Once Upon A One Shot

Flame Trees - Part Four

Chapter Four

Gilly's POV

June 2010

The next few weeks went steady. We were all plenty occupied with various events, but watching Fitz and Mellie convince the country that they were a lovey dovey couple was hard. I knew that it was our job to convince the country, but I didn't realize just how much it would affect me. The jealousy that had been rising and rising and I just knew that I would snap. But like a good campaign fixer, I kept it down, and to myself. So far, Liv, Cyrus and I were doing a pretty good job in helping the campaign and the polls and numbers looked good, too good but we must have been doing a good job.

Then, we hit a snag and the country found out that Mellie was supposedly having an affair. Apparently, someone had leaked to the press that Mellie was cheating on Fitz with her literacy policy advisor for the literacy campaign fundraiser she was running. The country found out about it the morning of the votes, and we lost the New Hampshire primary. Then, we met the campaign manager for Sally Langston's campaign – Billy Chambers. The man was a sleaze – though his charm made others think differently but I saw through him, despite him trying to flirt with both Liv and myself. Liv was wary of him but she didn't let the situation bring her down. If anything, we used this as an opportunity to recruit more people onto the campaign.

If we wanted to squash the rumour that Mellie was having an affair, we had to fight fire with fire and for that, we recruited old friends. Starting with Huck – a homeless man that Liv used to see whenever she caught the train home. Huck also saved Liv's life once from some men who had wanted to rob her, and he saved her. In return, Liv would visit him every so often with a large cup of coffee and some food. The first time I had met Huck, I was humbled by his wanting to protect my sister, and I found myself often going with Liv to have coffee with him. But we didn't need Huck for his conversation – we need him for his skills. He was quite the hacker, and I'd often wonder what his life was like before he became homeless.

We had also recruited Abby – giving her a much needed job in trying to find out things about the literacy campaign manager Paul. Abby relished the change in her day to day activities and did her job well. Along with Abby, Liv got in touch with Harrison Wright – a young, cocky lawyer who was on the wrong side of the law at one stage. Liv was his lawyer and managed to get him off with a few minor fines and a tracking device that Harrison had to wear. Harrison was tasked to convince Paul to make the right decisions in regards about telling the press about Mellie.

Huck was a godsend – he managed to track down those responsible for the leaking of very convincing photos – though nothing came off it. The relationship between Mellie and her literacy campaign manager was nothing but platonic and only a friendship. A part of me wished that she was having the affair and that alone would give Fitz reason to divorce but she wasn't and I had to swallow up any feelings or negativity. My first and only job was to make Fitz president...even though the more I got to know him, the more I fell for him.

It was easy – while Liv, Cyrus and Mellie all focused on squashing the affair rumours, I focused on preparing Fitz for the Republican Presidential Debate between himself and Sally Langston. We were in a new state – South Carolina this time and the debate was going to be in front of a large audience, and televised live across the country. It was easy, focusing on that – but what wasn't easy was the lingering stares, the slight touches and the many excuses we made to be near each other. Thankfully, no one noticed our subtle excuses and Fitz and I made sure to be strictly professional. As far as many knew, Governor Grant was just preparing for one of the biggest debates and that one of his campaign fixers was giving him a helping hand. Liv knew though – if the glances and the looks on her face were any indication. But she understood. The touches and the glances were the only thing that we could have. For now at least.