Fitz flipped through the images from the award event. He was annoyed that Olivia didn't tell him that Daniel was going to be there, he spoke to her right after she left the event and she completely left it out. He decided to call her and give her crap about it. He wasn't sure if she would even pick up because by now, it was early morning for her but he decided to try and the second she picked up, he began grilling her.
"Why didn't you tell me Daniel Benancourt was at the event last night?"
"It wasn't important."
"Oh please, you've been talking about this event for weeks and you forgot to mentioned he was going to be presenting the award to you, he kissed you on the cheek about one hundred and fifty seven thousand fucking times."
"That's a very specific number and I don't forget things, he actually wasn't invited, he asked the board to come and present the award to me and they allowed him. There were like three cheek kisses and a hug, that's it."
"Does he want you back?"
"Of course he wants me back, hello it's me we're talking about here,"
Fitz chuckled.
"I don't like seeing you with other people."
"That's funny because you have a wife so if we're talking about other people…"
"I'm getting a divorce, you know that."
"But yet, you aren't divorced right now so…maybe I should go jump on Daniel's face."
"The only face you're jumping on is mine. Can we change the subject, where are you?"
She chuckled.
"I guess I've won this argument."
Fitz rolled his eyes.
"Where are you?"
"I am in Agra, we landed a little while ago, we're on our way to the hotel right now then we're gonna take a little nap, re energize then to the Taj Mahal after. I'll send you pictures, I'll be wearing a lehenga choli ."
"That's like a saree right?"
"Sort of, less formal."
"I can't wait, I think it's starting to sink in that you're gone, I'm not looking forward to the weeks to come."
"I know, I miss you too. I miss kissing you."
"Oh god Olivia, don't take me to that place, please I'm begging you."
"Okay fine, I'll let you live this time but next time you call me I'm gonna make you suffer."
"I look forward to it."
"I'm sure you do. I'm gonna have to go, call me in the morning when you wake up."
"Okay, I love you, I'll talk to you later."
"Love you too handsome, bye."
Olivia hung up.
"I'm tired of you and him, I need my own man," Abby said nonchalantly.
Olivia laughed.
"He's annoyed that Daniel was at the event."
"Really, he's the jealous type, that's hot."
"I think he's bored, that's the only reason he's taking issue with Daniel being there."
Olivia looked through the window and recognized the familiar scenery from her last visit to Agra. They arrived at the hotel after a quick drive. As soon as Olivia entered her room, she fell on the bed and slept.
Around 2 in the afternoon, they began getting ready to go the the Taj Mahal. Olivia wore a red and gold two piece embellished lehenga choli which is a traditional indian two piece garment consisting of a midriff baring top and a long skirt and she threw a embellished scarf over her arms. She had a stack of brackets lining both arms and a red and gold necklace as well as a gold tikka headpiece with red gems. She looked ethereal. Abby wore the exact same thing in emerald green, her favorite color.
The ride to the Taj Mahal was quick. They walked the pavilion taking pictures and marveling at the beauty of the mausoleum. Olivia never got tired of it. After hours of walking and exploring, they bought food from a street vendor and brought it back to the hotel to eat.
Fitz sat the resolute desk looking through the pictures Olivia sent from the Taj Mahal. She looked beautiful and more importantly she looked happy in her red and gold outfit. She was covered in jewels and stood directly in front of pool with the actual structure of the Taj Mahal directly behind her. She oddly made him feel as if he was missing out on life. He'd had a fortunate life, private planes, private islands, the best of everything but somehow that didn't compare. He spent a few minutes gazing at the pictures before closing his laptop and beginning his day.
He had scheduled a phone meeting with his lawyer to discuss further steps they could take in regards to Mellie. He had a private investigator digging into Mellie because at this point, threatening to air her dirty laundry was the only way he could think of getting her to sign. He'd been trying to find other ways, he didn't think she'd take his threat of exposure seriously because she knew him, she was Gerry's mother and if airing her secret would hurt Gerry in the long run then she knew he wouldn't do it but he figured it wouldn't hurt to threaten and see if she'd fold but he needed to know what secrets she was hiding in the first place.
