AN: I'm on a summer hiatus but I had started writing this chapter many moons ago, so I decided to finish it and give you guys some fluff until we meet again. Hope you enjoy and I appreciate your reviews. :)
Olivia and crew had spent the better week working on the latest Ralph Lauren Fall-shoot that was going to be out in a few months, as they were still in summer. Lucky for them they were able to wrap up the photo-shoot two days before the deadline and below budget. Now, here she was on a Friday night in her hotel room at The London Ritz with three extra days to spend on herself, no work, only leisure. With that opportunity you would think that she would be doing more than sipping on a glass of pricey Moscato in her hotel room while flipping through the pay per view channels, but she wasn't. There was something she wanted to do, more like someone… She thought salaciously. Since coming to London her mind was consumed with thoughts of Fitz. It was actually the case for the past year. He had left a mark on her body, mind and soul. She'd went on dates over the course of the year and all the men she tried to entertain came up lacking, BIG time... It was kind of sad that she was trying to fill a void left by a man she'd only met once. Slept with once.
She sighed at the superfluous thinking plaguing her mind. If she was going to be in London for three more days she needed to enjoy herself, especially when the weather wasn't gloomy, which was rare in the City of London. Placing the half filled flute on the crème colored nightstand, she rose gingerly from the bed and stretched her petite limbs. Glancing at the sleek timepiece on the white wall, she noticed that it was almost 8 PM. Frowning again at her current situation she began thinking of ways that would make her night exciting. Then a thought came to her mind after a few seconds of brainstorming; she would take herself out on a date. She wasn't particularly afraid or embarrassed to dine alone, it was actually something she did every once in a while. It was sort of a "treat yourself" kind of outing. She sometimes would incorporate a spa day or even a movie self date. She wasn't afraid to be alone. Self was sometimes adequate company for her.
Half an hour later she regarded her naked body in the mirror after her vanilla scented shower. She admired the work of her rigorous gym routine and clean eating. Her body was lean but yet curvy, which gave her a very feminine look. When asked, "how do you maintain such a good physique?" she always said, looking good was a benefit of feeling good. Working out to her was therapeutic, a way to clear her mind from clutter and help her connect with her inner self. When she's in tune with her inner being she feels much more grounded and centered. Stretching her neck from side to side, her eyes fell onto her nether region, surveying the bikini wax she recently got. She wondered why she even went through with it, as it had been a year since she was intimate with a warm bodied penis, but then she remembered that she didn't wax for the sole purpose of getting laid, she did it for herself. Even though the lack of a warm body penis, she had her ways of "coping," but that could never beat the real deal, especially when the real deal was attached to someone who knew how to use it. Perfect example was her first and last encounter with Fitz. Sulking, she shook her head and sighed out her frustration; even after a year she couldn't get him out of her head or her bloodstream. He was like a drug that stayed in her system, long after she stopped using it.
From her brief self-evaluation, she moved over to the walk in closet and began to sought out clothes to wear on her self imposed date night, which she was growing increasingly excited about. Although she could call up Quinn or Abby to accompany her she didn't feel the need to, she was going to explore London by herself. Should be interesting since she was somewhat familiar with the city after visiting it several times for work and recreation.
An hour later she stood fully dressed in a wide legged, black, halter-top jumpsuit with black platform booties and a gold statement necklace that was hanging very close to her neck. Her hair was up in a messy bun, her eyes wore a dramatic smoky eye shadow and her lips were crimson red. She felt sexy and was happy that she took the extra time to get dressed up. Some people may think that you can't dress for yourself but that was such a lie. At least in her case, she enjoyed looking good, especially on days when she felt like crap, a little lipstick and a pair of jeans goes a long way.
After spritzing her wrist and other sensual pulse points with her favorite perfume she was ready to go. On her way out the door she picked up her black clutch purse that held her pepper spray, a pack of gum, some money, her cellphone, her ID and credit card, and headed downstairs to the awaiting town car the hotel had requested on her behalf.
Her heels were making soft tapping sounds, as she strutted across the expansive and luxurious hotel lobby when all of a sudden she felt arms wrapping around her waist from behind and lifting her in the air.
She gasped and let out a scream, her heart thumping rapidly inside of her chest. Who the hell was this? She mentally panicked. "Put me down!" She ordered, terrified of the person who held her captive.
"Why must I, Miss?"
