Disclaimer: Scandal belongs to Shonda Rhimes – thank you for creating this series and GA.
Author notes: I know no American President has ever been divorced and that a divorce probably would kick the President out of the White House as fast as he could say the word divorce, but I'll take the chance and use my Danish standards.
Take It Easy On Me
Chapter 8
That night in her apartment Olivia sat on the couch and stared blindly into the air, she had kicked of her shoes and pulled her legs up under her but otherwise she just sat there, emotional exhausted and confused. Her mind refused to help her understand what had happened, how had they moved from Mellie's political treachery to Fitz demanding a divorce, and how had she become the fixer of the presidential marriage or divorce?
He had let her go, like she had asked him to do repeatedly, and now he was ready to divorce his wife, and Olivia felt betrayed, this had been her secret dream for a long time, now. One he had willingly offered but given up as fast as she had told him not to, yet when he was free of her he moved on and divorced his wife! Olivia felt so small and alone on the couch.
A knock on the door interrupted Olivia's destructive thoughts, for a tiny second she played with the thought just to ignore the knock, but her sense of responsibility jolted in and she forced her body to move and answer the door.
Her eyes widen in surprise, "Edison?"
He raised his arms, "I come empty handed but I just wanted to see you, Liv."
Bewildered, Olivia stared at him. "You can't expect me to just let you go when you finally call me after three years of not returning my calls. May I come in?"
She opened the door wider and let him in, too exhausted to refuse, and watched him take off his coat and waiting for her to say something. When she kept staring at him with eyes as stormy as the sea in fall, he took a step closer to only to see Olivia take a step back in respond.
"Liv, you know me, I'm not here to hurt you."
"I know." She offered unsure if that was true, "do sit down." She pointed to the couch and took a seat on it securely away from him. Edison accepted and didn't move closer to her.
"Liv. I don't know what's going on in your life, I know you work for the President again it's all over the news. I know that us talking somehow got me fired from the Committee on Intelligence, and somehow I got my job back, was that on you too?"
"Yes, that was on me too." Olivia answered calmly, Fitz had been thorough when he cut their ties, his eyes had been cold as ice when he informed her that Edison had his job back, and she was free to screw him whenever she liked. She blinked the tears away. "No need to thank me, you never deserved to be fired, it was a misunderstanding in communication."
"Well, I'm glad to be back at the Committee but I'm more thrilled to have a part of your attention again, Liv." He smiled warmly at her, "I miss you. I never wanted to split up, you know that." Pausing his smile grew, "and I don't mind that we have different opinions about how to run this country, it makes the best discussions leading to the best...well, we were good together."
Olivia couldn't help smiling recently, it had been god sex but the best sex she had found with somebody else.
"Just give me one date, it will trick your memory and you seem to need a shoulder to hold on to right now, are you okay?" He looked worried and saw the hurt and confusion in her eyes. He moved slightly closer to her.
"Don't." She said, afraid to break down if he came any closer, he respected her wish and stopped moving. and instead he watched her closely. "I'm not ready for a date right now, but I'll think about it, ok?" Her voice was shaky and weak.
"Okay," he smiled warmly, "I'll take you up on that promise. Sleep well." Edison stood up and donned his coat, Olivia watched him and liked what she saw, he was a handsome and a good-hearted man and she had loved him once. Getting up she followed him to the door and allowed him to hug her but her heart wasn't in it. For the short run, Edison would be good, but the pain it would cause her in the end to be with the wrong man scared her.
The next morning, when Olivia turned the television on she was relieved, the news covering the First Lady's health issue was slowing down, and luckily the networks hadn't resume the failed G8 trail. Instead the President was portrait as a caring man who was capable of handling his private life and running the country at the same time, he hadn't forgotten his educational program or the need to create new jobs. They needed to be out of the public eye to fix this Mellie and Fitz situation, and yet, she didn't dare to think what she wanted the outcome to be but this wasn't about her, anyway.
This was a mayor crisis and she hadn't come up with a plan yet, she needed to hear what the President and First Lady wanted. Early, just before eight o'clock, Olivia knocked on the door to the oval office, the door was ajar so she pushed it open at knocking and entered. Fitz was sitting at his desk looking at some documens and in deep thoughts.
"Mr. President?" She kept her voice soft not to startle him.
He looked up and pointed to the chair in front of his desk, she followed his direction and sat down, "there is coffee if you want some, Olivia." He had resumed looking at the documents.
