I KNOW! I'm supposed to be writing LFTO. This has been rolling around in my brain for a few months now & I finally got the chance to write it down. It's something different. Tell me what you think. Should I continue it or not?

Breaking It To Ya

Olivia's POV
Olivia Pope walked into her office in the New York branch of The Toy Box and quietly closed the door. She was a regional manager and had been for three years. Earning the title at the age of twenty-nine made her the youngest regional manager in the company. It had been no easy feat and she had had to work long hours, coming in before anyone else and staying long after everyone had gone home for the evening. But she was single and had no children so climbing up the corporate ladder hadn't been very difficult to do. She loved her job and took it very seriously. Both were traits the suits upstairs had noticed and mentioned when she had finally been appointed regional manager.

She had started out as a part time cashier in a nearby store when she was in high school. She had always loved babies and kids, coming from a large family of four. So far only one of her three brothers had provided Olivia with a niece or nephew, but at only two years old, Sophia was her favorite person in the whole world. Olivia thoroughly enjoyed watching and helping the families that entered the store finding the perfect toy for their own children or a gift for a birthday party. She always went above and beyond for her customers, and they always noticed. Most of them even asked for her by name when they returned.

A few years later Olivia went to college and majored in business. Her classes came easy to her and she earned a 4.0 grade point average every semester. She was constantly on the Dean's List and never worried about losing the scholarships she had worked so hard for in high school. During her college years, Olivia continued to work as many hours possible at The Toy Box. She dreamed of working her way up in the company that she loved and step by step it happened.

During college she had become a weekend manager. She spent almost all of her time at the store on weekends making schedules, putting out fires, encouraging the staff to do more than what was required of them, and coming up with creative displays to catch the customer's eyes. Her superiors loved everything she did and after she graduated she was promoted to head store manager. A position Olivia really excelled at. She still had her eye on a corporate position and pressed the issue when it was time for her annual review.

It seems her efforts hadn't gone unnoticed by the higher ups and they offered her the opportunity to turn a flailing store around in a town an hour away. She would only have to be there for a year and it was her opportunity to show them what she could do. It wasn't what she was hoping for, but also knew she had to earn her way higher up into the company. So she took the job.

Three months later, sales at her new store were higher and so was the employee morale. She took the time to meet each and every one of them one on one to find out more about them and what their vision was for their future. Olivia weeded out the ones who were just there for a paycheck and utilized the ones who wanted to be part of something bigger within the company. She gave them tasks to challenge them in their positions, to better their store. To see what they could do. To see what they were made of.

Within six months, Olivia's new store was thriving and had increased sales by 76%. The higher ups were very impressed with her leadership and people skills. When they visited the store they talked to several of the employees and each of them had only positive things to say about Olivia. It seemed she had a gift and leadership was definitely part of it. When the year was up they brought her into corporate and gave her a job as branch manager. From there she continued to work hard and eventually got to where she was now.

That seemed like forever ago.

As she leaned against her closed door she flipped off the light switch on the wall and rubbed her forehead. A few hours ago she had felt the dull throb, marking the beginning of a headache. Now her head exploded with pain and she just wanted to lie down somewhere. Instead she walked to her desk, pulled the second drawer on the right, opened the large bottle of pain reliever, and swallowed two of the white caplets. Olivia blamed the headache on that damned meeting her boss, Cyrus Beene, had called where he delivered the "happy news" of a merger between their company and their rival Toy Land.

It wasn't just the news of the merger that had given her a headache. She found out in that meeting that one of the Regional Managers at Toy Land was also up for a promotion. Olivia's promotion. So now she had competition. Real competition. That brass ring was hers and she was going to get it. No matter what it took. And some guy from Toy Land was not going to get in her way. Some prick named Fitzgerald Grant. Even his name sounded pretentious. He was probably some forty year old fat balding guy who was married with three kids and did just what was required of him to move his way up. He wasn't going to be a problem for Olivia, she decided.

She sat at her desk watching the rain fall in unrelenting sheets from the gray sunless sky. The dreary day mirrored exactly how Olivia was feeling at the moment. She willed the pain behind her eyes to go away so she could think in her dark office. Not only was her company merging with another, but this Fitzgerald Grant asshole, who lived and worked in California, had been assigned to travel with her to the major branches of both companies to inform them of new policies, changes in management, and put out any fires that would naturally come from employees learning of the merger. People were going to panic about their jobs, their 401k, their retirement, and pretty much anything they could think of. It was going to be a nightmare.

