Fitz walked into his room, still on a crazy high from his kiss with Olivia.
"Where have you been?"
He turned to see Mellie in the corner.
"Minding my business."
"Don't be smart Fitz. Where have you been?"
He didn't answer, he just threw his jacket off and walked to the bathroom. She followed him.
"Fitz I'm speaking to you."
"Mellie, I'm not gonna argue with you."
He turned on the faucet and gauged the water.
"Fitz," she said a little softer.
She walked over and kissed his bare back. He was thrown off by her sudden display of affection but he didn't say anything, he was interested to see what her motive was so he ignored her and walked over to the sink and began brushing his teeth. Mellie just stood and watched him. When he was done, he completely undressed and stepped into the shower.
He was under the faucet for some time until he heard she screen door open and Mellie was naked beside him.
"Woah."
She smiled and ran her hand up and down his torso.
"When was the last time we had sex."
"Mellie, get out," he spoke in a normal tone.
"Come on Fitz, you were always so great in bed, I've missed you and I'm horny."
She dropped to her knees, she was about to take him into her mouth but Fitz stepped back.
"Mellie I asked you to get out, don't make me ask you again because I will get really disrespectful."
She stood up.
"What's your problem Fitz, you are the one that's always complaining about us not having sex, now I'm willing to do and what? You don't want to? Since when have you ever not wanted to have sex."
"Since a couple years ago and you think you can blow me just so I'll call of the divorce. I won't so come up with another plan this won't work and honestly it's a little embarrassing on your part."
"You're a real dick, you know that Fitz."
She stormed out of the bathroom and slammed the door behind her. He shook his head and chuckled, he was just glad he could go back to thinking about his kiss with Olivia in peace. It was amazing. I made him feel things inside that he'd never felt before. He didn't know what was so different about her. Whenever she was near him the hairs on his skin stood up, his heart sped up and he second guessed everything he did. He didn't know how he was going to manage an entire week without her. He thought it was hilarious that a month ago he'd didn't even know she existed and now he couldn't imagine life without her. He showered quickly and waited for her to call. He made her promise that she would call once she landed. The flight to New York from D.C. was just over an hour so he knew she would be landing any minute. He got dressed in his pajamas and laid in bed waiting for her call. After 20 minutes, his phone rang. He answered in the first ring.
"Took you long enough," he said as he answered with a smile.
She laughed.
"Wow, I knew you'd say that."
"You think you know me so well, do you?"
She laughed.
"Yes, I have peered into your very soul and I know all your heart's desires," she said seductively.
"Are you sure because if you knew all my heart's desires, you'd run."
"Why do you always think I'm going to run."
"Sometimes you seem a little too good to be true, I think one day, I'll tell you something or you'll find out something and you'll run for the hills."
"Don't worry chicken nugget, I'm not going anywhere."
He laughed.
"Are you hungry? Because the only time you give me food nicknames is if your hungry."
"You're right, I am hungry. I'm passing a McDonald's right now but I'd rather get shot in the face than eat McDonald's."
"I know a little something about getting shot in the face and let me tell you, it's not fun."
"Oh my god, I'm sorry, that was so insensitive."
"Liv, it's okay, I don't have a stick I'm my ass, I'm fine."
"I know but… this is really your fault."
Fitz raised his eyebrow.
"My fault?"
"Yes, I get so nervous with you, I do things that are not normal for me, like putting my foot in my mouth."
"Don't let me think about things going in your mouth, I'll lose it."
"You are very naughty aren't you Mr. President?" she teased.
"Say Mr. president again."
"Mr. president," she said in a perfect breathy Marilyn Monroe singing to JFK voice.
Fitz chuckled.
"I'm seriously obsessed with you, you know that."
"You better be."
"So where are you?"
"I am waiting for Abby and Harrison to come and pick me up. They're a few minutes away. Once I get done with this whole robbery ordeal I have to get to California as quick as possible."
