"You'd look even sexier with some grey hair" Who: Ollie and Judy mostly, Thea at the end. When: Last Sunday Where: A retro themed restaurant and then Ollie’s place What: A date, some waiter baiting, some serious conversations, and sexy times. And scarring Thea for life. Ratings: glossed over sexytimes for the most part but probably closer to like PG-16 if there’s such a thing?, uh, C for cougar maybe? :P
She’d given him directions to the place, figuring he could meet her there. She’d taken a cab, as she had last time, if only because the traffic in this part of Orange County was fucking murder. Yes, even on a Sunday.
Judy was seated at the bar, sipping a sangrita, a virgin sangria made with juice instead of red wine, while she waited for Oliver. Lulu had finished the dress on time, in dark purple, with a wide collar showing just a hint of cleavage. Her legs were crossed, and she’d found a pair of heels that matched that she could also walk in. She’d told Oliver to wear at least a sport coat, if not a suit. “Class it up a little,” she’d directed him with a grin.
And Ollie could handle the class it up bit very well, so he’d gone for that option quite happily, really. Actual classing it up and not the trashy kind that he had resorted to before. This was the genuine classing up that he did when he had events to go to that he actually cared about, which had the bonus of him being able to walk straight too. It just felt sort of rude to run around being completely shit faced with someone he’d just met. And it would probably be ruder still once he did know her better, but hey, he’d go ahead and let that one run its course later on.
Anyway, he actually drove in, bitching about the traffic while he did it, but he managed it, and only was about ten minutes late, which was still ‘okay’ in his book, though it wasn’t great, and grinned as he approached, then made his way in. “Niice.” he said approvingly, and then went ahead to locate Judy, when his eyes did the appreciative thing again. “Retro.” he said, beaming. “This is kind of amazing.”
Judy got off her bar stool as gracefully as possible when she saw him walk in, going over with a smile. “Hi. Sorry about the traffic; I thought it wouldn’t suck this badly on a Sunday. Shows what I know, huh.” She kissed him on the cheek, smiling when she saw he looked interested. “Isn’t this place great? I didn’t know if you’d be in to the music, but the food’s good, and apparently they have some really good bourbon.” That wasn’t even so much a temptation for her; she’d never been a bourbon person even when she was boozing.
She couldn’t resist teasing a little bit, either, even if it was mostly truth. “You look sexy in a well cut suit, you know.”
“Promising.” Ollie said to the bourbon bit. Just because he wasn’t going to get absolutely trashed didn’t mean much. He’d sort of figured that out over time, so at least she wouldn’t have to deal with that. “And this place is...Wow. I didn’t even know it actually existed.” It was so Mad Men. He was into that, even if the music was more of a thing he sometimes heard in the background and didn’t mind.
“Well thank you very much. As far as you. Wow. I seriously love that color on you.” It was just a good thing they were in public right now, wasn’t it?
Judy smiled, looking away before she caught herself - the hell? She didn’t get shy. “The seamstress who made this has a great eye. Little place over in Mission Viejo. As for this place, I happened to see the opening notice in the paper.” She smiled a little more fully. “Figured we could get a good steak here. And I could maybe get you in a suit.” She winked as the waiter approached, giving him her name.
“You only had to ask for that.” Ollie told her, grinning. “Contrary to popular belief I own them.” Then he winked. “They spend a lot more time in the closet, but hey, now that I know and can exploit it, I might have to switch things up a little sometimes. You know, one of those surprise occasion deals.” He could think up a couple anyway.
“Aw, handsome, you’ll sweep me off my feet.” Judy laughed, starting to follow the waiter back toward a table. They were seated in the back, far enough away from the band where they could talk, but not far enough so as not to hear it. Once they were sitting down, she fixed her skirt a bit, looking across at his smile. “How did the thing go with Thea? You don’t look exhausted, so I have to assume it was okay.”
“I’d enjoy that.” Ollie really would too. Literal sweeping even. It’d be fun. And funny. That would be worth it alone. To show her that he really would dare to do that alone. He’d be inclined to go for that. “It was fun. Lot of blood and gore and grisly things. We both yell at people in horror movies apparently so that was weird and fun.”
“Oh, God, you’re those people.” Judy laughed, maybe a little more uninhibited than she would have the first time they’d gone to dinner. “If it’s something I’ve never seen before, I can’t watch it with you, that settles it. Or is it only horror movies you do it with?” She’d slap him if it was every movie.
“Just the horror ones.” Ollie assured her. “When people are doing insanely stupid shit.” He added, to clarify. “They do that sort of thing a lot. But other stuff, I’m well behaved, I swear.” Everything that he could think of to watch on a regular basis, he’d probably shut up for. Then again, the sort of thing he watched was usually incredibly detailed, weird, or geeky. Or it was featured on the Cartoon Network or Hub. So. Take that as you would.
“That’s fair.” Judy smiled, polishing off her drink. She couldn’t help but laugh a little at Oliver’s choice of words, though. “Oliver, you’re not a puppy who goes on the rug. I’m sure you can ‘behave’ as well as you want to.” That was the kicker, she’d figured; when a man wanted to act like an ass, he’d act like an ass. The question was whether or not they wanted to.
“Except with things like the horror movies.” Ollie said, grinning. “Or when people are assholes. Otherwise, sure. I’m good at controlling myself.” Usually. At least these days he was that way. “But I can look like a kicked puppy when it helps my case.” He added brightly.
Judy laughed again, shaking her head. “Your puppy eyes didn’t work on me.” Except they had. Maybe. A little bit. “Handsome, rich, funny. Doesn’t seem right that you would get powers of persuasion, too.” She wasn’t even really meaning to blow smoke up his ass. Those were her opinions, and she was sticking to them.
The waiter came back to get their orders; she went for a Bellini without the champagne and turned to Oliver. The question came out casually. “And for your son?”
She could feel the spots of color show up on her cheekbones, but for once, her tongue couldn’t come up with the right combination of swear words. Not immediately.
Ollie had been about to order, but then sputtered for a second, since, okay, not expecting that at all. He probably SHOULD have thought about it, but he’d assumed, well, that it wasn’t going to be a thing so much. Not that he minded it being a thing, it just...took him by surprise there. Not that he corrected the waiter while he ordered, and when he was out of earshot, Ollie turned to Judy, eyes lit up.
“So, do you feel like being incredibly, horribly mean in a hilarious way?”
Judy tried not to look as mortified and angry as she felt. “What’d you have in mind?”
