Chapter 6

The next two weeks in the White House had been hectic, but a good sign that the country was positively progressing past its grief and settling in nicely with its new President. Francisco "Frankie" Vargas was sworn in as the Vice President, and he and Fitz worked extremely well together. The former Governor of Pennsylvania had been married to his wife, Luna, for eight years, and they had two young children. Cyrus was super stoked about the Grant-Vargas administration because that meant a Grant-Vargas campaign. The Vice-President was a young, attractive, intelligent Latino who was fluent in Spanish. Cyrus thought Fitz was a golden boy, but Vargas was a 4-Cs diamond.

Olivia's private security detail was officially hired after each of the candidates met with Fitz, Olivia, and Tom. All the meetings went well, particularly the meetings with Rebecca and Kelly. They all decided there would always be at least one woman on her detail at all times, particularly when she went out in public and needed to use dressing rooms and restrooms. Fitz never wanted her to be alone if possible. His perspective about her security was already getting on her nerves, but she'd agreed to his terms and was determined to stick to her end of the bargain. One stipulation that Olivia was adamant about was that she reserved the right to her work destinations being confidential from his knowledge when necessary. There would be times when she would need to move about, and even travel, but it would be inappropriate or potentially politically damaging to Fitz if he were aware of all of her comings and goings. Fitz didn't like this at all, but Olivia had been making concessions for him, and now it was his turn to make concessions for her.

She had also finalized her vacation plans, all of Aspen and part of the Montana leg to coincide with his time away for his South American trip. Fitz had arranged for her and her detail to travel via private jet to each destination. This afforded the security detail to be able to transport all the security technology they needed to stay in constant contact with Tom or the agent on duty at the White House.

The final thing Olivia did before starting her trip was hire her first employee for her new business. The official name was Olivia Pope and Associates, now that she had an associate, Diego Nunez, who preferred to go by Huck. She knew he had a background in the military and intelligence, but he was a tech savant and could find out anything he wanted to know about a person. Huck had agreed to order laptops, cellphones, and other hardware and software to get them started. He also was going to keep his nose to the ground for any scandals that would potentially be good for them to pursue.

Olivia was scheduled to leave for Aspen in two days. She had packed clothing items that would work well for all three of her destinations, a few hardback books as well as several bestsellers downloaded to her tablet. She upgraded the music playlists and packed her favorite yoga DVDs. Rebecca, or Bex as she preferred to be called, had scoped out the grocery and general stores closest to the cabin where they would be staying. Olivia had rented a large five-bedroom cabin with three bathrooms. All four of her detail would be travelling with her on this trip with one always being inside the cabin, two monitoring the grounds, and the fourth person resting for their shift. She and Fitz had agreed that when they met up in Vermont, two of her detail could return home since she'd be spending much of her time with Fitz and his Secret Service Agents. In the short time since she was hired, Olivia had bonded with Bex more than the others. She liked all of her security detail, but Bex was different from the others. She was less military and leaned more into her street smarts. She had a hell of a sense of humor and kept Olivia in stitches when the others weren't around. Olivia had agreed to leave for her vacation from the White House. That way she could spend her last night with Fitz, and her security detail could sync up her plans with the Secret Service who were privy to her itinerary.

Fitz watched her flutter around the residence with a pep in her step. He could tell she was ready to get away from DC, and a small part of him wondered if she was looking forward to time away from him. He continued to tell himself that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and Olivia would miss him terribly and call him multiple times a day, the very thing he planned to do to her. The two enjoyed a nice steak dinner together, complete with easy conversation. Fitz made sure that Olivia was aware of his schedule for the next week, and Tom would provide her security detail updates on Fitz's schedule every couple of days so she would know the best times to reach out to him. Although he felt somewhat melancholy about her being away from him for a couple of weeks, Fitz knew this was what was best for her, and he was glad to facilitate her having the best vacation she'd had so far.

XXX

Two days into her vacation, Olivia had slept a minimum of thirty hours, eaten two family-sized bags of flavored popcorn, and made it a point to drink a glass of water for every glass of wine she consumed. She became a connoisseur of s'mores she loved toasting over the tabletop fireplace on the enclosed patio dining table. When she wasn't sleeping, she was reading one of her bestseller fiction books. Olivia and Fitz managed to talk for about twenty minutes each day, her mostly listening to his recounting of his South American trip, and him counting down the days and hours until they were back together.

Olivia was even starting to have fun with her security detail. Although she considered Bex a new friend, she was also forging bonds with Sully, Ben, and Kelly. She figured that if they were putting their lives on the line for her, she at least owed them getting to know them better. She suckered Sully, Ben and Kelly into a game of Trivial Pursuit, and Bex, Kelly and Ben into a game of Pictionary. The fourth security person would keep watch of the property from the front while the other three agreed to play the game on the condition that they could play in the glass enclosed back porch where they could see the comings and goings on the back of the cabin from three angles.

