CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

"Stop fidgeting, sir."

"I am the president of the United States, Cy." Fitz said even while he pulled at his collar, then readjusted his bow-tie. "Fidgeting implies nervousness. I am not nervous - I'm irritated. There's a difference."

They were in a small anteroom in the hotel where the fund-raiser was taking place. Fitz was annoyed at having to be there at all, especially when he'd much rather be up at Camp David with Olivia. The sound of the military jazz ensemble drifted in and it irritated him even further

"If you say so, Mr. President." Cyrus' voice was so carefully neutral that Fitz raised an eyebrow at him.

"Remind me why we're here again?" Fitz asked.

"Preemptively, we're pouring oil onto troubled waters - before they become troubled waters." Cyrus reminded him.

"I know what the word preemptive means." Fitz also knew that Cyrus had a point. That didn't mean he had to like it. "How long do I have to endure this gathering?"

Cyrus looked down at his watch. "It's almost seven now, so including your remarks to the room, I'd say we should be seen until at least midnight?" His voice was hopeful as he raised his eyes to meet Fitz's answering glare. "Don't kill the messenger. This is all Elizabeth's doing, not mine - she put this thing together."

"So she's the reason why there's no press coverage?" Fitz asked.

"She's the reason why there's no press coverage." Cyrus nodded in agreement. "She did have a very carefully pre-screened pre-event "information session" - and at least you were spared that particular gauntlet. I wasn't as lucky. James is furious at me - as if I had anything to do with it."

Fitz couldn't help the smile that twitched at his lips.

Cyrus gave him a look that made it clear that he saw Fitz's reaction. "I'm surprised that Olivia didn't make more of a big deal of it."

"In the grand scheme of things, Olivia said that this is nothing and she'd save her fights for when they really matter."

"Elizabeth doesn't matter?" It was Cyrus' turn to lift a brow.

"Not as much as she thinks she matters tonight." Fitz couldn't help the grin that came to his face. As if on cue, his private phone he kept in his inner jacket pocket chimed, announcing a text message. "Excuse me, Cyrus."

Fitz started to turn away, but he heard Cyrus' sigh behind his back.

"Elizabeth is waiting, sir - and since you did agree to this, can't we be nice about it?" the other man said.

"I'm here and this is about as nice as it's going to get. You had to know that I was less than pleased that Olivia wasn't on the guest list."

"As accomplished as our Liv is - technically she's considered a part of the press."

"She's the Senior Communication and Media Director of my re-election campaign and as such, will be a part of my senior staff -"

"- none of which has been announced yet." Cyrus reminded him. "We all agreed to let the news of your separation and the beginning to your moving on with this new chapter of your life to take place in an orderly fashion as a part of 'the plan.'"

That might be true, but Fitz didn't want to hear it at the moment. "Whatever. The bottom line is that Elizabeth had better be glad that I'm here, so that means she can wait a little longer." Fitz said. He took a few steps away and keyed open his text messages.

*Play nice tonight.*

*I'd rather be playing with you.* Fitz tried to make a joke of it but the truth was, he was still worried about her. If Olivia hadn't insisted that he come, he would have blown this whole thing off to be with her. *How are you?*

*You were right, I needed a little peace and quiet. It's lovely up here.*

*That didn't answer my question."

There was a brief pause before she answered and that told Fitz so very much.

*I'm better, but I'll be much better once you get here.*

*I'm out of here as soon as I can manage it.*

*I can't wait.*

*Neither can I. See you soon.*

*Fine. And stop giving Cy a hard time, he's just doing his job.*

Fitz smiled as he put his phone away, then turned back to Cyrus. "Let's get this over with."

The sooner he could be done with his political duties, the sooner he could get out of here and back to Olivia.

Cyrus had convinced Fitz that he needed to stay for at least least three hours. Fitz shook his head mentally while glancing down at his watch, surprised to see that only one had gone by and that one hour had felt like an eternity.

Even as he shook hands and greeted people as they arrived, Fitz couldn't stop thinking about Olivia; once she'd given in to the idea of spending some down time at Camp David, he'd been more than a little relieved, but that didn't mean he wasn't worried still. He couldn't forget how she'd stood before him sobbing or how she'd trembled in his arms.

