himself. He hated to be interrupted.

"Listen to me-" Fitz slammed his hand on his desk, when the man interrupted again. "Do not interrupt me again. Now that painting was worth fifty thousand dollars, more than you make in an entire year. You will reimburse me the entire fifty thousand, plus the fee you charged me to ship my painting. No… this is non-negotiable. And don't expect any more jobs from me in the future."

"Everything alright?" Olivia asked, standing by his door. She had walked in on the middle of his, what seemed to be a heated disagreement, and by the look on his face she knew not to interrupt him.

"Asshole. He damages my property, fifty thousand dollars' worth mind you, then has the nerve to question why I'm so upset." Olivia walked over to the desk, and sat down on Fitz's lap. "Now I have to reimburse my buyer, so I'm out fifty thousand and stuck with a painting with a fucking hole in it." Fitz felt her cringe, and he apologized for all the cursing and kissed her sweater covered shoulder. "What are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming in today."

"No I said I wasn't working today. I just came in to start clearing out my studio."

"Right. You know there already an argument over who's going to get your room."

"Well I hate to disappoint, but I already promised it to Abby. She promised not to change a thing except for the name plate."

"You know I'm gonna miss you being around here. I can't go downstairs to see you when I want to, no more lunch dates in my office."

"We can still have lunch together."

"Well you're getting all fancy on me missy. You might forget all about little old me."

"Shut up." Olivia turned sideways in his lap, her legs dangling off the side of his desk chair. "Like you would let me forget you." Fitz leaned in to kiss her, but there was a knock on his door before he could. Olivia shot off his lap, standing beside him as if they were two teenagers getting caught making out.

They had been dating for three months, but Olivia was still skeptical about being public about their relationship. She now knew why Fitz was so skeptical in the beginning. They still went out, to dinner, shows, and really just anywhere they wanted. Although Olivia tried to portray them both as just friends. They were fairly new in their relationship, and Olivia didn't want to public to rip them apart before they even got started.

Olivia was also thinking about her career. She didn't want to be tied to the Grant name, while she was trying to make a name for herself.

"I have Mr. Barcia on line one. He wants to know when to expect him check." Lauren said, walking into the room. She had to hide the smirk on her face, and she watched Olivia try to scoot away from Mr. Grant's chair. Lauren knew something was going on between the two. Mr. Grant had never had lunch every day in his office with any of his previous employers.

"Tell him what I told him the first time he called. When he ships the painting back I will send him his check for the fifty thousand, plus his shipping fee." Fitz had switched back into business mode, it was fascinating to watch his transformation. "He's not getting anything until I get that painting. I need to see the damage for myself before I give him a refund."

"Yes sir. And I also have the portfolios you asked for on those artist." Lauren put a stack of colorful folders on Fitz desk, then walked back out the office. Once the door was closed, Fitz pulled Olivia back onto his lap. Wrapping his arms around her waist so she couldn't get back up.

"What are these for?" Olivia asked, flipping through the portfolios.

"Well since someone is abandoning me in a few days, I have to find someone to replace her."

"I am not abandoning you." Olivia turned sideways on his lap again, wrapping her arms around his neck. "And good luck finding someone to replace me."

Fitz chuckled, "That will be a tough one, but I'm up for the challenge." Tired of waiting, Fitz held Olivia's face with one hand, and the other on her lower back. And brought her face to his, kissing her sweetly. No matter how many times he's kissed her soft, plump lips, he couldn't get enough. And would always be left wanting more. In the short three months they had been dating, they had shared plenty of hot kisses and make out sessions with plenty of groping. But beyond that, nothing, they hadn't had sex yet. And Fitz was in no hurry, he wasn't going to rush or pressure her. But he was finding it increasingly harder to restrain himself.

Such as now, with Olivia on his lap with her small hands playing with the buttons on his shirt as he snaked his tongue in her mouth. All he wanted was to toss her on his desk and have his way with her. He really wished she was straddling him, it would offer him much better access as his hand roamed around her butt and down her thigh. God he loved her body, she was thick in all the right places.

