Cyrus called her the week before. He was desperate. He begged her to at least come and take a look before completely rejecting his proposition. The chance to run a presidential campaign this early in her career was unheard of and she wasn't at all sure she wanted to turn it down, even if he was a republican. Still she'd just made partner in her firm and she couldn't mess up a good thing unless she was absolutely sure it was worth it.

She flew out from New York to their temporary campaign office in New Hampshire. It was a chilly January day. Her cream Max Mara coat was draped over her shoulders, Navy blue Theory chinos and a white cashmere long sleeve fitted top, finished with a pair of black leather Chanel knee high stilettos. Her hair was parted in the middle and loosely curled. It fell to the middle of her back and her makeup was simple, consisting of only concealer, mascara and lip gloss and brown lip liner combo.

She stepped out of her taxi and closed the door behind her. The taxi driver dropped her directly in front of the makeshift campaign office. She threw her Chanel black quilted purse over her shoulder and walked into the office.

She was immediately greeted by a volunteer.

"Hi, welcome to the Grant campaign office, how can I assist you?" the girl said pleasantly.

"Cyrus Beene is expecting me," Olivia responded

"Olivia Pope Right?

Olivia nodded.

"This way."

The girl led her to Cyrus' office, he was in the middle of a phone call. So she stood in his office, looking around at the clutter.

Within a few minutes Cyrus was off the phone.

"Liv, thank you so much for coming, I can't tell you how much it means to me." Cyrus cooed as he ran over and hugged her.

"It better mean alot to you, I'm in the middle of a huge case and it wasn't easy making time to come see you," she said.

"You just made partner Liv, you're technically a boss there, you'll live."

"At 28, youngest partner in the firm's history," she bragged.

Cyrus laughed, "why do you think you're here?"

"So Cy, I know you didn't invite me here to make snarky comments about my job, what's going on?"

Cyrus sighed. "Well, he's good Liv or else I wouldn't call you but something is missing. I'm trying everything but I can't figure out how to connect with voters. That's why I've called you, my darling protege, to take a look, meet me and tell me what you think, I need a second opinion from someone who will give it to us straight."

"Based on the footage I've seen of him on the news I already have a pretty good idea of what's missing," she countered.

"Be nice! Just meet him first. He's nice, you'll like him."

"Okay, where is he?"

"I think he's talking to the staff and volunteers in the conference auditorium. I have to make a few more calls but check him out and tell me what you think. I'll meet you once I'm finished here."

She nodded."Where is the auditorium?"

"Outside 2 rights then left," he replied.

"Got it."

She followed Cyrus' directions to the hall, the double doors were open. He stood in the middle of the floor, wearing a pair of dark navy Brooks Brothers tailored slacks and a crisp white long sleeve button down shirt that was neatly tucked into his pants.

The first thing Olivia noticed was how tall he actually was, between 6'2 or 6'3 based on her guess. He was also extremely handsome. She could see his blue eyes all the way from the back of the room, his hair was well kept and his teeth were perfect. She looked around the room and saw the female volunteers hanging onto every word he said like gospel. She was sure it wasn't because of what he was saying, it was how he looked when he was saying it. He was very charming but as she had judged based on his media appearances, he seemed fake, too perfect, too proper, too rehearsed. His presence in person didn't translate on tv.

"It's not my stance on issues, I'm not gonna swing further right because that's not my belief. The voters know that, I swing further right it's gonna look like I'm flip flopping.-"

She sucked in a breath, 'here we go' she thought. She cleared her throat to announce herself. When he turned to her she spoke.

"It's because you're too perfect," Olivia said as she leaned against the door post.

"Excuse me?" Fitz responded, momentarily stunned.

"You're too perfect, too polished, too rehearsed and entirely unrelatable. No one wants an ultra wealthy, know-it-all, telling them to trust him. If you don't believe me- ask yourself how many billionaires have been elected president? As I'm sure you know, the number is zero. All that aside, you and your wife have the chemistry of a couple of goldfish. Now that wouldn't be a problem if you were running as a democrat, you'd sail through the primaries but you're a republican, one of the biggest fundamentals in your party is family values. That's why republicans vote for who they vote for, they want a family in the white house that represents the w.a.s.p. American dream. You and your wife don't look, touch or speak to each other and people notice, that's why you lost Iowa and that's why you'll lose New Hampshire."