And suddenly a ton of brick was let down onto her chest making it impossible for her to breathe when the barely forgotten voice sounded in her ears. She immediately stopped fighting and relaxed into his arms.
He snickered and turned her around.
"Hi," he greeted with a sensational smile.
With mouth agape, Olivia returned, "hi."
Instead of heading out through the lobby door they headed to the hotel's restaurant where a table was quickly made available for Fitz Grant, Supermodel. They sat nursing their individual drinks that the waiter had placed in front of them as they regarded each other intently, neither speaking.
Fitz took in the beauty of her form, the beauty that haunted him every day for the past year. He thought of how stupid he was to not have pursued a relationship with her when they'd first met, but knew neither was in a place for that. They simply seized the moment while it lasted. But, when he had heard through a friend of a friend that Olivia Pope was in London doing the Ralph Lauren shoot, the same shoot he was supposed to be in but had passed up the opportunity because of some charity work that he had in motion – he basically had to find a way to meet her. It was only this morning that he'd learned that she was staying at The London Ritz. So, here he was that night about to surprise her by going to the hotel. It was at the same time he was walking towards the front desk when he saw her exiting the elevator by herself. She looked sexy, beautiful and classy as ever in her get up. He didn't know how he should've initially greeted her, whether a handshake or hug would suffice for someone you'd slept with. Anxiety quickly overwhelmed him, as thoughts of her forgetting bout their brief but overly satisfying tryst, which he hoped she hadn't as it would crush him, more than he would've liked to admit. However, without proper planning or more thought he simply launched after her in quick strides and wrapped his arms around her from behind, lifting her off of her feet and into the air. The act even surprised him because he was never one for public display of affection.
Nevertheless, when she finally recognized who he was the look of disbelief on her face almost made him burst into merriment, but he refrained. When the initial shock had worn off she hugged him tightly and after that they made their way to the restaurant they were dining in.
Fitz took a sip of his scotch while continuing to stare her over the rim of his crystal tumbler. Replacing the tumbler onto the table, he cleared his throat before asking, "how has it been, Livvie?"
Olivia blushed at the nickname that he'd made for her at their last encounter. She couldn't understand why this man always rendered her speechless, and she was a woman of a lot of words.
"Busy," she stated with a sweet smile. "How about you?"
He smirked at her while answering, "I could say the same." He grabbed the tumbler again and emptied its content before replacing it onto the tabletop. "Do you want to get out of here? We can go back to my place. I'll make you a nice dinner." He didn't know what possessed him to ask but all of a sudden he wanted to cook for her.
As tempting as that sounded Olivia didn't know if she should go with him. What if we have sex again? She asked herself. Because as hot as he looked, she didn't think that this time around she could have sex with him again and simply walk away for another year. Would that be another year of secretly wanting and missing him? She didn't know and she really didn't want to find out the answer. The truth was, she was attracted to him and would love to see where their mutual attraction can go.
"Don't look at me like that," Fitz smirked, admiring the pensive look her face took on after he'd asked her home for dinner.
"Like what?" Olivia asked confused, she didn't even know she was looking at him in a certain way.
"Like I'm secretly plotting to get into your pants by inviting you to my home." He raised both hands in surrender, conveying that it wasn't his sole purpose for his invite. He continued, "I just want to catch up with a beautiful woman that I'd made a connection with over a year ago. A beautiful woman that I still think about to this day." His gaze was smoldering as he peered into her eyes.
His revelation caused Olivia's skin to grow warm and flush, her tummy fluttered at the words he spoke. She was in trouble and she knew it. Like a moth to a flame she drew closer to it…
"Well since you clarified that, I think it would be lovely to be your guest."
Gleeful with her acceptance, Fitz nodded with a smile and signaled with his hand for the waitress to bring over their check.
"Here's home," Fitz announced, opening the door to his penthouse for Olivia. When she walked through the door, she turned around and gave him a small smile of gratitude. "Thanks."
Olivia took in the wide expanse of the room before her. Its décor colors were navy, white and silver. Her eyes swiftly drifted to the spectacular skyline view that was calling her name from the floor length windows off of the living room.
"You up for a tour?" He asked in that rich baritone voice she liked a lot.
"Sure," Olivia agreed, smiling.
"Right this way," Fitz urged, silently urging her to follow him. In a matter of twenty minutes the tour of the three bedrooms penthouse was completed and Olivia was very impressed.
