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Post by Laurel Lance on Apr 18, 2014 15:48:41 GMT
Now Laurel laughed slightly at the reality of it all. "Planned as of an hour or so ago? This wasn't very planned out from either of us." It was certainly the most interesting first date Laurel had ever gone on, but that wasn't saying much. She hadn't gone on a first date since high school. Though most of them weren't put together at the last second.
Laurel glanced at some of the other patrons as they headed into the restaurant, people who had probably reservations far in advance before the place had even opened. Stepping out of the car when the valet opened the door, Laurel stood on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant as she waited for Tommy. It was a bit funny, how being with him now suddenly made her slightly nervous.
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Post by Tommy Merlyn on Apr 18, 2014 17:27:05 GMT
He hurried around to her side, shrugging, "An hour ago, a week ago, same thing. I'm good at planning this stuff." Not entirely a lie, he felt like he was pretty good with dates and date material, but with Laurel, everything was different. He was paying more attention to each move he made, and each planned excursion. He didn't want to screw this up, after all.
"I'm starting to think that even with your reservation, we're not getting in. I guess we probably have to do it my way." Tommy said. He didn't mind waving money around to get in, but wondered if Laurel might think less of him. Granted, it's not like they had time to make a reservation that far in advance, so it should hopefully be fine.
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Post by Laurel Lance on Apr 18, 2014 18:19:23 GMT
The spontaneous date was nice, not like it was really out of no where, they probably would have gotten food regardless, but that wasn't the point. Suddenly, there was meaning to it all. "Good thing since I'm normally working when I'm not being persuaded to break the rules." Laurel never took time off, she went into work sick, she was one of those people and always had been, to some extent. Maybe more now than before, but Laurel had always tried to be the 'voice of reason' in their group, even if it usually didn't do any good.
Wrapping her arm around Tommy's when he came to her side, Laurel glanced around to the other people near them. She felt slightly bad that Tommy was going to slip money to the hostess and suddenly they'd have a table, in a good spot in the restaurant. "Then do your thing."
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Post by Tommy Merlyn on Apr 18, 2014 18:47:38 GMT
"Do my thing I shall." he told her. He moved on ahead and spoke in hushed tones with the hostess. Money was exchanged, and he motioned for Laurel to come over. He looked back at the line, and then at the seating that he could see. He wanted this to be a good, romantic date, but maybe getting out fast was the better option.
He could spend time with Laurel here, or he could impress her by not wasting time so they could get other people a table that they may have just stolen. Besides, a meal was all they needed, they could go somewhere else if need be after it was over.
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Post by Laurel Lance on Apr 18, 2014 19:22:43 GMT
Standing by herself, Laurel watched Tommy walk up to the hostess and lean towards her to talk to her. She watched him hand her money, though most of the people around him were oblivious of the action. Laurel wasn't naive, not about any of this, it had been the same way with Oliver, she knew that she had gained an advantage by dating someone with money, even if she wasn't interested in any of the money. Many times her stomach was appreciative of the situation, but that didn't erase some of the guilt Laurel felt. If she was with anyone else, this wouldn't have happened, but she was hardly with anyone else.
Walking over to Tommy when he motioned her over, Laurel stopped in front of him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thank you, for making this night work." Leaning in, Laurel kissed Tommy before breaking away to follow the hostess to the table.
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Post by Tommy Merlyn on Apr 19, 2014 5:20:42 GMT
He was happy that she was being publicly open with her emotions, at least with wrapping her arms around his neck like that. He was about to say something to her, but suddenly it didn't matter. He didn't have the ability to speak anyway as she kissed him. He didn't really mind, and gladly kissed her back quickly so they could follow the hostess to their table towards the middle of the restaurant.
"Don't worry," he told he softly, "We'll be out of here soon enough. I figure you're not happy about us taking a table when there are so many people out there." He figured he knew her well enough to assume that.
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Post by Laurel Lance on Apr 19, 2014 9:45:15 GMT
Maneuvering through the restaurant, Laurel sat down at the table they were motioned towards, ordering a glass of pinot noir before even considering the food menu. Scooting a bit closer towards Tommy when the hostess left them alone to decide on their dinner order, Laurel settled her attention on Tommy first. "A lot of things have been brought up today that we've been avoiding. Above everything else, you told me you want to try something real. So let's stop worrying about everyone else for tonight."
Of course Laurel would still feel a bit bad in the morning, taking advantage of Tommy's family money and the status he held in Starling, but that wasn't the point. This night was supposed to be different than the rest, it was supposed to stand out. "Normally, you know me more than I'd like to admit. Though I also think we've already spent too much time thinking about other people tonight." Maybe they could meet in the middle somewhere, putting themselves first. It was worth a shot.
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Post by Tommy Merlyn on Apr 19, 2014 14:47:13 GMT
They'd already spent too much time on others tonight? He wasn't sure he'd have ever heard her say that, and wasn't sure how to feel. He just nodded, not wanting to argue on the subject. He'd still see if they could finish sooner, if nothing else, and just not mention it to her.
