Olivia had spent a whole afternoon getting ready. It had been a hectic day at the White House. Once the news of the First Lady and the Chief of Staff being fired hit, it took all hands on deck to handle the crisis. Abby took about five minutes out to give Olivia a pep talk.
"I don't want you to think about it as a date." Abby reasoned. "It's just two friends getting together over dinner to talk."
"No it's not, it's two people trying to put together a future." Olivia panicked as she poured herself a glass of her favorite red wine.
"We never even got to have a first date. " Olivia moaned. "I am starting a relationship with a guy I have known for seven years, broken up with, slept with and have never been on a date."
"Liv, the guy is crazy about you. All I heard since I came to work here, is how he was in love with you. When you were kidnapped, he went out of his mind until you came back." Abby said .
"And I pay him back by tearing him a new asshole. I have blown this more times than I can count. I am tired of the merry go around that has been our relationship." Olivia felt good about getting all of her fears out. She looked at her Movado watch and mentally started to count down when her date would arrive.
It was a new beginning. Fitz sent the Secret Service into the small Italian market. They did a sweep so he can do a little shopping. The elderly owner and his wife felt very honored to have the President of the United States do some shopping in their little store. The cook had given him a list of ingredients for the lasagna . Putting on his glasses, he held the piece of paper in his hand as he gathered the ingredients. Hal and Tom walked up and down the aisles as they assembled what he told them was on the list. Wine was no problem because he grabbed a bottle from the wine cellar at the White House. He also stopped by Heldon's Bakery to pick up some cannollis.
Fitz also stopped by a street flower vendor. He couldn't go over to her house without a bouquet. It had been years since he had been on a real date. There was a little bit of wooing done when he and Olivia were on the campaign trail. But considering his marriage and running for President, he couldn't really do that much. Flowers had to be sent anonymously as well as any gifts had to be purchased out of private accounts that couldn't be traced.
Olivia heard a knock at the door. Before that , she heard the familiar sound of three sets of footsteps. She knew that her guest had arrived. "I have gotta go Abby, I will talk to you later." Olivia ended the call.
The knocking continued until Olivia went to the door. She paused for a minute and then opened it. The two SSA agents passed right by her and then walked through the apartment. They were so used to doing a sweep for President Grant in this apartment and this building.
"All clear Sir." Hal announced.
"Thanks Hal , " Fitz smiled. "Tom, bring those packages in here." Tom carried the shopping bags in through the living room and put them on the pristine kitchen counter. Olivia never really had time to cook , she would either eat out or munch on her precious popcorn. The kitchen and all its appliances were virtually new.
"You both are excused now." Fitz sent the two men into the hall and then turned to Olivia with the flowers in his hand. "For you , mademoiselle." He said as he handed her the calla lilies . Olivia was impressed that he remembered her favorite flowers. She took them to the kitchen and pulled out a vase to put them in.
"No, out of the kitchen. Dinner is mine tonight. I went shopping this afternoon and while I was doing it , I picked up some groceries for you as well. I will not have my girlfriend starving anymore. You get your first cooking lesson tomorrow. Tonight let the master cook. " Fitz took the groceries from the bag and then began to search in her kitchen. "You have all of your pans like new."
"Jake had cooked a few times, so he bought me some pans. I think they are In here." Olivia opened the cupboard and pulled them out.
"Okay, now I am going to pour a couple glasses of wine . You sit down and let me wow you with my talent. After dinner, we will sit down and have our talk." Olivia shrugged her shoulders, sat down at her breakfast bar and amused herself as she watched the leader of the free world cooking in her kitchen. Taking a sip, Olivia smiled and then asked. "Where did you ever learn to cook?"
"From Mom. She had taught me to cook because she believed a man should be well rounded. No matter how much money they had."
When Fitz finally finished with the dinner , he took two plates and brought them out to Tom and Hal. Returning to the dining room, he sat down and dished out the lasagna. Olivia took a forkful and then took a bite.
"This is delicious. " she said enthusiastically. The two enjoyed their dinner , laughed , and then retired to the living room for the purpose of the evening. Olivia had poured a tumbler of scotch and she relaxed with her wine.
"This is a big step that we have taken. You have basically cleaned house by getting rid of Cyrus and Mellie. Do you realize that they were the two biggest obstacles that we had to overcome? There is nothing standing in our way now." Olivia started out.
"Yes once I start divorce proceedings, it will be only a matter of time." Fitz said. "Although I don't really see any problems. Between my people and you, we have enough to keep Mellie in line. Plus she has her new job as Senator. She won't want to do anything to rock the boat . Bad image for a future President."
Olivia took a large sip and then relaxed. "You do realize that Mellie is the very least of our problems?"