Fitz stood briefly speechless.

"I know what you're going to say." Olivia continued as she walked down the aisle, "you won in governorship in California exactly as you are so you're not the problem but I would counter that California is the most pretentious state in the country and so of course you won there but you won't win in the places you really need to win, in order to become president if you continue like this."

Her words hung in the air and everyone was silent.

He took a few seconds to look at her, really look at her. She was one of the most beautiful women he'd ever seen, she was tiny in stature and very well dressed. She had utterly perfect pouty lips on her round face that had her beauty bordering on angelic.

He quickly realized his thoughts were trailing on and snapped himself out of it.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Olivia Pope," she said with a snarky smile.

She turned around to see Cyrus with a huge disgusting smile on his face.

"I'll be in your office," she smiled at him and whispered so only he could hear.

She walked down the hall and then got lost by all the turns and doors that looked the same.

Everyone in the auditorium was still quiet. Fitz dismissed the staff and went to find Cyrus who already made his way back to his office.

When he stepped into Cyrus' office, he couldn't hide the huge grin on his face.

"Don't be so giddy Cy. That's the Olivia you were telling me about?"

Cyrus nodded, still grinning.

"Find someone else," he said.

Olivia finally found her way back to Cyrus' office, she saw Fitz's arm hanging outside of the wall once she was close enough to hear their conversation.

"Oh god she's good. I can't believe I've been missing that the enter time it was so obvious," Cyrus chuckled. "I've been trying so hard to make you perfect that you're too perfect. It's coming off as fake."

"Great, now that we got the advice, you can get rid of her," Fitz repeated.

Olivia was used to rich brats throwing tantrums when someone stood up to them, still she was annoyed she wasted her time coming up to see Cyrus.

"First of all, I'm praying she even agrees to be hired. I don't know how I'm going to get her to work with us, I suppose I could try to guilt her into it," Cyrus said more to himself than to Fitz. "But I don't know if it's gonna work. She's very stubborn."

"Do not hire that woman Cyrus. I'm serious"

"Listen, we're a package deal at this point. Olivia's young but she's one of the smartest, most perceptive and charismatic people I've come across and she figured out a problem after having met you for 30 seconds that I haven't been able to figure out in months, so we are hiring her because we need her and if you really don't want her here then I can't stay either because I can't fix you alone."

Fitz rolled his eyes.

"You're not going anywhere Cyrus but she is. Tell her to go or I will."

Fitz turned around only to bump into Olivia who was standing behind him.

She cleared her throat softly but she had a smirk on her face and it was completely throwing Fitz off. She was arrogant and it amused him.

She walked over to Cyrus and gave him a tender kiss on the cheek and hugged him. Fitz felt his heart race at the sight of her lips touching Cyrus' face and instantly felt a pang of jealousy. She was utterly stunning. Her hair was perfectly curled and shiny. Her skin was flawless and her fingers were perfectly manicured. When she walked past him, he could smell the perfume lingering off her skin. She was a vision and her presence was palpable.

"It was good to see you Cyrus." She smiled pleasantly then snatched a cold fry from his half eaten lunch on the desk and then headed out the door.

Cyrus realized she was leaving."Come on Liv, he didn't mean it," he pleaded.

She stopped and turned to Fitz, "Listen, I'm going to order a few drinks at the hotel and charge everything to your campaign. It's the least you owe me after wasting my time. Good luck Governor Grant." She then turned and strutted out.

Cyrus palmed his face."You better go get her right now or I quit," Cyrus mumbled through clenched teeth.

"Cy, you are so dramatic-"

"Go get her! Now!" Cyrus yelled.

Fitz turned and realized she had disappeared from the hallway, so he walked quickly to find her. He turned a few hallways and then saw a tiny woman walking towards a double door, he was a little confused because it wasn't the exit.

He sped up and stopped right behind her.

"Ms. Pope?" he called.

She stopped and turned around.

"Have you come to waste more of my time?" She said as she turned to look at him then continued walking again.

"Can I talk to you for a moment… I also think you're going the wrong way, this isn't the exit."

That caused Olivia to stop, then she chuckled. "God I'm even worse at directions than I thought…" She shrugged playfully. Fitz found the difference in her personalities jarring. "So are you going to tell me where the exit is?"

"I would but I don't want you to leave."

"Why?" she asked.

"Why don't I want you to leave?"

