"I mean, what was he thinking, Harley. I could've shot him - I could've killed him." Oliver's voice crackled through the phone as I leaned back against the window ledge just outside the restaurant I was having dinner with my Dad, Tommy, and Laurel in. Well, I was... until Oliver called me to tell me that while he was trying to 'talk' with Gaynor, John showed up to stop him.
"They're old war buddies, Ollie; his commanding officer no less," I shrugged, looking over my shoulder to see Tommy, my Dad, and Laurel talking and I sighed. "No matter what you say to him, it's not going to make that kind of admiration go away... you've got to show him."
"How can I show him when he won't let me?"
I bit my lip, tilting my head back to look up at the darkened sky - the stars spilling across the darkness. "Well, for starters you can't keep throwing that book in his face. You may trust it, but Johnny sure as Hell doesn't."
"He should trust me," Oliver argued. "For the past couple of months I have lied to, hurt, and hid things from everyone that I care about. Does he really think I would do all of that if I wasn't sure."
I nodded with his words, he had a point and that was where a lot of my trust came from when it came to this whole crusade. But, it didn't matter if I trusted him or not, it wasn't about me. "I'm not the one who needs convincing."
"I know..." I could hear Oliver sigh though the phone, and I could practically picture him run his hands over his mouth - that little crinkle forming on his forehead when he got frustrated. "He wants to prove him innocent."
"And what's so wrong with that..." I challenged. "Either he's right and he saved you from making an ass of yourself, or... he's wrong and you can go be the hero and stop the bad guy."
"I just don't want anyone getting hurt because he can't see what's right in front of him... especially Diggle."
"I know..." I sighed, I didn't know what else to tell him - they were both so stubborn, neither one of them were going to give this up until one of them proved themselves right to the other. I looked over my shoulder again to see my Dad watching me curiously through the window. "Listen, Oliver, I gotta go but, I can talk to Johnny if you want me to."
"No, it's fine. Just..." he huffed. "Enjoy dinner with your Dad. I'll see you at Thea's party."
The phone beeped in my ear, signalling the call had been disconnected. I slowly slipped it into my clutch and let out a slow breath, hesitating to go back inside. They could share stories and laugh all they wanted, but I could practically cut the tension between my Dad and brother with a knife.
Finally, I pushed up off the wall and headed back inside and to my table. I slid into my seat next to my Dad and across from Tommy.
"Who was that?" Tommy was the one to ask.
I flicked my gaze up to his and smiled tightly, "Oliver, he says 'Hi'."
"What did he want?" And there it is, right on cue. My Dad's very bitter tone at the mention of Oliver.
I rolled my eyes before throwing on a bright smile as I looked at him, "oh, you know Oliver, Dad... can't go five minutes without me before his whole world falls apart."
"So, it seems," he mumbled, despite the fact that I was very obviously being sarcastic.
My smile deflated, "he just wanted to rant about some fight he got into with a friend of his, it's nothing." I scooped up one of my Sushi rolls with my chop sticks and hesitating to eat it as I continued. "Anyway, what were we talking about?" I asked, before stuffing the whole thing into my mouth.
"We were just talking about how when Tommy was younger, for Christmas, he wanted a puppy," My Dad told me before turning back to Laurel and Tommy. "He wanted to name it Arthur, as in King Arthur, cause he's a Merlyn."
Laurel smiled teasingly at my brother, "well, you used to be so, very adorable."
"I still am."
"Yeah, you wish." I scoffed, getting a subtle kick in the leg under the table. I threw my napkin at him, giggling at the face Tommy pulled - like he was halfway between startled and flinching back from the white cloth.
"My wife would've liked you Laurel." My Dad's comment quickly made my laugh disappear as I looked over at him. We never really talked about Mom that much, it was a sore subject for all of us.
"Well, I wished I would've known her," Laurel smiled tightly at him. "She passed away before Tommy and I became friends."
My Dad's jaw set in carefully controlled emotion, "she was killed, Laurel, no need to be polite about it."
Tommy cleared his throat, reaching out to rub Laurel's shoulder, "you're just a ray of sunshine today, aren't you, Dad?"
