EPISODE: REVELATIONS
Chapter 24
Fitz gratefully heads back to the Oval after several meetings with not only his joint heads of staff but with several powerful members of Congress in their roles of the heads of various oversight committees. Several subjects had been covered, from concerns over the rising of several domestic, racist terrorists, to the possible nomination of a new Supreme Court justice, to the military and political possibilities - and problems - swirling around the San Collondias situation.
Fitz had agreed to increased surveillance on the ominous proliferation of hate groups, requested several in depth reports on several possible nominees without committing himself to any single endorsement and informed those who had a say in the matter, exactly where he stood on the issue of San Collondias.
He specifically didn't tell them that he had his own plans concerning that situation that he would be tending to before the night was over.
That was only one of the matters that still remained on his plate when the meetings had finally - and thankfully - come to an end.
Knowing that, Fitz sighed gratefully for the few moments of peace that was his as he closed the door of the Oval office behind him.
He crossed the room and took his seat behind the Resolute desk. Fitz closed his eyes for a minute - just to rest them, he told himself. It wasn't as if his job was done. Allowing for differing time zones, Fitz was expecting more than one phone call tonight. But right now, a tiny oasis of peace and quiet was his - and he meant to take full advantage of it.
His first thought was to call Olivia, but he knew that she was probably still just as busy as he was. Before he could make a decision either way, the phone on his desk buzzed.
And so round two begins - he thought. He and Olivia had agreed over dinner, that he should expect at least one unscheduled visit before the night was over. The only the thing they had disagreed on was who that visitor was going to be.
He picked up. "Yes, Lauren?"
"Mr. President, the Vice-president is here asking to see you." There was a carefully unspoken question in her words, asking if he wanted to see her. With reason, Sally wasn't the most popular person in the West Wing; Fitz was touched by Lauren's protectiveness even as he grinned inside.
Livvie, I won the bet. It was a rare occasion when she was wrong and he was right. "Thank you, Lauren. You can show her in - but when my scheduled phone call comes in, don't hesitate to put them through."
"Yes sir." She told him.
"Thank you." He said again. "And thank you for staying late. In fact, I want you to sleep in tomorrow."
"Sir?"
"I don't want to see you until the afternoon. Treat yourself to a nice brunch or something." Another smile came to his face as he remembered how Liv was always chiding him about the people who had to stay late just because he decided to work late. Maybe he'd surprise her soon by arranging some kind of spa day for Lauren, even send a car around to chauffeur her around that. After all, she'd more than earned it working late any time it was called for, without a word of protest, ever.
"Are you sure, Mr. President?"
"I could make it an executive order, if you like." Fitz said, not hiding his amusement.
"That won't be necessary, sir."
"I appreciate that Lauren - I'm sure I'm only allowed a certain amount of them before my opponents start calling me out on it."
She stifled a laugh. "I'm always happy to serve at the pleasure of the president, sir."
"It's not necessarily a pleasure at the moment, but I suppose you ought to show the vice-president in anyway." They ended the phone call, then Fitz stood up to greet Sally as Lauren showed her in.
"Thank you for seeing me at such a late hour, ." Sally waited until Lauren had closed the door behind her before she stepped further into the room.
Fitz walked to one of the end tables, one which held a crystal carafe of scotch and several glasses on a silver tray. He splashed some into a glass for himself and then offered the same to Sally. When she accepted, he gestured for her to take a seat on one of the twin couches facing one another and took the opposite, leaving them facing one another.
He raised his glass to her. "Another day of duty almost done."
"Is it ever really done, Mr. President?" Sally raised her glass as well. "I'd say that our meeting tonight would suggest the opposite."
"Madame Vice-President - we both know that the job isn't ever really done." Fitz paused to take a swallow, feeling the scotch's warmth slide down his throat and begin to spread through his body.
He wished he could truly relax, even if only for a moment, but with Sally studying him even as she pretended not to, he knew better. "And if you don't mind, I'd rather not rehash the meeting of the International Security Oversight Committee right now. I'm not changing my mind on the subject of General Ramos' entreaty to us."
He could sense the argument hovering on the tip of Sally's tongue, and was more amused than grateful as he watched her struggle to rein herself in.
"Are you sure about that, Mr. President?" she managed to say, not realizing that her expression betrayed her desire to contradict him.
"Neither the man nor the situation have given me a reason to doubt anything yet." Fitz told her, meaning it - even though he found himself unable to resist the temptation to prick Sally's ego at the same time. She tended to bring that out in him. "Aren't we all on the side of democracy, wherever it blooms?"
She reacted with a frosted stare, but since she wasn't quite sure how Fitz meant his statement, Sally settled for letting the matter drop. For now. "I can't say that you're wrong, Mr. President - and I'm glad that we can find something to agree on."
"Surely we've agreed on plenty of matters before this - haven't we?"
"We have - but we both know that you and I have had our disagreements as well."
Fitz had looked down into his glass as they talked, but now he raised his gaze and met hers. "Do we have one now?"
It seemed that he'd given her the opening she'd been waiting for. "Not necessarily, but I feel it's my duty to let you know what our GOP base is thinking."
Fitz nodded at her, neither agreeing or disagreeing, but she took it as permission to continue.
"Far be it from me to tell you how to manage your personal life - but the base is more than a little concerned that you and your wife have chosen this time to separate - just as we're going into the holiday season. This is the season for families and togetherness. And family is our foundation of our party, sir."
