"What the hell?" Cyrus screamed, loud enough for half the West Wing to have heard him. Someone had leaked the tape. It had probably been the same person who had sent it to him in the first place. Fortunately or unfortunately, the only difference was that the leaked version cut off before the woman's identity could be revealed. The only way to handle this, to spin it into something else entirely, Cyrus thought. Was ironically, to involve the woman who was actually on the tape. Olivia Pope herself.
The problem was how to approach her. Let's face it, there wasn't anything easy about asking someone to help stop their sex tape from becoming even more public. Who did Olivia Pope still love, even after everything he'd done to her? The answer was easy, how to make the President decide to visit her was much harder. After some convincing, and many threats of blackmail, Fitz was on his way.
Why had Cyrus picked him to do this? Didn't he know how awkward this was going to be for him? Fitz grumbled. It was bad enough already that Olivia wasn't talking to him. This would only complicate things further. The lights were on, visible from underneath the door. He could hear the faint noise of the TV, "Would you like us to open the door, sir?" "No." Fitz took a breath before knocking on the door. She was dressed in pajamas, making her look heavenly—he really had to stop doing that. "Do you need something, Mr. President?" You. I just need you. Again with the thoughts. He should lay off, they weren't together anymore. "I need you to listen to this, I'm sure you've already heard it on the news but this is the full version. Help me spin it." "You want me to listen to a tape of you having relations with some girl?" "It's not some girl, you and I both know that. Tell me you know that.." She had known that, from the moment she had heard her own moans broadcast over the news.
Olivia did have her hands full with trying to find Amanda but this was bigger, a media superstorm waiting to happen— did that make her a horrible person for prioritizing this over Amanda? They still hadn't found anything; besides trying to hack into Billy's cellphone, even going as far as checking the local morgues for anyone matching Amanda's description. Still nothing. She'd have to meet with Mellie and convince her to say it was her.
"I would like my husband back. It has been nearly two years since you left him, you fell down on the job Liv. We were supposed to be a team and you fell down on the job." Mellie handed her a piece of paper. "He's still not over you, but maybe seeing you with one of these men will make him realize what really matters."
"Mrs. Grant? James is ready for you in the Green Room." Mellie dusted some imaginary lint off her dress and smiled warmly at Olivia. "Well, I hope you'll at least think about my offer."
Mellie leaned forward, smiling warmly at James. "Well, it has been hard for our family to deal with this very private video getting out. What has made it easier to deal with though, is finding out that our family is expanding." Fitz smiled at her but it didn't quite reach his eyes. Olivia realized that he had been just as blindsided as her.
"You can't just completely blindside me on national television. It's not fair." "Fair? Fitz you want to talk about fair? How about you cheating on me with Olivia Pope and have the audacity to make a sex tape, and then forcing me to pretend that we're so happy together? If we have a baby, it will cover up your infidelity. It can save us."
They were in the residence luckily, otherwise, they would've had some explaining to do. "There is no "saving" us. I'm not using my child as a political pawn," Fitz argued. "We can't have a child for appearances." "Well, we have to have a child because I already told the media unless, you'd like me to end your political career over Olivia Pope." Maybe it was time to move on. Olivia probably already had.
Olivia scanned the list of guys whom Mellie had deemed "eligible" for her to date. There were some senators, high-ranking soldiers but none were interesting. She was surprised to find Edison Davis on the list, they had a history, to say the least. They had recently bumped into each other while Olivia was out running errands. He had given her his number if she wanted to catch up. Edison was a good guy; she had even been in love with him once, surely she could fall in love with him again?
Sorry for the long wait, I've been on vacation for the last week and had limited access to WiFi. Thank you so much for supporting my story, it truly means a lot to me.