Over the past three months, he had gotten to know her body real good. He had a feeling better than any man had before. He could feel her inexperience, and it made him wonder just how much experience she had had in the past.

"Fitz." Olivia pulled back, but Fitz tried to dive in for more. "Fitz we're in your office."

"I realize that." He mumbled over her lips.

"Someone could walk in here."

"No one's getting in here with Lauren at her desk, she takes her job very seriously. And she knocks before she comes in." Fitz kissed her once more, but Olivia pushed his head back again, her cheeks burning red. "You're blushing." Fitz teased her, rubbing her now cherry red cheeks. "You still blush when I kiss you, even after three months." Olivia put her head down, embarrassed. "Why are you so shy?"

She shrugged, "I don't know." Olivia rubbed at her cheeks, wishing they'd stop tingling so much. "You know I'd think it be a boost to a guy's ego to have a girl still blushing after three months."

"Oh it definitely is Ms. Pope." Fitz took hold of the hand Olivia had on her cheeks, kissing her wrist. "You still have on the bracelet."

"I told you when you gave it to me that I wasn't taking it off." And she'd meant it. Ever since clipped it onto her wrist, she hadn't taken it off other than to shower.

Fitz smiled at her. He found that he did a lot more smiling these days, Patrick mentioned it to him one day while they were out. He said it was weird seeing his older brother smiling so much, he wasn't use to it.

After another half hour of Fitz kissing and feeling Olivia up, he finally let her up off his lap so she could start packing up her 'studio' and so he could do some real work.

X

"No, no, no cut it." Alex stopped the song they had been rehearsing for the past hour and a half. "Jordan hon what is going on with you today? You're fucking up my song."

"Your song?"

"Yes it's my song, what verse did you right? It's my song, and like I said you're fucking it up. You keep coming in on the vamp way too early and it's throwing off the whole song."

"And you're pitchy boo." Chance said with his regular theatrical hands gestures and neck roll.

"Fuck off Chance." Jordan shoved his arm, as she took a drink of water. "It's a three part harmony, and with you singing lead that just leaves Chance and I. Quinn use to sing the other part, you can't just turn a three part harmony into a two. That's what's throwing the song off not me."

"You're still pitchy." Chance said again, "But she is right, you wrote the song as a three part harmony it doesn't sound right as a two."

"Okay fine, I will tweak the song. Or just find someone else to sing that part. But we can't sing that song as is we sound horrible."

"Uh please speak for yourself, because I'm still an A plus over here."

"Chance please shut up, you are not helping."

"We wouldn't need any help if you hadn't fired Quinn." Jordan said.

"Don't start with that again, you know why I let her go. And we all agreed it was best for the group, so don't give me that bullshit right now. Anyway we don't need her, we were fine before she came and we'll be fine now that she's gone. We just have to get out heads straight and sing the song like I know we can." Alex sighed, "Okay guys let's just take ten. I need to talk to you anyway."

They all went and sat at a table off the stage to catch their breath and drink a little water. "So, I found us a new gig." Alex said. "It's not as promising as the one we lost, but it's still great. And there will be small media coverage."

Alex went on to tell them about the amateur music festival that was held every October around this time. It was started by this man and wife, who held a small charity music fest to raise money for the children in St. Jude's and for cancer research. They had almost lost a daughter to cancer, but thanks to the doctors at St. Jude's and the money that was raised for them, their daughter was happy and healthy in the ninth grade now.

At first, they started out small with even smaller crowds. But over the years the word had gotten out, and now they had a good size crowd to come out every year. People would come out to enjoy some good music, food, and bring their kids to play games and all the money raised that day went to the children and families at St. Jude's and cancer research projects.

"I went one year." Chance said. "Baby you should've seen the ensemble the doll put together that day. I slayed bitch, you couldn't tell me nothing."

"Okay so I guess Chance is on board. But the only thing is this isn't a paying job."

"Since when did we start doing shows for free?"