"You poor thing, you're gonna be so tired tomorrow."
"Tell me about it, I'll try to get some sleep on the plane, that should suffice. What are you doing?"
"I'm laying in bed. I needed to know you landed safely before I went to bed."
"I'm sure if I didn't call you, your pilot would have."
"Yea but I wanted to hear it from you."
She smiled, she could see Abby walking towards her and she knew she needed to end the call soon.
"Well you know I'm okay now so I trust you'll sleep like a baby tonight."
"I'll be haunted with dreams of you the entire night."
"That's good right?"
"It would be, if you weren't gonna be on the other half of the country for a week."
Abby was seconds away.
"Abby's here, I'm gonna have to run but I'll call you when I can."
"Okay. Goodnight."
"Goodnight Keith."
"What?"
She hung up.
Abby was directly in front of her, along with Harrison who drove to the airport.
"Hey Liv, thanks for coming…"
Olivia gave her a tight hug and patted her back gently before letting go.
"No prob Abby, how are you doing? Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes. They are reporting his picture on the news so I think they'll find him pretty soon. Since it is your necklace and it's really expensive, the cops wanna talk to you."
"Okay, so let's head to the precinct first then."
They stopped to buy food and ate it on their way to the precinct. Once they got to the precinct, a short, chubby man walked over to them.
"I'm detective Cattnott," he stretched his hand out for a shake.
"I remember you from earlier."
"Yes, of course Ms. Whelan. Is this the owner of the necklace?"
"Yes, this is Olivia Pope."
"Okay, can you ladies follow me."
"Sure."
They followed him to his office and took a seat at his table.
"Can I offer you ladies some coffee?"
"No thank you," Olivia responded. Abby just shook her head.
"So I just wanted to ask you some basic questions Olivia."
They both nodded.
"You are the owner of the necklace right?"
"Yes, I am."
"Did you purchase that necklace."
"I did not. It was a gift."
"When did you receive that gift."
"March 22nd, 2008."
"From whom?"
"Daniel Benancourt."
"Is that a boyfriend, husband?"
"He is a friend."
"That is a very expensive gift to get from just a friend," he said skeptically.
Olivia didn't respond, she knew exactly where the interview was headed.
"We've seen a picture of the necklace from your friend Ms. Whelan, I had our expert make an estimate of the value based on the picture and it quite expensive, according to him. Why would a friend give you such an expensive gift."
"I don't know, why don't you call him and ask him, although I must warn you that he resides in France, so you might want to factor in the time difference before you make the call."
"No need to get defensive Ms. Pope."
"Of course not, I'm just puzzled as to the direction your questions seem to be heading. I'm an intelligent woman detective Cattnott, I don't enjoy being made a fool of and time is of the essence, so why don't you ask the questions you really want to ask so we can get this over with."
The detective was surprised at her forwardness.
"We are just wondering why you have such an expensive piece of jewelry in your possession and why it was stolen? Is it insured?"
"It was in my possession because it is my possession, regardless of the price and as for why it was stolen, if you are decent at your job, you will figure it out."
He shook his head and decided to give it a rest.
"Thank you Ms. Pope,"
"Dr. Pope," she corrected.
"Dr. Pope, If I have any further questions I will reach out to you. In the meantime, I would advise you to change your locks."
"I already had the building superintendent change it," said Abby.
"Great, I guess that means we're done here," Olivia said as she stood up to make her way out of the office.
The met Harrison back in the lobby.
"How did it go?"
"He pretty much thinks I'm some sort of scammer because there is no way I could own a necklace that expensive."
"Really?"
Olivia nodded.
"Come on, I think I want to ship my car to D.C. or something until they get this guy and have to get back to the apartment and pack some things for California."
Harrison drove his car to pick Olivia up from the airport since Paul took Abby's keys and Olivia had the only other set of keys.
"You want to ship it to D.C.?" Abby asked.