Still, Olivia knew they had chosen her to represent The Toy Box because of her amazing people skills. She just had a natural way of calming people and connecting with them that was sometimes difficult for others. She could rally people together and encourage them to become positive in a seemingly difficult environment. And she had been where they all had been before. From a cashier to a branch manager and anything in between. She knew what weighed heavily on their minds when it came to their jobs. Yet she was an authority figure too, so she was capable of answering the hard questions about the things employees in this situation would have. She was the perfect person for the task that needed doing. She wondered what Mr. Grant's qualifications were that dictated that he join her on this huge undertaking?

She'd find out soon enough. Olivia had been told in the meeting that she would fly to one of their branches in sunny California, where she would meet her male counterpart. She was not thrilled about it to say the least. And even though she had never been to California but always wanted to, this was not the way she imagined her first trip west. This Grant guy had better know his shit about the company. And he'd better be prepared to answer questions. She hoped he had been updated on all of the changes that would take place as well as the things that would remain the same. There were a lot of people who needed answers and a fumbling executive would do nothing to calm their fears.

Olivia picked up her phone and pushed one button. Her assistant, Lori answered promptly. "Yes, Miss Pope?"

"Lori, I'm going to need a plane ticket to LAX for tomorrow. Something before six a.m. if possible. It's a little over a five hour flight and I want to hit the road running once I've landed."

"Yes, ma'am." Lori answered, writing it down and knowing more was coming.

"I'll also need a hotel room and a rental car for two days. I'll be traveling a lot over the next month or so and I will stay in touch with you via email for assistance with other hotel accommodations as I travel. I'm sorry to add this to your busy schedule and I do appreciate your amazing skills at taking care of me."

Lori smiled into the phone. Miss Pope was a fantastic boss. She always treated her like a person, not like some of the other executives did their assistants. It made working for her so much more enjoyable. "I'll take care of that right away and email you all of the verifications. If you need anything else just let me know."

"Thank you, Lori. I'd be lost without you." Olivia confessed.

"My pleasure." Lori said before ending the call.

Olivia dug out her calendar and wrote down the stops Cyrus had discussed with her on the correlating dates. So far she knew of twelve branches they would cover. Olivia was sure that more would eventually be added, but twelve was a good number. The thought of living out of her suitcase for a several weeks did not appeal to her, but the job had to be done. She made notes of which clothes she would pack, knowing there wouldn't be time for sightseeing. She would have to go by her brother's house after work to see Sophia before she left on her trip. The thought of bringing her niece some things back from different states gave her some hope of possible enjoyment.

By the end of the day, Olivia had several lists in her purse. She had a lot to do tonight, but first she needed some happy toddler cuddles. She left her office building and drove forty-five minutes to her brother's house and walked in without invitation. Olivia put her purse down and called out for them. "Harrison? Leesa?"

"We're in the kitchen!" He yelled.

Olivia made her way through their living room and found the happy little family of three eating dinner at the table. Once Sophia made eye contact with her aunt, the two began grinning at each other. Sophia banged her little spoon on the tray of her high chair and kicked her feet excitedly. Olivia kissed her chubby cheeks and said, "Someone is happy to see aunt Wib."

"She's done eating if you want to get her?" Leesa said with a smile.

"What do you think, sweet girl? Do you want aunt Wib to pick you up?" Olivia watched as the toddler dropped her spoon and reached her dirty little hands up. "I think that's a yes."

"Liv. She's got mashed potatoes all over her face. She's going to get you dirty." Harrison warned.

"That's what the dry cleaners are for huh, Miss Sophia? Yea." Still, Olivia carried her to the sink where she turned on a slow trickle of warm water so the little girl could run her hands under it to clean them. Olivia wiped her face thoroughly and dried her fingers off. "There's my best girl!" She held her close to her and gave her niece a long hug as she rocked her back and forth and listened to the little girl say 'Wib' repeatedly.

"Rough day?" Her sister in law asked.

"Rough would be tolerable. Rough is expected. Rough would be a vacation. No. Today was unimaginable." Olivia said with Sophia on her hip.

"Oh shit. What's going on in the corporate world?"

"Don't say that in front of Sophia," Leesa chided her husband.

Harrison fought the urge to roll his eyes at his wife. He knew that would lead to one raised eyebrow. What happened after that was anyone's guess. "So what's the problem?"

"I have to leave in the morning for the Golden State." She said without enthusiasm.

"Where the he...heck is that?" Harrison asked.

