They all enter the room one by one, and as they walk in; Shonda, Bellamy, Scott, and the rest of the guys are already sitting at the table. Kerry quickly notices Scott's sitting on Shonda's left side, like a baby bird waiting for it's mother, and Bellamy is sitting next to him.
As Kerry takes her seat across from Bellamy and Scott, and Tony sits next to her. Kerry's eyes meet with Bellamy's, and the level of discomfort between them rises. The tension is evident. Tony sees the tenseness in Kerry, and touches her leg under the table.
The moment he touches her, she looks over at him, breaking her eye contact with Bellamy. He whispers, "Let it go." She nods, and listens to his advice, taking a breath to release the tension. But, as she releases her breath; she sees Shonda's eyes burrowing a hole through her, once she looks away from Tony.
The chill in her stare is enough to form an ice cube, and gives Kerry a sense of great discomfort; despite the room being filled with people, and hearing everyone at the table carrying on conversations around her. She literally feels like she's alone in a room with her.
The tension between them is significant, and doesn't break until Columbus walks through the door, just in time for the meeting to start. He walks in with a doughnut in his hand, and coffee, along with a bright smile.
Shonda's attention immediately goes to him; she says, "I see you had time to find the doughnuts and coffee before the meeting." Columbus continues to smile as he says, "Yep, and the bathroom too. With five minutes to spare, before being late." Shonda looks at her watch, as she responds, "Touché. Have a seat, and we will get started."
Everyone is still laughing at his reply, as he takes a seat, and winks at Kerry as he gets comfy, and speaks to everyone at the table. She smiles at him, his presence is a welcomed diversion indeed; as Tony said, he makes the tense moments more bearable.
As she looks at her friend across from her; by all accounts, he appears to be sober, and ready to work. Which makes her and everyone else happy to see him doing well. As he gets settled; he looks across the table at Scott, and is a bit thrown off by his appearance. But he figures he'll learn soon enough what's going on.
As the meeting comes to order; Shonda's assistant closes the door on her way out, after making sure everyone has what they need. Shonda, sitting at the head of the table; leans forward as she says, "Good morning everyone. Good to see you all. Is everyone happy to be back?" Everyone smiles and nods, replying in unison, "Yes."
Despite the smile on her face; the feeling in the room seems off to Kerry. Something about the moment doesn't feel quite chipper. Most notably, she sees that Shonda isn't looking her in the face anymore. She's looking all over the room, talking about the press tours that her and Tony went on over the summer for the show. But, not once has she made any real eye contact with either one of them. Tony picks up on it too, and whispers, "Real mature, huh?"
Kerry doesn't want to admit it; but he's right. Her behavior is suspect, for sure. But she whispers, "Stop it." He nods and sits back in his seat as Shonda continues to talk. She goes on to mention the huge following they've achieved on social media platforms like twitter and Facebook; then she talks about the NAACP awards the show won, as well as Kerry's individual award, and other show nominations. But, again. She barely looks at her, or Tony.
However, the positive chatter about the show's success, and recognition, as well as the hype from the press tour, is widely celebrated by the cast. But, an interruption happens as Shonda's cell phone rings, and she excuses herself from the conversation, as she says, "Excuse me for a second. I have to take this. I will be right back. Talk among yourselves."
After she steps outside; Jeff continues as he says, "You two were everywhere together this summer, coast to coast, right?" Tony smiles as he responds, "Yeah, it was a grind. But a happy one. Right Ker?"
Kerry nods and grins as she says, "Definitely, it was cool to run into such a widespread fandom." Darby joyfully asks, "How was it meeting some of the Olitzers in person? Are they as wild in person, as they are on twitter?" Scott interjects, "Who are the Olitzers? That's a weird name."
Josh rolls his eyes as he responds, "They are the cult like fan following for Olivia and Fitz's characters. They've morphed their individual names into a moniker, like Brangelina for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. It's absurd. The show is about more than one couple."
His explanation annoys everyone at the table, except for Scott. Who laughs at the reply, and nods, accepting the answer; as Tony says, "You're right Josh. The show is about more than Olitz; but people tap into what interest's them, and that's what hooks them making them invested. It's like a restaurant that you like for a specific dish. They serve more than that; but that one dish is what you crave, and why you're there. It's the draw, and the top seller."
Josh shrugs his shoulders as he responds, "I guess. It's still odd to me though." Columbus says, "Don't be that guy Josh." Josh responds, "What guy?" Columbus finishes his coffee as he says, "That guy who's a hater, just because. Nobody likes a hater." The snickering at the table is evident.
Josh is clearly annoyed by Columbus' remark, and Columbus sees Darby and Katie are enjoying the laugh the most. Everyone is finding this banter quite amusing. Until Josh says, "I'm not being a hater. I'm just making an observation." Dan shakes his head as he says, "Come on Josh, let it go. It's not an observation to call the show's following a cult. It's an insult. So own it." Guillermo pipes up as he says, "Agreed Josh. It's not that serious man."
Josh quips, "All I'm saying is the fandom is overly done; yes it's good publicity for the show. But, it's still over the top." Henry, one who rarely gets involved in these discussions responds, "Well, maybe if you stop pissing people off on twitter; you wouldn't be so annoyed by them."
Katie replies, "She's got you there Josh." As Darby says, "If anything is over the top; it's you getting into twitter beefs." Josh quickly says, "Hey, I don't start it. They do." Jeff replies, "Did you just say that out loud?" Josh responds, "They gang up on me; kind of like the way you all are ganging up on me right now."