What Olivia didn't know was that Tom had employed his two extra security people to keep watch of the main entrance of the property. There was a small guard house at the mouth of the road that led to the cabin. Tom arranged for his backups to serve as the guards instead of the normal under-trained security guards that usually manned the post. Olivia's detail was aware of the two others on special detail, but they were informed not to tell her, as she would think it was too much, and thus take it out on Fitz.

By day three, Olivia felt caught up on sleep, and was ready to be more active, first starting with an hour-long yoga session, and then twenty minutes in the small sauna that was a part of the primary bedroom suite, and finally a three-mile hike up a nearby trail. On day four, she ventured into town for a bit of shopping. She got Fitz a monogrammed gold-plated pen, and a personalized shaving kit. She found for Cyrus a handheld stress ball shaped like Earth. Olivia knew Cyrus would appreciate the metaphor of having the world in the palm of his hand. Days five and six were back to lazily reading, yoga, and lounging around having casual conversations with whichever one of her security detail was in the room with her. Aspen was good to her, and she wasn't even disappointed that she never made it on skis or a snowmobile. On day seven she and her security detail packed their things and headed to the ranch in Montana. The extra two security personnel had made their way to Montana at daybreak to secure that property where they would be staying for the coming week.

When they arrived at the ranch in Montana, Olivia at first felt antsy, as jet lag had not yet kicked in, but soon would the next day. She and Sully plotted out the itinerary for the first few days, day one with them getting settled in, and day two surely being a day of rest rather than adventure. The week in Montana was equally restful and rejuvenating as Aspen. Olivia road horses almost every day for hours exploring the vastness of the ranch's acreage. The ranch hand assigned to them showed them some cool spots on the property for observing wildlife and nature, producing NatGeo quality photo opportunities. Ben taught her how to fly fish, which at first, she hated, but upon catching her first fish, Olivia's competitive nature kicked in, and she was in it to win it.

Fitz's trip in South America was wrapping up, and they were able to talk for longer periods of time each day. The final leg of his trip was cancelled due to a security concern, and he would be heading to Vermont two days earlier than planned. He was glad to be going home to the States, and even more eager to see his lady. He missed her terribly and couldn't wait to lay eyes on her. The one thing that he was grateful for was the knowledge that her security detail was adept at keeping her safe without making her feel crowded. Tom really did do a great job with his choices of who should serve as her personal security.

XXX

After two weeks of vacationing on her own, it was time for Olivia to reunite with her love. Her time in Aspen and the ranch in Montana were needed and appreciated, but she truly missed Fitz. This was the longest they'd gone without seeing each other since they first met during the Reston campaign. She was the one now counting the hours for their reunion. She knew that he had arrived in Vermont a couple of days ago, and he needed to catch up on sleep and get some much-needed rest and quiet where he could claim it.

Fitz had arranged for them to stay at the home of an old family friend who rarely used the property, choosing to spend his time in the Greek isles. The home was large and beautiful with lots of land, enough to land Marine One on any side of the house. He was made aware that her jet had landed, and they were in the car expected to arrive within the hour. Every room that had a flat surface housed a vibrant and colorful assorted flower arrangement, and a few bottles of sparkling water. Fitz had hired a chef to cook dinner for them the first night consisting of baked chicken, vegetables from local farms, and a three-layer carrot cake. He showered and shaved, put on a white button-down shirt and jeans, tussled his damp hair, and was ready for Olivia's arrival in the next few minutes.

Hearing the light hum of an engine, Fitz nervously but casually walked to the front door of the house and made his way to the driveway to open her door once the car stopped. He signaled for his agents to let him get her door and help her out of the car. The smile on Olivia's face said more than her words ever could as she watched him approach the vehicle and open the door. It took everything in him not to yank her out, but he gently but firmly pulled her straight to him from her seated position.

"Hi."

"Hi." They kissed for what seemed like hours to the agents just standing around.

"I missed you so much. You can never leave me like that ever again," Fitz said half-joking, and half-seriously.

"How about I take a long vacation every five years. Will that work for you?" She joked back.

"Only if I'm with you," he said setting the boundary. Fitz wrapped his arm around her shoulder and led her back into the house. "I must admit, you look terrific. I see now that you really did need that time to yourself."

"And you look like you've been able to sleep through the night these past couple of days. And you smell good too!"

"Thank you. I hope you are hungry. A local chef is preparing our dinner tonight. Riley Bear is his name."