"No, why did you fire me? Is it because I told you what everyone else was too scared to tell you. I don't intend this to be condescending because I'm sure you know that if you intend to be president you're gonna have to grow thicker skin. I took time from my very important job as a favor to Cyrus and I am not happy that I've wasted my time. "

"No, you didn't, I agree with everything you said. It makes sense. I just," he took a breath, "didn't think it would be a good idea for you to stay."

She was confused until his eyes caught hers and they locked for a moment. She understood what he was trying to say without words and found herself flattered.

"Can we just start over?" Fitz said.

She let out a short breath and smiled. "I'll stick around for today and then I'll make my decision," she said quickly and walked away. She couldn't help the small smile on her lips. She heard him follow behind her, knowing he was watching her.

She went back to Cyrus' office.

"Oh thank god,"

Olivia chuckled and sat at the chair in front of him. She placed her Chanel bag on his desk.

"I think we should sit down with him and the wife so I can get a better idea of what you're working with."

Cyrus sighed in relief. "Great, just give me a minute to get them together. They can't stand each other."

"I could have guessed that but it can't be that bad," Olivia mumbled.

"It is," Cyrus said and he went to call both Fitz and Mellie to the small office room so they could all speak with Olivia. After 5 minutes of wrangling, he was able to get them all in the same room.

Cyrus plopped himself down on the chair exhausted, Olivia walked in behind him and removed her coat and placed it by her bag on the couch.

"I think a formal introduction is a great way to start," Cyrus began.

Olivia could feel Mellie and Fitz's eyes wash over her, both in different ways. She sat back opposite them on the couch and crossed her legs.

"Fitz, Mellie, this is Olivia Pope."

Mellie turned to Cyrus. "Cyrus, why are you introducing me to this child? What is she? A volunteer?" Mellie asked, then she turned to Olivia.

Cyrus sighed, annoyed.

"Okay," Olivia began, already having a good idea of who Mellie was just based on that short sentence, "Don't talk about me like I'm not in the room. You can direct your concerns about me to me and I'll address them. I am 28 years old, I'm not a child although my skin is as soft as a baby's so I understand the confusion," Olivia quipped.

Cyrus laughed and shook his head. She was just as testy as he remembered her as a student. They'd argued plenty of times in his class.

Mellie's mouth fell open then she smiled tight lips and icily, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it in an offensive way, I just can't believe you look so young."

Cyrus laughed and began again.

"As I was saying, this is Olivia Pope, a former student of mine at Princeton then she went on to Yale law. She graduated Summa Cumme Laude from both. She is the youngest lawyer ever to make partner at the Sullivan and Cromwell firm after she won the Google case in her second year as an associate. Fortunately she is my great friend and almost daughter and is willing to help with the campaign."

Mellie's icy glare quickly turned into one of admiration. "Wow, I'm impressed, Sullivan and Cromwell is one of the top if not the top firm in the country and that google case was huge."

Fitz was quiet, he just sat back and watched her.

"Olivia you have the floor," Cyrus instructed.

She took a deep breath. "Look I just made partner less than a year ago and I'm giving up a lot by handing cases off and taking a leave of absence, if I do decide to stay I need to know that you will work with me and not throw a tantrum every time I constructively criticize or give an opinion."

Both Fitz and Mellie nodded.

"Now that's out of the way, you guys need to fix whatever situation this is and you need to fix it now. You don't touch each other, you don't talk directly to each other and you don't look at each other. Right now you guys are sitting as far away as possible from each other, to the point where the Governor is almost not sitting at the table at all."

Mellie was about to say something but Olivia cut her off.

"I don't care about your personal situation but I'm just letting you know that this is how it needs to be on the outside. I want to believe you too are so hot for each other that it makes me uncomfortable to be close to you. So whatever you guys need to talk about, you should probably just hash that out now so we can fix this and move on."

"Miss Pope, I think you are mistaken," Mellie said through clenched teeth. "And this is utterly inappropriate."

Olivia ignored her and continued. "That was my criticism of you as a couple, now let me criticize you individually. Mrs. Grant, let's start with you," Olivia said. "You're a cunt."

Mellie gasped. But Olivia didn't give her a chance to finish.

"It's very obvious and you're terrible at hiding it which is why people don't like you. The moment I walked in here you plastered that fake, icy smile on your face and you looked me up and down to judge me."

"That's not true," Mellie said.

