C H A P T E R T H I R T Y - T W O
MERLYN
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I groggily stretched my arms above my head when I was awoken by the shifting of the mattress next to me. I rolled over to see Josh had gotten out of bed and was slipping a t-shirt on.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. I have an early meeting with a source." He explained to me, sitting on the edge of the bed.
I immediately began sitting up. "Oh, I didn't realize we had one today. I'll start getting ready."
Josh chuckled. "Don't worry. This isn't Arrow business. This is actually for another article." He informed me as he grabbed a chambray shirt from a hanger in his closet and slipped it on, buttoning it up and rolling up the sleeves.
"Oh, yeah. Sometimes I kind of forget your job doesn't completely revolve around the Arrow." I joked, running my fingers through my bedhead.
"But yours does, and lucky for you, there haven't been many reports of him recently so you get to lay in bed and watch the snowfall." He said as he slipped on his shoes.
"Snow?" I repeated. Josh smiled as he stepped towards his bedroom window and drew back the grey curtain. The glass was frosted around the edges and through the window, I could see flurries of snow trickling through the dark sky. "Looks like we're gonna have a white Christmas." He commented happily, gazing out the window.
"Christmas?" I echoed, furrowing my eyebrows. "Wait, it's Christmas."
"Almost," Josh said. "Any big plans?" He wondered, leaving the window to sit on the bed with me.
"I actually don't really celebrate Christmas," I confessed to him and he seemed a little taken aback.
"Really?"
"Yeah... I took a year off after the Gambit went down since I just... didn't feel much like celebrating. And then it just kind of stuck." I explained to him.
"So you haven't had an actual Christmas for five years?!" He clarified, the corners of his lips tugging into a smile.
"Don't go all "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas" on me!" I warned teasingly, pointing a finger at him.
"I won't. I promise." He lied, "But there's gotta be something that you miss about celebrating Christmas!" He insisted and I glanced to the side, thinking for a moment.
I gave a little smile. "Well, I guess there is. I usually spent Christmas with the Queens and Robert... he loved Christmas. He used to have Christmas trees set up in every single room of the house and it just... the entire house smelled like Christmas. It felt like Christmas. I guess I just haven't really felt that since."
"Well," he started as he leaned over the side of the bed to kiss me. "You're going to feel that again this year. I promise."
###
"Hey, sorry I'm late," I said as I stepped through the front door of the Queen's mansion. Oliver was standing in the foyer, looking as if he had just gotten off the phone with someone. He looked handsome like usual, dressed in a dark grey suit with a light blue dress shirt and a matching striped necktie.
"It's fine. I'm just glad you're here. Walter and my mother are hosting the most boring people in the entire city." Oliver joked before glancing at my dark turquoise dress. "You look beautiful."
"Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself." I responded as I walked alongside him towards the dining room, casually linking my arm with his.
"Oh, I'm so glad you made it! This is Karter Mitchell, Jason Mitchell's daughter and a dear family friend of ours!" Moira announced, standing as we stepped into the room. I wish she hadn't considered all attention was instantly dragged towards me. I forced a shy smile before sitting down at the table in an empty spot next to Oliver and across from Thea.
I glanced around the table at the posh guests Moira and Walter had invited. Oliver and Thea, Malcolm Merlyn. A couple were just businessmen in suits with their wives, and a select guest happened to be the police captain. They were discussing some sort of politics that I had little interest in.
"So Miss Mitchell, it's my understanding that you've taken a job writing about the Arrow." One of the guests in a fancy suit commented, setting down his glass of white wine.
I quickly swallowed the sip of ice water I had taken. "Yes, I have," I confirmed.
"The Starling City Sentinel, was it?" The police chief chimed in, probably enticed by the talk of the elusive hooded vigilante.
"Yes, that's also correct." I nodded.
"And you're... promoting this vigilante?" He responded.
"Well, crime in Starling City is down for the first time in five years." I reminded him.
"That's because of the changes my department has implemented." The chief said. Consider your own horn tooted, Chief.
"With all due respect, Chief, perhaps it's because the Arrow's activities have had a chilling effect on the city's criminals." I proposed and the police chief looked almost taken aback as if he hadn't expected me to be bold enough to counter his argument again. "Seeing as the decline in criminal activity aligns perfectly with the first arrival of the Arrow."
"The Arrow? So you've given him a nickname?" The Chief fired back.
"I think that's a perfectly fitting name." Much to my surprise, Malcolm Merlyn was the next to speak up, and to defend me, nonetheless. "What do you think, Oliver?" Merlyn looked directly at Oliver, almost accusingly, and icy appearance to his eyes.
"I think it's perfect." He answered.
"Well, Miss Mitchell, you shouldn't forget that Robin Hood was a criminal. Stealing from the rich to give to the poor is still stealing, regardless of what you call him." The Chief added.
"And stealing from the rich to give to the poor is really the job of the Democrats." the Commissioner chimed in and I forced a chuckle at his attempt at political banter. If you just can't seem to figure out a way to make yourself seem like a total upscale dick, just take jabs at the opposing political party. It'll do the job nicely.
"Politics aside, the Arrow has closed cases you couldn't and never would have been able to. He's a blessing to this city." I decided.
