Let me say, I am still unbelievably shocked at the turn out for this story. Thank you to everyone who is reviewing, you're amazing, and I really hope this story lives up to your expectations.
Olivia sat in her office for the second night in a row. She hadn't been as productive as she had planned to be. Not to mention every time someone knocked on her door she hoped it would be Fitz. She hoped she had made some sort of impact on him last night, but she had yet to see him today. Of course he was busy, and she hadn't made any attempt for a meeting. So it was mostly her fault. But she didn't feel right making a meeting if she had nothing to discuss with him. Once upon a time, they would have had ten meetings by now, and very little discussion would have been had.
Olivia heard a knock on the door, and again hoped it was Fitz, and for the first time all day her wish was granted. She gave a quick smirk at the sight of him, and waved Fitz in. "I wish I was surprised to see you here," Fitz said as he pushed the glass door open. "Should I expect this to be a normal occurrence?" He asked as he took the seat across from Olivia. Fitz had been holding something but he had placed it on the floor before Olivia could sneak a proper glance.
"For the most part," Liv answered with a grin.
"So, let me get this straight. You work hard all day and so far work longer hours than I do. You're the best in your field, and can handle a group of reporters like no one else can. And I let you go?" He asked. Given her work ethic and ability he couldn't believe that she no longer worked for him. It seemed preposterous.
That last question hit a nerve with Olivia, but she couldn't let it show. He had let her go. Not from the job obviously, but from his memory. "But I resigned," Liv said not expressing how hurt she had been by that previous question.
"But you came back, that's the important part. There's not many people who would come back to a job they had grown out of in a crisis. But that speaks to your character, and I, and the administration, will forever be in your debt," Fitz said, taking Olivia aback, she wasn't expecting to hear those words come out of Fitz's mouth.
"Thank you," she said whole heartedly.
"Which is why I got you a present," Fitz said as he leaned over to pick up what he had brought in.
"You really didn't need to get me anything, I'm happy to help" she said out of politeness. She really didn't know what he could be giving her, it wasn't as if he knew what she liked.
"I could take it back," he joked as he held the bottle by the neck for Olivia to see.
"No, that's fine, I'll take it," Olivia said gleefully as she examined the label. It was a good brand. Expensive. Something she would pick for herself. For a second she had a glimmer of hope that he remembered her, though then she remembered that she told him last night that she drunk red wine, so again her hopes were crushed. She reached out to take the bottle. Her fingers grazed his, it was the first time, minus a hand shake, they had touched since he was lying in the hospital bed unconscious. Olivia's hand lingered, and Fitz didn't pull away. Olivia put it down to not wanting to drop the bottle and he wasn't sure if she had a proper grip, so she quickly pulled it away. "This is a good year," Liv said upon closer inspection of the label.
"In all honesty, I had an aide go out and get it for me," Fitz confessed with a grin.
"You mean you didn't take a break from your extremely important job, and take an unplanned trip to get a new employee a present? Mr President, I'm shocked," Olivia said in a faux dramatic tone, causing Fitz's grin to grow even larger. He liked how playful Olivia was with him, he didn't have this with anyone else. He could tell Olivia was special.
"Not to assume you'd share, or want to drink it now, but I also bought in two glasses," Fitz said as he bent down and picked up another thing he came in with.
"But you're not a wine drinker," Liv said a little confused. Scotch yes, a glass of merlot not so much.
"We can all make sacrifices," he said as he placed the two glasses on Olivia's desk.
"I hope you have a cork screw, it's not something I typically keep in my top drawer," Liv replied. It was true, at OPA it was in the third drawer down. Fitz again leaned over and picked up the bottle opener. "You really do come prepared," Liv smiled. She like that he just assumed that she would be up to sharing a drink with him. "It's a good thing almost everyone has gone home for the night, this wouldn't be a good example to set," Liv joked as she passed Fitz back the bottle.
"That's why I like this time of night. I can walk around the West Wing and truly enjoy it. There's no one hassling me to do something, no ones looking like a deer in headlights just because they weren't expecting to see me. Everyone's usually so stressed around me. All wanting to make a good impression, as if what I think about them is going to validate their life and career," Fitz said as he opened the bottle and started to pour the two glasses.
"You're the President, that can be intimidating," Olivia said explaining how the rest of the world would have felt around Fitzgerald Grant.