"Yeah, I'll be there a lot for the next few weeks, so it'll be convenient to have it with me and until they find Paul, I don't trust that he won't try to steal it. I'll just schedule a pick up online for tomorrow and just have them park in the garage and leave the key with the doorman until I return from California."
"Okay."
The drive back to the apartment was quick, Olivia packed her Goyard duffle and suitcase with enough clothes for her one week stay in California. She scheduled pick up online from a local car shipping service and once everything else in regards to her apartment and the robbery was taken care of she took a short nap before she had to head back to the airport with Harrison.
She slept the entire flight to California and arrived just before noon because of a delay. Harrison booked their stay at the Beverly Hills hotel which was just over a mile away from the hospital.
The drive from the airport was short. Olivia had Harrison check in at the hotel and drop their bags off while she made her way to the hospital.
Doctor Manu greeted her at the entrance.
"Dr. Pope, thank you for coming on such short notice, I know you are a very busy woman."
"I'm not that busy," she joked and shook his hand.
He lead her up to doctor's lounge so she could sanitize and then led her to the patient's room.
The parents were sitting by the side of the bed and stood to greet Olivia when she walked in.
"Hello Dr. Pope, thank you so much for agreeing to see her," the mother said.
"You are very welcome."
She shook both parents hands and then walked over to the young girl who was sleeping on the bed. Olivia looked at her for a few seconds.
"What is her name?" Olivia asked.
"Sarah Connor."
She looked over to Dr. Manu.
"When was the last CT scan done?"
"The last CT scan was done two days ago and sent to you."
"Okay, I will need another one done immediately. Her brain chemistry is changing constantly and I need the most recent information in order to get a precise picture of what is going on in her body. Have you harvested the stem cells as I have asked?"
"Yes, the procedure was done yesterday."
"Perfect, I will need the sample to be sent to France immediately, same day air,"
She walked out of the room and Dr. Manu followed. She continued to belt out instructions of everything that needed to be done for the procedures that would follow in days to come.
"Dr. Pope, Dr. Pope," she heard someone calling her name as they ran down the hallway and looked to see who it was. It was Sarah's father.
"Dr. Pope do you think you can help Sarah?"
"I promise to do everything in my power to help your daughter get well again."
He hugged her, which completely surprised but she didn't respond.
"Thank you doctor."
She gave him an awkward smile and then went on her way.
After spending hours at the hospital going over test results and her strategy for the surgery, Olivia called it a night and went back to her hotel with Harrison. She showered and dressed herself then she ordered room service and sat on her bed and waited for Fitz's speech to be broadcast. She sat with her eyes glued to the tv as Fitz spoke, it was live. He seemed perfectly calm, cool and collected. He showed no evidence of someone that had been shot in the head a month ago. Once the broadcast ended, she sat on her bed, going over files for the surgery when he called. She picked up on the first ring.
"You were amazing."
"You think so?"
"Are you kidding me? You were flawless."
Fitz smiled.
"Thanks."
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"I'm in the oval office, trying to work on this bill that I want the senate to push through. I figured I should use all the post shooting sympathy I can scrape up to get this bill passed."
She laughed.
"You are such a politician."
"Do you know how many crying, snot nosed babies I had to kiss to get into this office, I can't let it go to waste an not do what I promised to do."
"I have to admit, you've been a pretty good president… for a republican."
"You say you're a-political but you seem to really like the democrats," he teased.
"Well, they are more progressive and enlightened and liberal and eco-friendly and well, they care about the things that I care about."
"Like what?"
She placed the documents on the bed and leaned back on her pillow.
"Well for starters, it think everyone should be treated the equally regardless of race, wealth, religion, sexual orientation, gender or disability. I believe that if we don't stop global warming and pollution, cataclysm is inevitable. I believe in same sex marriage, I believe that everyone should have equal access to the same health care and education regardless of wealth. I despise war, I think it's barbaric. I think socialism is to some degree; necessary, in a capitalist society. I believe in everyone's freedom of religion or lack of religion, which is why I think that the statement 'In god we trust' should be removed from all official government documents and currency because it proves the government has in fact chosen an official state religion which is unconstitutional. I don't believe in the death penalty, life in prison is cruel a punishment enough."