“We let him think this, for a little while.” Ollie grinned. “Just not saying anything at all, not, I don’t know, bizarre playing along, and then...we get a little closer later on. Juust enough to be creepy and teach people about assuming.”
She liked that idea, and felt slightly less awkward. Half the reason she’d gotten pissed was because she figured Oliver might take that as his cue to rabbit. Judy took a breath, nodding. “Works for me.” She smiled, hoping it looked normal. What the hell did she care that some asshole jumped to conclusions?
Nah, Ollie wasn’t going to let that freak him out. It was more...amusing than anything after the initial moment of what the fuck that had ensued. And well, subtler ways of making the waiter freak out would be a lot funnier, and less likely to create an unnecessary scene than any freak outs that he might have had. “Excellent.” he steepled his fingers, Mr. Burns style. This was going to be interesting.
Judy chuckled, trying to calm down. She had a garter belt and stockings to deploy, after all. “You better hope there are no paps in here, though.” Oliver Queen getting cozy with an old lady would make the front page of the gossip rags, that was for sure. “Or I don’t know, maybe you’d find it as funny as I would.” She had nothing to hide.
“That? Would be amusing. Hey, as long as YOU don’t mind?” Ollie laughed. “I’m down with the attention, really.” It was more a, not wanting it to shadow things when you first met someone that had been going on the first time they’d gone out. Well, that and the diamond thing had been bad publicity. But having a social life type of things? Those were funny. “Next time I’ll call TMZ and let them know.” he teased.
“Handsome, I told you when I first met you that all my crap was public knowledge.” Judy did chuckle at that. “This asshole at the Washington Times did an “expose”. And my new employer knows. So anybody who should know already does. And to be honest, I’m surprised TMZ doesn’t follow you people around.” Between Roy, Thea and Oliver himself? Neverending news.
“Oh they do. They do.” Ollie assured her, grinning. Because it was seriously true. He was one of those people most of the time. “So it’s not going to be weird when they start following me around again. I could actually use some good publicity or well, neutral anyway. Me acting like this? having fun and things? It helps.”
“Having fun is generally seen as okay. And I’d love to try out some of the photographer-dodging tricks I’ve patented over the years.” Judy snickered, finishing off her drink. “Should I go up to the bar for another one, or is the idea of fucking with people too fun?” She would have played along either way. It did make her feel better than Oliver was willing to have TMZ up his ass again, basically for her sake. He could have just corrected the guy and moved on.
“Hmm.” Ollie considered that one for a minute. “I’m kinda inclined to do the fucking with, but I can go grab you a refill too and we can pull out the big guns later.” He offered. Might as well gauge the reactions of the rest of the people around them, right? He could maybe play into some of them.
“Works for me. Thank you.” Judy smiled, and figured she’d start messing with people. It was right there. She patted him on the ass, just a little double pat. If he laughed, that was okay, too. It was a cute ass.
She got a wink and a laugh as Ollie went up to grab the refill yeah. And a couple people looked...slightly scandalized already, like they were trying to decide just what they were to each other. Oh this was a great start. He was looking forward to this, but for now settled on waiting in the line and casting Judy some longing looks. Not too many; he had to time it right. But just enough.
Oh, this was already fun. Judy let herself grin like a stupid schoolgirl once or twice. She’d already liked Oliver and this made her like him more. Besides, a little shit disturbing never hurt anybody. She turned to idly watch him, crossing her legs again. Her skirt shifted a little, exposing the top of the garter belt to anyone who might see. Anything to further the mindfuckery.
Nope, nothing wrong with it at all. And Ollie would probably have been loosening his tie if he’d been close enough to catch sight of that at the moment. It was probably likely to happen at some point or another anyway. When he got back with their drinks, he slid hers in front of her, letting his hand linger near, and then on Judy’s shoulder for a moment, turning his head so he could just gaze into her eyes before sitting back down himself. This was amusing.
“So.” he said, once they were settled again for the moment. “How are you finding the job?”
“Good! Very good.” Judy laughed. “You’re a decent actor, you know,” she murmured. She knew he liked her, but he was laying it on thick, and pretty well at that. “No, the job’s good. The boss is kind of a hardass and I’m used to that. It’s nice working for another woman.” She’d had to flatter the masculine ego for ages. Working for another woman was a different ball of wax. “She said she had family members with alcohol problems, and she’d fire my ass immediately if I fuck up before a year sober, which is fair. After a year, she’ll give a little more leeway.” Judy didn’t blame the woman.
A different waiter came by to get their food orders, luckily, and this time Judy was more composed, ordering a good steak with a smile. “What about you, handsome?” she asked Oliver, laying her hand on his for a little extra touch.
“Sounds like a good approach.” Ollie said to that part, nodding. Rarity had had a similar system going for Thea before he’d opted to let professionals sort her out instead. He sometimes wondered if he needed to be more of a hardass about things like that, if that was how he’d created, well, Roy, but it wasn’t like he knew how to go about it most of the time. “Easier when there’s something you’re accountable for.” he said, and while his problem had never been in the realms of addiction, it was good to have people who didn’t take his shit and were willing to call him out on crap he pulled.
“What about me?” He asked, leaning in closer to her as they had their conversation, enjoying the waiter’s look of...concern that passed over his face as he headed back. “It’s been pretty typical, really. Arranging our first banquet’s pretty much been the bulk of work stuff this week.”
Judy bit her lip not to laugh as the waiter’s eyes widened a little before he left, turning back to Oliver. “Banquet. Is this for your charity, you mean?” She knew he wasn’t in diamonds anymore. “That actually must take a decent amount of planning. I never had to actually plan a party, just shepherd people around at them. I’m guessing you have a crack staff of people doing the dirty work.”
“Well, it’s me and my couple people actually.” he confessed, “So chaotic. And I have no idea what I’m doing and I think it shows. But it’ll be worth it.” Ollie was pretty sure of that. “Our first scholarships are getting passed out so it’ll be amazing.” He was looking forward to this a lot more than he’d looked forward to the parties he’d thrown money at people to plan for him back in the old days. “Catering’s been kind of a crazy thing this week. Trying to track them down, figure out what’s going on when. But it’s working out.”
Judy’s eyebrows rose. “Hey, that’s impressive.” Planning anything that big himself wasn’t an easy job. She smiled and laid her hand on his, this time not for show. “You talk like you’re always this huge fuckup, but I bet that’ll go off real well.” More and more she was getting convinced that her initial impression of him had been the right one: biggest heart in the world. “What are the scholarship criteria? Did you have any input on that?”
