Executive Orders

CH 51 | Speaking From The Heart

"I think you hit a nerve with the re-election protocol." Cyrus said. "You know that she'd love nothing better than to get herself on the inside track. I'm pretty sure that her coming directly to me was her opening gambit to position herself closer to Fitz as well as this campaign that we're about to start."

"No doubt." Olivia agreed.

She felt Cyrus's gaze harden a little on her as well as sudden sternness in his tone. "And what is this about joy? Joy is for fairy tales - and I don't need to tell you that life is not a fairytale."

"I know that all too well, Cy - and yet -" Olivia said. As sharp as Cyrus' voice had been - hers was the opposite, softer still, because in her mind there was nothing to argue about. " - and yet, that doesn't make joy any less real."

She'd learned that the hard way - by comparing the lack of it to what she had now. Joy was just as real as anything else in this life. The thought of watching Fitz running the campaign that he wanted, the way that he wanted, and winning this election by the will of the people and not the machinations that had put him there the first time around - wasn't that the very definition of joy?

Yes, she thought, remembering the fire in his eyes whenever he talked about it - that was very much a source of joy for him. Olivia knew him because he'd let her know him - and there was no mistaking how much Fitz wanted and needed this. And the fact that she could be a part of Fitz's life as he pursued his dreams - on his terms, on their terms - yes, that was joy.

Her thoughts warmed her heart and brought a smile to her lips. "Yes, I'm talking about joy. Joy is about allowing happiness to fill the empty spaces inside you, Cy. It's not about ignoring the world." She added, seeing the rebuttal hovering on Cyrus' lips and shutting it down with a look.

"We can be happy or joyful or whatever later; we have a fight ahead of us, in spite of Fitz's popularity with the public." Cyrus visibly backed down from whatever reprimand he'd been about to offer. "He's a wild card among the more conservative political minded portion of the base, Liv - and an outright danger to the most narrow-minded among them. We need to look at things the way they are, not the way we would have them be."

"I'm not looking at this through any rose-colored glasses and neither is Fitz. We know that this election isn't going to be just handed to him and truthfully, that's just the way Fitz wants it and we both know why." Olivia said and Cyrus accepted the hit with a tiny nod. "I'm talking about being happy, content and grateful in the here and now. That's joy."

Re-energized by her own words, she stood up and started pacing a little, taking that time to putting her thoughts in order. When she had, Olivia stopped in front of Cyrus to look him in the eye. "Are you going to tell me that you aren't the least little bit happy right now? You're right about power in DC. I know all about power - and we both know that you are one of the most powerful men in the world -"

"-and you, Ms. Pope, are one of the most powerful women in the world - even if it's mostly behind the scenes." Cyrus reminded her. "That's about to change, you know. Are you ready to take joy in that?"

It was Olivia's turn to nod; power and influence was an intoxicating mix, and after she had accepted Cyrus' offer to help turn around a presidential campaign it had quickly become a part of her as much as breathing and had fueled her drive to create OPA after that. It had given her a unique position in DC politics, mostly invisible to the uninitiated, but acknowledged by those who knew better. Elizabeth North for one example; the Caldwells, for another.

But just like she could have never imagined the storms that she'd ended up going through, Olivia hadn't counted on the joy that had come with them.

"I'll deal with that when the time comes. We're talking about you right now." She said. "You have power, influence - you have James and you have Ella - are you going to sit there and tell me that you aren't happy - that there's no joy in your life right now?"