Fitz looked back down into his glass and let the silence that had fallen after Sally had spoken stretch our between them for a very long minute as he gathered his thoughts.
"My personal life is just that, Sally - personal." He said slowly. Even though Fitz had expected some form of this conversation from her it didn't mute the anger that rose up in him.
Fitz had always understood Sally more than she'd ever given him credit for. If she had to wait four more years before her shot at the throne, she would - and let it be her cross to bear. Unfortunately for him, Sally would also settle for being the moral conscience of his presidency - setting herself up nicely for her future plans at the same time.
Sally cleared her throat delicately. "I feel I just have to ask - and please realize that I say this only because I'm not the only one asking - are you sure that there's no chance of a reconciliation between you and the First Lady?"
Not the only one asking… Fitz filed that little bit of information away to consider another time.
He frowned. "I thought that my ex-wife and I had made it perfectly clear that we had decided what was best for both the two of us and our family - and that it was our decision - and no one else's."
The chilled look that he gave her made Sally's next words come out with a bit of a stammer. "Mr- Mr. President, I assure you that it's not my intention to intrude into the personal areas of your marriage -"
"My marriage is over." Fitz reminded her - and this time the frost was all his. "And yet here you are, doing exactly what you say that you have no intention of doing."
Sally flushed but pressed forward. "I apologize - but at the same time, I can't help but feel the responsibility to this high office to offer my insights into what makes a successful and blessed commitment - and I also can't help but feel that it would be a clear dereliction of my duty to both you and the nation if I didn't point these matters out."
"I wouldn't expect anything less from you, Sally." His voice was quiet and cool, even though his thoughts were not.
And this is one reason why there's separation of church and state. Did Sally even realize the lines she'd just crossed with him, let alone catch the irony in his words? Wrapped up as she was in her own self-righteousness, probably not.
"I'm glad you understand."
"I may understand it." And that was an understatement, he thought. "In fact, I'm sure that I understand it very, very well - however, it doesn't mean that I condone it - because I don't. Not at all." His tone might have remained coolly pleasant, but that was only because Fitz using a great deal of control not to do otherwise.
At the same time, Fitz found himself resisting temptation once again - and not for the first time. There was a bombshell that he could drop on Sally and her self-righteous stance right now - but he knew deep inside that he wouldn't. Fitz's own basic goodness - aligned with his distaste for hurting women - a legacy from his thankfully deceased father - wouldn't allow it. Or at the very least, it would take a greater provocation than this to force his hand.
Thankfully, before the temptation became too much - his phone rang.
"It's Colleen Cassidy on line one, sir." Lauren told him.
The thought that popped into his head just then was petty. It might even be slightly perverse. But yet somehow, Fitz couldn't bring himself to resist this particular temptation dangling before him. His earlier self-control and perseverance had earned this - at least that's what he told himself.
Knowing Sally was watching him with nosy eyes, Fitz made a decision and let a deliberate smile spread across his face. "It's Colleen? Wonderful - just the little bit of sunshine I needed this time of night. Thank you, Lauren - if you would, please give me one minute to finish up here and then put her through."
He looked over at Sally; inside Fitz laughed at the disapproving look on her face that she was barely able to hide.
"My apologies Sally, but while I've enjoyed our little impromptu chat, this is a call that I've been looking forward to all evening."
"Really, Mr. President?"
"Really." Fitz purposefully put an extra emphasis on the word and let his smile grow a little wider. The woman was already primed to think the worst of him - so why bother to even try and correct her? The smile he gave her was genuine, even if Sally wouldn't know the true reason behind it. "Would you excuse me?"
"Of course, Mr. President." Sally's voice was as stiff as the rest of her as she stood up and headed to the door. She paused when she reached it, turning to face him. "Good night, sir - and I hope you'll keep in mind everything we've spoken of this evening?"
"Not to worry, Sally - I pay very close attention to every word you say. Good night."
Inwardly he laughed again; it was clear from the look on her face that once again Sally didn't quite know how to take his words - which of course had been his intent. But at least she knew a dismissal when she heard one. His smile went a little wider as she closed the door behind her. The plan was beginning to find its own momentum, this was just one of the seeds they'd planned to plant. Fitz wondered how long it would be before they saw what fruit it bore.
Lauren put his call through as soon as the vice-president had left the immediate area.
Fitz allowed himself to relax into the couch. "Ms. Cassidy, thank you for managing to find the time to answer my call."
Her voice was a little breathless, no doubt from the fact that she was unexpectedly - well, with little more than a few hours notice - on a phone line speaking with the president. Fitz was used to the awe people often felt the first time they were connected to the Oval, and he rushed to put her at ease.
"I was honored to get the call, Mr. President - but I do apologize for the late hour on your side." Colleen was in Hong Kong on business, which meant that she was a full twelve hours ahead of him time-wise.
Fitz imagined that she was enjoying a leisurely brunch at the moment and after a few minutes spent exchanging civilities, they moved on to the real purpose of the call. Within a very few minutes each of them found themselves pleasantly surprised to find out how quickly they were able to find common ground.
Fitz was more than enthusiastic about the tech CEO's primary goals, and she was just as pleased to discover how many of his own plans were very much in sync with hers. It gave Fitz the impetus he didn't know he needed for a request he hadn't planned on making so soon. Taking a deep breath, he pitched his last minute request.
"I apologize." Fitz said when he was done. "I know that what I'm asking is sudden and last minute -"
"- and it won't be a problem, Mr. President. Tell me more."