“I’m pretty sure the huge fuckup part’s coming somewhere down the line.” Ollie told her, still grinning as he said it. “Actually, not so much huge fuckup as...people have informed me I have no understanding of the real world. It’s probably partly true. “ He’d had a huge awakening since the dreams thing had started up, that was for sure.
“Well, these are for the high school athletes.” He explained. “The ones who wouldn’t have a shot at college otherwise. There’s a lot of criteria involved, mostly demonstrable community involvement and commitment to the sport they’re involved in. The first year we’ve pretty much had the standard team sports but it’s not limited or anything.” He explained.
“This came about when someone on the network started pointing out the privilege athletes who actually got to the olympics had already mostly had. So it’s about giving the kids who have the promise and the drive but not the chances in their lives to get that shot. There’s also school based programs to provide equipment. I’m hoping I can expand a little in a few years to the more non standard versions of things, maybe get some lessons going through the community at different places. But for now...”
For now, it was enough to manage, that was for sure.
The passion in his voice made her smile. “Sounds like something you really believe in, that’s for sure.” Judy chuckled. “Must be a hell of a lot of work, though!” She might just reconsider her rule and do some volunteering, if she could, once the thing got off the ground. It was a worthy cause. And it wouldn’t be working for Oliver, it’d be volunteering time to an organization.
She was about to say more when the band started up a new song, a little slower, a little more thoughtful. Judy had to listen for a little while. The horn line was almost wistful, almost aw-shucks happy, and the soft drums underneath were meant to lull you into feeling mellow and thoughtful.
She caught herself eventually, laughing, looking back over to Oliver with something approaching awkwardness. “Sorry. I’m actually fond of this kind of music, so when somebody’s good at it, it catches my attention.”
Ollie, for his part, watched her for a moment, not really saying anything. There...was not exactly a lot that came to mind to say. It was nice to see her listening to it, actually, the way the music seemed to take her somewhere else.
“Hey, don’t worry about it .” He said when she seemed to come back to the moment. “It’s lovely.” He didn’t know much about it so he couldn’t comment exactly, but that didn’t mean he didn’t see some kind of a value here. It was just one he’d never thought about before.
Judy smiled. “I have a few loves. Jazz and liquor used to be the only two, but now I take away liquor and replace it with baseball. And cute younger men, apparently.” She shrugged. “I’m from Boston, so the Red Sox are kind of a religion.” She sipped her bellini, crossing her legs again. The slit in her skirt let the top of her stocking show again, and she had to wonder with a smirk what he might say when he saw the dress’s lining.
Ollie got a look at the stockings then, and yeah, he was into that. He was definitely into that. As far as baseball, it’d never been a thing but he was willing to give that a shot. It was probably actually good when it was live. “Baseball, huh? I can’t say I’m really into it but then it wasn’t really one of those things for. You’ll have to teach me sometime.” he suggested. “I’ll find something I can share in return somewhere along the line.”
As far as spectator sports went? His tastes ran kind of towards hockey. Because nothing was better than watching guys on very thin blades on ICE beating the shit out of each other with sticks. Well, almost nothing.
“They were decent when I was growing up, and when a team’s good, you get into it, but I think you have to be from Boston to get it. Fenway’s packed even when they suck.” Judy didn’t expect Oliver to be into it, especially if he grew up in California. “God. Did you grow up out here? I don’t even know.” He might have told her, but she did forget shit from time to time. She couldn’t help a twinge of embarrassment, but she choked it down. “Sorry, old lady memory.” Well, also, technically, a drunk’s memory.
“Oh not exactly here. San Francisco.” Ollie explained. “So it’s...different. “ What was normal to him was sort of not AS normal here. “So I’m more the artsy feelings type.” he joked, trying, and failing, to look suitably dramatic. “But no, really. L.A is weird. I don’t know, I don’t think it’s all me.”
“Ah. Never been there, but everybody tells me it’s nice.” Judy nodded, slightly relieved. She did laugh when he described himself that way. “You’re in touch with your inner child and all that, then? Thea called you a liberal, but I didn’t know you were a hippie.” She smiled, risking more honesty given it seemed to be working so far. “You seem to wear your heart on your sleeve a little, Oliver. I kind of like it.” Though she could see why it might bite him in the ass.
Perfect timing - she took his hand and squeezed it just as the waiter appeared with their food. She bit her lip, smiling, looking as if he’d just complimented her with something florid. Judy even managed a silly giggle. Fucking with people really was fun.
He laughed at that part. “I don’t know about a hippie really. Roy’s thrown around a couple phrases. Latte Liberal being his absolute favorite for some reason.” Though he paused there for a second. “Granted, I like lattes but I avoid the corporate places like the plague.” Okay, yeah, he sounded kind of hippieish there, didn’t he? Oops. “Do I?” He blinked. “Well, hey, it’s better than a lot of other options, right?”
And he was somehow managing to look seductive and licking his lip a little as the waiter came back. This? Was the best.
“No Starbucks. Works for me.” Judy sketched a salute, laughing. “You’ll be pleased to know there’s a tiny little local coffee place near the movie studio, and they handle all the coffee service for the building. And by the way, I really am glad about the liberal bit, because I don’t fuck Republicans.” That last was true, though it was said for the benefit of the waiter. Who might have twitched.
Their food was delivered, and as the man left, Judy laughed, feeling a bit better than before. “I could kiss you.” She’d been embarrassed and awkward when that jackass had insulted her, but she’d gotten her own back, with Oliver’s help. “In terms of wearing your heart on your sleeve? I think it’s pretty ballsy.” True, but also complimentary. “Takes a real man to be honest about how he’s feeling.”
That? Got her a smile in return. “Agreed on the Republicans bit.” he shook his head imagining how that might GO. “I can’t exactly see it going well for either the Republican in question or me.” He’d had a couple enemies in college who had been sort of attractive, but in that rivalry type of way where you never wanted to get close enough to end up in bed with them.
“I didn’t always used to do that.” He said, “But, well, it’s the better way to be. You get things accomplished a lot easier sometimes, when people say you care.”
“Yes, but the important thing is that you do care.” Judy tried the steak, hoping and praying nothing got on the dress. “Not better than sex, but almost there. But yeah. Don’t just pay lip service to the idea of giving a damn, and I think you’re in good shape. You have a lot of things you obviously care about.” The charity. Roy. Thea.
