Straight Shot ➳ Oliver Queen

33. Arrow

C H A P T E R    T H I R T Y - T H R E E

ARROW

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A/N: I've rewritten this stupid chapter like fifteen times and I'm still not happy with it, but I haven't updated in forever and I feel bad. I haven't had much time to write. I've actually been focusing more on two original books, which I haven't decided whether or not I'm going to put them on Wattpad, but better than nothing, here is Chapter 33!

"Thank you," I said to the waitress with a warm smile as she set a red plastic tray of french fries in the center of the table. She was dressed in a pale yellow shirt with the Big Belly Burger logo in the corner and her dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She smiled and nodded before tending to another table a couple booths down. "So that's Carly? Dig told me she was sweet, but I wasn't expecting her to be that sweet!" I said to Oliver, who sat across from me in the booth at the restaurant.

I took one of the french fries from the tray and dipped it in the small side of ranch that Carly had brought with them. I took a bite and was pleasantly surprised by the quality flavor of the French fries.

"Good, right?!" Oliver responded, taking a French fry and dunking it in ketchup.

"I bet they're even better with ranch." I teased, holding the side of dressing toward him. He wrinkled his nose.

"I'll stick to eating French fries with ketchup. Like a normal person." He mocked, dipping his finger in the ketchup and booping a dollop on the tip of my nose. I chuckled as I picked up a napkin to wipe off the ketchup and eat another French fry.

"What?" I wondered when I noticed Oliver was gazing across the table at me.

"I'm glad we did this. We haven't actually sat down and talked for a while." He told me.

"We just had dinner last night." I reminded him, folding my arms over each other on the edge of the table.

"Well, yeah, but I meant just the two of us. Like we used to." He explained.

"I guess a lot has changed, huh?"

"More than you would ever know." He said cryptically before taking a deep breath. "I'm throwing the Christmas party this year."

"The Christmas party? The one your father used to throw every year?" I clarified and he nodded, a grin appearing on his face.

"It's been brought to my attention that neither of us has had Christmas in five years and I plan to remedy that." He said. "I would like to extend a special invitation for the unofficial guest of honor." He joked, mockingly bowing his head and gesturing towards me.

I chuckled. "I'd be honored to attend," I responded regally.

"Hey, Karter. Oliver." I heard to the side and looked up to see Josh had just walked into the diner and had approached our booth.

"Jesus Christ, he's everywhere." I thought I heard Oliver mutter in a flat tone. I looked across the booth at Oliver, who seemed permanently annoyed by Josh.

"Hey, Josh. What are you doing here?" I wondered.

"Just grabbing some lunch." He answered. "Hey, I was actually on my way to investigate an Arrow lead. Why don't you come with me?" He proposed.

"I can't, actually," I said apologetically. "I'm spending the day with Oliver. We're gonna do some Christmas shopping and catch up. And apparently, we're gonna do some party planning, as well."