"You're not intimidated around me," Fitz said as he handed over the glass to Olivia.
"But I helped you get elected, without me you wouldn't have made it through the primaries, makes the magic go away," Olivia answered. She and Fitz both took a sip from their glass at the same time, and silence filled the room.
"Tell me the truth, what sort of relationship did we have before?" Fitz blurted out, he'd been wondering that since he saw her come into his hospital room.
"What do you mean?" Liv asked playing coy. He might say he wanted the truth, but he wasn't ready for it, not yet, not really.
"You say that you, Cyrus, Mellie and I were old friends," Fitz began and Olivia nodded in agreement. She wondered where this was going, if he didn't believe what they had told him, then maybe there was a part of him that knew the truth, even if he didn't remember it all. "Yet, my wife seemed extremely displeased, even angry, that I had hired you. It just doesn't add up. There's something you're all not telling me, and it has something to do with you," he finished.
Olivia looked down, not ready to meet his gaze. He was definitely not a stupid man. But something in Olivia told her that Fitz was still not ready for the whole truth, or maybe she wasn't. "Okay, you're right, Mellie and I have a complicated relationship. We're friends one minute, and enemies the next. It isn't always easy to see when she flips. It's usually when she wants something from me. It first started when we were on the trail. You two were spending a lot more time together, and had to over pretend that you were the happiest of couples. When the curtain came down, you'd come to me for a distraction. We became fast friends, close friends. You'd confide in me, bounce ideas of me. We became the team that Mellie thought you and she should have been. She was jealous, I guess. She wanted what we had. And when I resigned, she thought she was going to get that, but you'd still come to me with major problems. When you were shot, Mellie and I banded together to help you. I don't know how her mind works, it might even be the hormones, but when you forgot who I was, she must have thought it was her turn to be your partner," Liv answered, constantly stopping to take a sip. She hoped what she had just said would answer his question to the degree he so pleased.
"My wife is definitely complicated, to say the least," Fitz said as he took another sip from his glass. "But why didn't you all just tell me this?" he asked, I didn't seem like the big deal they were making it.
"Who did you expect to tell you? You don't know who I am past a week ago. And Mellie isn't one to broadcast her insecurities," Olivia said, the strange thing was she didn't lie to him, well aside from a lie of omission. But everything she just said was the truth, not the whole truth, but one she thought the both of them could handle.
"If we were such close friends, why don't I know who you are?" he asked, it wasn't that he didn't believe what Olivia was saying, he just didn't see how he could forget about her. It seemed like everyone was trying to prank him.
"I can answer that as well as you can," Olivia answered. Not her, nor Fitz, nor a doctor could truly answers that, not yet anyway. She decided to give him the same amount of knowledge as she had in this situation. "But if I had to guess, it's because we had a fight a week before you were shot. We weren't speaking or seeing each other. And I guess your brain decided to shut me out because of that," Liv added. She thought he had a right to know about that, it could help explain things to him.
"What were we fighting about?" He asked. He racked his brain for this memory of Olivia, but like normal nothing hit.
"Honestly I don't remember. So much has happened since then, that it seems unimportant in comparison," Liv said, however she did remember, but the fight topic hindered the narrative of them being just friends.
"Right," Fitz replied. He did think Olivia was hiding something, it seemed a bit strange for a fight to be big enough to cause a riff between them and possibly be the cause of his selective amnesia, but yet small enough that she no longer remembered what it was about. But then again he had no reason not to trust her. If she said it wasn't important then he had to believe her. And he was going to. "Do you want another?" Fitz asked as he looked down at Olivia's near empty glass.
"It's probably best if I didn't," she answered. If it was a month ago, and if they were anywhere else, she wouldn't have had any objections to downing the bottle. But they were here and now, and it didn't seem like a good idea. Who knows what she would say if she had too many drinks around him. Her cool calm and collected demeanour would cease to exist. And if she told Fitz now about their real relationship he would never truly trust her knowing she had lied to him so easily.
"Probably," he agreed and began to stand up. He knew Mellie would be wondering where he was, and he didn't want to get into another disagreement with his wife. "Well until tomorrow, Olivia," he said as he went to leave.
"Until tomorrow, Mr President."
What do you think?
Should Olivia used that moment to tell him the truth, or is she doing the right thing?
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