After the excitement at Oliver's prison party, he and Jessica surprisingly agreed that Amber should spend some time out of the mansion. And Amber didn't have any arguments.
So, for the past week, she stayed with Jessica at her apartment. It was a fun, quiet week that had now come to an end.
Jessica pulled up in front of the Queen Mansion. "All right, you remembered everything right?"
"For the last time, yes." Amber climbed out of the car.
Jessica followed suit. "Hey, a cop was shot at a robbery this morning. All hands are on deck for this. I won't have the free time to go him to grab whatever you forgot and bring it to you."
"Is he okay?" Amber asked.
"Don't know." Jessica shrugged. "I'm still off duty right now and everyone's too busy to chat." She and Amber walked inside just as Thea and Oliver were walking down the stairs.
"Hey." Oliver smiled at them.
"Special delivery." Jessica joked. "One short blonde kid."
"I may be short now one day I'm gonna be taller than you." Amber glared at her stepmom.
"Sure, you will."
"Oh, good, you're all here." Moira walked out of the parlor, a flower-filled vase in her hands. She smiled brightly at everyone. "Guess who I just hung up with." Oliver shrugged. "Janice Bowen. Carter's mother." She informed.
"Oh." Oliver, Thea, and Jessica said in unison.
"You know Carter Bowen?" Thea frowned at Jessica.
"Beth complained about him every time he showed up in the news," Jessica informed.
"Ah." Thea nodded knowingly.
"Who's Carter?" Amber asked, glancing around at everyone.
Oliver chuckled awkwardly. "Carter Bowen. The perfect son."
That caught Moira's attention. "Is he perfect?" She asked.
"According to you," Oliver answered. "'Carter Bowen just won the national chess championship'. 'Carter Bowen is anchoring the debate team'." He quoted his mother.
"I'm sure I didn't make that big of a fuss." Moira waved it off.
"Oliver, Carter just got accepted into Harvard and Princeton." Thea followed her brother down the mockery trail.
"Well, that's because Carter got a perfect score on his SATs," Oliver added.
"Now how did he manage to study and cure cancer?" Thea rhetorically asked.
"That sounds like more than a big fuss." Amber sided with her father and aunt.
Moira sighed. "All right, all right, all right. I get it. I get it." She was well past annoyed with her family. "Well, they're coming for brunch and I expect you to be there."
"I have plans," Oliver stated.
"That's fine. Brunch is tomorrow."
Thea, Jessica, and Amber laughed at Oliver's backfired excuse.
"Inches from a clean getaway," Thea smirked at Oliver.
"Well, you, too, Thea. And before you even say it, you're coming too, Amber." Moira said sternly before she started walking away.
"Snap." Oliver pointed a finger gun at Thea.
"Nobody says that anymore." She rolled her eyes.
"What?" Oliver frowned.
"What about Jess?" Amber asked hopefully. If she was getting dragged into this, then she was going to bring Jessica down with her.
"Of course, Jessica is welcome," Moira said, before turning to leave.
"Mom," Oliver called. He wanted to try and get out of the brunch before she was out of sight.
Moira turned back around. "Hmm?"
"I can't actually go." Oliver shook his head.
"I haven't seen the Bowens in years. So whatever it is that you have planned I'm sure the four of you can make the sacrifice just this once." Moira guilted her children and granddaughter.
"We'll be there." Oliver gave in.
Moira smiled gratefully and finally walked away.
Oliver turned to Thea, waiting for the snide comment he knew was coming. "I hate you." She said before leaving.
"You are so grounded." Jessica looked down at Amber. "And you." She crossed her arms at Oliver. "Thanks for promising I'd be at brunch. It's not like I have bank robbers to catch or anything."
"I'm sorry." Oliver apologized. "At least you have an excuse to cancel."
Jessica gave a humorless laugh. "Have you met your mother?"
"She has a point." Amber sided with her stepmother.
"Yeah, I know. I did say I was sorry." Oliver said just as his phone started ringing. "I gotta go." He walked away to answer it.
Jessica sighed heavily. "I may be mad at your dad for promising Moira that I'd be at brunch, but don't think that I forgot you suggested it."
Amber cringed. "Sorry."
"Mmhmm. Your butt is still grounded."
"You're grounding me for getting you invited to brunch but when I got suspended for beating up a classmate, you high-five me?"
Jessica crossed her arms. "You got a problem with that?"
"Nope." Amber shook her head. "I like your priorities."
"Good." Jessica gave her a quick hug. "See you tomorrow, I guess."
"Be careful."
"Always," Jessica called over her shoulder as she left.
* * *
Amber stood awkwardly next to Thea while Moira and Janice Bowen made small talk. Oliver had yet to show up and Jessica was caught up in police business so everything was off with a skewed start. But Moira kept her hopes high while she conversed with the Bowens, who Amber already didn't like.
When she first moved into the mansion, Amber kept to herself. She had an image in her mind of how rich people were and she expected Moira and Thea to act that way. She thought they'd be uptight and snobbish, the kind of people she hated to be around. But, in reality, they were down-to-earth and kind. Although, they were also sorting through their grief at that time.
The Bowens, however, matched Amber's generalizations to a T. They had an air of superiority around them and Amber was not a fan.
"Well, I'm sorry Walter couldn't join us," Janice said to Moira.
