Author's Note: Another day, another chapter! Thanks for the words of encouragement and for reading. Please continue to leave feedback and reviews. Thanks! - Neo
Chapter 2: The Dossier
The mystery man hung up the phone. In less than 24 hours he would meet Olivia Pope and he had plenty of homework to do, homework that consisted of learning more about his target.
He pulled out the dossier his contact had sent to him earlier that morning via private courier. In it was a stack of paper documenting virtually Olivia Pope´s entire life since high school. The man poured himself a glass of brandy and then sat in an overstuffed leather chair in front of the fireplace with this treasure trove of documents he planned to study in advance of his lunch appointment with Ms. Pope.
OLIVIA VICTORIA POPE
DOB: 04-05-77, Bethesda, MD
Marital Status: Single, no kids
Father: Calvin J. Pope. Graduate of Harvard Law School. First African American in 1973 to become partner of Burbridge Cromwell Pryce, one of Washington's top law firms. Went on to become a trusted and unofficial adviser to 3 Republican presidents, Ronald Reagan and then with both Bush presidents, George Herbert Walker Bush and George W. Bush.
Mother: Henrietta (Etta) M. Pope (maiden name Taylor). Graduate of Barnard College and Teachers College, Columbia University. Started off as an elementary school teacher and eventually rose through the public school ranks to become superintendent of public schools in Washington D.C.
Siblings: 2 older brothers (Calvin Jr. and Michael Jeffrey) and a younger sister (Genevieve)
Education:
High School: Sidwell Friends, a Quaker private school located in Bethesda, MD.
College: Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. Double major in political science and Middle Eastern Studies with a double minor in Arabic and French.
Law school: Stanford
Work Experience: After graduating summa cum laude from Georgetown, went to work for McKinsey & Company, a firm that acts as an adviser to businesses and governments around the world. Assigned to McKinsey's office in London. Stayed there for three years. Took a year off to travel through Europe and Southeast Asia. Returned to the United States to attend Stanford Law School. After graduation, returns to the East Coast to work for Williams & Connolly, Washington D.C.'s go-to firm for politicos, celebrities and professional athletes.
In early 2008, takes a leave of absence from Williams & Connolly to go work on the presidential campaign of Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III. After the election, she becomes White House Communications Director and Special Adviser to the President.
In June 2009, leaves the position. Launches "Olivia Pope & Associates" in August 2009.
Also in the dossier were Olivia's federal income tax returns for the past five years along with recent bank statements for checking, savings and retirement accounts. The retirement account, in particular, showed a rapidly dwindling balance that appeared to have accelerated within the past six months. At the rate at which Ms. Pope was withdrawing money, it was certain that her retirement account would be depleted before the end of the year.
The man reading through the dossier put the file down. It still wasn't totally clear to him why his contact had selected Ms. Pope as an ideal target. Yes, she had worked for Pres. Grant, but based on her resume, she hadn't worked for him that long. The answer must lie somewhere within this stack of papers. He flipped through to the back of the stack and came across several clippings of magazine and newspaper articles. They were all written around the time of the 2008 presidential election. Each one spoke glowingly of this young, very attractive, well-spoken female attorney who seemed to have come out of nowhere to wield a lot of power and influence with the new Republican president.
One particular article caught his eye. It was a big, glossy Vanity Fair magazine spread with a gorgeous photo of Olivia Pope's face in profile. She had the face of a goddess and it was a striking portrait, shot in black and white. The headline of the story read "In Olivia Pope, Fitz Trusts." Underneath the secondary headline read: "From Underdog to Overachiever, How a Campaign Fixer Singlehandedly Won this Election for the G.O.P."
The man flipped through the pages of the magazine article and then stopped on a page that had a full-page photo of President Grant on the night of the election. It was a candid shot taken moments before President Grant and his vice president Sally Langston walked out onto the stage with their spouses to declare victory and accept the cheers and adoration of the electorate. The photo was set up perfectly. In it the President was standing backstage waiting for the signal to step forward. Standing to his right was Olivia Pope and was that…no, it couldn't be, the man thought.
The photo, shot in black & white, was a bit grainy and blurry. He didn't have his glasses, so he drew the magazine closer to his face and studied the photograph closely. In the photo he could see that the right hand of the newly elected President of the United States was touching the left hand of Ms. Pope and their fingers were almost intertwined. It was a surprisingly chaste but very intimate image. They were both facing forward, their backs to the camera, so they were completely unaware that this very private moment had been captured for posterity. And despite all the tumult and excitement and balloons and confetti swirling around the POTUS and the Campaign Fixer, the way the photo was framed it looked like they were the last two people on earth facing a bright future. Together.
In that moment, the man with the dossier knew that Olivia Pope was the one – the one person who would bring the President of the United States to his knees. She had been responsible for his rise and now, with a little nudge from external forces, she would be responsible for his downfall.
The man took another sip of his brandy. His face was bathed in the flickering light coming off the dwindling flames in the fireplace. A crooked smile snaked across his lips as he contemplated the future. A plan of attack was beginning to take shape.
Author's Note: Looks like someone is doing some serious, deep level dirt digging on Olivia Pope. What are this mystery man's real intentions? Who is he and why does he want to bring down Fitz? Will he be able to use Olivia as his pawn?
To be continued….