“And I guess I’ve had it for a while but I couldn’t put it into action before.” And this was where he decided he was just going to go for it. “You’ve probably seen people mentioning insane dreams on the network? Some of those helped me get to this point. Convinced me there were better things to do with my life.”
Judy cocked her head to one side. “I’ve had a few of those,” she said, nodding. “Mine were kind of insignificant. A childhood pet dying. A man who said he wanted to marry me, but then it never happened. Weird stuff.” She was curious, but chose her words carefully. “Were the dreams of things you remember, or of a different … time? Or life?” There were far weirder reasons to make a change in your life. She wasn’t about to judge him for it.
“Oh that is kind of mundane but if it’s something you don’t personally remember, well, it’s probably the start. “ Oliver considered how to tell her about the island entirely. “A different life. I was a superhero there.” Was the best way to go with this. “I know, right? That’s kind of different. But I helped people. And gave up a lot of the money I was making to do it. It was...inspiring I guess?” He suggested, and it sounded kind of like he was asking himself here.
“I mean, the diamond thing had never been my dream so when there was a chance to do something else that I looked at there. I had to follow at least a little of it.”
He wasn’t going to confess to running around in a hood and green leather with a girl his little sister’s age yet. That could wait.
“A superhero?” Judy echoed, brows furrowed. Honestly, she’d heard weirder. She rested her head on her hand, listening. “Like … I don’t even know. Is that …” She chose her words carefully again. She didn’t want to offend. “So let me make sure I understand. That part of your dreams is what got you to grow up a little? Because of what you experienced there, you changed?”
She wasn’t upset, mostly curious. “I don’t think it matters why you changed,” she finally said. “I mean, you don’t need validation for what you’re doing with your life.” Judy smiled a little. “If you can do some good and do it in a way that makes you happy, well, shit. I think you’re ahead of most people, Oliver Queen.”
“Well, I guess it’s like...Tony Stark was already out there at that point, so the idea didn’t seem as weird as it would have if it’d been a couple months before. He kind of pioneered things. Him and a couple others that were running around here for a while there. So I guess I was inclined to, I don’t know, really think about what I could do to help when those things started happening. I mean...”
Ollie shrugged. “I shoot arrows. I’m not exactly prime material for going out and stopping big bads. But yeah, ironically enough that’s what did it. The thing that you usually grow OUT of.” Go figure. “I guess it was the idea that I sold everything of value in that world. Everything that I actually cared about, where here it was more a...sense of screwed up familial guilt and duty.” There went that guilt word again. He decided he was going to try to pretend he hadn’t mentioned it.
“But yeah, it’s working for me, I think...Mostly.” He wasn’t allowed to mention what he’d done in January as it was, because the first rule of the Agency was you didn’t talk about the Agency, so...he tried to put it off until he was alone again. That was reasonable, right?
Judy cocked her head to one side. “I’d say shut up and take a compliment, except now I’m not sure you’re enjoying what you’re doing.” She looked up at him and well, it didn’t take an idiot to see what he was carrying. A man who was able to say he was basically a freaking superhero ought to have said it with something approaching a little boy’s glee. Oliver said it like it was something mundane.
She laid her hand over his again, still smiling, but she knew it didn’t look all that amused. “No matter how real the other world is,” Judy said, fingers running over his, “there’s only so far you can bust your balls in this world for it. God knows I wouldn’t try to tell you how to live, Oliver, but even the Catholic Church doesn’t want sinners to atone for their entire lives.” Guilt was a shitty motivator for anything.
It wasn’t so much mundane as well, he wasn’t a superhero superhero. If he had the suit, or the super strength and flight ability like the people in his dreams? Or if he was fucking Batman, who he couldn’t quite place there, no matter how much he tried to figure out who he was to see if he was around here, he might have been more gleeful. He was more about...helping people where he could, in both places.
“Oh I do enjoy it.” He assured her. “It’s more the, I don't know, feels like a vocation more than something I’m supposed to like. I mean, ideally, there wouldn’t be a need for any of us.” He honestly did believe that too. “But here it’s less about the trying to be a superhero, more about the figuring out how it fits in. Atoning’s one of those things I don’t know if I’d do too well. Attention span issues.” He was like a freaking hamster, really when it came to stuff like that.
Judy had to laugh. “Okay, I get you. Just, you talked about familial guilt, and I know you worry, and Christ, Oliver. Roy says you need to grow up, and maybe you do, but you sure have the worrying part of adulthood down.” She knew the signs of someone who had a lot on their mind, that was all.
She sat back, smoothing her skirt. “And I don’t know. You’re so far better looking and less arrogant than Stark. Maybe you aren’t a superhero. Just a hero.”
“Oh the guilt thing...Actually.” He wasn’t sure if he should bring it up yet. It wasn’t exactly a taboo subject, but he hadn’t brought it up with Jubilee right away because it was the kind of story that was pretty heavy. “That’s more the parental family guilt thing. Roy’s stuff is more I did something shitty, he’s done shitty things back. It’s built. Thea’s is a ‘I had no clue she existed’ type of guilt. This was more the holding onto things because my father couldn’t anymore.”
Because Ollie had been the one to put his father in that position, he reminded himself, and then, for all the good that had done, the company was now doing the same things he’d exposed that caused his father’s stroke again. His guilt stretched to far other places that was for sure. “Aww, I could settle for hero if it means you’re impressed. Stark doesn’t have a you.”
Judy laughed. “He’s got a terrifyingly efficient lady named Pepper. And I don’t know, handsome, I still think what I said stands. Don’t let guilt eat you is all.” No matter what kind. “Being a hero is still pretty damn impressive, at least to me.” She rose. “I’ll be right back; feel free to check out my ass for effect.” She headed to the back for a second, going to the ladies’ room.
Ollie was perfectly fine with checking out her ass, and it wasn’t just for the effect, believe him. It was...maybe twenty percent for effect at this stage. Well, given what she was wearing, you couldn’t blame him, could you? As far as the guilt went, well, it was getting better these days. He’d probably never totally make his peace with some of the things he’d done but he could live with them now, when he considered the greater good he’d acted for. So that was a good start.
She half debated texting him and inviting him into the ladies’ room, but that might be too much for him right now - talk about paparazzi bait. He still sort of seemed to think she was classy, and it was cute on him. Maybe next time.