"How are we related? California, Harrison! I'm going to California." Olivia did roll her eyes at her brother.

"What exactly is there that you could possibly need to do for your job that is here in New York?" He asked with a confused face.

"We are merging with another company and I have the privilege of traveling there to talk to branch managers and employees about it. I'm super excited." She dead panned.

"That does not sound like a good way to make your maiden voyage there," Leesa offered sympathetically.

"It definitely isn't. That's why I had to come here to get some baby lovin' before I leave in the morning. Isn't that right, Sophia?" Olivia babbled happily.

"Are you going to tell your other two brothers that you're leaving?" Harrison asked.

"I'll call them when I get home." She sighed. "They don't have anything quite as cute to offer me yet, so they get a phone call instead of a personal visit. Maybe they'll change their ways?"

Harrison laughed at her. "I wouldn't count on it. But we're glad you came by." He picked up his wife's plate and carried it to the sink along with his own. "If you get home sick you can call or FaceTime with us."

Olivia hugged the baby closer, smelling her hair as she rubbed the little girl's back. "I definitely will. I've got to get going though. I've got a lot to do tonight with packing and phone calls. I love you guys. Take care of my girl while I'm gone." She hugged Sophie close to her and kissed her chubby cheeks before handing her back to her mother. Olivia hugged Harrison and Leesa goodbye, picked up her purse in the living room, and shut the front door behind her.

Once she got home, Olivia called her brothers and explained the situation to them both, told them she loved them, and that she would call to check on them every so often. The four of them were a tight knit set of siblings since they had lost their parents a few years ago. Olivia was thankful that she had them.

She grabbed the suitcases from her hall closet and set about packing business suits, shoes, jewelry, toiletries, and everything else that was on her list. If she forgot something she would just buy a replacement. If she had time. She zipped up her bags, threw a few magazines into her small carry on, along with a pair of white headphones and zipped it up as well. She was ready to go.

Olivia set her alarm for the morning, got her pajamas on, and brushed her teeth. She was exhausted, but knew she should do a little light reading on the branch she would be visiting the day after tomorrow. She wanted to know as much as she could about the employees, the manager, the vendors, the profit margins, and anything else she could think of. She wanted to know what made them tick.

Crawling into her bed, she pulled the light comforter up to her waist and set her laptop on her thighs. Keeping only the bedside lamp on, Olivia searched for what she was looking for and scrolled through endless information about the west coast branches. She thought briefly about looking into Fitzgerald Grant, but decided that she would rather form her own opinion of the man when they met tomorrow instead of letting whatever facts the internet had on him cloud her judgement or make her feel threatened by his accomplishments. Besides, he wasn't the job. Two hours later she fell asleep.

Fitz's POV
Over on the West Coast, Fitzgerald Grant was eating dinner at home alone. Steak and baked potato. His favorite. He hadn't been home long from the office but food was the first thing on his agenda tonight. He would be putting in a few more hours doing research on this mystery woman whom he would be traveling with over the next few months. He was eager to learn all there was to know about Olivia Pope and he figured he would be able to concentrate on the digging without the diversion of hunger.

At forty-two years old, he was a regional manager for Toy Land in southern California. He was the only child of his parents and sadly, in their opinion, he had no wife or children. They constantly harped on him to settle down and give them grandchildren, but he wasn't interested in that life. A few years ago his mother took him aside and quietly asked him if he was gay. She told him she didn't care how he lived his life or with whom he wanted to live it. She just wanted him to be happy. Fitz had hugged her close to him and reported that he was not, in fact, gay. That he just hadn't found the right woman yet to settle down with. She immediately decided to play match maker and tried unsuccessfully to set him up with anyone she could think of. It was annoying to Fitz, but he understood. She missed having tiny feet running around the house. He explained to her, after four terrible dates, that he would find the right girl when the time was right. That he was married to his job. He was completely content right now.

Fitz was married to his job, but his mistress was being outside. It didn't matter what the reason was, in his mind, being outside was where he felt truly himself. Any sport was worth trying at least once. He had tried his hand at surfing, soccer, baseball, football, and even golf. He wasn't a huge fan of it, but the scenery was beautiful. Basketball was where he really shined though. Every Saturday he had an outdoor basketball court reserved for him and his friends to play for an hour. They never left until they had been there for at least two hours though.

If his office wasn't so far away from his house, Fitz would have gladly biked to work every day. He did however, take his lunch breaks outside most days. Unless it was raining. Some days he would grab his laptop, take the elevator down to the ground floor, and go outside to work. He made no secret about where he went when he wasn't in the building during office hours. Everyone came to understand it.

