Fitz watched her departure, noting the graceful way she navigated through the crowd and the delicate sway of her hips with the bounce of her walk. Each step she took added a greater distance between what they were and what they could be. He was determined to minimize that distance as soon as humanly possible for him and he had to forcibly keep himself in check from chasing after her to share just one more moment together.
The only comfort comfort he had was the fact that they had exchanged numbers. He would not wait to call her. Just the thought of hearing her voice was enough to have him pulling his phone out of his pocket, ready to dial.
After unlocking the screen an image of them popped up. He had almost forgotten about the pictures he had convinced her to take and made his favorite picture of them so far-it was a slight break in their kiss where Olivia had managed to capture his bottom lip while he was tugging on her top lip.
The response had been explosive and he felt himself begin to harden as the kiss replayed in his mind. Her lips were just as soft and sweet as they looked and he had not tasted enough of her yet. He wanted a much higher supply of the drug that was Olivia Pope. He sent off a quick text-hopefully she would think of him as fondly and as often as he had a feeling she would occupy his thoughts.
Fitz: Olivia, I just wanted to let you know that I'm thinking of you and hope to see you soon.
He added some of the pictures they had taken, partially to remind her of the connection they shared and partly to get a reaction from her. He succeeded because it was not long before he received a text in response.
Olivia: You're not making it easy to forget you.
Fitz: Why on Earth would I want you to forget me? I think we should work on making some memories. How does that sound?
Olivia: It sounds like some work will be involved.
Fitz: Work doesn't scare me especially if it means spending time with you. I understand out schedules aren't exactly the easiest but how about we agree to keep in contact until we can see each other again?
Olivia: That seems doable. I have to go now but I can let you know when I'm free.
Fitz: Good to hear. I'm actually surprisingly flexible with my schedule at the moment outside of practice and actual games so getting away shouldn't be a problem if you want to play hooky with me. :)
Tucking his phone back into his pocket he immersed himself into the crowd and joined his teammates. He did not see Mellie during the remainder of the celebration, enjoying the brief respite.
Before leaving he was met with a few journalists and gave more insight to the game plan his team had run and how they planned to take on the next team. Luckily, he was not met with anymore random paparazzi but he supposed he should have gotten used to it by now. He was young, athletic, wealthy and had been off of the market for a while. Even during his time with Mellie he had made sure to keep it private, preferring to let his skills on the field speak for him rather than any connections he may have had through her.
Olivia was finally done with re-shooting her final scenes and was ready to unwind with a quick, painless dinner followed with a sugary sweet dessert. She could almost taste the cold bite of some undecided ice cream flavor.
"So how was the game, Liv? Great view right?" Harrison Wright asked, resting in one of the chairs near her.
"Yeah! How was it? I hope we managed to get some decent pictures from the attendance. I know there was some press in the area but I haven't heard anything yet. I should check your twitter feed! I'm sure some fans managed to capture some pictures of you!" Quinn Perkins was talking in her usual fast and animated manner.
She took her role as publicist very seriously and managed to keep up with most of Olivia's social networking accounts. She had been a miracle worker for Liv who was still wary of social networking but Quinn managed to spin that into a positive angle-she was a master at dealing with the press and Olivia was lucky to have her.
"The game was great actually. It was close and then Fitz made the winning goal with a headshot!"
"Wait, Fitz?! As in Fitzgerald Grant III,also known as FGIII, MLS stud extraordinaire, one of thee most sought after bachelors in America? That Fitz?! How do you know him? I didn't know you knew him, we can use this! Tell me more, tell me everything." Quinn pulled out her phone and began typing.
"Yes, well, I wasn't aware that he was all of those things. I only just met him after the game at some sort of reception that was being thrown. I wasn't expecting to actually meet any of the players let alone two of them-"
Quinn interrupted. "Two? Who was the other one? If he was even a fraction of the man FGIII is there has got to be some sort of buzz going around on the internet."
Olivia looked a little shell shocked at this revelation-she had not given any thoughts to the media take of her mingling with Fitz and Jake, aside from maintaining a positive and personable charm during the brief interaction. She looked to Harrison who tilted his head slightly and lifted his shoulders in a small shrug.
"I saw an old friend-Jake Ballard-that I had grown up with and briefly chatted with the owner of the team, Mellie Montgomery. I was actually surprised that Jake recognized me since not many people from childhood do."
"So...what happened with the guys? Anything juicy I should be on the lookout for? How about the meeting with Mellie? Did she seem open to you attending more games? I think we can fit that into your schedule if you want the exposure."