"You have a beautiful home," she complimented. "It's… it's so… you…" She told him with a shy smile, another thing he seemed to bring out. The penthouse décor was very masculine but also offered warmth. It was clean and looked sophisticated like the man sitting in front of her.
"Thank you. Maybe one day when I'm in New York, I will be afforded the opportunity to visit you," he replied half serious, half joking.
"I hope so," Olivia said without thinking much about her statement until she saw his eyebrows shot up. Instead of trying to explain her answer she let it sit and allowed him to interrupt it however way he wanted to.
Fitz exhaled a long breath that he hadn't know he was holding while preparing to stand. They were currently in his open plan, commercial grade kitchen. He loved to cook so he spared no expense when he was renovating the kitchen. Professional grade stove and other appliances occupied it.
"You want to be my sous chef?" Fitz asked in a playful tone.
Olivia immediately hopped off of her barstool and said, "sure. What are we making?" eager to do something with her hands.
"Shepherd pie with lamb."
"Hmmm don't think I've tried it with lamb before."
"There's never a bad time to try something new."
"Right…" she trailed with a smile.
Fitz began taking out ingredients from the fridge and pantry while Olivia stood aside watching. She watched his effortless movements as he sifted through the cupboards for bowls and pots. Seeing this side of him had her feeling some kind of way. Horny…
Cursing her hormones under her breath she was able to endure an hour and a half of cooking with Fitz under his very hands on cooking lessons without grabbing him and having her way.
The night was filled with lots of talking and laughter, and when it was bordering at midnight Fitz drove her back to her hotel. They shared a brief hug before going their separate ways.
Saturday
"Fitz, what is this place?" Olivia asked, climbing out of the Audi R8 after her door was opened for her.
"It's a an indoors cricket stadium," he answered simply.
"Oh," she said, slightly confused. When Fitz had told her the night before that he was going to give her the full London treat she didn't realized that it also meant playing cricket.
Fitz laughed at her. She looked cute in her befuddlement.
"Don't laugh at me," she pouted.
"I can't not laugh at you, Livvie. You're incredibly cute and adorable." He tapped her nose with one of his lengthy index finger.
"Mmm," Olivia said, blushing under his intense gaze. His bright blues eyes were making her heart beat faster in her chest walls.
"Trust me you're going to enjoy it. I used to play when I was a young bloke," Fitz said, taking her hand in his and began leading her to the front entrance of the building.
"Is there anything you can't do?" Olivia teased; she enjoyed riling him up. From what she'd learned about him he was a jack-of-all-trades.
"Plenty…" he returned with a hint of laughter in his voice.
"For example?" she looked up at him with an arched eyebrow.
Fitz bit down lightly on his bottom lip and squinted his eyes in concentration. "Mmm, let me see. Oh, I'm not a good presser. I can't iron my clothes for shit."
Olivia chucked at the frustration evident in his voice. "So who irons them for you? That's actually a dumb question." She quickly reminded herself after realizing whom she was speaking to.
"No question is ever dumb, only the one not asked. But, to answer your question, if it isn't dry cleaned my housekeeper does it for me." He smiled.
Olivia nodded her head.
A few short seconds later they approached the double glass doors and Fitz held it open for her. His chivalry was something she doesn't think she would ever grow tired of. He was such a gentleman at all times even when he didn't want to.
When they arrived in the building an over eager manager was waiting for them. He quickly introduced an instructor that was more than likely for her, to help her understand the rules for the game. They were also given protective gears such as a helmet, shin guards, two cricket bats and batting gloves.
"How can people actually play in all of this?" Olivia asked, swallowed up by the protective gears over her Nike black running tights and Nike neon yellow hoodie. Per Fitz' request he'd told her to dress workout ready and now she understood why.
"Hey!" Olivia shouted, when she saw Fitz taking several pictures of her with his cellphone instead of answering her question.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't resist it. What were you saying?" Fitz chuckled, putting away his phone so that his attention was solely on her.
"I said, how can people actually play in all this protective gears?" Olivia was dwarfed in a red cricket helmet, oversize shin pads and vest, while holding a tall bat.
Fitz chuckled and helped her by holding onto the bat. Shortly after, their instructor came over and escorted them over to a vacant indoor cricket pitch, equipped with a batter and bowler wicket.
