Executive Orders

CH 09 | The Band Is Back Together PT III

Chapter Nine

Of course she wouldn't, Fitz thought. A rush of pride in her courage filled him. There was no way his Livvie would ever hide behind someone else - or allow anyone to do it for her. But then he thought it through; Olivia might never back down from an attack on her - but an attack on him or his presidency was different. Protecting him was how the others had gotten her to agree to Defiance. If he pointed that out now, she'd only claim that she'd made the choice freely as mistaken as it was. All of which meant -

"That means keeping Elizabeth in rotation, whether I like the idea or not." What Fitz wanted meant nothing, compared to this. "At the same time, I'm not going to lie - I don't like the idea of using Kimberly Mitchell just to promote my own agenda - as a reporter, she's been mostly good to our administration, and when she hasn't been in agreement, she's at least been fair in her opposition."

One look at Cyrus' face told Fitz that they both knew Olivia's mind in this. "None of that really matters though, not in the long run. If there's going to be a negative reaction to my being seen with her - on any level and from any direction - we all know that means in the long run us knowing what their possible reaction to you might be - then I want to know that too."

"We both need to know." A part of Olivia reacted with relief that Fitz recognized the dilemma that she felt herself possibly being forced into. They might have a plan, but they all also knew that there was no real way they could predict how anything would go once the truth about she and Fitz came out.

It meant that they needed to know everything that they could learn going in. And if him being seen with a high-profile woman of color had any chance of obstructing the re-election campaign then they also needed to know that now so that they could plan to deal with it.

Fitz didn't know that she had already decided that if need be, Olivia was prepared to take a step back from their relationship. After her mistake with Defiance, whatever she might want took a back seat to what Fitz wanted, or more importantly, what he needed. All of this had come to her while Fitz and Cyrus had been discussing Kimberly.

It also came to her that there would be no better time to let Fitz know that than now. He wouldn't like it, but maybe with Cyrus there to bolster her argument, Fitz would see reason. That thought was followed quickly with another and Olivia found herself swallowing hard against the sudden knot in her throat that had come from out of nowhere as she realized that her task was far easier said than done.

Clenching her hands to stop their sudden tremble, Olivia took a deep breath, determined to sound reasonable. "If what we are - who we are - becomes an issue to your campaign, then you and I can push our own personal timetable back for a little while -"

His eyes flew to her face. Fitz cut her off. "We are not doing that. Get that out of your head right now."

"That's not going to happen, not now, not ever" For a moment, it was as though Cyrus wasn't even in the room as Fitz spoke to her. His voice was as fierce as it was gentle. . We are doing no such thing. I said that I know this is something I need to know - we all do. That much is true - but at no point did I ever say that knowing would change my mind about anything. Especially about you and I."

Cyrus took the moment to clear his throat. He didn't mean to be the naysayer in this conversation, but there were certain things that at least needed to be said.

"Mr. President, Olivia might have a point." He said. "At the very least, we all need to weigh all of your options, meaning we have no choice but to take into consideration all the pros and the cons that might influence your chances at re-election."

Fitz shook his head slowly. "No."

"Mr. President." Cyrus' expression made it clear that he knew Fitz was not liking what he was hearing. He didn't like saying it, but someone had to. "I don't mean to play devil's advocate, but someone has to; politically speaking, maybe waiting until you were done with your second term is the right choice -"