Most of the guests had fallen quiet and still as they observed the contentious conversation, but a businessman sitting next to Thea took another bite of the steak on his plate. "Perhaps you should leave the political conversation to the men at the table whom have an actual working knowledge of how the government works." My eyes widened in surprise and my mouth fell open as I scoffed at the man.
"Wait, what did you just say to her?" Oliver said from next to me.
"Mr. Wallace, you should remember that Miss Mitchell's mother was once the mayor of Starling City. Miss Mitchell isn't exactly oblivious when it comes to politics. She's actually very well educated and just as justified in sharing her opinions aloud as anyone else at this table." Once again, it was Malcolm Merlyn who defended me and once again, I was taken aback. I glanced towards him to find he was already looking directly at me, his gaze unfaltering, even when we locked eyes.
"Mr. Wallace, my wife and I would greatly appreciate it if you kept in mind that Karter is a very close friend of ours who we all respect adamantly," Walter said just as his cell phone rang. He slipped it out of his pocket and read the screen before standing up from his seat at the head of the table. "It's the office. Excuse me." He told Moira.
"Forgive me." The man, Mr. Wallace, said to me unconvincingly.
Just then, a police officer crossed silently through the dining room with no announcement, leaning over to whisper in the Chief's ear. His face fell as he took the cloth napkin from his lap and dabbed the corner of his lips.
"I'm sorry. Something's come up." He said as he stood, laying the napkin on the table next to his plate.
"Is everything okay?" Oliver was the first to ask.
The Chief hesitated, but answered, "The vigilante has struck again. He just put an arrow in Adam Hunt."
"Wait, didn't he take Hunt for 40 mills a few months ago? Why kill him now?" I wondered, my eyebrows furrow as I looked to the Chief. He looked almost nervous.
The Chief sighed. "Why don't you leave the investigating to us, Miss Mitchell. Thank you for dinner, Moira."
The Chief disappeared along with the officer and almost immediately after, Oliver's cell phone rang and he slipped it out of his pocket, reading the ID. "I have to take this. It's my contractor." He told Moira.
"Of course." She responded and Oliver left.
###
Oliver still hadn't returned, which meant Thea and I were left for dead with the dinner party guests. We had retired to the foyer where a couple members of the Queen's staff served drinks. Moira was currently chatting with the Commissioner and Thea was having a conversation with Walter, leaving me slumped against the wall, sipping a glass of champagne.
"I'm glad you came tonight, Miss Mitchell." I heard someone say and I looked up to see Malcolm Merlyn approaching me. He wasn't holding a drink in his hand. Instead, his hands were clasped behind his back.
"Call me Karter. Please." I said, straightening my posture so I wasn't leaning against the wall anymore. Standing with Malcolm, I tried to think of a single time we had had a conversation just one on one and I couldn't think of a single instance.
"I was sorry to hear about you and Tommy." He mentioned. "Although, I never thought you two should be together anyway. Tommy has never been good enough for you." He said bluntly and I was a little taken aback.
"Tommy is an incredible man," I defended, "He's kind, and generous, and funny. I just–"
"Have feelings for someone else." He interrupted and my eyes widened a little. He gave a little smirk as if he knew something I didn't. "That's alright. I've always seen you with Oliver anyway."
"Mr. Merlyn, with all due respect, I don't think this is a very appropriate conversation topic." I said with a strict and sharp tone.
"Yes. You're quite right." He agreed, nodding his head. "So let's discuss the Starling City Vigilante."
"What's there to discuss?"
"What do you know about him that you haven't published?"
"If I have information about the vigilante and I haven't published it, what makes you think I'm going to share it with you, Mr. Merlyn?"
"Call me Malcolm. I insist." He said in a "gentlemanly" tone. "We've known each other for a long time, Karter. I thought that by now you would have built some trust in me."
"Trust shouldn't be so freely given."
"You trust Oliver, don't you?"
"Of course I do."
"You trusted Tommy?"
"To an extent."
"What about this new boyfriend I hear of? Josh Nolan, is it? Do you trust him?"
"Malcolm, I know you can't be this interested in my dating life. So what is it you truly want to talk to me about?" I ordered.
"I must say, you have some very strong opinions." He commented. "You've been the catalyst of some of the most stimulating conversations I've ever had."
"Um, thanks?" I responded awkwardly.
"It's rare you meet someone who so readily and publicly shares their opinions, even when they know they are in the company of a majority that disagrees with them."
"Yeah, well, "He who dares not offend cannot be honest"." I quoted and Malcolm smirked.
"How enlightening. Hobbes?"
"Paine." I corrected.
"You really are a woman of great renown. Your talents are wasted writing silly articles for some paper."
"They're not 'silly.' They're informative. Enlightening, even."
"They're foolish. No one reads the paper." Malcolm retorted. "Which is why I believe your talents would be put to much better use at Merlyn Global Group."
I scoffed, crossing my arms over my chest, careful not to tip the glass in my hand. "And what use would I be to a billion dollar company like Merlyn Global? You don't need a journalist, and if you did, surely you could find another writer."
"Yes, but you, my dear, are skilled in so many ways beyond writing." He complimented and I tried to stare beyond the facade that Malcolm always seemed to outwardly display.
"My sincerest apologies, Mr. Merlyn, but I don't want to work for you."
Merlyn nodded simply. "Well, the job will remain open if you change your mind."
"Believe me, Mr. Merlyn." I said firmly. "I won't."