OMG guys i'm so overwhelmed with the response i have gotten from this story, it means a whole lot to me. And I'm so blessed to have such lovely readers. Thank you. I hope you enjoy.
"What did you call me?" Olivia asked as she slowly turned back. When she looked at his face, she had no idea how to read it. He looked broken and yet confused. Like she had just pulled his heart out and didn't know why. But she was sure she had heard 'Livvie' come out of his mouth. She couldn't have just heard what she wanted to. Could've she?
"Livvie?" He replied, not sure of himself. He truly had no idea where that came from. But he didn't want to have to tell Olivia that. It got her to stay. It obviously meant something. Unless she thought it was inappropriate. Maybe that was it.
With one word he had taken all the power away from her and completely turned the situation on its head. She wanted to run to him and envelop him in the tightest hug, while not taking her lips of his. "You called me Livvie. You…The old you. He called me Livvie. Sometimes. Not all the time. But sometimes…" she nearly whispered. Liv hated that she referred to her Fitz as the 'old Fitz'. But that's how it was now.
"I did?" He asked.
"You don't remember," she said mostly to remind herself. This wasn't his memory coming back. This was just a small blip. A brain slip. Maybe it was a sign that he was going to remember, and although she wanted to be hopeful, there came a time when the hope hurt more than the acceptance. "Of course, you don't remember."
"But I want to. Doesn't that make up for something. I hate that there's a part of me that gone. Apparently lost forever, it seems. There is nothing I want more than to know who you are. To remember. A part of me is missing. And from what I can tell it's a very important part," Fitz said. Olivia stayed next to the door. She needed to keep some distance. Every word he said, felt like a stab to the gut.
She found it hard to swallow, and salt water stung her eyes, as she blinked back the tears. She couldn't let him know how much she was hurting. Because he couldn't help her like she wanted to be helped. He couldn't hold her tighter and warmer than anyone ever had. He couldn't kiss her forehead and assure her everything was going to be alright. He couldn't even remember the occasions when he had done that.
"Please, just tell me," Fitz begged.
But even with the defeatist look he was sporting, Olivia wanted to stick to her guns. She wanted him to remember on his own. So, she turned back to the door, and twisted the handle. "Good night, Mr President."
The door slammed shut behind her. Fitz wanted to chase her down, and not let her go. They couldn't leave it there. They couldn't leave it like this. He'd give anything for her to be back in the room with him.
Fitz plopped down into the sofa, his head in his hands. "Livvie," he repeated almost silently. The gravitas of it filled the air around him. He knew it meant something, he just didn't know what.
…
Fitz stood at the front of his campaign staff, he was asking for their ideas, questioning them on why they weren't winning. A Fitzgerald Grant banner hung from the ceiling, his face was on the posters covering the walls. Everyone looked as lost as he felt. He shouldn't have been losing the election, but he was.
A blinding white light came from the back of the room, but he couldn't turn away. It was captivating, it drew him in, like a moth to a lantern. It gave him the energy the campaign had taken away. It was everything he needed.
He wanted to reach out and touch it, but couldn't, he was rendered motionless. No one could look away. It passed through the crowd, holding everyone's attention as it did. And then it stopped. Mere feet from Fitz.
And then suddenly in a flash it was gone, and what was left was Olivia.
…
Fitz woke calmly, almost like a sweet bliss had poured over him while he was sleeping. He'd never dreamed of Olivia before, or at least not from what he remembered. But this didn't feel like just a dream. It felt real. As if it had happened. Which of course made no sense. Balls of light didn't just float through rooms.
But it had to be real, otherwise what the hell did it mean.
He had no motivation to get out of bed. He wanted to lie there and just think about what he had seen. It had to be a memory. He replayed it in his mind again and again. Except when he did, there was no ball of light, there was just Olivia.
She had told him they met on the campaign trail. Could this be that? Their first meeting? Was he enthralled with her even back then?
There was a knock on the door, and a very large part of him wanted it to be Olivia. Could she have come to talk about last night? Apologise for leaving how she did? Or maybe she wanted to have breakfast together before the day really started.
He hopped out of bed in a rush and made his way over to the suite's door. But when he pulled it open, he was disappointed to see she wasn't on the other side. He put on an unaffected face when he saw the agent in front of him.
"I was told to wake you," the agent said. Fitz nodded and went back into his room.
Fitz left the suite after getting ready and was walking down the hotel hallway when he saw Olivia. He saw her quickly dart away when she saw him. It would have made him laugh if it wasn't so tradgic.
"Olivia," Fitz called after her.
Liv had no other option but to stop and wait for him to catch up to her. It was quite difficult to dodge the leader of the free world. "Good morning, Mr President," she said as they began to walk side by side.
"About last night-" Fitz began.
"We don't need to talk about it," Liv said cutting him off.
"I want to," Fitz replied. He wanted to tell her about the dream or really the memory that came back last night. It wasn't much, but it was something. And that was sure to bring her some happiness. And he couldn't wait to see her reaction.
Olivia stilled and put her hand on Fitz's arm to stop him. "I think we should forget about it. We have two weeks together and we need to focus on the work. So, let's keep things professional," she said.
"But Olivia-" Fitz started. This was the opposite of what he wanted. And he really thought Olivia had the right to know he remembered something, no matter how little or insignificant it may seem.
"Please," she implored him. If she learnt anything from last night, it was that they needed boundaries. All she wanted was to protect herself. She thought this trip was going to be easy, that she could handle it. But last night proved that wasn't the case. If she was going to be the strong confident woman she knew herself to be, she needed to stay away from Fitz.
"Okay," he relented. Fitz was actually able to read her and decided to not push her on it. If she needed her space, then he was going to give her that.
All he wished was that she knew that he was starting to remember.
He remembers something!
Will he remember more, or will he need Olivia's help?
Please Review :D