After a brief moment, he pushed the document to her and she saw it was the legal papers he had hid from her a few days earlier, confused she read the head line and instantly, the word 'petition for divorce' caught her eyes.
Her eyes flew up to meets his and she found no confusion or doubt in them but only clarity. "This is not a rushed decision, I've had the papers for months."
"Did you get any sleep, Mr. President?" She was chocked to her bones and unprepared.
His eyes flashed with a glimmer of amusement, "I did, thank you Olivia, I slept better than I have for a very, very long time. You?"
Unable to break eye contact, she felt the air got caught in her lungs and she could only shake her head. "I'm sorry to hear that. Seeing your ways and take a stand is refreshing." She couldn't read the look in his eyes and he broke the contact when Cyrus came into the office.
"Tell me it was a nightmare, Mr. President. Please, don't force me to adopt a child, and trust me James will force me to, if I'm not working for you anymore. You can't really see me with a small child, can you?" He fell down in the chair next to Olivia, "I hate when my dreams are this real."
Calmly, Fitz stated, "I was just telling Olivia that my decision stands; I want a divorce and hopefully a quick one."
"Where does that leave us, leave America? With the vice president, I don't think so, Mr. President!" Cyrus was worked up with distress and chock.
"I don't know, Cyrus. If the people don't want me as President, I will step down."
"America doesn't know what is best for her!" Cyrus yelled, "and neither do you!"
Fitz stayed calm, "I've known for a long time, but been too cowardly to act accordingly to what is best for me. I was a ticking bomb, Cyrus." He added softly.
"You still are, you still are." Turning to Olivia he yelled, "talk some sense into him, isn't that what you're paid to do. Not to mention you've a responsibility to fix this, for Pete's sake, you're a part of it!"
Now Fitz stood up, "you will calm down or leave this office immediately, Cyrus! Olivia is not a part of this, she asked me to let her go and I did. This is all on me, on me and Mellie."
"You are not done." Cyrus looked pointedly from Fitz to Olivia, but he sat down. "We need a plan, I won't let you step down without a fight."
"Neither will I." Olivia agreed, "what do you want. Mr. President?"
The rental car parked outside the house in Santa Barbara, but this time Olivia didn't take in any of her surroundings too busy with focusing on the task ahead, and keep her own emotions in check. It would've been easier to accept Edison as a clients, the thought crossed her mind briefly, less emotional.
Inside she was a mess, she wanted to cry one minute and laugh the next, Fitz was taking steps to divorce his wife, but he had also made it clear he expected nothing from Olivia, and that hurt like hell. Didn't he love her anymore, had she just been a crush, an easy way of a cold marriage? Had he ever been in love with her? And now, now he asked her to fix his divorce!
Mellie waited for her in the study, this time she was pacing the floor when Olivia came into the room.
"Olivia!" Mellie was curt.
Olivia just nodded in greeting. "Mellie, the President has listened to your whishes and has come up with his own." Olivia paused.
"Just say it Olivia, I'm not a child!"
"He wants a divorce!" The words were out in the open now, suddenly they were real and it humbled her, Fitz wanted to divorce his wife.
"He what?" The rage burned clearly in Mellie's eyes.
Olivia enjoyed the words rolling of her tongue; "the President wants a divorce, he knows it might be political suicide for both of you, but nevertheless, he will file for divorce. If you'll cooperate he will do everything in his power to get you elected into the Senate, you have his vote."
A speculative gleam replaced the anger in Mellie's expression. "What happen if I refuse to cooperate?"
"He will file for divorce and destroy your chance for ever going into politics again, active or as the wife of another politician."
Olivia gave the First Lady a moment to consider her options before she asked, "what do you want, Mellie?" Fixing was about finding the best compromise for the involved parties.
"I will cooperate with the divorce as long as Fitz keeps his promise." Suddenly Mellie looked hopeful, "what about the baby?" she asked nervously.
Olivia's look drifted to Mellie's abdomen; "he doesn't want to be recorded as the biological father, and doesn't want any legal rights to it." Olivia tried to soften her words.
"We agree on this too, already cooperation." Mellie gave Olivia a full stare, "he didn't like the idea of sharing?" She smiled sweetly.
Olivia returned the sweet smile, "I never gave him that option."
"It worked in the past." Mellie commented.
"Who is the father of your child, Mellie?"
She gave Olivia an odd look, "Senator Marvin, of course. You must know that we share more than friendship?"
