Closing the Gap

Fitz opened up the morning paper over breakfast and stared at the headline on the front page:

"REAL ESTATE MOGUL HITS SNAG IN CONDO DEVELOPMENT DEAL IN D.C."

the article went on to talk about a local community centre possibly being torn down to make way for a development for new construction. as Fitz read on he realized the 'mogul' being discussed was none other than Peter Carmichael one of his old friends from Harvard. he and Peter had kept in touch over the years although they hadn't spoken much since he was elected. Peter had come from old money. his family was very wealthy, and since graduation, Peter had slowly built his own empire, venturing into real estate and development. from what the papers were reporting he would be in D.C. for the next couple of days.

Mellie came to sit beside him at the table and said good morning. looking up over his coffee he responded in kind while she started eating her omlette, rather slowly. she was 7 months pregnant, and the last month of her pregnancy was really uncomfortable for her. she'd had to be put on bed rest for the past 2 months and wasn't able to make as many public appearances as she'd wanted. she wasn't happy about it.

it had been 9 months since they'd had their 20/20 interview. Nine months since he'd seen or heard from Liv. initially he was angry with her, furious even. but even more so he was hurt. even worse than the first time he'd lost her. he was willing to give it all up for her, but she had sold him out to Mellie. taken his choice away, without even discussing it with him. the hurt had eventually faded away, but he was left feeling jaded, cynical and cold.

it was as if his life was happening to someone else, he watched himself pass legislation after pushing for the D.R.E.A.M. act, he'd gone through conceiving a child with Mellie, he did and said all the right things to help Mel with her pregnancy, but he no longer felt like himself. something in him had died when Olivia walked out after the interview.

he excused himself from the table to head to a meeting with Cyrus. they were heading to a Jewish American Heritage event where he was set to address a crowd of about two hundred people.

Three hours later the event and speech was behind him and he and Cyrus were seated in a nice restaurant about to have lunch when he heard a familiar voice calling his name.

"Fitz. Is that you? I mean Mr. President." Two Secret Service agents stepped in front of the gentleman who he recognized as Peter Carmichael.

"Pete. it's good to see you." he said and took his friend's hand. "Gentlemen it's fine, he's an old friend of mine. Pete won't you join us?" he said pointing to the vacant seat. he introduced Pete to Cyrus.

"Sorry, but no. I'm having a business meeting and I don't want to be late. but we should catch up sometime this week."

"I read about your potential problem in the paper this morning."

"Yes this community centre has become a real obstacle in getting this land deal together. So i'm bringing in someone who knows the area well, has contacts and can advise me on how i need to proceed from here."

"I hope they're good." said Cyrus.

"Well she's supposedly the best. And you should know, she worked with you for a long time; Olivia Pope."

Fitz's heart stopped for a moment and he fought the urge to scan the restaurant to catch a glimpse of her.

He said something polite to Pete but wasn't quite conscious of what he was saying because directly in his line of sight was Olivia walking towards his table. a mixture of emotions ran through him: anger, hurt, desire and love.

she was the perfect picture of professionalism. she greeted both he and Cyrus and after a polite exchange she left the table with Pete. he sighed.

"Mr. President….."

he stopped Cyrus before he could say anything.

"The roast chicken is supposed to be good here Cyrus. How about we try that, hmmm?"