Prodigal Son

Chapter 33

She closed her eyes against the sharp pain the question brought. She was weary from all the "what ifs" that had her second guessing everything. She wished they could just keep going as they had, but that was unrealistic. Some changes needed to come now. She'd never planned to stay as long as they had at the Palmer Tech apartment. Once Smoak Technologies was officially up, she wouldn't have time for apartment hunting. At least the sale of her townhouse went through. It was past time to find a new place to live.

But what did that search look like? Assuming Oliver was even planning to stay in Starling, would they look for a place separately or together? If they got their own places, did that automatically mean a breakup? Would she even consider moving backwards? The thought of losing him by increments made her sick to her stomach.

She searched the crowd looking for Oliver. The camera crew and most of the crowd had moved on to tour the four unit building, but she found Oliver waylaid by his mother over by the stage.

They were too far away to hear anything and she could only see them from the side, but Moira was obviously intent on saying her peace, whatever it was. Oliver's stiff shoulders and burrowed brow said her message wasn't welcome, but that didn't exactly narrow down the topic under discussion. However, when Moira paused and glanced her way, Felicity knew she was the subject.

She went stock still. Oh God, what if Moira was stubbornly pitching an "arrangement?" Was that better or worse than preaching to Oliver to end things? Or asking him to give Felicity time to take that step herself? She cringed and turned away.

A minute later, Oliver was beside her. His expression was unreadable, but he radiated frustration. "I shook the last hand I have patience to shake. If we go now, I can be gone before they come back and start lining up all over."

She frowned, surprised at his appearance. Misreading her expression, he backtracked.

"Unless you want to stay. Up to you." He offered but there was no doubt that he wanted to be gone. She was in no mood to mingle either.

"No." She shook her head. "We can go."

The drive back to the apartment was quick and quiet. She couldn't tell if he was brooding on his own thing or just picking up on her mood. He parked in the underground ramp and was halfway around the truck to help her out, something that had become an automatic habit when she wore narrow skirts. In a surge of independence, she quickly opened her door and risked sliding out. Oliver stopped. For just a moment, she could have sworn he looked dismayed and then his expression went blank. Immediately, she regretted her impulse. If he was ready to break things off, why was she rushing past her last moments with him? She should be savoring each final touch, not practicing life without him.

She couldn't get the moment back so she awkwardly joined Oliver and then they headed to the elevator. Before they entered, both of their phones alerted. They exchanged worried frowns. Oliver had his out of his pocket first. He relaxed.

"It's just a message from building maintenance."

"Mine too." What did it say about their time together that they'd both assumed impending disaster? "Elevator will be down for essential maintenance between 10 AM and 12 PM tomorrow," she finished reading off the screen. Oliver eyed the waiting elevator.

"Essential maintenance. Doesn't inspire a ton of confidence right now."

"Fifteen flights of stairs give me all the inspiration I need." Still, Felicity cautiously looked inside, hesitating for a moment and then pointing to the corner camera. "The red light is out." She pulled up the program on her phone that tapped into the building's security feeds and confirmed her guess. She nodded. "The camera in the elevator is out. So no risk of plunging to our doom."