"Alright, what's going on?"
"Life is going on, Abby. Work is great, Mellie is good, everything is going good."
Sitting beside Fitz at the kickoff dinner, Abby finally had a moment to talk to Fitz without anyone listening in on them. She'd sent David to get her a drink in the line at the bar a minute before, giving her time to corner Fitz.
"With you and Olivia. What's going on with you two?"
"Olivia is my secretary," he told her taking a drink of his scotch.
"That you want to sleep with."
Fitz blew the drink out of his mouth hearing her words. Luckily only landing on himself. "Absolutely not! What gave you that idea?"
"The way I saw you look at her upstairs. I saw the little sparkle in your eye when you saw her. I've never seen you look that way at anyone, including Mellie. So, what is going on between you two?"
"We are professional. Everything between Liv and I is professional."
"Something tells me that's not how you want it to be."
Fitz stared at her a moment as he thought of what he could say next without saying his true feelings for Olivia. He couldn't say he loved her; he didn't know her. But he loved the way she took care of him and prepared him for everything, the way she could read his mind, the way she made sure he was presentable before going anywhere. Everything about her made him love her. But saying he loved her couldn't happen. Telling Abby that he loved Olivia wasn't going to do him any good. She'd surely find a way to get rid of Mellie and get Olivia into his life outside the office for good.
"I don't know anything about her. She's very secretive. It's like she has a wall that's built up so high that it could take years to undo. And do I need to remind you I am married to Mellie?"
"Oh, please Fitz, you've never loved Mellie a day in your life. She was a convenient lay who you thought you should put a ring on. Which by the way was probably the worst mistake of your life."
"My marriage is still none of your business, Abigail. And besides that, Liv wouldn't have anything to do with me. I'm twice her age and her boss."
"That has never stopped anyone before."
"What never stopped anyone?" David appeared with her drink in hand and set it down looking between the two of them. Fitz seemed to be giving Abby a dirty look that, though she was his wife, probably did deserve. "Are you sticking your nose where it doesn't belong again?"
"Not at all, just trying to let the obvious show."
"Speaking of show, Fitz, where is your secretary? I thought she would be down soon. She missed your speech. I'd like to meet her."
"Liv's gone for a run. She wasn't up for the occasion. I'm sure you'll meet her tomorrow."
Getting back from her run, Liv started a bath and looked over her ankle. Running seven miles out, Liv missed a step and twisted her ankle the wrong way. And being the stubborn Olivia Pope, ran on it the seven miles back to the hotel. She hoped with everything in her that Fitz was still downstairs at the dinner and she could make it into her room for the night without being detected of an injury. Sitting on the bed, she looked at her ankle, seeing it was already starting to swell.
After a long hot bath, she got into her silk robe and started in on her emails and texts. Checking on a few cases back at home, she sat on the bed and got through most of her inbox before the knock at the door startled her.
"Hello Fitz," she called, rolling her eyes as she got up to answer the door.
"How did you know it was me and not Abby?" Fitz stood leaning against the wall beside her door, his tie undone with that smile he seemed to have whenever he heard her voice.
"Lucky guess. And I doubt that Abby would randomly show up at my hotel room door. Did your dinner go well?"
"Food could have been better, but it was alright. How'd your run go?"
"Fine, the city is nice. But I don't think anything beats running in downtown DC." Liv held the door open for him to come in and wobbled back to her cell phone on the far side of the bed.
Surprised Liv was in a robe, Fitz looked at his watch and saw it was almost 11. "True, DC is…" he started but paused when he saw her limping to the bed. "What happened?" he asked sounding more than concerned about his secretary.
Catching where he was looking, she stood further away and grabbed her phone. "I tripped. No big deal. I've done it a million times."
"Let me see how bad it is," he started walking over to her and seeing her hesitate for a moment. "Liv, just let me take a look."
"Do you have a medical degree too?" she laughed and took a seat in the chair at the table.
"I'm a man of many talents." Sitting on the bed in front of her, Fitz lifted her ankle onto his knee and moved it around. "It's swelling. But I don't think it's broke."
"Thank you, Dr. Grant," she smirked and pulled her foot away. "I've shattered my ankles many times, I told you it wasn't broken."
"You need to ice it," he told her as he stood up looking around the room. "Where'd you put the ice?"
"I haven't got any."
"Olivia, you have to ice it or it's going to get worse. I'll be right back." Grabbing the bucket and her key card, Fitz walked out to get some ice for her.