"Since we got desperate Jordan. It's a charity festival, it's for a good cause. And there's small media coverage nothing major. But I did read about a girl who sang at one of these things, and there 'just happen' to be a producer in the audience. This is prime scouting grounds for these guys. They come to see raw natural talent, and this will be great for all of us. Not just for the group but for us individually."

Alex didn't plan on being in this group her entire career. None of them did. Mark loved to pay the drums, that was his passion. All he wanted was to go on tour with someone as their drummer. Jordan was content with being a background singer not really wanting to be in the full spotlight. But in the future she hoped to be a music producer and write songs. And Chance, well he really wanted was to be a fashion designer. He loved to sing, but it wasn't his passion or even his great calling, designing clothes was. And Alex, Alex just wanted to be a star.

X

Olivia was taking one of the last boxes down to the parking garage, to put in Fitz's Range rover. She had been at this for a little over an hour, carrying boxes to her car and back. People offered to help, but she declined not wanting to distract them from their work.

Olivia felt good, she felt confident in this move. This was a step in the right direction. Marcus was going to open doors for her that she could never open by herself. This was all in the step by step plan to have her own art gallery. She had no idea what she wanted to do after that, maybe write a book. But whatever it was, she envisioned sitting in a big grassy field in her backyard, sketching and enjoying the silence and calm of nature. It was a lame vision, but that's what she wanted. A nice quiet life, Alex was the one who wanted fame and glory and cameras in her face.

Olivia was just about to reach the Range rover, she had to park a little ways from the elevator because all the good parking spots were taken by time she got there. She was about two cars away, when she heard a noise. She slowed down, and looked behind her but saw nothing. She had been walking, and could swear she head more foots steps besides her own, but when she turned around there was no sight of anyone in the parking garage. Picking up the pace, Olivia turned back around and walked towards the Range. She pushed the trunk button on the key fob, and it swiftly opened.

Just as she was putting the box in the truck, she felt something press against her back, and a hand cover up her mouth. She was stuck paralyzed, couldn't even scream her fear gripped her so hard. She could feel the rough callousness of, what she assumed was a man's, hand covering her mouth. He smelt of stink and sweat she felt she might throw up from the fear or the stench of him.

"Do not move. Don't scream, you got me." Olivia slowly nodded her head. "Put the box down." Olivia quickly dropped in the trunk, and yelped when the man pushed her down onto the ground by the car next to them. She looked up at the man, but he had black mask covering his face with the eyes and mouth cut out. All she could tell was that he was a white man, about Fitz height, but scrawny with lizard green eyes. She looked down at his hand, and discovered what he had pressed into her back a few moments ago. It was a knife, and not some small pocket knife, this thing could pass for a small machete.

"What's in the boxes?" The man growled, but Olivia was too stuck to answer him. "I said what's in the boxes?!"

"Paint… p- pai- art sup- supplies." Olivia stuttered, barely getting out what she did. She watched the man dig through several of the boxes, throwing some on the ground, when he didn't find anything valuable in any of them. And he wasn't going to find anything valuable in any of the boxes. They were filled with paint, paint brushes, sketch pads, and pictures and posters Olivia had hanging on the wall. And in the back seat was her two easels she had in the room.

"This is it?!" The man yelled, frustrated that there wasn't anything good in the boxes. Then he eyed Olivia's purse on the ground next to her. He told Olivia to kick it to him, and she quickly complied. He dug through her purse until he found her wallet and opened it. Olivia didn't carry much cash around with her, only her credit cards, so all she had in her wallet right now was twenty-three dollars in cash.

"That's it?!" The man angrily dumped everything in Olivia's purse on the ground. He spotted Olivia's iPod and shoved them in his pocket with her twenty-three dollars, but he left her phone. Olivia saw that he was momentarily distracted, and wasn't paying attention to her. She quickly got up, and tried to run away but he was too quick and caught her ankle. Making her fall face first. She tried to break her fall with her hands, but she still banged her nose and mouth pretty hard on the concrete.