"It is," Olivia said. "You looked at my nails and my hair and my makeup to find a flaw to justify you not liking me. It's okay, I'm a judgy cunt too but I'm not the one who wants to be first lady. You're gonna have to figure out a way to convince people who spend their entire life working for, hating and envying people like you that you're nice."

Cyrus grinned. Olivia shook her head at Cyrus' overly dramatic mannerisms. Fitz stifled a laugh as well.

"Now to you governor," Olivia said.

"Oh boy," Fitz said with a grin.

Cyrus grinned again, holding back a laugh.

"The only people voting for you right now are wealthy people who think you're gonna cut their taxes and middle and low incline people who think they'll be wealthy and want lower taxes when that happens. That's not enough to win."

"So what do you need me to do to change that?" Fitz asked.

"You need to be a man of the people which is easier said than done…especially for someone like you."

"That's it?" Mellie asked. "I called a cunt and he gets told he needs to be a man of the people?"

"You are a cunt," Olivia said. "Embrace it then change it or be very good at hiding it because that's the only way you'll get inside the white house."Besides, your husband was duly chastened earlier. I don't need to repeat myself."

She folded her arms and rolled her eyes.

"If I'm going to stay here, then you need to take my advice. Are you going to take my advice or should I go?" Olivia asked.

Cyrus chuckled, "we'll leave you guys alone to talk it out."

Olivia got up from her chair and Cyrus followed.

They stood outside the door, leaving Fitz and Mellie inside.

"How dare she speak to me like that?" Mellie barked.

Fitz smiled, "Whatever you need to get off your chest to stand being near me, do it now because we need to walk out of here much better at pretending to be a couple than we are now," Fitz started.

"Fire that bitch right now."

"I'm not doing that," Fitz said.

"She called me a cunt," Melie screamed.

"You are a cunt," Fitz barked. "And a shitty mother. That's why I can't stand being next to you."

"I never wanted children, I told you that, so I'm sorry if I'm not nominated mother of the year to match your father of the year award. You whiny contemptuous bastard. "

"Then divorce me, so me and my daughter can live in peace, you miserable hag."

Olivia's mouth dropped open and she covered it.

"Oh my god Cyrus,"

Cyrus nodded. "I told you. It's bad."

After about 20 mins, Fitz and Mellie came out..

"Miss Pope, I think we have come to an agreement and we'd love to have you, if you'd have us," Mellie said with an icy smile.

Olivia could still see the tenseness in their bodies when they got close to each other but she was never one to back down from a challenge.

"Well I'll reach out to you in a few days with my decision, it was lovely meeting you both."

Mellie rolled her eyes and stormed off.

Fitz grinned at his wife's behavior.

"Okay Ms. Pope, we look forward to hearing from you," he smiled like the entire exchange that took place moments ago never happened, he was a perfect politician.

Fitz shook her hand, momentarily hanging on a few seconds too long because he was surprised how soft and small it felt in his hand. It didn't go unnoticed by Olivia.

When Fitz left Cyrus turned to her.

"A few days Liv, I need you as soon as possible."

"Calm down grandpa," she said with a smile, "I just need to go back to New York to sort out a few things, it'll take me a day or two, tops. I already got approved for a leave of absence so that's not the issue."

"Oh lord, great. So it's definitely a yes then. How did they give you a yes that quickly?"

"You know the press it would generate for the firm if one of their partners managed the campaign of a presidential nominee and won. Cy, I do need to go home for a day or two though. I just need to get some things in order I won't be home for a while after that," she chuckled.

Cyrus wrapped her in a tight hug, Fitz saw them from down the hall.

"Thank you Liv, you won't regret it," he said happily.


She arrived back in New York later that night. When she got to her apartment Abby had her kitchen table filled with freshly baked cupcakes, cake pops and cookies, beautifully decorated and garnished.

"Abby, these look good, can I help myself?"

Abby came walking around the corner and Olivia was already eating a cupcake and a cookie. "Why ask, you always do," Abby chuckled.

Olivia grabbed a Cupcake and bit into it. "...mm-hmm."

Abby sat at the kitchen stool beside Olivia.

"So how are you feeling today?" Olivia asked casually.

"Better everyday, the bruises are fading too."

"Good, I want you to get back out there as soon as possible, you're way too fucking hot to be cooped up at home all day."

