Stolen Moments

Chapter Six

 Fitz's heart leaped into his throat, and his stomach churned unnaturally at the sight of his father. Jerry had murky blue eyes, harsh lines of age, and a few sparse licks of white-ish silver hair falling toward his face. He certainly hadn't taken the years with grace, as he looked older than he actually was, but that wouldn't stop the likes of Big Jerry from still attempting to be the player he'd been when he was young. The sight of the man nearly frightened Fitz, since he'd watched the suave, attractive father he used to call 'Dad' turn into an elderly, unsightly man. Sure, his name was Fitzgerald Grant I, but everyone simply knew him as 'Big Jerry', and it'd be better if one spared the details on the origins of that name. To Fitz, however, he was Dad, Fitzgerald Grant I, and his worst nightmare all the same.

"Well aren't you going to say you're glad I'm here? Anything, son?" The distinct frown that Fitz wore upon his lips merely answered the question for itself. An entire three days' worth of work had been halted in order to solve the repugnant crisis that was Big Jerry and Mellie. The son released a bitter grunt and trotted around to the back of his desk, where his chair was, and forced his 'Old Man' out of the way.

"No, I am not glad that you're here. In fact, I wish you weren't here," he uttered, pure venomous rancor oozing from every syllable. So many people's lives had been put on hold for the drama that Big Jerry had caused, and he had the audacity to ask why Fitz wasn't elated to see him? The only two upsides the the situation that'd resulted were the removal of Andrew as Lieutenant Governor, and meeting the remarkably lovely Olivia Pope. Even still, the amount of casualties, such as Mark Machado, Mellie's peace of mind and body, Olivia's time, and Cyrus' stress were not overlooked. Consequently, as you could imagine, Fitz was all but jubilant to see his father's pitiful presence in the Governor's office. A stare down ensued, with the two sets of blue-ish green-ish grey-ish eyes refusing to glance away. There was a serene, quiet, low hum of the air conditioning that could be heard, accompanied with their breaths. When he deemed it long enough, Big Jerry chuckled, his eyes crinkling loosely at the outer corners as he sat in one of the chairs facing Fitz's desk.

"Oh, you're just as stubborn as you ever were, Fitz." His son found the light-hearted comment nowhere in the neighborhood of funny.

"What do you want?" He asked through gritted teeth. It was taking just about every ounce of virtue in him not to beat the man to a fraction of a pulp, with his fist clenched at his side and his foot tapping anxiously on the dark, traditional rug.

"Nothing much. I wanted to congratulate you on your speech." They both knew very well that the reason Jerry had come to Fitz's office was because Andrew stepping down had given Jerry clue enough that his son had found out about the debacle between him, Mellie, Andrew, and the newspaper. Soon, Fitz's vexation began to dissolve into melancholiness and sorrow whilst he plopped down lazily into his plush office chair. The faint sound of Fitz's nail scratching the arm of the chair only made Big Jerry more anxious, as he'd never done anything so cruel toward his son like sleeping with his wife, or raping her for that matter.

"Why'd you do it?" The question was transparent enough, and was greeted with an uneasy exhale from Big Jerry. In attempts to stall, the father gazed out of the window behind Fitz that offered a view of a glistening Chase Bank skyscraper in the distance as well as a few busy streets. His admiration was cut short, though, when Fitz slammed his iron fist upon his desk and demanded his father's attention. "Why'd you do it?" He never yelled, which had surprised Big Jerry since he'd always known Fitz to raise his voice when plagued with aggression. Instead, the son was tranquil, really, but the fire burning behind his eyes was not.

"Like I owe you an explanation! Like you actually loved he-"

"It doesn't matter!" There was the scream. There was the high level of volume that'd become expected of Fitz in an argument. "You raped her because you wanted to ruin me? Because you wanted to see me out of office?" The yelling match had clearly gotten itself underway, with Big Jerry laughing off the accusations and leaning back leisurely in his seat.