"Riley Bear?! That is definitely a name to remember. He had to be an excellent chef, otherwise a name like that would get blasted at the hint of mediocrity."

Sully and Ben were on Olivia's detail for the flight to Vermont. They were to see her there before heading back to DC. She would be under the protection of the Secret Service now that she was back with Fitz for the remainder of her time in Vermont. The last thing Ben and Sully did was bring her three travel bags into the house, debrief Tom, receive a few kind words from the President, and told Olivia they'd see her next week. Olivia had to admit to herself that she was grateful to have them, and Kelly and Bex, as her personal security detail, and she knew that she had made life-long friends with them. The two women on her detail would arrive in Vermont the next day ready to accompany Olivia any place that she would go without Fitz and his detail.

Fitz and Olivia were finally alone in the living room that was large but decorated in such a way that made it feel cozy by centering the large brick fireplace. They stood in the middle of the room embracing each other, taking in the other's scent, caressing each other's arms and back, then began to lightly rock side to side.

Fitz took a deep breath before being the first to speak, "Dinner should be ready in about 10 more minutes. Do you need anything before we sit down to eat?"

"Why don't you open a bottle of wine for us. I'd like to get freshened up. Where is our room?" she asked, grabbing her smallest bag that contained her toiletries and following him as he slowly walked toward their room. The owner of the home, Dave Mitchum, kept the cozy cabin theme going with the main bedroom. It had a masculine feel, but with hints of softness by utilizing lots of textiles throughout the space.

"The bathroom is right through there. Go ahead and have a shower. I'll let Chef Bear know you'll be down in about twenty minutes," Fitz told her before kissing her cheek and heading back towards the kitchen.

Fifteen minutes later, Olivia made her presence known to Fitz in the kitchen, and she introduced herself to Chef Bear. She and Fitz made their way to the informal dining area and enjoyed an amazing dinner. Olivia was convinced she'd never eaten more in her life than she'd eaten during her time on vacation. During the course of dinner, they caught up with each other about their time apart, and even offering up new details of their travels over the past couple of weeks. Fitz filled Olivia in on their schedule for their time in Vermont, including a visit to the Ben and Jerry's headquarters and the Vermont Teddy Bear Company. Fitz had also scheduled meetings with Vermont's governor and a couple of democratic mayors, but all these events were over twenty-four hours away, so the two would have a whole day to spend together enjoying the landscape and tranquility of the Mitchum property. Chef Bear served them dessert in the living room where the two continued to get reacquainted with each other before calling it a night and heading to bed.

The next day Fitz and Olivia agreed that the property was too impressive to leave, and since it was quite vast in acreage, they drove a golf cart to various nooks of the grounds, accompanied by two agents in a second cart. There were even apple and pear trees, which Olivia vowed to pick some of the fruit before returning to Washington later in the week.

"Tell me about this friend of yours, Dave Mitchum," Olivia demanded.

"Not much to tell. He's a legacy guy, much like myself. He preferred to ride the privilege he was born into and do the bare minimum to make it look like he was earning his way through life. He lives well, and is a good guy, just lazy and can afford to be so. He's in Greece right now, probably eating and drinking and womanizing."

"Does he come here often. This place is amazing! I don't know if it's ideal for womanizing, but we ate and drank pretty well last night," she teased.

"I think he finds this place boring. He actually has to think of ways to entertain himself when he's here. My first time here was during our time in law school. That's where I know him from. It was more log-cabiney back then. His family did a major reno on the place. Anyway, we still talk from time to time, and we get to see each other once every couple of years, but he's always been generous with loaning out his properties to friends. I take it you like it here?" Fitz asked.

"It's beautiful. I can see us coming here to vacation again, but next time during the warmer months. I'd love to experience Vermont in the summer," she answered.

"Consider it done," Fitz promised as they drove off in the golf cart to explore other parts of the property before heading back to the house, eat, and relax by the fireplace.

The rest of their trip went without any hitches. Olivia joined the President on several of his official engagements, except his meetings with political leaders. Their favorite moment of the trip was when the CEO of the Teddy Bear Company presented them with one of a kind Olitz Bears, a boy bear dressed in a navy suit with a light blue tie and blue eyes that matched Fitz's, and a girl bear dressed in a cream-colored suit with big brown eyes and a pink stitched mouth. Fitz and Olivia playfully discussed who should keep the bears, and they both agreed to keep the other's likeness bear with them as a reminder of the other when they were apart.

After five days in Vermont, they finally made their way back to DC and life back in the fishbowl. Olivia was excited about returning home, as she had a potential client, a big one that could set her business up for success right off the bat.