"I do." Olivia wondered briefly if Mellie wasn't afraid her baby would be as dark eyed and haired has Marvin was. "You'll have to remarry soon if standing a chance for election. We have to damage control."
"I understand." Mellie answered, Olivia wondered what Mellie exactly understood when she understood nothing about this situation at all, and yet had to figure out a way to fix a divorce in the White House.
A car from the White House picked her up in the airport and drove her directly to her office behind the oval room. Cyrus and Fitz waited for her with a light dinner. Olivia was tired, and she missed her team, but she had always enjoyed the political scene at the White House. It was never dull to be part of the inner circle surrounding the President.
All Olivia really wanted right now was to kick off her high heels and lean back in a cozy position in the armchair, knowing it was inappropriate she sighed deeply and tried to winkle her toes in the shoes. It only made her toes ache for freedom even more.
"You're welcome to take off your shoes, Olivia." Fitz told her and setting an example, he took off his tie and relaxed into his chair. Cyrus took his lead and loosened his tie, as well. Olivia gave it a brief thought, before she did what she badly wanted, kicking off her shoes. It felt good after all that travelling.
"Are you ok, Olivia" Fitz gave her a slow examination. "Fine," she assured him with a small smile.
"Know that we know your toes are fine and you are fine, we need to know if the First Lady is fine." Cyrus rolled his eyes of their behavior. "You're not divorced yet, Mr. President!"
"The First Lady accepts your divorce agreements if she has the President's vote and support?"
"She has my vote and support!" Fitz assured, "and she accepts that I won't claim any rights to the baby?"
Olivia nodded, her heart was in her eyes and she did nothing to hide her love. She heard Fitz take a sharp intake of air and smiled.
"How on earth do we fix this without the President resigning?"
"Cyrus, I honestly don't know," Olivia had absolutely no plan.
"Well we don't leave this room before we have a plan. Damage control, remember?" Cyrus asked.
"Yes!" Both Fitz and Olivia sighed. It was going to be a long night.
Olivia was picking at her food, her appetite completely vanished and instead she reached for a piece of dark chocolate. Cyrus was in the hall speaking to James on the phone. He would also order coffee.
"Why didn't you tell me about the baby?" Olivia asked the question that burned on her tongue.
Fitz looked expectantly at her, "you never asked, you just assumed I jumped the bones of my wife the minute you ordered me to do it. Did you ever consider that I meant every word I said before you fixed the situation for me?"
"I know you meant them, Fitz…but it was wrong, I had no right to you. You belonged to another woman and you were the President. I did what was best for everyone, the right thing!"
"It wasn't the right thing for me, Olivia. It may have been the right thing for you, Mellie and Cyrus but never for me."
Their eyes met and this time she couldn't hold back her tears, "I couldn't let you ruin your life for me. I had no right to you and I could never have you."
He blinked bewildered, "you had me. You had me from the first day you joined the campaign."
"You never went back to Mellie?" She dried her eyes.
"No, I didn't. Did you go to anyone, maybe Davis?" He looked like he regretted the questions before it rolled off his tongue.
Olivia held his stare fixed, "no." Suddenly, he smiled broadly," thank you."
Cyrus came back with the freshly brewed pot of coffee, "James is killing me, I might have to find an alternative for a baby, a poppy, perhaps. Now, back to work!"
Two hours later they were still brainstorming, the baby made the situation more complicated because it was a clear evidence of the First Lady's cheating and it ruined her reputation and judgments, and she had to be considered worthy for the Senate.
"What if we create a story about Marvin and Mellie falling in love in first year of college, it was first love and neither forgot it but moved on. Later, when they met again, the love was back instantly, and they were not strong enough to fight it. They tried for years but was drawn back to each other professionally and private. That way it won't be a dirty affaire and you will be the real victim, someone you want to help through a crisis and still strong enough to lead the country.
"It sounds like something Shakespeare wrote." Fitz smiled to Olivia.
"I know," she smiled back. "Marvin is unmarried right?"
"His wife pasted away almost two years ago, she died of a cancer disease." Cyrus offered the facts.
"Perfect." Olivia stated, "any children?"
"No, "Fitz answered.
"Perfect." Olivia was pacing, the carpet massaged her sour feet and toes and the pacing cleared her mind.
"We can work with this. We should keep you." Cyrus gave them one of his rare smiles.
Olivia slowed down, "can we go to sleep now?"
"Yes." Fitz stated, "do you want a bed here?" They both accepted the offer, in a few hours another day would start, the strategy had to be planned and effectuated and it would save time to sleep at the White House.