"Don't stop there," he teased.
"I believe in a woman's right to choose. Your party opposes to some degree, all of the things I value."
"You are right, we are pretty ancient in our views, well they are but I'm trying to change that."
"Well, that's a start."
Fitz smiled.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Thinking about that kiss from last night."
"Shut up, you're gonna get me all twirly and it's not like we're in my apartment where we can make out so stop."
"Did you just say 'twirly'? What does that mean?"
"You know…"
"What?"
Olivia tried to give him a hint but he didn't get it.
"It means horny."
He erupted in laughter over the phone.
"Okay, I won't let you get twirly."
"What hotel are you staying at?"
"The Beverly hills hotel."
"By yourself?"
"No Harrison is with me."
"In another room right?"
"No, we rented a suite."
"Together?" his tone came off more snarky than he intended.
"By your tone, I'm guessing you don't like that."
"Why are you rooming together?"
"It's not a big deal, there are two rooms in the suite and Harry is just my friend."
"And am I just your friend too?"
Olivia didn't know where the sudden jealousy came from. She kind of liked it. She was gonna fake a fight with him at one point during the week anyways but he gave her the perfect opportunity so she had to take it.
"I'm gonna go now. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Do not hang up on me."
She hung up and chuckled. She waited to see if he would call back and of course; he did but she didn't pick up. She was gonna ice him out all week because she knew when she saw him again, he was gonna be pissed and it was always fun watching his tantrums plus she had something planned for him when she got back. It was a surprise she knew he'd love but most importantly, he deserved it. He was such a great guy and it annoyed her how the people around him didn't seem to appreciate that.
She tried to shake thoughts of Fitz out of her head went back to reviewing her work until she fell asleep.
The next morning, her day was pretty much the same. She spent the entire day at the hospital prepping for the procedure. The stem cell sample was isolated and accelerated at the lab and was on it's way back to the hospital. In the night when Fitz called her, as much as she wanted too, she didn't pick up.
Fitz sat at the resolute desk, annoyed at Olivia for not taking his calls. He learned enough about her over the past two weeks to know she was doing it just to annoy him. There was a knock on the door.
"Come in," he called out.
It was Lauren.
"Sir, your father is here to see you."
Fitz rolled his eyes, he knew exactly what it was about.
"Tell him I'm busy Lauren."
Gerry pushed past Lauren and walked into the oval office.
"Lying that you're busy Fitz, really?"
"I'm working on a bill Dad, what do you need?"
"Your wife keeps calling me and ranting on about some divorce papers you gave her. Is that true?"
"You know it is. So why ask?"
Gerry walked over to the desk.
"Come on Fitz, you know you can't get divorced so why even bother."
"Actually, I can get divorce and I want to get divorce. There is nothing you guys can do this time around that will change my mind so just save your energy Gerry."
"What's different this time huh? Why are you pushing for this so bad now? You haven't said anything about a divorce for years."
Fitz didn't answer.
"Fitz, what's changed."
Fitz sighed.
"I don't want to be married to her anymore that is all. I can't stand this farce of a marriage anymore so I'm divorcing her like 50% of married americans do at some point in time."
"You are not divorcing her."
"Oh, yes I am."
"NO, YOU ARE NOT! You think you can win a second term as a divorced president," Gerry yelled.
Tom came running into the room to see what was going on.
"Sir, is everything alright?"
Fitz stood up from his desk.
"Yes Tom everything is fine but my father was just leaving after failing to get his way, would you please escort him out, he is old and frail and I would hate for him to have an accident."
Tom walked over to escort him out. Gerry eyed Fitz dangerously.
"This conversation is not over."
"Yes it is."