Summary:
INSPIRED BY THE SONG STAY BY RIAHNA. The tale of two newlyweds facing the ultimate obstacle: a love child from a past relationship. Some angst, OLITZ all the way. ABSOLUTELY NO Mellie.
A/N:
Music has always been a source of inspiration for my stories. Therefore, I will be tweaking the lyrics of two songs: "Stay" by Rihanna and "Love Aint' Enough" by Patti Smith and Don Henley.
On a side note, I'm taking creative license in attributing some of Elon Musk's achievements to Fitz.
Chapter One: Stay
Olivia POV
She answered the phone on the fourth ring, barely awake, her voice clogged with sleep.
"Sorry to wake you."
His voice sounded remote.
Confused, her hand reached for him across the covers and found him missing.
Olivia stared wide-eyed at the pillow where his head should have been.
"Fitz...wh-where are you?"
Clearing the cobwebs from her eyes, she bolted up, her gaze drifting to the accordion doors of their master closet. They were wide open. His side was inexplicably empty.
She yanked the doors and scanned every crook and cranny in astonishment.
Wait. No need to panic.
Fitz's job-related obligations often demanded he travel at a moment's notice.
Yes. But...why would HIS closet be COMPLETELY empty?
Her shaking hands scrambled to press the phone hard to her ear.
"Wh-when are you coming home?"
She heard herself say, her voice fearful and small. It was then that she realized she was holding her breath.
"I'm not."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not coming back. You can stay at the penthouse...Taylor will pick up my things later this week."
He paused, and she felt her heart stretched open.
"You can't! You promised to stay for better or worse."
"I'm done, Liv."
"Wh-what? She cried, tears streaming down her face. "Fitz, Please!"
"I told you. I'm done... it's over."
The line went dead.
His cruel words rumbled in her head until she vowed to herself she would never forgive him, not even if he begged her on his hands and knees.
Her revenge fantasies ( which included making out with her ex) mingled with her tears as she soaped herself in the shower. The dry heaves eventually stopped. She leaned against the wall, shivering, her fists clenched tight. And in that moment, all she wanted to do was to call her husband to warm her up and make her sorrow go away.
But why? Why would he want to leave her?
She had no idea how long she remained in the shower, frozen in time. All she knew was the hot water tank had run out, and the cold finally forced her out.
One hour easily bled into the next.
No matter how much time she spent obsessing over every word, every disagreement over the last two weeks. Nothing out of the ordinary stood out.
Maybe she just had to give him time.
She needed to have faith.
He always came back.
That night, Olivia tossed and turned all night, waking up with a sense of dread in the pit of her stomach.
Unable to hold back any longer, she dialed and redialed his number until, at last, he answered.
"Can we talk about this?"
"There's nothing to talk about."
HOW?
How could there be nothing to talk about?
Olivia screamed words at him with the speed of a machine gun. His response was calm and detached. He sounded so foreign to her, emotionally dead. It was his voice, all right, but the tone was alien, reflecting the perfect clone of her Fitz.
And that scared her more than anything in the world.
...
The following morning, Olivia went through the motions of getting dressed and driving to work. As usual, her detail security followed closely behind her until he had successfully diverted the paparazzi.
Except this was no ordinary Monday.
It was the end of her life with Fitz.
No. no. no!
They were newlyweds. She'd never heard of a marriage lasting only four months.
She had to do something. She needed to hold on; she needed the hole in her heart gone.
She parked in her designated parking spot and stayed in her car with the engine off and the windows up. Sometime later, she wiped her forehead, unsure whether her discomfort was due to a lack of ventilation or a fever.
It's not much of a life you're living
Love is not just something you take... it's given.
A co-worker suddenly rapped on her window, giving her a fright.
"Are you okay?"
Olivia smiled apologetically.
Switching her body to automatic pilot, she entered the school. Once inside, she dropped her blonde wig in her locker and waited for the children to arrive.