Abby chuckled."Thanks, how was your trip, is the governor as handsome as they make him out to be?" Abby questioned.

"He's not, he only looks good on the camera I guess," Olivia joked.

"Seriously?"

"No, he's hot as fucking balls."

"Nice! Are you gonna accept?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna do it, his wife is a W.A.S.P. brat and so is he, but he has something I can work with. I think they probably built him in the same factory they built JFK."

"I'm gonna miss you, when are you leaving?"

"Day after tomorrow, I have one day to pack. I don't even know where to start and the downside is that I'll be traveling so much, I'm practically gonna be living out of a suitcase, I can't think of anything worse," Olivia chuckled.

"I don't know how you're gonna fit all those gorgeous pairs of shoes you have in there," Abby remarked sarcastically.

"I can't, which is why I'm probably asking you to ship me stuff every few weeks so I can rotate my wardrobe."

"That sounds more like you," Abby teased.

"Can I have one more of these?" Olivia asked with her mouth full of the last bite of cupcake.

"Liv me and you are the only two that live here, if you don't eat them, who will?"

Olivia laughed and shook her head. She couldn't say anything because she had already dug into another cupcake and her mouth was so full she could barely chew.


"Cyrus, how did you and Olivia meet?" Fitz said as he walked into Cyrus' office.

"We met at Princeton, she was in my political science class and she was so bright that I didn't feel the need to teach her. Instead I requested approval for her to be my T.A. And had her help me teach the class. We'd argue constantly because she is very stubborn and very…feisty but we've been close ever since."

"Where is she from? And why is she so smart according to you?" Fitz asked.

"Why do you want to know?" Cyrus countered.

"I can't ask questions about the woman who is supposed to be running my campaign with you?"

Cyrus realized his questions were valid ones.

"She's from New York, she still lives there. She went to the best boarding schools in the world, St. Anne's in North Carolina. Ecole des Roches in France, Westminster school in England and Surval Montreux in Switzerland. When she came to Princeton she was practically already college educated, she sailed right through."

Fitz raised his eyebrow.

"Her parents must be pretty high up to get her into those schools."

"I've never met her parents and she never talks about them so I don't know but she's perceptive and intuitive as hell. She'll charm your donors, especially the men because she certainly knows how to wrap a man around her skinny little fingers and she had great media training so she'll be a great representative for the campaign. We could use her here and she's giving up a lot by leaving Sullivan and Cromwell even if it's only temporary so please try your hardest to make nice with your wife, so this can work out great for all of us."

"I will," Fitz promised and then turned out.

That night he dreamed of Olivia. Her soft skin, her large, feline, brown eyes and her long shiny hair. He woke in the morning, annoyed that he'd dreamt of her but with the resolve to keep it strictly professional between them. The last thing he needed in his life was a distraction in the middle of running the biggest campaign of his life.


The next day Olivia woke early in the morning. She knew she only had one day to get all her affairs in order. She wanted some company to run errands but Abby refused to leave the house with some of the bruises her ex-husband Charles left on her still visible.

At first she ran to her law firm and when she was done there she went to the salon, she figured she'd be on the road for a long time and wouldn't have time to pamper herself.

In the afternoon, she made her way back home to pack and get some much needed rest and mentally prepare herself for what she was signing on for. She still had a few cases that she would have to work on because they were just too big to drop so she would have to fly back to New York City a few times but that was the least of her problems.

Her last day in New York went by rather quickly. With the New Hampshire primary coming soon, she knew she was needed immediately and when she got to the campaign office around midday after she landed, it was a madhouse. She knew there was nothing particularly concerning happening so there was no reason for that.

"Cyrus I'm here, what's going on?"

"We just got a new wave of volunteers and we're having a hard time placing them. Meet me in my office, I'm going to have to send some away because this shit is crazy," Cyrus said as he threw his hands up in frustration.

Olivia went back to his office to wait for him.

When Cyrus walked in he was accompanied by the owner of Doyle Industries and a well known judge.

"Olivia meet Hollis Doyle and Verna Thornton"

"Verna and Hollis, this is Olivia."

"Hi, it's so nice to meet you," Olivia said pleasantly with a wave.

"Why hello Olivia, aren't you one beautiful woman," Hollis said in his southern accent.

"God Hollis, leave the poor child alone," Verna interjected which caused Olivia to chuckle softly.

"Okay let's get to business, we have a president to make," Cyrus announced.