AN: First of all I just want to thank you all for the response I got for this, seriosuly I didn't see it coming, I am deeply grateful for all the favorites, follows and reviews, you guys all rock. So here is the second chapter finally, I hope to be able to update sooner now that finals are over. I hope you guys enjoy :)
It was monday after thanksgiving and Fitz was holding Olivia's card in front of him, wondering if it was a good time to call already, he just really wanted to see her again. His thoughts were interrupted by a very stressed out chief of staff barging into his office, so he put down the card and pretended to be working.
"Cyrus, what mess brings you here now?" Fitz asked calmly
"Nothing, I just got pissed at the freshest article shaming you for divorcing, seriously, we are doing so much great work in this administration and that's all they focus on" He replied exasperated.
"Why did I not know about that?" Fitz had no idea what Cyrus was so pissed about, he knew he was still getting hate, but he hadn't heard of a recent article.
"Just came out, I told people to not tell you, I just wanted you to focus on your morning meeting" Cyrus told him.
"I can handle it Cy, don't you worry" Fitz knew that what his chance to suggest calling Olivia's team "Also, I've been thinking we should get an external consultant, you know for public image and crisis management, I know this is not precisely a crisis, since it happened months ago but it is still a problem, and the guys here haven't done much to fix it" Fitz waited for Cyrus to consider his idea, but the old man nodded almost immediately.
"I had actually been thinking the same, do you have anyone in mind?" Cyrus had an idea, but he wasn't sure if Fitz would be ok with it.
"I do, yeah, Olivia Pope and Associates, it's a new firm but I've heard great things about them" Fitz was waiting for Cyrus to argue and say they should get a firm with more experience, but instead his eyes went wide with surprise.
"Well this is weird, it's exactly who I had in mind" Cyrus wasn't sure how he got the idea, but was very glad it went that way.
"Really?" Fitz was surprised as well. "I thought you would fight me to get a team with more experience" Cyrus laughed, since he thought the same argument would come from Fitz.
"If it was any other new firm I would have, but I actually know Olivia Pope, she was my student in Law School, If she hadn't been out of the country I would have called her for your campaign" Cyrus explained.
Fitz listened to Cyrus talking about her and thought the world was indeed very small, he decided to withhold the information about meeting her and flying back to DC together, he knew Cyrus would not be so cool about it even if he knew Olivia; Fitz had just met her and Cy would give him the same argument she did for not wanting to travel with him before she finally agreed.
Before Cyrus left the office he told Fitz he would make the call to Olivia's office, but he said he would rather do it himself, saying that he didn't want her to think she just got the job because she knew his chief of staff, he agreed and right after he closed the door, Fitz started dialing the number.
Olivia was at her office hanging out with Emily, her sister, she spent a lot of time at OPA since the boss was her sister and her husband, Harrison Wright, worked there too; also she had taken a break from her job as an ER nurse when she got pregnant, Harrison was doing well with Olivia and she just wanted to focus on the baby.
"So… has he called yet?" Emily asked her sister.
"No, and I'm sure it could be a while even if he does, he might have just been trying to be nice" Olivia replied.
"Yeah, I don't think so, a man that after just meeting you, shares his Carlo's crumb cake, gives you a ride to the airport and when you miss your flight, also gives you ride back here on his plane is not just trying to be nice" After Emily heard Olivia's story on thursday she had being insisting the President was interested in her and gushing about how great it would be, Olivia simply rolled her eyes at her and told her to stop making such a big deal out of it.
"Em seriously, you are blowing this out of proportion" Olivia said exasperated
"He did ask for you number" She argued
"Because of work" Olivia argued back.
"If I recall your story correctly, that is not what happened, the man asked for your number and you turned into a work related thing" Emily was not backing down so easily, she just had a gut feeling something good could come out of that meeting. Olivia regretted not changing that part of the story when she told it to her sister.
"Why else would he want my contact information" Olivia also had no intention of giving in.