"Who wants to go first?" William, the cricket instructor asked. He was an older man, probably in his fifties dressed in long, loose fitting workout pants and a long sleeve, white T-shirt with the cricket club's logo on the front.
"She'll go first," Fitz spoke up and Olivia glared at him.
"No I'm not, Sir. He'll go first," she rebutted.
William looked between the two and smiled.
Without saying another word to Fitz, Olivia ambled over to the nearby wall and leaned against it, looking on with a victorious smile on her.
Fitz took it as his cue to play first and made his way to the batter wicket with bat in hand. Once in position the instructor went over some basic rules about the game and bowled a quick overarm, in which William's hand was above his shoulder height. Fitz connected his bat to the ball and immediately hit it into the net above.
Olivia who was looking on was fascinated by his effortless strength and wondered if it was simply that easy to play, or he was that good.
After a few minutes of Fitz batting he retired for the moment and allowed Olivia to take over.
She walked over nervously to the wicket, unsure of what she was doing. She was never good at sports other than swimming and running. But, here she was attempting a sport that wasn't very popular where she was born.
"You can do it," Fitz called from the wall she'd recently vacated.
She gave him a nod and continued to take deep, calming breaths.
"Alright, Olivia, keep your legs apart like this and align your shoulders with the bat, sort of in a seventy-five degree angle."
"Like this?" She asked anxiously.
William surveyed her position before saying, "yes." He gave her a smile of assurance before walking down to the bowler's wicket.
"Ready?" He asked and Olivia nodded. The first ball bowled left Olivia screaming with her eyes closed.
"It's coming too fast!" she cried.
"Alright, I'll try to bowl slower." He did but the same thing happened. She kept her eyes closed and screamed, but this time she blindly swung her bat, which was a little better than her first try. The third time she did even worst than the first, almost getting hit in the head by the ball when she ducked.
Fitz who had had enough of her disastrous playing decided to help her during one of William's coaxing.
"I got it," he told the instructor and sauntered over to her. She was pouting at him and he felt his heart constricting in his chest from the simple expression. She looked incredibly adorable.
"I suck…" she whined.
"No you do not," he reassured her. "I'll show you how to do it." He got behind her and placed his arms around her bringing her closer to him, and his much larger arms covered hers on the bat handle. Although they were both wearing gloves he could still feel the heat radiating off of her.
"When the ball comes keep your eyes on it and align your bat with it, and then hit it with all of your might." Fitz whispered into her ears and she felt her entire body shivered lightly.
"Ok," she gulped. And when the next ball was bowled she did exactly what she was instructed. And to her fortunate gain of having him as an extra shield of protection around her; she kept her eyes on the ball, aligned her bat with it and hit with the combined strength of her and him. The ball soared in the air and was caught in the net above, somersault of happiness radiated within her at the successful hit and she jumped for joy, dropping the bat onto the floor. In her victory she turned around and hugged him clumsily, forgetting about the bulky gears they wore.
"That was so much fun," she said, walking out the door that was held open for her. After two hours of playing they were finally leaving the facility. Olivia even had the opportunity to bowl. She'd discovered that she could bowl something close to an underarm, in which she was quite happy about.
"I told you," Fitz smiled, grateful that he was able to show her a good time.
"Where to next?" She smiled, looking up at him through her peripheral view. She was having too much fun with him and she didn't want to return to her hotel room, at least not as yet.
"How about lunch?" he asked.
Olivia smiled and nodded her head. "Lunch sounds fantastic," she returned.
An hour later they had yet to eat lunch. Instead of heading to a restaurant Fitz took them to a small supermarket where they bought fresh cheeses, fruits, and a bottle of their best champagne - which wasn't expensive at all, a picnic basket, a blanket and two Rueben on Rye sandwiches. Olivia liked his version of lunch better. A picnic in The Regent's Park which so happened to be a little ways from where they were. The car chatter was light and as always, humor filled, as they made their way there. Once they got through London's traffic they found parking before making their way to the park. From her view Olivia had to admit that it was one of the biggest parks she'd ever seen. It was beautiful and full of life, people and birds, animals and such in its natural habitat. She could see all sorts of activities; there were people playing cricket, soccer, running, roller-skating, cycling and some fiddling with model airplanes.
"This is awesome. Do you come here a lot?" She asked, keeping up in stride with Fitz.