"Please, forgive me," the sarcasm was practically dripping from Dad's voice and I sighed softly. "Talking about my wife has a tendency to make me a bit Maudlin."
"Dad," I began, my voice low and stern. "Not now."
His eyes met mine and I gave him a meaningful look to stop it, "you're right, this isn't the best subject for such a nice dinner."
We continued our dinner without any mention of Mom and shared a couple more stories before my Dad asked for the check.
"Thank you, Mr. Merlyn, for inviting me," Laurel smiled politely and my Dad looked up long enough from where he was signing the check to smile back at her.
"Thank you, for joining me. It's been nice getting to know you better." He folded up the little binder and gave it back to our server. "Now, if Tommy and Harleen don't mind me mixing a little of business with pleasure I could use your signature on these." He pulled out a couple folded papers from his suit pocket and handed one to Tommy and then one to me.
I slowly took it, flipping it over and skimming the page, "you want to shut down Mom's free clinic?" I whispered, looking over at him shocked.
He kept his face neutral, "It's not her's anymore, Harleen."
"Mom, loved that clinic," I argued.
"You were 5 years old, I'm not sure you were in a position to know what was important to your Mother."
I startled at that, my face falling slightly, "she was still my Mom..."
"Harley, it's been 20 years, it's time to be an adult and let go," his voice was stern, an authoritative tone he only used on me when he really thought I was out of line. "Can you do that for me?" I looked away from him and down at the table top, blinking rapidly to stop the tears I felt stinging my eyes. "When was the last time you ever went there, huh? The last time it ever even crossed your mind that, that building was still standing." He continued and I took in a deep breath to try and calm down my emotions, but it didn't work.
"Stop it." Tommy cut in, but I immediately shook my head.
"It's fine, Tommy." I gave him the best smile I could to show him I was fine "I'll sign the papers..." I cleared my throat, taking the pen from my Dad. I scribbled my signature on the page wherever it asked me to and handed it over to him. He smiled at me and I gave him a small one back, my eyes flickering over to Tommy, "you should too, he's right."
"No," Tommy looked at me like I'd lost my mind, before he turned a dark gaze Dad's way. "This dinner was never about getting to know Laurel, it was about this." Tommy rose from his seat, hovering over my shoulder to slid the folded paper back to Dad. "You haven't changed and you never will. It's about time that I learned that, and stopped letting you disappoint me. We're leaving," and with that he left.
I sucked in a deep breath, hurriedly getting up from the table and chasing after him. "Tommy! Tommy, wait!"
We had made it all the way out to the sidewalk out in front of the restaurant and down a little ways before he turned around. "Why do you let him do that?"
I startled at his sudden stop, "do what?"
"Talk down to you like that. Manipulate you."
I scoffed, "he wasn't manipulating me, Tommy, he was right. It's time we let go, I mean, it's just some clinic-"
"Just some clinic?" Tommy was quick to cut me off and even I flinched at my own words. "No, Harley, it was Mom's clinic - and you know the exact time you were last there. Say it."
"Tommy..." I shook my head, that didn't matter.
"Say it." He didn't back down, his tone and face stern.
I slowly met his gaze again, feeling the tears sting at the corners of my eyes, "Sunday morning..."
"Just like you go every Sunday morning," he reminded me of something I was well aware of and I quickly wiped the loose tear from my cheek. "Are you really just going to let him take that away from you? Away from us? Away from Mom?"
"That is not fair..." I held up a single finger, trying to keep my voice from wavering - I failed. "He was right... it's been 20 years, it's time to let go." Tommy scoffed at that, but I kept going. "Besides, I don't need some building to remember my own Mother... especially if it's gonna cause problems with the one parent I still have."
Tommy shook his head, not backing down, "I'm not signing the papers."
"Tommy."
"No, you get to make your choice... now I'm making mine."
I sighed in defeat, watching him go. I quickly wiped the loose tears from my cheeks, blinking away the ones that threatened to break through as I quickly whipped around to head to the car to wait for Dad to go back home. Tommy was never close to Dad like I was... it was different, and he'd never understand. I barely remember my Mom, and I wasn't going to let the ghost of some woman I don't remember get in the way of my relationship with the one parent I actually have.