"I was talking to Fitz when Jake came over to congratulate him on the winning goal and I basically reintroduced myself to him until he remembered me."
"Reintroduced yourself? What did that entail exactly?" Quinn stopped typing and looked up at Liv as she asked the questions.
"I just joked about him not remembering me but it didn't take long for his memory to kick in then we hugged. Nothing more than that really. But we didn't talk long before he took off to mingle. Then I got caught in this moment with Fitz-we were just hugging and talking until cameras started flashing. So there may be some pictures of us together but you'll probably find more of me trying to calm him and the photographers down until we could walk away." Olivia's cheeks warmed as the memory of being held and pressed so closely against him replayed in her thoughts.
"A hug you say? A hug? Harrison! Get up! Liv, I'm going to hug Harrison and you let me know what kind of hug we can expect."
Quinn stood up and hugged Harrison in a side hug. When Olivia shook her head, Quinn smirked and turned into Harrison but leaned her top half forward towards him, keeping her bottom half away. Again Olivia shook her head and Quinn pulled Harrison a bit closet still keeping some polite space between them.
Growing tired of the game Harrison knew from the look on Liv's face that this was not the type of hug she usually took part in. He pulled Quinn's body flush against him and wrapped his arms around her as she relaxed and rested her head onto his chest.
"Yes."
"This is what we can expect to see? You cuddled into FGIII?! Two of the hottest, SINGLE, people out right now together in a romantic embrace!" Quinn jumped out of Harrison's arms and was speaking excitedly.
"I don't know that it looked like cuddling, Quinn. It was just a hug and then he tried to shield me from the cameras. Like he was trying to be my knight in shining armor or something. He was just very friendly," Olivia said, trying to assure Quinn and herself that it was just in his nature to behave the way he had.
"There are many words and phrases thrown around describing FGIII and believe me, Liv, 'knight in shining armor' is not one of them. He's known for being a force to reckon with on and off the field but he has been exceedingly good at keeping his romantic entanglements out of the press. For him to make a show of protecting you is very out of character for him." Quinn began tapping her chin lightly as she retook her seat on the couch.
"Was there anything else, Liv?" Harrison asked quietly, remaining calm as Quinn grew more lively.
"There was something more but I don't think it's worth mentioning at the moment since I doubt there were any cameras nearby."
"Liv, your personal life is your own and we aren't here to do anything less than protect your image and make sure you can get work. We don't need to know details if you don't feel comfortable sharing but if you could give us an idea of what to expect we can plan accordingly. It's better if we control the story from the start rather than react."
"Quinn, believe me, if I knew just what to share I would. But it's still too early to say anything for certain about Fitz. All I really know at this point is that we both want to get to know each other," Olivia admitted.
"That's more than enough to go on. So, how do you want it to play out? Do you want to keep it private or will there be more public encounters and outings? We can try to make it so that you can get away and give you two privacy but it's something we need to start looking into. If public is the way you want to go we can plan for that as well. At the end of the day we're here for you, Liv." Harrison kept his gaze steady on Liv as he waited for an answer.
"I'm really not sure right now. I think it might be too late to go completely private at this point but that is something I'd prefer to discuss with Fitz before we make any firm plans. I appreciate the talk guys, but it's been a long night and I have a date."
"With FGIII?" Quinn toned down her excitement but still sounded hopeful.
"With a generous portion of ice cream ,Quinn. I'm not sure when I'll be seeing Fitz again. I'll see you two, later. Thanks again." With that said Olivia walked out of the trailer and headed towards her car.
Once inside her car she sent off a text to Fitz.
Olivia: I'm done with the shoot and craving something sweet.
Fitz: Something sweet? If you wanted me all you had to do was ask... ;) How did the shoot go?
Olivia: It wasn't bad, only some minor adjustments needed to be made. Since I can't confirm your sweetness, I'll make it clear that I was talking about ice cream.
Fitz: I'm wounded. An actual wound just opened up somewhere inside of me and now the only thing that will fix it is ice cream. How about we meet somewhere and pick some up?
Olivia: That sounds like a good idea to me. Do you have somewhere specific in mind?
Her phone began buzzing as Fitz's name appeared on her call screen.
"I know just the place, Liv. You'll love it. Since you made good on your deal to contact me, I'm treating," Fitz's warm baritone voice came through her phone and washed over her. He gave her the address and after inputting it into her navigation system, Liv pulled out of the studio lot and into traffic, with a smile on her face.
Thanks for sticking with me and for the reviews, follows and favorites! You can expect updates for this story to fall on either Sunday or Monday. Feeling of Falling will be updated on Fridays from now until its end. =)