His boss, Abby Wheelan, had called him into her office a few weeks ago to share some interesting news that was not to be shared with anyone else. It was confidential information that hadn't been released by the company to any of the "unworthies" as she liked to call them. That was Abby code for lower management. While Abby was a beast at her job, she didn't really have or make time for anyone on a lower rung on the ladder than she was. Somehow her only exception was Fitz. He never understood what she saw in him, but the two of them were quite close, without any remote interest on either part in a relationship, sexual or otherwise.

Fitz closed the door behind him and sat down in one of her visitor's seats. "We are merging with The Toy Box. It's already happened on paper. Barely anyone knows about it yet though. There is supposed to be an announcement in a week or so."

"Wait. What? The Toy Box is our biggest rival. Why would we merge with them?"

"Because both companies are struggling financially. This isn't the nineties where families used to buy toys in stores or bring their kids with them to a store to pick out whatever they wanted. The trend is online shopping and we aren't the only two companies out there. The competition is stiff. We are all suffering due to companies from other countries offering similar toys at much cheaper prices and low shipping fees. Both companies had to do something." She explained.

"So how does merging two struggling companies help at all? The online overseas toy companies are still there to take our business." Fitz stated.

Abby smiled at him. "With more resources, we will be able to concentrate more fully on our internet shoppers and put much more effort into bringing the their business back into the USA. A plan has already been written for that. And while I'm happy to share that news with you, that is not the reason why I brought you in here."

"Is it my charm?" He asked with a smile.

Abby gave him a serious face. "Definitely not. But remember that charm. You're gonna need it for what I've nominated you for."

"Oh shit." He griped. "I don't like the sound of that, Abby."

The fiery redhead grinned at him. "Before I tell you what the big news is, remember how you want to move up the ladder in the company. Let that be your focus."

He grimaced and made a hand gesture telling her to spill it.

"You are going to be traveling to several branches calming down the masses when news of this merger hits. You handle it correctly and impress the big wigs, and you're a shoo in for the promotion you've had your eyes on for the last two years." She was giving him pieces of information so he could process it.

Fitz thought about her declaration. He loved to travel. It didn't matter where or for how long. Fitz just liked being on the road. He had had his eye on the promotion of division manager for quite a while now and had been doing everything humanly possible to get noticed and be thought of for the next step in his career. He knew Abby well enough to know there was some bad news coming. He wondered what it was? "I can deal with traveling. What aren't you telling me?"

Abby grinned at him. He was a smart guy. It was probably why she liked him. She didn't have time for people who had to have everything spelled out for them or explained repeatedly. "You won't be traveling alone. There's a regional manager from their side who will be going with you. Her name is Olivia Pope and she works out of the New York branch. She hasn't been around as long as you have, but she's younger than you are. By ten years." She enjoyed watching his eyebrows go up in shock. "Yea. Exactly. She hasn't been told that she's going to be traveling the west coast yet. They are putting off telling her that tidbit for reasons unknown. I thought you'd appreciate a little more time to prepare for it. You're welcome, by the way."

"Wow." Fitz said. "Should I ask you how you know this?"

"Probably not." She replied with sass. "The thing is, she's up for the same promotion you are."

"What? At only thirty-two years old?! Is she a boring ass brainiac?"

"I guess you'll find out in a few weeks. You'll be on the road for at least a month; probably longer though. You need to do your research and find out what makes this woman tick. How did she get such high status in the company at such a young age, her family background, her favorite color, and anything else you can find out."

"That's a good idea. I'd like to know as much about her as I possibly can before we are thrown together as traveling companions for several weeks. Thanks for the heads up, Abby. I appreciate it. You're the only one who thought to tell me. Do you want to go to dinner with me as my way of saying thank you?" He asked sincerely.

"Eww. No." She made a disgusted face at him. "While I don't have any friends at work, I do consider you one. But that is the extent of our relationship. We will never do anything away from this place, out in public or anywhere else. Got it, Grant?"

"Relax, Abby. It was an invitation to dinner. Not a marriage proposal." He smiled at her and got up from the chair in her office. "Thanks for the head's up. I'll definitely look into her and see what I can discover about Olivia Pope. She's probably harmless, but I'd rather know all I can find out instead of being blindsided. If you can, please email the names of the branches we are going to be traveling to so I can prepare for that too. I'm glad to have the information before she does, but I have a feeling she isn't in her position at her age because she's cute."