"Alright. Tonight it's just you and me, then," he told her.
[OOC: Sorry for the short response]
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Post by Laurel Lance on Apr 19, 2014 16:21:58 GMT
It wasn't something Laurel did often, or ever for that matter, but they owed it to each other to actually try and do this right. One night, this one meal, Laurel could be selfish once in her life. Even if transitioning to dating Tommy Merlyn made her slightly nervous, though she was a lawyer, she had to believe he was being honest until he did something deceptive. "I have to admit, I've known you more than half our lives and I never thought we'd end up here." It was a good feeling, but it scared her at the same time. Dropping her gaze to the menu, Laurel's eyes scanned over the laminated pages as she read through the small blurb about the dishes until the waitress returned with their drinks, ready to take their order.
"I'd like the lobster risotto please." Glancing up at the waitress as she spoke, Laurel handed back the menu.
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Post by Tommy Merlyn on Apr 20, 2014 3:25:58 GMT
Tommy listened to her, but he didn't respond. He turned to the waitress as she came and spoke up after Laurel, "I'll have the same." He closed his menu and looked to Laurel. He clasped his hands together on the table and leaned forward a bit. "No, I didn't think we'd end up here either."
Throughout youth he had looked at her as nothing more than a friend. As he grew, and girls became a thing to him, he still didn't see her as anything else. He saw her grow with him and Oliver, saw her develop, grow as a beautiful woman, but they were friends, so he had never thought about it. And then she dated Oliver, and he wondered if Oliver had ever thought like he had. It was only recently that things had changed, maybe born out of grief.
Maybe it was because life was short, and you never knew when you might die. That could have been it, but he was glad it was happening.
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Post by Laurel Lance on Apr 20, 2014 4:21:00 GMT
With the waitress gone, Laurel reached across the table and placed her hand atop Tommy's hands that were clasped together. Squeezing slightly, Laurel smiled to Tommy. "Sometimes it's the things we least expect that turn out the best." Tommy had always just been a friend, from the very beginning, it was always Oliver. Something about Oliver drew Laurel to him, most likely the bad-boy aura. Oliver had always done that better than Tommy, which was probably why Oliver was dead.
"Do you remember when we were 15 and we all went out in your dad's car before any of us had a license? Your dad was furious, which is exactly what I told you would happen when you all picked me up. When the cops finally caught up to us in Coast City, I ended up grounded for a month. I was so mad at you for not listening when I told you it was a bad idea. Not to mention that I was grounded and you weren't. I promised myself I'd never talk to you again. That didn't last long." Laurel had purposely left out Oliver's name as she smilled, laughing slightly at the memories.
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Post by Tommy Merlyn on Apr 20, 2014 4:52:46 GMT
He smiled a little at the memory of that event, but it soon became a bit of a sour smile when he remembered that Oliver was there, and the memory got to him. His smile faded completely of his own accord, rather than hold it. "I remember," he confirmed. "Good times. Except that something did happen to me. I just didn't get grounded."
He wasn't surprised that Laurel did, knowing her parents. Tommy had been at an awkward stage in his life, age-wise, and well, he didn't like his father, that was nothing new. The problem was that when his father found out, they had a heated argument about it. Malcolm wavered between grounding his son or finding another punishment, and Tommy had decided to call Malcolm on his shit from years ago. It didn't go well, and they had just walked away from each other in the end.
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Post by Laurel Lance on Apr 20, 2014 5:08:46 GMT
Rubbing his hand as she moved her thumb back and forth, Laurel's own smile faded as she listened to Tommy. "What happened?" It was so long ago, more than half their lives ago, though Laurel was curious to know what he was talking about. She knew that he and Oliver had gone back to running the town while she stayed cooped up at home, mostly in her bedroom.
"I was always jealous that you got so much freedom." Being the daughter of a cop was hardly freedom-granting, Laurel often found herself glancing over her shoulder to find an officer following her, at the insistence of her father. He was relentless when it came to Laurel, especially when boys were involved.
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Post by Tommy Merlyn on Apr 20, 2014 23:22:16 GMT
He looked at her. What happened? He and his father yelled at each other, he called his father on disappearing, all of that. Sure, that was a generalization, but he remembered it vividly. He really didn't want to bring it up and tell her all of that, though. He looked down, trying to wonder how he should answer that.
"You know...I'd really rather not talk about that one." He left it at that. "Freedom is nice, but it also sucks when your place of refuge, the place you have an authority over you, doesn't seem to give a shit about you."
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Post by Laurel Lance on Apr 21, 2014 2:47:27 GMT
Laurel hadn't intended to upset Tommy, that was the last thing she had wanted, though it probably wasn't very smart of her to ask what had happened. It was so far in the past, Laurel figured Tommy would have been over whatever the punishment was, though he evaded the actual event of what had happened to him.
"I'm sorry Tommy. For what it's worth, I care about you, but I know it's not the same." Laurel's mother had walked away from her, though unlike Tommy's father, Dinah hadn't returned.
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