"Not really but I do like to whenever I get the time, which to be honest isn't much."
"Oh," she frowned, picking up on how busy he was, being he was the first male supermodel. Sometimes she forgot about that because he was such a chill guy and looking at him you could tell that he wasn't conceited with his good looks; even though he always looked like a million bucks. They were still in workout attire, Fitz in a fitted black tee and matching black track pants, paired with his running shoes; no doubt his entire outfit was designers.
"Over there," Fitz said breaking her reverie. He pointed towards a small tree that was near to a pond that had a few ducks swimming in it. They made their way over and Olivia assisted him in laying out the white and blue checkered blanket they'd gotten from the store. After a few minutes of taking out the foods from the picnic basket, they were finally seated facing each other with the delicacies in between.
Pouring each of them a glass of champagne, Fitz handed one flute to her and took one for himself. "To the universe for bringing us back together."
Olivia blushed and clinked her glass with his before taking a generous sip. They ate in relative silence with the occasional moan from Olivia when she bit into her sandwich, which was surprisingly very good. When they were finish eating their sandwiches, they settled for picking on the fruits they bought along with the goat cheese while sipping on more champagne.
"So… Olivia, since the universe has been very kind to make our paths cross I think it's the opportune time to get to know you." Fitz said softly after finish chewing on a piece of cheese.
Olivia swallowed the drink of champagne she had in her mouth before asking, "What do you want to know?"
"Anything and everything…" He answered simply and seriously.
Olivia blushed and took a swift drink of her champagne before speaking. Something about him made her a blushing schoolgirl rather than the very formidable woman she was.
"Well for starters, I'm from a family of six. My parents, two brothers and a sister, I'm the second child after a brother. Grew up all my life in New York, never stayed anywhere else longer than two months even when I'm working. I consider myself to be a free spirit and down to earth person." She finished with a nervous smile when Fitz' intense gaze, accompanied by his undivided attention had unnerved her. He was seriously intense… and she wasn't sure if he naturally came off that way or it was just the way he looked at her.
She tried to hold his gaze but again his smoldering eyes were too intense for her, so she looked down at her fingers enclosed around the slim stem of the plastic flute.
"Why do you look at me like that?" She asked shyly, still looking down at her fingers.
Fitz cleared his throat and shook his head. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She looked up then at him and found his eyes much cooler.
"Your beauty simply enraptures me, Livvie. Do you know how magnificently beautiful you are? It's like I can watch you all day, taking in your ethereal beauty and never getting wearied. I'm sorry if I zoned out on you. I promised I heard what you were saying about yourself and family, but your beautiful brown eyes captivated me and made me spellbound along with your ravishing lips. Again, I'm sorry if I offended you." He spoke earnestly.
Olivia was speechless by his bold confession. She loved that he was a man who wasn't afraid to say what he meant and meant what he said.
"I…uh…" she fumbled and Fitz shushed her.
"You don't have to say anything. I mean you've probably moved on and probably not interested in what I have to say-"
"But, that's where you're wrong," Olivia interrupted. "I haven't moved on from you. As stupid as it may sound I have spent over 365 days wishing for a moment where we would meet again."
It was Fitz' turn to be shocked by a confession. "Really?" He asked hopeful.
"Really," she answered with a small smile splayed on her lips. "I'm seriously attracted to you, Fitz. Not only physically but intellectually and emotionally. I don't know where this can go between us but I'm willing to find out." Her voice ended on a low tone.
Fitz beamed charmingly at her and reached for her hand and held it in his. "I'm in the same boat with you. I find you very attractive, mentally stimulating and emotionally refreshing. I would love to find out where this goes between us, too, Livvie."
Olivia smiled in relief and licked her lips. Fitz who still had her hand in his, urged her to stand with him, and when they were standing facing each other, he pulled her in close by the waist, molding her body into his before bringing down his lips to fuse with hers in a searing kiss. Just like he'd remembered from over a year ago, her lips were soft and full, fitting perfectly between his.
Neither knew what the future holds or how they would attempt to have a relationship over three thousand miles apart but they were both willing. And where there is a will there is a way…
FIN!
There you have it folks! British Supermodel, Fitz Grant and Fashion Photographer, Olivia Pope. Let me know what you thought of this chapter. Looking forward to reading your reviews. Thank you.
XOXO