Fitz forced his thoughts back to the present and the blond irritation standing by his side - and irritation was putting it mildly. The moment they had taken their place near the doorway as hosts of this event, she'd kept trying to slip her arm into his in an attempt t0 project a false intimacy to anyone watching - and he knew that that would be everyone.

In the beginning, instead of letting his annoyances show, Fitz turned her futile attempts into a grim mental game, one where he kept count of how many ways he could disengage from her without acknowledging what she was doing. Since she was annoying him, the least he could do is return the favor.

Unfortunately, Fitz couldn't find a way to shut her up - at least not politely - so he was forced to listen to Elizabeth as she kept up a running commentary on the people arriving, both before and after they approached, was welcomed and sent on their way. It became very obvious very soon that her favor was dependent on how useful each person were to her and her ambition.

As far as Fitz was concerned, he was determined to be as pleasant as he could manage, his intentions to pick up what information he could. Again thanks to Olivia, he knew more about the guests than what Elizabeth had been telling him.

Fitz was surprised to see Sally arrive with the Speaker of the House Tillman - and not her husband. And was that a faint look of approval in her eyes as she took in the sight of he and Elizabeth, right after she'd slipped her arm in the crook of his elbow yet again?

In his continuing attempt to be polite - which was already strained by Elizabeth's chatter, Fitz commented on Sally's husband's absence.

She waved it off. "Daniel-Douglass has never shown much interest in politics - and I have yet to decide if that's a curse or a blessing."

Fitz watched as both Elizabeth and Tillman gave a politically correct chuckle.

Fitz barely managed a brief smile and when she saw his reaction, Sally's eyes sharpened and her expression too. "On the other hand, a political marriage could be a power for good here in the nation's capitol - if done right. A good example to set for the rest of the country."

Fitz scented a sudden question of conspiracy in the air; it was a struggle not to turn and look Elizabeth and look for the answer in her eyes, but it occurred to him that this might be a thing she wanted; he was sure that Tillman wouldn't mind something like that either.

Sally's words and Fitz's reaction left an awkward silence in its wake that hung there as unsubtle as a rock through a window. Tillman rescued the conversation by changing it to asking about the content of Fitz's speech.

"I hope it'll loosen up some of these pockets." Tillman said. "Your election isn't the only one on the menu."

"Just the most important one." Elizabeth pointed out.

"That might be true, but we've got to keep the down ballot votes in mind, don't we?" Tillman countered.

Was this trouble in Party paradise? As minor as it might appear, their disagreement surprised Fitz, but he was careful to keep that from showing on his face, especially when Tillman turned his attention back to him. "I'm hoping that a few of us can sit down in private before the evening's done and toss a few ideas about that around."

"If not tonight, maybe another time." Fitz said; his main thoughts kept going back to Olivia. He already had his own plans in mind and had no intentions on spending any more time here than he had to.

Tillman was clearly not happy with Fitz's response or the way he glanced down at his watch again. "Well, we'll see, won't we, Mr. President? We'll do our best to accommodate what I'm sure is a very busy schedule."

The Speaker offered his arm to Sally, she took it and as they walked away it appeared that before they had taken more than a few steps, the both of them had started what looked like was an intense conversation. Fitz watched them, wondering what they were talking about.

When he turned back to the receiving line, he was grateful to note that it appeared as though mostly everyone had arrived; the steady stream of guests had slowed to a trickle.

Good, Fitz thought - that was one item ticked off of his to-do list. Not thinking about it, Fitz found himself checking his watch again.

"Is there somewhere else you needed to be, Mr. President?" Elizabeth's voice was falsely bright.

"Of course not, Elizabeth. I was just thinking ahead to my remarks." The lie came easy.

She unbent a little. "Speaking of which, I was hoping that we could find a moment to speak in private? I'm sure you and your speech-writers crafted what you're going to say carefully, but there are a few items I'd like to go over with you, if you don't mind."

"Actually, Elizabeth - I do mind." Fitz watched as her careful mask dropped in shock. "I didn't need help with this - it's not a policy or agenda driven speech and I have no intentions of turning it into one. I'm here to welcome people and to ask for their support for the party. "

"I-I just thought that I could offer some constructive help." Elizabeth was not one to give up on an idea easily.