He had Lauren call his lawyer and then put the call through to him.
"Tim, how's it going?"
"Good mr. President, I can't complain."
"Great, any progress with Mellie?"
"No, none, I've pulled out all the big guns and she won't budge and her lawyer won't budge either. She's adamant that she's not signing under any condition."
"I figured but I still thought I'd give it try. Put the pause button on negotiating with her lawyer, I'm going to try another approach and I'll let you know how that works out. As for assets, I was willing to give her 50% but she's being difficult so dial it back to 15% and let her lawyer know that the generous 50% offer is no longer on the table."
"I will begin drafting that once we are done speaking."
"Thanks Tim, take care of yourself."
"You too Mr. President."
Cyrus walked in the room the moment Fitz hung up.
"Morning Cyrus."
"Morning Mr. President,"
"What's the public saying about the divorce this week?"
"The more time passes, the more they get used to idea and the less they care."
Fitz smiled.
"Wait? That's what you planned all along isn't it?" Cyrus asked.
"Now, when I walk I into the press and announce my divorce, it won't be a shock to anyone because it's been circulating for months and people won't care because they saw it coming."
"You can't announce it right now."
"No, not today, I'm having my lawyer redraft some papers. Since Mellie is being difficult, I'm gonna start being difficult too."
"Fitz, this divorce may lose you a second term. You really need to think about this."
"Then so be it, I've made up my find Cyrus, you can either help me do this and make sure this plays out smoothly for me or you can stop complaining and let me do it myself. Either way, it's happening, so make a choice and let me know."
Cyrus sighed.
"I'll help you."
"Thank you, finally, what I want for a change."
"Well, I don't really have another choice, we can't have you burning bridges with our constituents with this whole divorce spectacle."
"My thoughts exactly."
Cyrus left a little later and Fitz decided to call Olivia before he began his day. The time difference was so drastic that it limited the window of time he had to call her during the day.
"Liv?"
He could hear slow chanting in the background.
"Hey Hun."
"What's that in the background I hear?"
"Well we're at the festival of punjab, we walked the street down to the promenade and were at a river ceremony, they lit thousands of candles and they're floating down the river, there are thousands of roses in every color everywhere, it's beautiful. The chanting you hear, is a mantra. I'm gonna send you pictures."
"Your pictures are making me miss you more."
"Do you want me to not send you pictures?"
"No, of course not, I just, I miss you that's all."
"I miss you too, hop on a plane and come march in the festival with us, I'm sure no one will recognize you."
"Not funny, I actually really wish I could do that.'
"I know, me too."
"Liv, look at this, you have to get a picture of this," Abby interjected.
Olivia turned around and looked.
"Oh my god Fitz, I have to get a picture, I have to go."
"No, no, it's fine, go,"
"Love you, bye."
She hung up quickly and started snapped pictures of the group of girls dancing in their colorful red, pink, orange and yellow outfits.
Olivia and Abby danced along with the procession into the night. They wore rose crowns that they bought from a street vendor. They stopped to take a picture with a group of men painted as tigers and Olivia realized how convenient it was to have two men following her everywhere because they served as great photographers if nothing else. They partied until the wee hours of the morning before heading back to their hotel absolutely exhausted.
They slept till almost afternoon, waking up just around 11:30am. Even though Olivia was awake, she didn't move from her spot on the bed. Abby, however got up and went to freshen up.
Olivia took the time to send Fitz pictures from the festival last night. She really did wish that he could be there, traveling with her but she knew it was a waste of time and energy to dwell on what couldn't be so she told herself of get over it. She looked forward to her trip to Bali, she was going to spend two days at an Indonesian resort. Their flight was set for 11pm in the night and also had one stop at the Mumbai international airport where they would board an international flight to Bali and that flight would last another 10 hours.
