Mellie had ignored Will's existence for the last few days. She wasn't even sure if she still wanted to marry him, but she continued on with the wedding plans. Will was at his office, and Mellie was expecting Fitz with Teddy soon. Mellie was almost done with dinner when Teddy came running into the kitchen.
"Hi, mommy! Today daddy and I went to a water park!"
"Did daddy remember to put sunscreen on you because you look burnt Teddy bear," Mellie looked up to see a guilty Fitz walk in the door.
"I'm so sorry, Mel. I put it on him when we got there, but we were there all day, and I should have reapplied it," Fitz felt horrible for letting Teddy get burnt.
"Fitz, it's not a bad burn. It's okay," Mellie laughed at how upset Fitz seemed.
"I feel bad though," Fitz sighed and leaned against the counter.
"I'll put some aloe on it, and it will be better soon. Are you guys hungry?"
"Um, Mellie."
"Yes, Fitz?"
"Where's Will?"
"Work I guess."
"Everything alright?"
"No, but I don't really want to talk about it right now," Mellie said quietly.
"Don't get back at him by having me eat dinner here."
"Fitzgerald, I asked if you guys were hungry. It's not that deep," Mellie laughed.
"I could eat."
"Good because dinner is ready."
Fitz helped Teddy wash his hands for dinner, and Mellie set the table. They all quietly ate dinner, and Teddy looked around confused a couple times.
"What's wrong, honey?"
"Are you and Will not getting married? Are you and daddy back together?" Mellie's eyes got wide, and Fitz almost spit out the wine he just drank.
"Sweetheart, your dad is just having dinner with us. That's it."
"Where's Will?"
"He's at work."
"Okay. Well are you still getting married?" Mellie was opened her mouth to say yes, but she thought first.
"I don't know, honey."
The rest of dinner was eaten in silence. Fitz didn't want to ask Mellie what happened, and Mellie didn't want to talk about it. Mellie didn't finish her dinner, so she went to the kitchen to clean up. Fitz followed shortly after.
"Would you mind taking Teddy back with you tonight? I need to talk to Will, and if it's anything like the other night, I don't want Teddy to hear it."
"Mellie, what happened?"
"It all started because he heard you call me Mels, and he didn't like it. I blew up. I had enough. I've done a lot of thinking the last two days, and I'm going to ask him to move out. I can't keep doing this with him. I see him less than I see you, and he lives here. If I'm honest with myself, I know that I'm not in love with him. He was just the easy choice to make. Life with him would've been safe comfortable."
"You deserve someone better than him."
"Like who? You?"
"No. You deserve way more than I ever gave you, Mellie. You deserve someone that doesn't treat you like a doormat."
"Thank you, Fitz."
"You don't have to thank me, Mel. It's the truth. I should go. I'll go tell Teddy that I'm taking him to a movie."
"I appreciate it."
Fitz nodded and walked out of the kitchen. After they left, Mellie went upstairs and started packing all of Will's things. He really didn't have much; mainly just clothes and shoes. Mellie had all of his things packing in two hours. She carried it all down to the living room, and she poured herself a glass of wine. She sat on the couch with her wine while she waited for him to grace her with his presence.
Mellie went through almost an entire bottle before he walked in. He didn't notice all of his stuff in boxes until he looked up from his phone and saw Mellie looking at her wine glass.
"Mellie, what's going on?"
"What's going on? You're leaving my house is what's going on. Your ring is in one of the boxes somewhere. You can stay here tonight if you must, but I don't want to see you here after tomorrow morning. I have already called to have the locks changed, and the password to the garage is being changed tomorrow as well. I'm not in love with you, Will. You need someone that loves you. You aren't in love with me either. If you were, you would make more of an effort to come home on time. You would want to come home early. Give that ring to someone that really wants it," Mellie grabbed the wine bottle, and started to walk upstairs.
"Mellie, for what it's worth, I do love you. I'm not very good at showing it, but I do. I understand what you're saying. In a way, I've been doing almost the same thing that Fitz did. I'm sorry for everything."
"Me too," Mellie said quietly.
"I'll go stay at a hotel tonight."
"No. It's late. Just stay here. You're always up before I am anyway. Goodnight, Will."
"Goodnight, Mellie."
Mellie spend the next couple days canceling everything and making the phone calls to everyone that had been invited. It was a pretty long list, but she didn't want to make her assistant do all her dirty work. Mellie wasn't that upset about calling off the wedding and making Will move out. The only thing she missed was having someone to sleep next to at night. Mellie had just finished talking to her mom when someone knocked on her door.
"Come in," Mellie said without looking up.
"Hi, Senator Grant. I'm the current chief of staff for the President."
"Right. Isaac Scott. I completely forgot about our meeting. Sit down. What is it you needed to talk about?"
"Well, I'm just a messenger right now. President Cromwell would like to see you in the oval as soon as possible."
"And you had to make a special trip to the hill just to let me know that the President wants to see me?" Mellie chuckled.
"I offered to come get you myself. Does right now work for you?"
"I haven't even had lunch yet, Mr. Scott."
"I haven't either. We can grab some on the way. My treat, and call me Isaac," Isaac flashed her a charming smile that she knew must help him get his way often.
"Well, I guess I have no choice, Isaac. You're quite charming, but you know that don't you?"
"Yes, I do, Senator Grant."
"It's Mellie."
"Well, Mellie, where would you like to go to lunch?"
"Wherever you lead, I'll follow," Mellie gave him a dazzling smile of her own. Isaac put his hands in his pockets and looked down. Mellie Grant had just taken his heart with that smile of hers.