Judy came back after a second, smiling at the uncomfortable look the waiter shot her as she ambled by. She laughed quietly, telling Oliver what she’d been thinking as she sat down. “Was thinking about having you make your way back to the ladies’ room. If you were interested.” She smirked. “But I figured you didn’t want to tempt fate that much.”
Yeah that was the sort of thing that would be funny and fun, but it might be overkill at this stage. Ollie was up for it at some later point, hell yeah, but there were lines you had to walk, even when you were getting publicity so it was better saved for another time. When they needed to top themselves. And he DID still think she was classy for the most part.
“Hah.” he said, actually laughing as she rejoined him. “Yeah, that could work NEXT Time.” he teased. “But I don’t know, I don’t want to drag us through TOO much mud yet. Wait until they’ve slogged through the hilarity of whatever they’ll be posting about this THIS time.” he added with a little wink.
She grinned. “I’m sure most people would be aghast, but I don’t know, I think it’s funny. People’s lives are so boring that they have to comment on other people’s?” Judy did think of one thing, though. “Hey. When we leave, I’m gonna have the cab take a long route, though. Or you, if you drove. I don’t care if they write about me, but I won’t have them knocking on my damn door.”
“Good plan. I can do that.” Ollie assured her. “Yeah, it’s one thing to get your pictures in the papers, but the actual breaking down the door bit, and stalking you in the parking lot is so not cool.” Not that he’d had parking lot stalkers since the early 2000’s, when they’d found better stuff to do if they weren’t looking for photos, and the paps had kind of calmed down their aggression earlier than that in the wake of Princess Diana, but it was the kind of pain in the ass nobody wanted to deal with. So easily fixed enough. Good.
She grimaced. “Ouch. You speak from experience?” Well, that had to suck. Looking down at her plate, she chuckled. “How was the food? I liked it, but I’m about done.” Normally she wouldn’t be so cocky, but he had to know there would be sex for him later if he wanted it.
“Let’s just say the mid nineties were interesting.” Ollie went with as answer. “It was great, actually.” he grinned. “But I’m completely up for thinking about heading somewhere for dessert.” And there was a wink and a smirk, and someone at a table close by was trying to look like they hadn’t been eavesdropping and weren’t scandalized. Hah!
“Your place or my place?” She didn’t know where Roy and Thea spent most of their nights. Judy got up, tossing bills on the table - she’d said they’d go Dutch.
Ollie left his own and grinned. “We can hit up mine. Thea’s at a thing until tomorrow,” He didn’t know what, exactly, but it was one of those deals where the kids at the ranch were doing a thing and they’d wanted her along for the ride and she’d been comfortable enough to back. It was sort of like progress. “Roy’s got his own place so you’re spared the joys of THAT.” Thea, he had the feeling she’d get along okay with, when they met, but Roy was the one who made anybody want to hit him.
Judy chuckled. “I confess I’m kind of curious to meet that kid.” After having the balls to post an open letter on the internet warning her off Oliver? She definitely wanted to meet him. She saw that Oliver had paid for his own meal, though, and shook her head, handing him back the money, amused. “I said I’d handle it, dammit. Keep your money.”
As she gave him his money back, she caught the eye of the first waiter, who’d asked if Oliver was her son. She tiptoed up and kissed Oliver, smiling almost sweetly when she heard the surprised sound.
Oliver grinned, and turned the kiss into a kiss with a dip, because that was even better, and it sort of fit the atmosphere, now didn’t it? And okay, that might have been a flashbulb that was going off in the back there. Hah. Awesome.
That was what you got for assuming things. Ollie gave the dining room his brightest smile there, playing totally to the crowd. Hah! That would give them something to talk about AND teach people a thing or two.
And then it was out to the parking lot. “Was that a little over the top?” he asked her. “Sorry, couldn’t resist.”
Judy laughed, leaning on him. “Maybe a little, but you strike me as the type for grand gestures.” She was fairly sure that some girlfriend in his past had been the beneficiary of the bad serenade under her window, or the roses so beautiful they had to have been flown in from a hothouse.
They got to his car, and she slid into the passenger seat. “You said you’re downtown, right? It must be interesting, between the traffic and the noise. And I really mean interesting, that’s not code.” She’d lived in the middle of DC for eleven years after living in a suburb in Virginia, and she’d vastly preferred the loud, bustling city.
“I’m pretty good at the grand gestures, true.” He admitted, eyedarting. And it didn’t just extend to romantic options. He’d sent his best friend a note wrapped up in an arrow to tell him to get his head out of his ass, so it wasn’t the kind of thing that was limited in terms of doing it. Just in terms of the type of things he’d send. Barton wasn’t exactly the kind of person he’d send flowers to or anything. He MIGHT serenade him if the occasion warranted it though. Like a ‘it’s your night before your wedding’ song. ...Actually that was a really, really good idea.
“It’s not too bad, really. “ Ollie told her as he got the car started. “A little loud but there’s office space attached so I don’t have to worry until I leave the compound. 1010’s kinda like a google complex looks on tv.” And they’d had everything supplied when he’d decided to move to the area after he’d negotiated for a So-Cal office branch. So that had been a bonus. Packing was the WORST.
“I’ve actually been in the building before,” Judy said, settling back into the seat. The traffic was clearing up a little now, so they could move fast. She bit her lip, amused at the memory. “I may have stopped at the Starbucks on the ground floor for a coffee before a job interview one morning. Sorry, handsome, I may have needed the caffeine.” She shrugged, smiling. “That Zevran happened to be there, too. He’s sweet.”
Okay that was sort of funny. “This is the part where I make a confession before Roy gets to you that’s almost as shameful.” Ollie joked, eyedarting a little. “We were in Paris and I...uh... had to locate a KFC.” he shook his head. “I know, I know. Can’t explain it. Sometimes that stuff happens.” And then he smiled too. “Zevran is really amazing. He’s been probably the one thing that actually got through to Roy. And he’s so good for him. And somehow tolerates me.”
That was kind of funny in and of itself. Ollie had a tendency to be annoying at people he liked so...
Judy laughed delightedly. “KFC. Oliver Queen, you fucking hypocrite. And in Paris, no less.” She liked teasing him, if only because he looked cute as hell trying to deny it. “Zevran was very nice. Very kind. He was kind of impressed that I spoke Spanish. He treated me like a lady, believe it or not.” She chuckled. “He talked a little about you and Roy, but nothing I think you’d consider blabbing your business. Just that things are interesting between you two.” Which Roy had told her himself, of course.