"You are impossible Olivia, but time will prove me right"
Olivia was about to keep arguing with Emily but her phone started ringing, so she took a breath and went into gladiator more to answer it.
"Olivia Pope and Associates, this is Olivia" she said politely.
"I have to say, I'm really pleased to hear you answer your own phone" Fitz was really happy he didn't have to go through a secretary or assistant to talk to her. Upon hearing his voice she flushed and wasn't sure how to respond, the reaction didn't go unnoticed by Emily, who just squinted her eyes at her.
Olivia didn't want that conversation to happen in front of her sister so she told Fitz to hold on a moment and covered the receiver to tell her it was a client and she needed the room. Emily thought it was weird how Liv reacted when she answered and desperately wanted to know what the call was about, she knew there was a chance it was the President, but decided to do as she was told and find out later.
"I'm sorry, I had to clear my office" she told him.
"Are you busy, because I can call back" Fitz wanted to talk to her but he didn't want her to disturb her work schedule just because he was the President.
"No it's ok, really" she replied immediately. "What can I help you with"
"I want to hire your firm to work on my image" he went straight to the point.
"Oh, wow… that is… I… We would be honored" she stuttered, and he smiled to himself.
"Great then, I will see you here tomorrow at 11 am, there will be pass waiting for you at the gate" He hung up the phone, despite wanting to talk to her more, he didn't want to give her a chance to argue.
Olivia sat back in her chair, a million things going through her head, she was still not sure what had just happened, a part of her thought she was dreaming. She just sat there thinking about the meeting and how she would prepare for it when her sister walked back into the office followed by Harrison, Olivia was just there looking at the ceiling and they exchanged worried looks.
"Everything ok?" Emily asked her. Olivia snapped out of her thoughts and stared briefly at Em, trying to figure out what to tell her. Eventually she realized there was no point lying since she would find out eventually.
"That was the President" Oliva finally said.
"Oh my god! I told you, this is great" She said excitedly
"Wait what" Harrison said confused "What President, you don't meant the President of the United State do you?" Olivia still in shock and Emily lost in excitement they forgot that Harrison didn't know about what happened on thanksgiving.
"Oh but she does" Emily said with a smile, Olivia just looked worried.
Olivia was tempted to let her sister tell the story, but she knew she would twist the story to fit her crazy theories, so she proceeded to explain the whole thing to Harrison. Needless to say he agreed with his wife but dropped the subject after Olivia glared at him. They started talking about a plan for the President so Emily excused herself and let them work; when they were done Olivia asked him to wait until after the meeting before he told the rest of team.
Olivia tossed and turned almost all night, too anxious to sleep well and the moments she managed to doze off she ended up dreaming about him. She got up earlier than usual and took a shower, then she spent a great deal of time trying to decide on the perfect outfit, she almost emptied her closet in the process and finally decided on a black dress with white laced sleeves, and a white coat, then she straightened her hair and applied make-up.
She could only make herself have a cup of tea for breakfast and she left her apartment in a hurry even though she had plenty of time to get there. The only thing that made her feel better was that she knew Cyrus would probably be there, she hadn't talked to him in a while but she knew he was Chief of Staff. Just like Fitz had said, there was a pass waiting for her, she was told how to get to the west wing, she was about 15 minutes early, so she decided to go tell Fitz' secretary she was already there.
"Excuse Miss, I'm Olivia Pope, I have a meeting with the President at 11, so I just wanted to let you know I'm here already" She explained the lady behind the desk.
"Of course Miss Pope, I was told to let you in as soon as you got here" Olivia got a bit more nervous but did her best to hide it. Lauren got up to take Olivia into the Oval.
"Thank you, also, can I have your name, considering I might be coming here a few more times" Olivia asked politely, she always preferred to use peoples names if it was ok with them.
"It's Lauren" the woman replied with a smile before she opened the door. She thought Olivia was quite nice, most people didn't even bother to look at her, not to even mention the former First Lady who was just plain rude.