Once she found the resolve to get out of bed, she showered and began packing her things for her late night flight. Once they were finished packing, they went out for lunch. After lunch, they went back to the hotel and lounged for hours until their car came to drop them to the airport. They took a 1 hour flight from Agra to Mumbai, they waited an hour to board their flight on Air India from Mumbai to Bali. They managed to get to their hotel in Bali just before 3pm to check in.
They Sura Lagoon hotel was gorgeous. The villas were made of dark wood with wide glass screens that allowed a view to the ocean. They aura was warm, with low lit lamps lining the infinity pool that went out the ocean. The sand was white and the water was clear and palm trees lined the beach.
"Abby this is so much more beautiful than the pictures online. I love it," Olivia gushed as she walked to their villa.
"And it's only $200 per night, I call that a win," Abby chuckled.
"I'm spending all night on this beach, I'm just gonna go put my bathing suit on and lay on the beach drinking margaritas till I fall asleep."
"Here, here to that."
They went to their villa and changed into their bathing suits. Olivia wore a white string bikini that didn't fully cover her ass, it was one of her more provocative swimsuits. Abby wore a red backless monokini.
They went to the bar to get drinks before taking their spots on the beach sunbeds.
As she laid on the beach and looked out to the horizon, she felt the need to call Fitz the only problem was that Bali was 13 hours ahead of D.C. time. It was just after three in the morning in Washington but she decided to call him anyways. She dialed his number and waited for him to pick up. It almost went to voicemail before he picked up.
"Livie is everything alright? Are you okay?" His voice was raspy and he sounded worried.
"No, I'm fine, I'm totally fine. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to give you a fright,"
She heard him chuckle.
"Can you start with that next time?"
"Hey, you didn't even let me say hello."
Fitz sat up in bed.
"So, what are you doing?"
"I'm lying in the beach right now and I just missed you, wanted to hear your voice. How was your day?"
He smiled.
"Busy, I spent the entire morning on the hill and then the afternoon on the phone with prime minister of England, then Germany then the president of France, this is all very boring and I'm sure your day was much better."
"Honestly, it was."
Fitz laughed.
"You said you're lying on the beach, what are you wearing?"
"I'm wearing a white string bikini, it shows a lot of ass."
"Nice, masturbating material, I'm visualizing right now. Please tell me you took pictures."
"I did, I'll send them to you in the morning."
"Your morning or my morning?"
"My night, your morning."
"Okay, how's Bali, how do you like it?"
"It's gorgeous here, seriously I'm just taking it all in, the sand is white and the water is clear and it's comfortably warm right now. I wish you were here right now, I know you'd love it. A little sun would do you some good, you know I'd like to see you laid out on the beach soaking up sun, in your swim trunks and sunglasses with a cold beer in your hand."
"You're not helping right now you know, you're making me miss somewhere that I've never even seen before."
"Quit complaining, how's Gerry?"
"He's good, he's sort of but not really dating this girl named Kenna, he wants her to join our Saturday morning jog next week, he's whipped and he also scored a touchdown two days ago at his football game so he was really excited about that."
"Aww Gerry has a girlfriend."
"I think he wants that but he's afraid to ask, he's really shy, I don't know where he got that from because it's not from me."
"You are shy in some things, less shy in others."
"Don't take me there Olivia, I've been getting wet dreams thinking about you, let me live this one night."
"No, I miss you too much, I can't stop thinking about you and if I have to suffer you have to suffer."
"Hey, I'm suffering too, I'm the president and I have to kick people out of the Oval Office because I'm getting erections thinking about you in the middle of meetings, if that's not what you call suffering, I don't know what is."
Olivia chuckled.
"Fine, you win."
She sighed.
"Well I'm sure you have a busy day ahead of you and I want you to rest so I'll talk to you soon. I love you."
"I love you too Livie, I'll talk to you soon wait-"
"Yes?"
"How have the headaches been?"
"They come and go, I got one on the plane on my way here but it wasn't that bad."
He sighed.
"Okay, just be careful okay."
"Okay, I love you."
"Love you too. bye."