“I know, right?” He was laughing too hard at the moment to really put up any kind of joking defense. “It remains one of the shames of my life,” he added, trying, and failing, to look completely serious there. “It’s funny. He’s got the rep where you think it’s not going to happen, then you end up having conversations that are just about normal things and you feel completely comfortable.” he said, of Zevran. “And stuff with Roy...yeah. You could call it that. There’s a lot of baggage. On both of our parts. We’re sort of starting to tackle it.”
That wasn’t her business, so Judy just smiled a little. “Zevran seems really … grounded, I guess. He probably needs to be.” She was just teasing, but well, she’d interacted with Roy, even if she hadn’t met him. “Your family business isn’t my business. Unless somebody makes it my business. Or if Thea keeps posting links to articles about expired cougars.” She had to laugh. “Your family’s got balls, Oliver.” Luckily hers were just as big.
“Yeah, he really does,” Ollie had to agree there. “I mean if it wasn’t for that, I don’t even know with Roy.” Probably dead, said that voice in his head that was starting to sound like Batman. It only came out when it came to pointing out the painfully obvious so that was good anyway. ...He swore he wasn’t developing an obsession with him.
“I think the Thea thing was more to mess with my head. She...does that. But hey, you did good that last time. Shut her up and everything.” That was a plus.
“Ladies have an art.” Judy chuckled as they slowed, turning into what looked like a garage. “You’re as nice as can be while sort of hiding an insult in what you say. Like, I once complimented this woman I hated on her new pants. I said ‘Those are so cute! They make your ass look so much smaller!’” It didn’t tend to work on men; they were usually not quick enough to pick up on the subtlety.
Oliver snickered at that part. “Ooh, that’s an amazing one really. I’ve never actually seen people put that kind of thing into practice. Good to know it happens though! ...Actually, that’s probably a good thing for Thea, really. You know, that whole don’t be a bitch thing.”
Judy might have cackled at that. “Let it out, Oliver, that’s good.” As they slowed to a stop, she might have turned his head with a few fingers and kissed him. He had such a good heart, and he just needed to laugh more often.
Ollie snickered at that bit. “Hey, I call it like I see it.” he pointed out, before the kiss. And then that sort of had him shutting up. Laughing more often was a good idea. He’d actually done that once. Before the dreams. He’d also been a horrible person but it had taken a while to start finding the balance. This though was looking like something he could strike.
She didn’t press it for long, smiling when he did. “Honesty is always good, especially with me.” Her hand still rested on his scratchy cheek. “I just would have loved to see Thea’s face if you said that in front of her.” Judy grinned. “Wanna head upstairs?” Truth told, though she couldn’t say it as it would have sounded weird, she was curious about his place. You could tell a lot about a person by where they lived. And the fact that Thea was out for the night somehow made it more fun - it was like having a party while your parents were away.
“Oh man that’d be funny.” Ollie had to agree. “Remind me to pull that one out sometime when I need to. It’d be good to expand the repertoire a little. I don’t know, I always grew up as an only child so I haven’t gotten in the habit of sibling torment yet. Yeah, let’s.” He agreed, leading the way to the elevator.
The place was an open floorplan, with dividers for the bedroom areas, and mostly done in glass and chrome and things. Sort of a modern style, with some of Ollie’s stuff around the place for effect. It was big enough that it wasn’t cluttered, even if there WERE some suspicious pots soaking in the kitchen area as a testament to the chilli thing being completely true here. It wasn’t exactly personalized so much at this point, but then, he hadn’t brought a lot with him when he’d moved in, so...
Thea being out was so much more fun yeah. Made it seem...forbidden or something. Ooh!
“This is beautiful.” Airy and light, and the view was even nice. Judy turned back to him, chuckling. “I expected a lot more clutter, to be honest.” With someone like Oliver, with his personality, she’d have expected his obsessions to pile up everywhere. It was oddly amusing that they hadn’t. It looked like a showplace, and she couldn’t help but joke a little. “Does Thea clean?”
“Most of my actual stuff isn’t here.” Ollie explained, grinning. “The bows and stuff, but a lot of it’s supplied by the complex. Moving in was kind of a spur of the moment thing. This was gonna be a couple months deal.” Then so much had happened, he’d just gone ahead and moved in the booze and other necessary stuff. “But yeah, she actually does. I know, I was totally shocked and kind of appalled too. “ He joked. Thea was probably seriously the reason he wasn’t going to have to replace the pots when he moved on.
Judy chuckled, but it turned into a deeper laugh when she caught sight of the aforementioned booze closet. “Jesus, Oliver, you could host a state reception with this stuff.” Some of the bottles she actually recognized. “You have a bottle of Russo-Baltique vodka in here. A new, full bottle of that retails for one point three million. Or this Glen Garioch …” She squinted to see the year. “Oliver, this is 1958. You could get three thousand dollars for just this one bottle of whiskey.” Trust an alcoholic to know her booze.
“I could, yeah.” He agreed, since that was pretty much true. “One of these days I really should do that if I don’t use it. I’d figured on doing a whole lot more entertainment than I wound up with.” he confided. “I mean without the shareholders to impress now, it IS a little much.” Kind of.
“I don’t want to touch it” - for obvious reasons - “but I do know some people who’ve turned eBay into an art form. I can probably put you in touch with them if you ever do want to sell any.” Judy smiled a little, coming back over toward him. “It does look nice, though.” How to put it? “If the cabinets weren’t quite so packed, it’d look very … I don’t know. Tony Stark. Except his would be half full.” She snickered.
She looked over at him, wondering not for the first time why he wasn’t happy with how impressive he was. He didn’t need to be Tony Stark.
It occurred to her that she hadn’t taken off her shoes, and she went over to lean against the counter for purchase so she could remove them. If the stockings peeked out from the hem of her skirt, well, that was just happenstance, of course.
Mostly? Because he hadn’t exactly earned a lot of it, and tended to fuck up the things he DID manage to earn. It was one of those weird paradox things, if you really thought about it much. Overall though? He was happy enough. He’d probably be happier once he managed to clean up the messes he’d left in his wake, the ones of those he could, but he didn’t know if he was ready for what that was going to take yet. And it was probably one of those fights that would take years.
“Like the stockings.” He told her, grinning, “Can I get you anything?”