"Once the divorce is final, we can finally act like a couple in love. I can take you to events and you can eventually move into the White House. Maybe you can stay in Blair House for a while. I would feel better if I just had to go across the street to see you. " Fitz smiled.
"You keep forgetting that you will be the first sitting President that has gotten a divorce while they are still in office. The public will wonder why the marriage they idolized suddenly ended. They will want to blame someone and then I will have to take the fall for your marriage ending. They will call me a whore and home wrecker. " Olivia started to get edgy.
Fitz took his hand and put it on her shoulder. "We will explain that both Mellie and I have been through a lot since we lost Jerry. We have had counseling with our pastor and professional marriage counseling and found that nothing worked and a combination between such a high profile office and grieving have taken their toll and we have mutually decided that it is time to stop playing games and end this marriage."
"But that's not the only problem we have." Olivia had to be honest . It was time to stop playing games with them as well. "I have a serious problem Fitz. I don't know if I am able to love. My parents have damaged me beyond repair. I also have a lot of trust issues concerning us."
Fitz went back to the other couch and sat to the front of it. "I haven't exactly had the best parents in the world either. My mother died when I was a teen and you saw the father I was raised with. I lived with a woman who lied to me, cheated on me, and pulled every dirty trick in the book to get me here. My two friends ended up sleeping with women I cared about . People I thought were my friends and I could trust didn't have faith in me and committed treason. " he said.
Olivia knew that he had every intension of bringing up their entire relationship tonight. She had apologized for Defiance a long time ago. If their relationship was to survive, this had to take place.
"I had told you twice that I was willing to believe you . You told me that you were going to leave Mellie and then you change your mind. You invite me to a restaurant and then publically dump me. It was eighteen months before we saw each other. You take me into a closet at our goddaughter's christening and attack me, finishing by telling me once again we are done. I felt like a common whore." She screamed.
"I felt like the one person in the world I could trust had betrayed me. I expected that kind of shit from Mellie and Cyrus, but not you. I was hurt, Livvy. " he said.
"You left then called your goon to spy on me." Olivia yelled.
"You left me first! You resigned your job and then left the White House." Fitz countered.
Olivia got up and walked right into Fitz's face. "I left because I couldn't do it anymore. I saw you every day and It broke my heart that I knew you were with her. I would go to events and you would show up smiling and kissing her. It just hurt too much and I felt like the dirty whore. We could only have stolen moments at best and I deserved better than that."
"I told you I loved you. I haven't stopped loving you from the day I met you. I was still in love with you when I couldn't stand to be near you. I tried to kill myself when I found out you left. Losing my son and you was too much to take. It destroyed me when I found out you took off with Jake." Fitz said as he lowered his head and took another sip.
"Jake was your friend. You were the one who brought him into my life. My father took advantage of that fact and then tried to make me fall in love with him. But you were the one who had him spy on me. Do you realize when I ended up at the hospital that it was because of him? Olivia yelled. "As for that other matter, do you remember what we talked about and decided when it looked like you were going to be President?"
Fitz had to think for a moment.
"We said that Mellie, the kids, and me would be put in dangerous positions. I would be the most vulnerable and if someone wanted to hurt me or cause me to do something, that you should just sacrifice me. You declared war for your mistress and hundreds of people lost their lives. " Olivia was trying to reason with him.
"Don't you dare call yourself that!" Fitz stated with his low and deadly voice. "You are the love of my life."
"We are not Prince Charming and Cinderella. You act like this divorce will happen and then we will live happily ever after. Have a few kids and then retire to Vermont. Don't' you understand that after I was abducted , things changed? I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night thinking I am still in that cell. I see the man with the gun to my head and I scream because I am terrified. Hallways in the White House become the hallway I ran down. My bathroom becomes the dirty bathroom and running water frightens me. I changed Fitz." She started to sob."I changed forever because of it." She then fell into his arms and cried. He took his hand and ran it along her back.
"Shh, it's alright Livvy. You don't have to be afraid . I am not going anywhere. I know what you are going through. Every once in a while I hear a gunshot and then I freak out. It's called PTSD and I experienced it after I was discharged from the Navy." Fitz then gave her a hug. "Maybe you should see someone alone for a while. When you are ready, we can go see someone together."
The two of them talked for hours. They made plans about Vermont and started to develop a plan to spin their relationship. Along with the bad in their relationship , they laughed about the good and reminisced about the many romantic moments they experienced. Even though they were not married, they realized that they had experienced enough for a lifetime. Finally exhausted, the two of them collapsed on each other. Fully clothed, she closed her eyes and he wrapped his arm around her body. This time Cyrus wouldn't burst on in them. They could just be in their own little cocoon until the morning.