CHAPTER 50
Harrison began to turn to go, but Olivia's next words stopped him. "One more thing - do I need to worry about Quinn and Huck?"
She watched as Harrison paused, and it was obvious he thinking about what he should or should not say.
He sighed before he answered. "To be honest, I can't say for sure one way or the other - I don't even know if the situation is worth mentioning - except that it seems to have struck a nerve with Huck - and we both know that Huck doesn't usually show what he's feeling to anyone."
Olivia nodded. "Which makes this whole thing unusual."
He started off with that as explanation before he told her what he knew about their on-going disagreement. It concerned their last client - Shireen Davis. It seemed that ever since that case had been closed - in spectacular fashion, as they both remembered - she and Quinn had developed a friendship of their own. That in itself wasn't much of a surprise, both women were in the same age range, with the same interests in computer science. During the course of the case, it had also been revealed that Shireen was romantically involved with Jake, but now…
"But now, according to Quinn, the two of them are on a break." Harrison said. "And from what I can tell, the issue between Huck and Quinn is that he believes that it's a breach of Shireen's privacy to share that information -"
Olivia got it. "- and Quinn is focused on being on Shireen's side so the sight of Jake showing up here is not helping."
Everyone at OPA knew that Shireen was currently out of the country traveling with her mother as she rediscovered her paternal roots, so the question became why was Jake coming around? Was he just trying to find something to fill the vacancy in his life with Shireen's absence - or was this a man trying to mend a relationship and was hoping that to involve himself with OPA would help him do that? Either way, Olivia was left wondering - who was right in this instance, Huck, Quinn - or the both of them?
In hindsight, Olivia would come to wish that she'd paid more attention to those questions sooner rather than later, because there were other possibilities that hadn't occurred to either of them. But for now, she shelved it in the back of her mind, promising herself that if Jake and Shireen's relationship - or lack of one - became a problem, she'd find a way to handle it.
By the time Olivia arrived at the White House, she was focused solely on the plans for Fitz's reelection campaign; her meeting with Cyrus tonight was one plan, debating the use of the kill files was another. She knew Cyrus would want to use them - she knew that Fitz would more than likely not want to. But at least she'd convinced him to allow she and Cyrus to get together and discuss what they had on who and under what circumstances they might be called into use.
Her mind was still on those matters as she walked into the reception area of Cyrus' office. The sound of voices coming from behind his closed office door caught her attention before she could greet his secretary.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Pope - I know that you have a scheduled appointment with Mr. Beene, but that - that woman - she brushed by me as if I didn't even exist." The secretary's words came out in a heated rush. "I tried to tell her…"
"It's okay." Olivia told her as she turned and walked towards Cyrus' door. "Trust me when I tell you that I know without a doubt that none of this is on you. Some people make the mistake of thinking that rules are for other people."
"They just need a little reminder every now and then." Olivia told her - just before she gave the door a single sharp rap and stepped inside.
"I need better access than what I have now -" Elizabeth's voice cut off in mid-sentence as Olivia walked in.
Olivia nodded a cool greeting in her direction. "Hello, Elizabeth. Access to what?"
"Not what, but whom…"
Olivia noted her petty attempt at a petty correction, but she also noticed - with no little amount of satisfaction - the way Elizabeth's tone and demeanor changed as soon as she saw who had walked in the door. She was even more satisfied as turned her attention to Cyrus, purposely ignoring the other woman. "I'm sorry Cy - did we get our wires crossed? I thought you and I had a meeting scheduled…"
"No wires crossed here - you're right on time." Cyrus was quick to follow her lead, the irritated expression on his face gone in an instant. "I was just explaining to Ms. North that any requests for meetings need to be channeled through your office - given your recent promotion, of course."
"Of course."Olivia said.
"Ms. North?" Elizabeth's chuckled almost sounded sincere. "Cyrus, I think we've known each other long enough to be past such formality."
"Your White House access badge says you're here on official business, Ms. North." Olivia couldn't resist pointing that out. "Are you here on official business with Cyrus?"
Before Elizabeth could answer, Olivia kept talking. "But that can't be, can it? Because if you were here on official business to meet with Cyrus, that means that you would have had a scheduled appointment - and you can't have had a scheduled appointment, because I have a scheduled appointment…so why are you here?"
The look Olivia gave Elizabeth was very pointed and very on purpose and it left the other woman struggling to keep her composure. Just as Olivia meant it to.