Judy smiled. “Had to dress the part.” She put her shoes back by the door. “Honestly, just a glass of water would be nice. Thanks.” She walked back over with him, still looking around. “What’s it like with the open plan? I can’t imagine it’s easy with you and Thea.” If nothing else, you couldn’t really be alone in a place like this. That would have bugged Judy - there were times she needed to be by herself.
“It’s actually kinda convenient for those sibling wars you don’t want the other to back out of with door slamming.” Ollie joked, “I mean, you can’t exactly GO anywhere but out if you want to slam a door so that doesn’t happen. Then again, when you’re the one who wants to slam something, it can be a pain.” It’d honestly worked out better in the past than it was right now, but it wasn’t completely bad either. “We’re both immature and secretly thirteen.” he confided as he went to get that water for her and handed it over.
“Thanks.” Judy took the water and sipped; her throat was dry. She chuckled when he said they were both thirteen. “Shit, you better not be thirteen, otherwise TMZ really will have a field day.” But she shook her head. “No, I understand. There’s nowhere to hide in a place like this, which can be good and bad. I always need a hidey-hole, though; if I had to be in interaction mode all day I’d go nuts.”
“Yeah, that would suck.” He had to agree, shaking his head. “I’ve been getting out to the office though, and Thea’s usually out looking for jobs so we’re kind of away from each other. It’ll be easier when she finishes up her GED and I can get her into classes somewhere.” That would probably be in spring if everything went okay. “We might not irritate each other AS much then.” Considering most of Thea’s current friends that he knew about were either totally inappropriate ones, or had places they were staying, he didn’t anticipate her moving until she met normal people she might want to live with. And there was that protective part of him that wanted to keep her around.
Judy shrugged. “It’s obvious you want the best for her. One day I’m sure she’ll get her head out of her ass and realize it, but trust me, every girl goes through some rebellious stage. I don’t know Thea as well as you do, obviously, but I know how it went for me.” She grinned, sipping a bit more water before setting the glass aside. “My ma told me to my face that I was the reason she was dying. Turned out it was cirrhosis of the liver, but it did get me to stop staying out late and screwing around for a month or two.” And after Ma died, she’d gone right back to it. But still.
“Ouch.” Ollie said, nodding at that part. “I think it’s that we haven’t exactly known each other that long either. So it’s one of those boundary pushing things while we figure it out. Roy went through one of those too but he was a lot younger. And hell, I had my phase for ages.” Yeah, he was going to go in for his big familial guilt confession after all.
“I ACTUALLY gave my dad a stroke.” He said, trusting that he could tell this to Judy and she wouldn’t really freak out at him. “I did a journalism major, found out some shady details about the company that made me get really sick, let them slip anonymously and when that went public...That stress triggered things to get it started. “
It’d gotten him to play to the company angle for a little while, and let him get in and change things, like who they dealt with for the diamonds in question, but even so. It was one of those things. “That kind of calmed down the ‘fuck you world’ thing I had going on.”
Judy looked up at him, both honored that he’d told her something that was obviously big for him, and saddened because he looked … exhausted. At least while he’d been talking. She laid a hand on his arm, speaking simply. “I wouldn’t insult you by trying to say you didn’t do it.” She bit her lip. “But guilt is a really poor foundation for a life, and I really think you’ve got a lot more to give the world than atonement, Oliver Queen.”
“Agreed.” he said, nodding. “It was one of those things I ignored for a long time, without really ignoring it because I was letting it color everything. Weirdly the dreams started freeing me from that. I feel bad that I didn’t think about the consequences fully, but I can live with it now. And Roy and Thea aren’t guilt based I don’t think.” Bailing Roy out and bribing the judge had been guilt based, but that wasn’t why he’d raised him, and Thea was more of a wanting to help her out before she ruined her life. There was nothing purely guilt about it. Well, unless you counted teeny tiny twinges about fucking with her head when he’d come back from his date, but that didn’t count.
“And thank you.” he said to that last bit. “I’m doing what I can. If I don’t think it’s enough sometimes it’s not because I feel like I need to fix everything. More just wondering if I can help a few more. But I’ve got time to improve that way when it’s right to do it. I’m pretty confident I can.”
He didn’t hate himself or anything. He more...wanted to spread around what he’d had a lot of in life. And wanted to use his skills to help people.
“Roy and Thea are just pains in your ass.” Judy joked, but only a little. She understood where he was coming from. “Honestly, I just think you’re so damn big-hearted that you don’t always save any for you.” She smiled, reaching up to loosen his tie. “I get what you mean. I do. Just, in the midst of saving as many people as you can, you have to make sure you don’t burn out spectacularly. God knows I saw it enough in DC. People who had the greatest aims in the world, and then they just …” She gestured. “Exploded.” She got his tie undone, and smiled. “You should live to be my age at least. You’d look even sexier with some grey hair.”
“Pretty much.” He agreed, laughing. “Maybe not.” he said to that last part. It was worth thinking about anyway. “And if I go too extreme there, well, I don’t want to end up that grim or anything.” he explained, slipping a hand around so that he could cop a bit of a more interesting feel that involved actual skin. “No explosions. That’d be very messy, really.”
“Well, I’d miss you.” Judy chuckled, laughing as her skirt rode up. “And Thea’s life would be a lot less interesting without you in it, at least.” She started to undo his shirt buttons. “Which one’s yours, handsome?” Even she wasn’t black-hearted evil enough to suggest screwing in Thea’s bed.
“The one without the purple.” Ollie snickered. “And now I’ve got this urge to mess around with the sheets in the morning. Just because it’d be funny.” The skirt riding up was excellent as it gave him a definite place to start stroking her thigh from. He was evil, really. But it was funny evil.
Judy laughed, though his hand was awfully damn distracting. “Hell, you can do that now.” She turned around, holding her hair up. “Mind getting the zipper before you do?” If he took care of that, he could see the lining of the dress. Lulu was a master.
She felt him unzip the dress, and she stayed for a second so he could appreciate it. Lulu had lined the dark purple in a deep, lush red. It was supposed to make your skin look better, but there was also something sexy about red under a normal color. Almost naughty. She slid the sleeves off, leaving her to walk across the room in underwear, garter belt and stockings. She’d told the truth to Thea; the ass wasn’t sagging yet.
The zipper? Yeah, he was perfectly okay with easing that down. And he did take a second to appreciate the lining of the dress, for all that he knew about clothing and stuff. It did give him a really long pause anyway and he nodded approvingly at it. “Niice.” he breathed. It was quite naughty, sure.
And nope, no sagging. No expiration dates here. Lucky him too!