Olivia walked slowly inside the Oval Office, for a moment she was to stunned to move past the door, Fitz was sitting at his desk and he seemed to be very concentrated on some papers he was reading, upon realizing that Olivia was not going to interrupt him or move anymore, Lauren cleared her throat. Fitz looked up immediately and was taken aback by the sight in front of him.
Fitz muttered a thank you to Lauren and she stepped out, closing the door behind her, Olivia was barely inside the office and when she locked eyes with Fitz her brain just stopped trying to make her move. He got up and walked towards her, but stopped a couple of feet away, he had his hands in his pockets, he could see she was uncomfortable and didn't want to make it worse.
"Hi" he finally said.
"Hi" she whispered back to him.
"Hmm, please take a seat" he was forcing his brain back to reality. He motioned to the couch and waited for her to walk there. He took a seat across from her. "It's great to see you again… So did your sister enjoy her cake?" He asked with a smile. Olivia let out a small laugh, she was finally relaxing.
"Yeah, she did, she almost didn't believe me when I told her how I got it" Olivia could still hear her yelling "no way" as they put away food after dinner.
"I think it was what writers would call a meet cute" he said with a flirty tone and she blushed. "So, Olivia, tell me about yourself, I mean I just like to know the people I work with to know I can trust them and we barely got anywhere a few days ago" he said the last part to ease the tension.
"Well, the firm is me, and my best friends from college and law school, Abby Whelan, Stephen Finch, Harrison Wright, who is also married to my sister, Huck Finn who is our tech guy oh and there is a new girl, Quinn Perkins, that Abby got from her previous job, you can have all of them checked" She explained.
"I might have to just for protocol, but if you trust them then I do too" He was quiet for a moment wondering if he would be able to get her to actually talk about herslef, knowing that once Cyrus got there he would loose his chance to talk about anything besides the job. "Do you have any other siblings?"
"Yes, a younger brother" she replied.
"May I ask their names, I don't want to meet them knowing them just as the pregnant sister and the younger brother" he said told her, she tried to ignore the fact that he implied he would meet them at some point.
"Her name is Emily and his name is Gabriel" She wondered if they were going to talk about the job anytime soon.
Fitz had other ideas in mind so he kept asking personal questions, he asked if she always spent the holidays with her sister, so she told him that they usually go to their parents in Vermont, he also asked her more about her friends at the firm and how her friend and sister got together; he also asked how her move to DC had gone and if she liked it there. Finally he told her to fire away if she wanted to know anything about him.
"I already know you have a brother named James, your mom Katherine and well your dad is a pretty famous man himself, also you have two children Jerry and Karen, the media has got you covered Mr. President" Olivia purposely avoided mentioning the ex-wife.
"I guess they do, but I mean they don't know I love four cheese pizza and that my favorite color is blue" he said again, flirting.
"Well, the color does suit you, it matches your eyes" she said before she could stop herself. She worried about the direction their conversation was taking, but she was saved by Cyrus coming into the office.
"Olivia!" he nearly screamed, he got to her and she stood to give him a hug "It's great to see you"
"It's great to see you too Cyrus, I hope you don't give the President much trouble" She said after they broke part. Fitz laughed.
"Just the necessary" Cyrus told them both.
They all sat down again and Cyrus went straight to business, he told her about all the awful things that where said about him, he also told her how the White House had handled it, how they were still handling it. What she already knew is that they barely gave out any information, which is what caused most of the issues, along with the fact that he announced the divorce alone and they first lady was barely seen after that. Olivia needed to know as much as she could but she wasn't sure if it was ok to just ask why they got divorced to the President; but a few moments later it was as if Cyrus read her mind.
"Sir, I think she has to know, like the whole thing" he said to Fitz in a low voice. Fitz never wanted to talk about what happened, but he knew he could trust Olivia.