Fitz shook his head. "No, thank you." There was only woman that he allowed to do that for him was Olivia. She was the only one who knew him well enough to clarify his thoughts without diluting either his message or his meaning.

That thought had him checking the time again as he wondered how Olivia was doing right at that moment, not realizing that he'd thought of the time just a few minutes before.

This time, his thoughts went to their last text exchange. Her text had been light-hearted enough, but he couldn't help wondering what was behind those messages on the screen. How true were they? Fitz knew that Olivia was capable - even after last night and this morning - to keep the truth of what she feeling to herself - especially if she thought it would benefit him. He didn't realize that the fact that his thoughts were elsewhere flashed across his face.

Her irritation at being told no along with the way the president looked at his watch as if she wasn't even there made Elizabeth momentarily sharp and careless with her words. "Is there somewhere else you need to be, Mr. President?"

Unfortunately she didn't realize just how big a mistake she had made until he turned a cool gaze in her direction.

"No, Ms. North. I don't. But there is someone else that I'm expecting."

"Oh? You made no mention of a special guest." Elizabeth tried to recover with a show of concern.

"No, I didn't." Fitz's eyes slid away from her easily and Elizabeth turned to see the reason why. She was just in time to see a red-headed woman come through the doorway. She recognized the other woman as the tech CEO Colleen Cassidy.

"I didn't know that Little Miss DLG was coming." She made sure Fitz heard the insinuation in her voice.

"What was that?" Fitz said even as he raised a hand to catch the other woman's attention.

"Ms. DLG - Daddy's Little Girl - that's what she's known as in some circles." Elizabeth didn't care for the look the president gave her. She attempted a little disparaging laugh to take the sting from her words, but she meant for him to hear them. "I'm just telling you what I've been told - she did inherit her position, after all."

Fitz had his own sources of information via Olivia and Cyrus and hit back with a smile that was cold steel at its edges. "I have to say that I doubt that she's earned that nickname. I know that her father was one of the earliest tech innovators, but from what I was told, Skylight was her own from the beginning and the research and development she's done moved both her company and her father's directions that her father only dreamed of."

Elizabeth found herself speechless for a moment at not only the president's unexpected defense of Colleen Cassidy but the thought that came swiftly behind it. She was suddenly uneasy at the idea that he seemed to have an agenda and she had no clue as to what it was.

"Of course, I wasn't trying to take anything from Ms. Cassidy - I just thought you'd just want to know what was being said about her." Elizabeth tried to backpedal once she realized that Fitz knew more about Colleen than she'd thought and planned for.

She tried another tack. "If you'd like, I'd can get you more - definitive - information on her."

"No, thank you - that won't be necessary. I'm definitely not interested in any other street gossip you might have."

The president's words were a clear warning to let the matter go, but before Elizabeth could find another way to try and make things right, Colleen had caught the president's eye and was walking over to join them.

Just that quick, Elizabeth was forced to accept that her opportunity with the president was lost, and as if to pour salt in the wound, was then forced to stand there with a pleasant smile stamped on her face as Fitzgerald Grant greeted Colleen. She sensed a warmth between them that had been lacking between she and the president earlier.

But why? An unexpected stab of anger went through her; Elizabeth covered it by turning away briefly, snatching a drink from a passing waiter. Why was his greeting so graceful as well as grateful towards this woman? She turned her attention back to them.

"As I told you earlier, it's my pleasure, Mr. President." Colleen was saying.

Earlier? Earlier when? Elizabeth's curiosity was sharpened even more. Her sources hadn't mentioned any prior connection between them - but now that she saw them together, Elizabeth was left wondering what else didn't she know.

When Fitz turned back to her to make the introductions, Elizabeth was extra careful to hide any of her thoughts.

"Ms. Cassidy -"

"Colleen, please, Mr. President."

Fitz smiled at her. "Of course. Colleen, have you met Elizabeth North?"

"Only in passing." Colleen smiled at her. "But her reputation precedes her."

As does yours. Elizabeth was careful not to say anything out loud; she even managed to paste a smile on her face but inwardly, she didn't like this unexpected development at all.

The fact that the president's smile was so obviously genuine made her like it even less.