Executive Orders

CH 48 | Episode 13: Definitions of Joy

The last lingering traces of a smile warmed Olivia's face as she stepped off the elevator and walked down the hall towards their offices. Her body warmed to the thoughts she was having as her mind lingered on her memories of she and Fitz; they had spent the rest of the afternoon in bed - and the shower - and then had found their way back to bed, to indulge themselves in love and laughter until Fitz managed somehow to coerce Olivia into the kitchen. They prepared a light and early dinner of a pasta salad and broiled salmon and then it was time, at last, to return to the real world, with each of them reluctantly going their own way.

A part of her is amazed at the warmth coursing through her, at the fact that she can feel her body tingle with the afterglow still sizzling in her veins all these hours later and she sighs aloud without realizing it. By now Fitz was gone, flying out of DC on his way to New York City so that he could be present at the New York Stock Exchange in the morning at the invitation of Colleen Cassidy to ring the opening bell. It takes genuine effort to turn her mind back towards work and the reason why she's here.

Her visit to OPA was meant to be a brief one; the plan was to meet up with Cyrus at the White House and brainstorm with him for a bit and to check in to see if anything new had happened since the last time they'd talked. But before that happened, Olivia had thought it best that she review a certain cache of files that she'd always kept in her office safe.

It also wouldn't hurt if she checked to see if there was any information from the team that she needed to remind herself about before her arrival at the Caldwells' birthday bash tomorrow.

With those thoughts uppermost in her mind, Olivia walked into the conference room to find only Huck and Harrison there. Huck was working on a laptop while Harrison was studying the rogues gallery up on their wall, filled with various Caldwell family members, both immediate and extended. The last of those were new, Olivia noted as she crossed the room to check them out; it appeared some new Caldwell blood had decided to enter the political arenas on local levels. All of them seeking positions that would strengthen their dynasty overall - and that made them all of them open to their investigation.

After a few moments of her studying the wall, Olivia noticed that both Harrison and Huck were doing their best not to be too obvious as they studied her. They were worried and she couldn't really blame them, after all she'd basically disappeared overnight and for most of the next day - even though she'd checked in with them once she'd regained her equilibrium. A part of her was still some kind of both touched and amused all at once at their concern. There would have been a time not so long ago where she knew she would have been prickly and a little too thin-skinned about their reaction, but she was learning to let her walls down a little every now and then.

When Olivia turned her gaze to them, Huck dropped his eyes, clearly embarrassed to have gotten caught. When she turned her eyes to Harrison, unlike Huck, he didn't drop his gaze - instead he shrugged unapologetically.

"Are you all right now?" Huck's question startled her. He still didn't look at her.

"I'm - yes, Huck - I needed a little space for a little while, but I'm all right now." She was, but now she sensed something off-balance about Huck and suddenly she wasn't sure if it was all about her. It was nothing that she could put into words, but her gut was telling her something...

"I'm fine." It was Olivia's turn to study Huck a little closer. "What about you?"

Her question caused Huck to shoot her a sharp look, but he looked back down at his computer screen without answering her.

The room went quiet for a few moments before Huck muttered an "I'm fine."

It only took a glance to tell Olivia that she'd get nothing else out of him, at least not right now, so she turned to Harrison. "What happened while I was gone?"

Harrison flicked his gaze to Huck and seeing how the other man stayed silent, spoke up.

"This -" He gestured toward Huck. "- this is happening because he and Quinn had words. Again."

"Over what?"

"It's complicated." From the frown on his face, it was clear that Harrison was not happy to be the one to get into the obviously ongoing disagreement between Huck and Quinn. Normally, those two were like two peas in a pod and usually on the same wavelength, and Harrison's face showed that he didn't be in the middle of any of it.

"It's not complicated." Huck spoke up for himself. "What Quinn thinks she knows came from a private one-sided, unverified source and that makes it none of our business."

Olivia wants to press him for more information, but she can already tell by the stubborn set of his shoulders, that Huck isn't ready to reveal anything more than what he's already said. "So, if I'm understanding you correctly, you two are disagreeing about information that may or may not be relevant to OPA?"

Huck kept his eyes down. "Something like that."

"I trust you to know that when and if that changes that you'll do the right thing." She said. Her voice softened. "I just hope you and Quinn can come to an agreement soon - it isn't like either one of you to be on opposite sides of the fence on something."

"Quinn is her own person." Huck said in a clipped tone of voice. "And women think differently from men." He continued to obstinately fix his gaze on his computer screen until it was clear that he had nothing else to say.

Olivia knew that his answer was going to have to be enough for now, she thought as she walked into her office. Whatever was going on between Huck and Quinn, she hoped it would blow over soon, but she had to accept the fact that she could do very little about it without hearing both sides of whatever it was between them and the best that she could do was to promise herself to talk to Quinn if this went on much longer. She couldn't deny that it troubled her, but that was a worry for another day - neither she or the firm could afford the distraction.

Olivia sat her Prada bag down on her desk, then went to the safe hidden in the bookcase behind her desk. It took less than a minute for her to punch in the code and pull out several deep crimson, trimmed in black folders.

Kill files. That's what Cyrus had always called them and he'd been the one who had taught her how to use them with care and surgical precision. Friend or foe, he had also taught her that they were an an necessary evil, a lesson she'd learned even after she'd left school and struck out on her own.

Olivia sat them on her desk and spread them out; so many secrets and lies at her fingertips. She was just about to sift through them when Harrison knocked on the door.