Picking up her phone, she started to type out a text but stopped when it rang. Hesitating over the name, she wasn't sure if she should answer it but after a moment she did.
"Jerry, and how can I help you now?"
"Come on, Livia. Is that how you answer the phone to a friend?"
Jerry Grant was starting to get on her nerves. Since they landed, he had called her a dozen times and was sending her numerous texts trying to get ahold of her for some reason.
"I'm a bit busy."
"Why haven't you been answering my calls? I've been looking for Fitz and he's ignoring me too," he told her sounding irritated.
"It's been a busy day. Fitz is swamped until we return in a couple of days. What do you need?"
"He needs to answer me and make a decision. And he needs to do it soon. There won't be time if he waits."
"Listen, I don't make him do anything," Liv said in her most stern voice as Fitz opened the door. "I do not make him choose what he will and won't do. My job is purely to make sure everything runs as smoothly as it possibly can. What Fitz decides to do is what he decides to do, I do not have any say over that, and I have told you this at least a thousand times."
"Fine, do you know where he is so I can talk some sense into him?"
"He's with me."
"And where are you?"
"In San Diego."
"What the hell are you doing in San Diego? You didn't tell me you were going to San Diego!" Jerry yelled. "Mellie is there too then, right?"
"No, she isn't here. It's a work conference that Fitz is speaking at. No one here needs to have her here."
"Do you know what kind of damage she can cause when she isn't monitored? Who is watching her?"
"She's a grown adult. I'm fairly certain she can take care of herself."
"Livia, you do not know Mellie; she is a hurricane waiting to hit land. She will do more damage than even you can fix."
"There has never been anything that I could not handle. She is not my problem either. I suggest that if you are so worried about her that you go find her and take care of her."
Listening to the conversation he could hear of her, Fitz moved Olivia to sit on the bed as he put ice in a towel and wrapped it around her ankle. Whoever she's talking to is pissing her off. He took a seat on the bed next to her foot and made sure the towel was secure.
"Livia, you tell Fitz…"
"The only thing I will tell him, Jerry, is that you called. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of work that needs to get done." Olivia hung up and set her phone in her lap before rubbing her eyes.
"Jerry? My dad called you again?"
"Your dad calls me almost every day. But I tell him I only handle your schedule and court. I don't make decisions for you."
"Well, that's not entirely true," he laughed. "What's he calling you about?"
"Whatever decision you need to make. Could you do both of us a favor and make it? Whatever it is."
"Maybe we should change your number."
"The man still knows where I work and live."
"How?"
"Jerry's been to my house before. Recently to try to convince me to convince you to do something."
"And when it isn't recently?"
Olivia stopped looking at him and turned her attention to her ankle. "Thanks for getting the ice. I'm sure it'll be better in the morning. And speaking of morning, you should go get some sleep."
Fitz wanted to push her and make her say why else Jerry had been to her home but thought better of it. That would have to be a conversation for another time. "Did you bring any flats?" Olivia leaned back against the bed a bit surprised by his question. "You shouldn't walk in heels, especially your heels, on this ankle."
"And you're now judging my shoes?"
"I'm just saying it will be hard to walk in heels when you have a swollen ankle."
"Well thank you for your concern but I am very capable of taking care of myself Mr. Grant."
"Alright, alright. If it hurts too much tomorrow, I want you to stay here in bed though, got it?"
Olivia pushed herself up further, "are you kidding me? You insist that I get on a plane and fly across the country with you for this conference and basically tell me I have no choice but to go and now you tell me since I'm hurt that I can stay in the hotel room all day?"
"Only if it's really hurting."
"You are unbelievable, you know that?"
Fitz smiled, tapped her toe, and stood up. "I am aware. Now get some sleep, we both have a big day tomorrow."
Rolling her eyes, Olivia picked up her phone. "You get some sleep for both of us. I'll be working."
He certainly wanted to argue with her and tell her to go to bed but something told him to drop it. "Good night, Liv." He told her before closing the door to her room and going to his. What can be so important for work that she's going to sit up all night and work? Fitz wanted to make sure that Olivia was well rested since he would be needing her help all day tomorrow as long as she could take being on her feet. And knowing Olivia, even the slightest amount that he did, he was certain that she would power through it, even if she was in agony.
Sending several more texts, Olivia got through her emails and conversations after several hours. 4:39. I can manage this. This'll be easy. Trying to convince herself to keep going, she got up and changed into her swimsuit and headed down to the pool to do some laps.