"Mrs. Grant! Mrs. Grant! Johnny looked at me funny!"
A young girl with large brown eyes pointed her finger at the child beside her.
"But she punched me in the arm!" the accused boy wailed.
Olivia rolled her eyes.
Children.
They had loads of charm; they made her feel alive. But boy, was she glad when at day's end, she got to close the door to the noise and chaos of her classroom.
When she first obtained her teaching credentials with the lofty expectations of changing the world, she soon became disillusioned. Real children can be rude, bratty, and demanding. And so, she and Fitz had agreed to remain childless.
No doubt, it was the best decision they ever made; she would never want to be responsible for the kind of pain she'd seen parents inflict on their poor children.
And besides, Fitz always said he didn't feel the need to pass on his legacy. He was more than happy to crown his future nieces and nephews as his rightful successors.
Fitz POV
Fitz steeled himself. Why? she asked. She wanted a reason why he left. He hung up the phone and stared at it for a long second.
How could he possibly explain the inexcusable? he wondered. How he'd ruined their their lives forever?
There's a reason why people don't stay where they are.
Baby, sometimes love ain't enough.
Pocketing his phone, his other hand reached for the door and lingered.
Janine Warding.
Principal
"Welcome, Mr. Grant," the woman sitting behind a large desk said, motioning for him to sit across from him.
They shook hands.
"Ms. Williams mentioned you would be picking up Grace today."
Fitz narrowed his eyes at the salt-and-pepper-haired woman across from him.
"Your name sounds familiar," She studied him curiously, "you wouldn't have anything to do with Tesla motors, would you?"
Fitz shook his head and let out a small chuckle. "I get that all the time."
"You're not listed in the emergency contacts. Are you a friend...related to Grace or her mother?"
"Close friend," he replied in a way that suggested there was more to the story, leaving the older woman hungry for more information.
She cocked her head and stated her point in two short sentences while handing over his daughter's vaccination records.
"I'm sorry, but we cannot care for children like Grace. I have names of other schools where they can conduct an extensive evaluation."
What the-?
Fitz stood up, furious. How dare this woman voice the fears already swimming in his head?
There was absolutely nothing wrong with his daughter!
Janine Warding cleared her throat.
"Mr. Grant, you're upset, and that's understandable," she replied smoothly. Fitz imagined it was the same condescending tone she used with most parents. Except this woman clearly had no idea who she was dealing with. He was Fitzgerald Grant, CEO, product architect, and chairman of Tesla Motors. His life was an open book to the media, hence his need to disguise his appearance whenever he wanted freedom from prying eyes. Otherwise, the entire world would know he had fathered a daughter.
He shuddered at the thought.
"You have no right to tell me how to feel," he spat.
The matronly woman opened her mouth to speak again. But then quickly changed her mind. When she spoke again, her tone lacked any semblance of pacifying.
"I sincerely hope you find another school that is a better fit, Mr. Grant."
Fitz snorted and headed for the classroom to meet Grace. His secret child. The idea of him being a father sounded foreign, preposterous. But it had happened. The unimaginable. After nearly two years' absence, Liliana had unexpectedly returned and dropped the mother of all bombs.
Instead of having an abortion like he asked, she'd decided to keep the baby.
She had named her Grace and called her Gray.
He scanned the room for his child. His spitting image. She played in a corner, lining up toy blocks. He crouched down to smooth her long curls.
Grace looked up briefly.
His eyes studied her beautiful face; it was like meeting her again for the very first time. He was overcome with a sense of awe akin to watching the sun emerge from being overshadowed by the moon during a total eclipse.
Her attention swiftly returned to her play.
"Grace... Grace... Gray?
Fitz wasn't used to being ignored. Yet, he wasn't bothered by it. The child owned him. She had captured his soul and the very breath in his body the second he saw his reflection in the depth of her gray-blue eyes.
His phone buzzed, pulling him out of his reverie.
Shit.
Seeing it was Olivia again, he quickly put the call on decline.