"Yeah you are right" he took a deep breath "The reason we got divorced is because she cheated on me, repeatedly, and with many people"
Olivia was quiet for a moment, she just didn't understand how could someone cheat on him, she already had a feeling the marriage fell apart because of her, from what she saw it never looked like she really cared for him, so she assumed he got tired of it, not that she had screwed up so damn bad. She started thinking people wouldn't be so harsh on him if they knew, but then it hit her, the reason he kept it under wraps.
"And you said nothing about it to protect your children, even though it destroyed your image, that makes sense" she finally told him, he just nodded, it was nice to see someone understood, Cyrus had begged him to expose Mellie and get it over with.
It was almost time for lunch, so Fitz arranged for food to be brought to them, they would eat while his team put together all the files Olivia had required; she needed everything they had released, also all the surveys and polls they had made, and the articles from the most important media outlets. Since it was actually a few boxes, and it didn't seem right to crowd the Oval Office with it, they were placed in a conference room nearby.
When they were done with lunch Cyrus left for a meeting and she told Fitz she would go get started with the files, and he insisted on going with her, arguing he wanted to be involved with whatever needed to be done, and that work was not heavy at the moment. He had a meeting later in the evening, but until then he was free to spend time with her.
It was nearing 8 pm so Fitz had to leave for his meeting. Time had passed quite fast for both of them since they didn't just work the entire time, Fitz kept distracting her with anecdotes from the campaign and his first months as President, and she couldn't help enjoying his stories. They also had dinner there, Fitz had ordered Chinese food, she hadn't expected the President to be the kind of guy who just ordered take out, but it was a nice surprise.
Cyrus arrived right after Fitz had gotten up to say goodbye to her, he cursed in his head for the interruption, but he didn't know Cyrus was carrying news that would bring him a great joy.
"Sir" Cyrus greeted him
"Yeah I know, the meeting, I was just leaving" Fitz said reluctantly
"Right, but that's not it" Cyrus replied
"Then what is it?" Fitz asked confused
"We are snowed in" Cyrus said bitterly
"What!" Both Fitz and Olivia said at the same time.
"I guess we were all to occupied to see, but this huge storm just swooped in, the roads are blocked, most of the staff has already left." He explained "I already told James, we'll just use the usual room"
"Sure, no problem, I'll just ask the staff to get another guest room ready for Olivia" He said trying to hide a smile.
"What" she said again "I can't stay, I have to go, this is not ok" she suddenly regained all the stress she had lost during the afternoon.
"It's unsafe for you to leave, you probably won't even be able to drive, he said the roads are blocked" Fitz said pointing to Cyrus.
"He is right Liv, it's still snowing pretty hard, and I heard it's already past knee deep, that's why I'm staying, it's no big deal" Without knowing, he was being a great help to Fitz, Olivia couldn't deny they both had a point and after hearing it from Cyrus she realized she had to put whatever went through her head about Fitz aside and just stay for her safety.
"I guess you are right" she told them "I'm staying then, I'll just call the office, they were expecting me back there soon" she took her phone and excused herself from the room.
Fitz was already running late for his meeting so he and Cyrus left right after, while he got there he called the residence staff to let them know and asked Cyrus to call James so he could take Olivia with him whenever he was done for the night. After Olivia ended her call she got a text from Fitz telling her to wait for James at the conference room, for a moment she wondered if she had made the right call agreeing to give him her personal phone number after he complained of only having her office number.
Olivia hated to admit it, but after spending so many hours with him, she thought her sister might be right about the President and his attitude towards her. However her logical side was telling her to stop thinking such nonsense, that he could not possibly be interested in her and to not even consider thinking about him that way; but knowing she'd be spending the night so close to him, it would be quite a hard thing to accomplish.
AN: We got snowed in Olitz! So she will be spending a lot more time with him than she thought and it's making her quite nervous, she is totally trying to fight the fact that he is into her and that she feels the same way, there is a reason for her feeling so insecure and it will be explained later. She will get to meet his kids on the next chapter, hopefully they will love her; also Cyrus will find out about the incident in NY so he will begin to get suspicious about Fitz' intentions with Olivia, how do you think he will react? Please let me know what you guys think :)