Later that night, after Fitz had eaten dinner, he showered and put on his oldest pair of University of Chicago sweatpants and went into the office in his spacious ocean front house. He turned on his computer and began a search for Olivia Pope. When her picture came up he looked at her face for a few minutes, studying it. She was a beautiful young woman. Her basic stats claimed that she was five foot four inches tall, with brown eyes and black hair. And she was currently single. Fitz thought about that for a moment, and wondered if she had slept her way toward the top?

There wasn't a ton of information on her, but what he did find was interesting. She was the third of four children, and the only girl. Her parents, Rowan and Maya Pope, had died together in an automobile accident seven years ago while on vacation in Maine. She had gone to public school in New York and..."now that's interesting" he muttered to his computer monitor. She had attended the University of Chicago too. Different time, but she basically got the same education he did while in college. "Small world." He muttered as he took a pull from his beer and sat back in his leather chair.

Fitz learned that Olivia had graduated from the University of Chicago summa cum laude. He muttered a sarcastic but interested 'Hmmm' as he scrolled. She had played on the college lacrosse team and was captain of said team her senior year. The girl likes to play rough, he thought to himself. Olivia had led the Lady Pheonix team to win the Lacrosse Championships the same year. She obviously had leadership skills as well as a desire to win.

He went to The Toy Box website and clicked on a million different things before he found her once again. He read her professional background for the company and was surprised to learn that she started out as a cashier in high school and had worked her way up. Worked hard too, it seemed. He read about her move as store manager to the lowest earning one in the region. And how she had turned it all around and increased sales tremendously. He followed all of her accomplishments, as best he could, and ended up being impressed with her himself. Probably more impressed than he should be. But still. Judging from the information he had gleaned about Olivia Pope, Fitz thought she was probably a dangerous combination of intelligence, leadership, and drive. Perhaps she hadn't slept her way to where she was after all? He decided he had read enough about his future traveling companion and put her out of his mind. For the time being.

A new search was started for the first few branches that he and Olivia would soon be traveling to. He decided to delve into them two at a time in order to get the most information possible on them while not getting bogged down with more information than he needed on lots of locations. He read every report imaginable, one branch at a time and took notes on them by location. Fitz wanted to know what their weaknesses were as well as their strengths. Those would be important in the discussions with the branch managers and employees. As well as all of the other details that he had digested and written down.

He wondered how they would take the news of the merger? The lower level employees probably wouldn't care much as long as they got to keep their jobs. The managers of all levels with serious time invested in the company would probably freak out over retirement and the other typical things older people worried about. Fitz didn't blame them. In his conversation with Abby earlier, he forgot to ask her about his own retirement plan and what would happen to it. The more he thought about it, the more he figured she would have said something if there was something to worry about. He put it out of his mind as well.

When his notes were finalized, Fitz intended to close the browsers and see if he could catch a basketball game on television before going to bed. He shut them one by one until only one remained. It was the initial search he began on Olivia. Her face looked back at him with something that was not quite a smile, not quite a sneer. He wondered what she did in her personal time? What made her tick outside of work hours? What she did to relax? She looked pretty tightly wound in the corporate head shot. He wondered if he could learn these things while they were on the road? I guess I'll find out soon enough, he thought to himself before shutting the computer completely down and walking away. She didn't look very intimidating to Fitz.

At his recliner in the living room, Fitz turned the tv on ESPN and grabbed the pen and paper he always had sitting on the table beside it. As he sipped his beer, he made notes of the things he would need for the trip and the things he would need to do before he left.
Hotel
Rental car
Pack my shit
Basketball
Take Roscoe to mom & dads

Upon writing his name, Fitz realized he hadn't seen Roscoe since he had gotten home. He wondered where he was at? He walked through the house to the back door that faced the ocean and looked at his floor. There wasn't any new sand on it. The idiot had to still be outside. Fitz called for him. A mix breed raggedy brown haired mutt came bounding over the dunes towards the door. He looked up at his master with his tail wagging happily before he walked in the house. "Where the hell have you been?"

The dog cocked his head to the side and sat on his rump as he looked at Fitz. His ears were perked and Fitz believed he understood every word he was saying. "You'd better leave that golden retriever alone. She's more female than you can handle, buddy." Fitz walked to the kitchen as Roscoe happily followed behind, and poured some kibble into the dog's dish. Fitz poured some fresh water into his other bowl as the apparently starved animal loudly chowed his food down. He was about to tangle with more female than he himself could handle too. He just didn't know it yet.