Her voice was tight as she looked from Olivia and back to Cyrus. "I thought that we were just discussing a few policy points." Elizabeth said to Cyrus, but before he could reply, Olivia answered for him.
"I didn't know that you'd been written into any policy discussions lately."
Again Olivia turned back to Cyrus. "Has Ms. North been written into any policy issues on your end, Cy?"
"No, she hasn't." Cyrus said, beginning to play along. "Maybe I missed it where the request for an appointment from her office came through your office."
"No one in my office has informed me of any request, as far as I know." Olivia said before giving Elizabeth another cool glance. "And I'm sure that if there had been that I would know. Maybe you should check with your staff to make sure that there were no wires were crossed on your end?"
"No." Elizabeth's words were icily polite, but even better, were obviously forced and the sound of that was sweet to Olivia's ears. Even sweeter was the apology that followed.
"No, there were no wires crossed." Elizabeth knew that there was no sense in trying to lie about it, this was something either Olivia or Cyrus could easily find out - if they didn't already know. She was not about to give them that satisfaction. "I'm sorry for the apparent oversight. I'll see that matter is corrected."
Another chilly smile crossed her face, but it fooled no one in the room.
Olivia's smile reflected her coolness right back at the other woman. "You understand, of course, that with the president's re-election preparing to get underway, an establishment of rules, regulations and protocol is a necessary evil, otherwise things could go sideways so quickly. I know that protocol packets were sent out to all of the Party leadership and their offices…"
"I understand." Elizabeth said. She'd seen the packet, but had chosen to ignore it, telling herself that it didn't concern her. Right now it burned her to find herself so rudely checked. "I'll check with my staff; it was probably overlooked somehow in the flood of all the mail they have to deal with, but I'll see that the matter is corrected immediately."
Something in the exchange locked Olivia's and Elizabeth's gazes, one upon the other. Their eyes meet and hold; they are two powerful women exchanging a glance that totally excludes Cyrus from the conversation. Olivia was sure that the apology being forced from Elizabeth was a scraping of virtual nails against a chalkboard for her nerves and she barely bothered to hide her sense of satisfaction.
Elizabeth hid her response behind her professional facade as best she could, but not well enough to fool Olivia for one second. Her eyes reflected the fact that this was power acknowledging power as well as the silent line that had just been drawn in the sand.
She was the first to let her gaze drop. Hating that she was retreating but seeing no other way to win - this time - Elizabeth gathered up her purse and coat and said her goodbyes, but not before adding a promise to get that protocol request out to Olivia as soon as possible.
"I'm sure we'll find some level of common ground, Olivia. After all, we're all on the same side, aren't we?" Elizabeth said.
"We all serve at the pleasure of the president, Elizabeth." Olivia's words ignored Elizabeth's. "But don't worry, I'll have my staff be on the alert for your request, and after that, we'll see where we can use you best."
The smile pasted on Elizabeth's face faded just a little as she made her exit.
"That was mean." Cyrus said. His words were at odds with the smile twitching the corners of his mouth.
"That was necessary." Olivia poured herself a glass of water before she crossed the room to Cyrus' leather couch and took a seat, after which she allowed herself a tiny smile.
"Am I arguing with that?" Cyrus allowed himself a smile to match hers as he fixed himself a drink - vodka neat - and took a healthy swallow. His smile grew into a wicked grin. "I'm not arguing with that."
"Now the question is - what was her visit really about?"
"I know you didn't buy that sideshow act any more than I did." Cyrus said as he sat down next to her. "Lizzie-Bear gave in way too easy."
"I agree." Olivia lifted her glass to touch his in agreement and the gentle sound of crystal shivered into the air. "What do you think is her end game?"
"What's anyone's end goal in DC - power and influence." Cyrus shrugged.
"Both of which she already has." Olivia pointed out.
"As the RNC chairperson, she certainly has her own share - but power is addictive and no matter how much you have, it's never enough."
His words sent something uncomfortable sharp through her guts just then, a reminder or a thought that there was something there that she should note - but Olivia purposefully sent it to the back of her mind to think upon later. She knew that Cyrus was right, but there were other things on her mind that took precedent and that's what she spoke to.
"It doesn't matter; what she wants is unimportant in the long run." Olivia said. "We're about to run one of the most important re-election campaigns in the history of her party and if your Lizzie-bear isn't on board with it, I don't have the time or the inclination to play power games with her. And even more important, I am not about to let that woman steal my joy."