Instant pain shot through her face, and she screamed out when he grabbed a handful of her hair and tossed her back against the side of her car. She lightly banged her head against the car, but hard enough to leave a ringing in her ears. She crumpled on her side, she could taste blood in her mouth because she bit her tongue when he threw her back against the car. She was clutching her nose, which she was sure was broken, when she felt him grab her by the shoulder of her jacket and turn her back towards him. He was on top of her with his forearm on her throat.

"What else you got?"

Olivia tearfully shook her head, "Nothing. I don't have anything." The man moved his arm, only to replace it with his knife. "Please!" She screamed out, but he only started checking her pockets with his free hand. Olivia turned her head to look away from him, and the motioned caused her necklace to peek up from her sweater. It was a silver chain with a medium sized locket on the end. Inside was a picture of Olivia and Alex when they were five, sitting on their Grandma Rosa's lap.

The man saw the small silver chain, and tried to grab at it. But Olivia started fighting back, smacking and swatting his hand away. Her money and iPod, those could be replaced, she could live without them. But she loved her necklace, she'd be devastated if he took that from her.

The man wasn't a killer, and Olivia quickly learned that when he threw his knife away from them. Just so he could use two hands to restrain Olivia and also so she couldn't get his knife either. Olivia fought hard, scratching at his face and bucking her legs and hips to get him off her, but in the end he still overpowered her. He managed to hold her wrist together on top of her chest. He ripped her necklace off her neck, but felt something else on her wrist. He pulled her sleeve back, and saw her new Pandora bracelet that Fitz gave her. Olivia tried to fight him off again, but he once again overpowered her and managed to take her bracelet as well.

When he was satisfied that he'd gotten everything he wanted from her, got up from on top of her. He grabbed the knife that he had thrown earlier and had the nerve to whisper and apology to Olivia. It went on deaf ears however, as Olivia only lay on the ground, too tired to fight anymore.

"Hey!" The man looked behind him to see a tall in a suit running towards him with a box in his hand. The man took off running, almost tripping on his own two feet.

Fitz threw the box he had on the ground, when the man took off running. He had took a small break from his work, and went downstairs to see if Olivia needed any help. Abby told him that she went down to the parking garage with a box. So he grabbed a box, and went down to the parking garage. When the elevator doors opened, he heard a woman screaming and rushed out. He hadn't even noticed that it was his Range rover the man was standing next to, with the trunk wide open and boxes and art supplies scattered on the ground. Olivia didn't even register in his mind as he ran after the man, all he saw was the big knife in his hand. That is until he ran past the car, and caught a glimpse of a woman on the ground holding her nose.

"Olivia?" Fitz stopped dead in his tracks. He looked back at the running man, but he was too far ahead for him to catch up now, so he ran back to Olivia. "Livvie. Baby can you hear me?" He cradled her head in the crook of his arm, and use his handkerchief to hold up to her nose. Olivia didn't say anything, she only rest her head against his chest, clutching his shirt afraid to let go.

"Mr. Grant!" Two security guards came running up to the car. They weren't at their desk when Olivia got mugged, but when they came back they knew something was wrong when they saw an open trunk and someone's belonging scattered on the ground.

"Where the hell have you been?!" Fitz shouted, still holding Olivia on the ground. "Why didn't you help her?!"

"We- I… we were on break sir."

"We? You don't go to break at the same time, you go in shifts you fucking idiot. I told you that that security booth is to never be unattended!" The men just stood there dumbfounded, not knowing what to say, they had screwed up and more than likely just lost their jobs.

"Call the police, I have to take her to the hospital." Fitz picked Olivia, who was still quiet and clutching his shirt, up and laid her down in the back seat of his Range rover. He grabbed the keys and her phone off the ground, shut the truck and got in the driver's side.

"Fitz." Olivia moaned from the back seat.

"Hold on baby. I'm gonna get you to the hospital." Fitz backed out the parking spot and sped out the parking garage. Two things were for certain at this point. One, those security guards were so fired. And two, whenever he caught the man who did this, Fitz was going to kick his ass.

X

Catch You Later…