"Oh, yes, well the Australian trip came up suddenly." She quickly explained. "He sends his apologies."
"That's okay. We might not have Walter but we got Amber. Even trade." Janice joked. "We've heard so much about you."
Amber half-smiled. She silently pleaded for something to go wrong and put the whole brunch to an end. "I hope it was nothing bad."
"Oh, no of course not." Janice denied. "Moira definitely thinks highly of you. You know, you remind me a lot of your father."
"A lot of people say that," Amber said.
"And where's Oliver?" Carter asked. "He's not out of town too, is he?"
"Well, I'm sure he's just--"
"Stuck in traffic." Oliver came around the corner, cutting his mother off. "One of the things I didn't miss on the island, Sunday drivers." He joked. "Sorry, I'm late."
He kissed Moira on the cheek and hugged Thea and amber.
"Thank God you're here," Thea whispered.
"It is so good to see you." Janice hugged Oliver. "We all thought you were--"
"Oh, well, we are just happy he's home." Moira interrupted.
"Hmm, and returning a celebrity, too." Carter shook Oliver's hand. A slight jealous tone hid in his voice.
"How do you mean?" Oliver asked as everyone moved to their seats at the table.
"Billionaire scion castaway for five years. You know, there is a bidding war for the rights to your life story. At least that's what my agent says." Carter said.
"Agent? I thought you were a neurosurgeon, Carter." Oliver frowned.
"I know. It's crazy right?" He asked. "One minute I'm publishing this book on how long-term potentiation initiates the creation of a slow-moving protein synthesis and the next there's an agent trying to make me the next Dr. Oz."
While he talked, Amber and Thea shared confused looks.
"Why would he want you to be a wizard?" Oliver inquired. The whole table busted into laughs.
"At least you've seen that movie," Amber commented.
"For all our sakes, start reading 'US Weekly'." Thea instructed. Oliver rolled his eyes.
"Well, the truth is, I just feel it's our duty as Starling City's more fortunate to help those most in need." Carter shared.
"Oh, of course." Moira agreed.
Carter turned to Oliver, his hands clasped together. "Wouldn't you agree, Oliver?"
"You're the hero, Carter." He offered a fake smile.
* * *
The idle chit-chat didn't get much better as brunch went on. Amber thanked God every time a question wasn't directed at her. But her luck was running out.
"So now that you're back, what are your plans." Janice glanced over to Oliver. "Will you be taking a job with Queen Consolidated?"
"I'm opening a nightclub," Oliver answered.
Thea fought and failed to hold back a laugh. Compared to Carter's career, Oliver's endeavor seemed like a joke.
Moira sent a look down at Oliver. It seemed as though she was embarrassed by his answer.
"Sir, your liquor distributor's on the line." Diggle came in with a phone in hand. He leaned down, whispering into Oliver's ear.
"Sorry." Oliver apologized, standing up. "Business." He quickly left the room with Moira excusing herself soon after.
With Oliver now gone, the conversation started to revolve around Carter. Sure, they talked a lot about him before Oliver ran off to attend to business, but a lot of questions and comments were directed toward him.
Now, Carter made everything about himself. He talked about his college years, internships, jobs, awards-- basically, if he accomplished something, he brought it up.
It was honestly kind of draining to listen to someone drone on and on about themselves. Amber eventually got so bored and annoyed that she decided it was time to leave.
"I don't feel well." She announced all of a sudden. She looked over at Moira. "I'm gonna go upstairs and lay down. Nice to meet to guys." She said to the Bowens before getting up from the table and rushing out of the room.
* * *
The next night, after the bank robbers had been caught, Jessica decided to make a stop at the Queen Mansion. She went straight for the parlor, figuring that if Amber wasn't in there then someone who knew where she was would be.
Although, who she found in the parlor wasn't who she was expecting.
"Moira." Jessica grabbed the older woman's attention.
"Amber's in her room," Moira answered Jessica's question before she could ask it, skipping over pleasantries.
"Okay." Jessica frowned. "Uh, I just wanted to say sorry again for skipping Brunch. I just couldn't get away."
"You have nothing to apologize for," Moira assured. "You are a police officer, you had a job to do. I can understand that."
Jessica sighed. "Did Oliver do something?"
"He left in the middle of brunch claiming he had business with his nightclub to attend to," Moira said. "Then Amber said she wasn't feeling well, which I am almost positive is a lie, and ran off."
"Moira, can I give you some advice? One mom to another?"
"Why not?" Moira shrugged.
"Carter Bowen is an ass." Jessica deadpanned. "He may be incredibly successful but he is an absolute jerk about it."
"How is this advice?"
"He rubs his success in other people's faces. I already heard Amber's story about brunch yesterday and I completely understand why she ditched. Carter makes people feel like crap when he talks about everything he's accomplished and apparently you also talk a lot about his accomplishments."
Moira glanced down. "You're saying it's my fault that Oliver left."
"I'm not saying that anyone is at fault. What I am saying is that Oliver is a far better person than Carter Bowen even if he doesn't have the awards to prove it. You just need to let him know that." Jessica said. "Trust me. Kids always want their parents to be proud of them no matter how old they are."
"You are wise far beyond your years, Jessica." Moira smiled slightly. "Thank you."
"Anytime." Jessica smiled back.
A/N: I'm not sure when I made Jessica and Moira such good friends but I'm just gonna roll with it lol.