Downfall

Shout Out to my Ex

"I'm not doing this." Mellie stood resolute, glancing into her study through the small crack in the door.

"Mrs. Grant..." Olivia began, crossing her arms as she watched Mellie. She had been bucking against this role she was supposed to play for the last hour or so – bouncing between agreeing to their plan and disagreeing.

"I will not do this, Olivia. It doesn't matter what you say." And with that, Mellie turned on her heel, flouncing from the doorway. Olivia sighed, rubbing her forehead. That wasn't how this was supposed to go. She did the only thing she could – she grabbed the file in her hands that was nestled under her arm and threw the door open to Mellie's study. She would be damned if Mellie's stubbornness prevented Fitz from doing the one thing that had to be done to ensure he win the governorship.

"Mrs. Ryan, it is a pleasure to finally get to meet you," Olivia plastered a smile to her face, extending her hand and shaking the older woman's, "I'm Olivia – Fitz's campaign manager."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. You've proven quite the challenge for my husband's team." There was a hint of gratitude in her eyes as she made that statement.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Grant couldn't meet with you today – she's a little under the weather."

~*~

"So, you're under the weather, huh?" Cyrus goaded, hearing the approach of Mellie's too-tall heels as he leaned against the wall, effectively spying on Olivia and her little impromptu 'meeting'.

"Wha –" Mellie started, hearing the voices coming from her study and whirling around on Cyrus, "What is she doing?"

"Finishing what you were too weak to even start." Cyrus chuckled when Mellie glared at him. He didn't know what had gotten into her lately. There was a point that he could have counted on Mellie to do whatever it took. Not anymore.

"What makes you think I would blindly follow her plan?"

"Because at one point, you would have noticed that her plan is putting in motion events that will guarantee your spot as the First Lady of California." He shrugged. Mellie had become a liability recently. This latest stunt that Olivia had arranged almost had Cyrus respecting her – she was a more reliable ally than Mellie, at least.

~*~

"If Mrs. Grant can't –"

"Please sit, Mrs. Ryan. Although Mrs. Grant is too sick to be here in person, there was a very specific reason that she called for this meeting." Olivia gestured toward the couch, taking a seat beside the other woman once she had.

"Our campaign was recently sent an anonymous file. We, thus far, have refused to act upon the information in that file –"

"Would it happen to be a file containing pictures and information regarding my husband's affair?" Olivia sat with her mouth slightly open – shocked. Had she miscalculated? Had that file been sent to the Ryan campaign as well – a way to play the two campaigns against one another?

"Don't look so shocked, dear. I sent that file. I had hoped your campaign would have acted upon that information – were Cyrus Beene still the campaign manager, I am certain it would have."

"Fitz wouldn't allow anyone to use it, until now."

~*~

"Ha ha," Mellie laughed, smirking at Cyrus, "It's lovely when Miss Perfect's world falls down around her."

"Oh for the love of..." Cyrus roughly grabbed Mellie's arm, yanking her down the hall, farther from the cracked door. Shoving her against a wall, he held her in place as he began talking, "What is wrong with you, Mellie? You have slowly been losing it and now...are you drunk?"