The Starling Saviour

Chapter 63

'We are having lights,' Tommy argued back. 'I am not making it so we have a bunch of lawsuits because no one can see anything.'

'But we'll just be throwing money away-' Oliver protested.

'Aw, you're both just like an old married couple arguing about what curtains they want in their front room,' I fawned over them sarcastically, both the boys rolling their eyes at me.

'Oh, Aria, I've been meaning to ask you about what job you want,' Tommy rushed over to my side after Oliver had left the club completely.

'I don't mind,' I shrugged. 'Just as long as it pays the bills.'

'Well, I do need someone to help me manage the place,' Tommy offered. 'And I can't think of anyone else better to do that than you.'

'Why not Oliver?' I asked controversially. 'Doesn't he own the club with you?'

'He owns it, but he doesn't manage it,' Tommy shook his head, looking amused at my comment. 'All he does is boss me around about how he wants it to look and where he wants things to go, but apart from that, it's mine. And yours, if you're interested.'

'I... Don't know what to say, Tommy,' I breathed, astonished at Tommy's generosity with his business. 'Yes!'

'Well, I better have good judgement then,' Tommy joked as we shook on our verbal contract.

'You're just scared because I might be a better manager than you,' I smirked. 'But seriously, thank you, Tommy.'

'It's not a problem,' he smiled in response. 'But now, we need to find people who want to actually work here.'

'Tommy,' I remembered I needed to persuade him to go see his father receive his award at the Appreciation Gala. 'Your dad asked me to go to his award thing, and I think he really wants you to be there too.'

'He's just trying to use you to get me to talk to him,' I could hear the resentment in Tommy's voice. 'Whatever he's told you to make him like you, don't believe him. He shouldn't be getting that award because he's really not got it in him to be human.'

'But he's your dad,' I persisted. 'And it's not every day that you get an invite to a fancy award ceremony with free champagne.'

'Free champagne does sound tempting,' Tommy decided. 'But my dad taught me to never rely on family, and so I'm just... Leading by example.'

'Your dad has done some pretty terrible things, I know,' I agreed with him. 'But you can be better than him. Be the better generation of the Merlyn family, and show him how great you really are. Plus, I do not want to be there on my own with only your father for company.'

'Alright, I'll go,' Tommy gave in to my pleas. 'But only for you, Aria, not for my dad.'

'That's the spirit,' I muttered, but needed to remember that I had convinced Tommy to do something he would never have ever dreamed of in the past.

I knew now that I needed to somehow fix the broken relationship the Merlyns had; I couldn't sit and watch as they grew further apart, after everything Malcolm had done to change and after Tommy had become a caring, wonderful person. They just needed to see that in each other.

---

Between honing my fighting skills and helping to make some final decisions for the club, the Appreciation Gala arrived in a blink of an eye. Tommy met me outside the Merlyn Global Group building, dressed in his best tux, I too having dressed up for the occasion in the most affordable black floor-length dress I could find at the Starling Mall.