She’d taken off the rest of her clothes, and was waiting for him naked after he was done messing up Thea’s bed. She just set about showing him a good time, and if the reaction was any proof, she was successful.
They’d passed out after a while, and Judy woke up first, curled up against a softly snoring Oliver. She craned her neck blearily, looking up at the clock, belatedly remembering Thea was supposed to be home. Their clothes were still all over the floor, and her shoes were near the door.
She propped herself up on one elbow, figuring she’d better at least have Oliver awake, if not coherent, by the time Thea arrived. “Oliver,” she murmured, hoping he’d wake. “Oliver, c’mon, Thea will be home.”
Nothing. If anything he seemed to curl up more. Judy sighed. Guess there wasn’t any alternative. She slipped a hand under the covers, biting her lip to keep from laughing as she wrapped her hand around him. She was fairly sure he wouldn’t expect this from her.
That was around the moment that the door opened, and Thea was cautiously peeking in. Ollie might have brought the girlfriend back last night, but she’d been pretty sure that if he had, she’d have gotten a text from him or a tie on the door or...something. So, she headed inside, pretty confident everything was as normal as it usually was, setting her bag down for a second, and heading further inside to...
Oh.
OH.
HOLY SHIT.
Yeah, that was a definitely loud squeak right there. At which point, Ollie actually seemed to realize SOMETHING was going on, blearily, even if he wasn’t with it enough to figure things out.
Judy didn’t hear the door open, but in between the interesting noises Oliver was making, she heard the squeak well enough. Hopefully Thea wouldn’t look too closely at the blankets themselves. Either that or Oliver would wake up without any more help from her. “Hi, Thea. Oliver didn’t know what time you might be home.”
“Oh God. Oh my God.” And Thea was covering her face with her hands and backing around the corner. “I am so sorry, seriously. “ Sorry, Hot Cougar. This was so so bad. She was going to die or something like that. She was going to just...curl up somewhere and crawl under something and never come out again. Ever. Okay, yeah, not really.
“...” This was the moment Ollie noticed what was going on, for real, and glanced at Judy and her hand and smirked for half a second until his brain registered ‘Thea’. “Oh My GOD.” he choked out, and it sounded like he was torn between mortified and laughing hysterically. Or maybe both. “This is so horrendously bad. I don’t care that we’re all legal.”
And then that was a snort, yeah.
At first she’d wondered if Thea was going to fall over, but Oliver’s laughter was infectious. Judy laughed, sighing, shaking her head. “I tried to wake you,” she told him, grinning. “Not my fault you sleep like the dead!” She sat up, keeping the blankets around her, determined to be a lady about it, despite Thea looking something close to horrified. “Thea, would you mind going over behind the divider, so I can get my dress?” It was so hard at this point not to crack up; she was an equal opportunity shit disturber in that seeing Oliver look horrified was just as funny, but she figured the least she could do was get dressed.
“Definitely, definitely!” Thea promised, quickly moving over there, and well, okay, it was kind of hilarious. Kind of super awkward and Ollie was going to get...some kind of revenge in return. Like, she didn’t know what exactly. Something subtle and embarrassing for him, without being embarrassing for her. “Whoa, this is so not how I wanted to meet you.”
“Yeeah.” Ollie agreed, shaking his head, as he tried to remind himself why this was NOT funny. At all. “This is very very...bad. “ Snort. Nope. He couldn’t do it.
Judy got out of bed once Thea couldn’t see, padding over to get her clothes. She tossed Oliver his pants as well, just in case, grinning. “You could have warned her,” she told him, “so don’t expect me to chip in for the therapy bill.” Her voice got quieter, just in case, though she did laugh. “At least I didn’t get too far in waking you up before she came in.” She left the stockings off, but pulled everything else back on, turning around and sitting back down on Oliver’s bed. “Zip me up, please? Thea, it should be safe.”
Ollie slid on his pants and went ahead to get the zipper, still pretty amused. “Won’t be the first major set of sessions I’ve paid for.” he joked, though, technically, that was true. First one where it was entirely his fault, sure, but he didn’t think it’d end up being that bad anyway. Thea was sensible that way.
“Thank God.” Thea emerged, shaking her head. “Sorry, seriously. That was so not a good intro. So.” She nodded at Judy appreciatively. “How’d you manage to keep her around, Ollie? This one’s actually hot.”
That was accompanied with a huge grin at her brother, yeah.
Judy laughed, closing her eyes. “The G rated reason is because he makes me laugh, and the PG reason is that he’s cute as hell.” She couldn’t help the smirk. She could have added a few more, but she didn’t want to freak Oliver out. Guys - especially guys who looked like him - tended to get creeped out at anything too very personal. And yet, he’d been incredibly honest with her. Shit, she didn’t know.
“Aww.” Thea teased, deciding that she liked this woman, the same way she had that day on the network. “Yeah, keeping in at least PG is probably good. I don’t need to end up cowering behind the couch whimpering like some kind of runover pet.” Cause thinking about Ollie’s sex life? Sorta got her brain going in that direction.
“Uh huh.” Ollie rolled his eyes at her. “God knows what’s behind the couch, it’s probably scary as hell back there. You’ll probably die if you attempt it.” He added, with a little bit of a snerk at her there.
“Isn’t Thea the one who cleans, you said? She’ll probably attempt it before you.” Judy chuckled. She turned back to the girl. “If there’s a next time, I’ll make sure there’s a tie on the door or something.” She was fairly sure there’d be a next time, but she never wanted to assume. It just didn’t pay.
She headed over toward the door, picking up her shoes and sitting down to put them on. She couldn’t help but look up at Oliver and grin. “Thanks,” she said. For listening, for helping her get her own back, for trusting her, for being charming and funny. “Call me? You did say you’d surprise me sometime.”
“That’d be awesome.” Thea said, giving her a nod. Ollie’s Hot Cougar was cool, she decided, and sort of hoped she would be around again. She liked her, no seriously. And it took someone awesome who could keep up with Ollie’s shit so...
“IF there’s a next time?” Ollie echoed, following Judy to the door. “Come on, of course there’ll be a next time. I mean from my end of things. I intend to ask you.” he added, grinning too. “Thank YOU. And surprises, yeah. I’m good at those.” He didn’t know exactly what he’d do yet but he could improvise amazing stuff when it occurred to him.
She smiled, picking up her purse, looking up at him. “Hey, you know what they say about assuming.” Judy chuckled, though she did lower her voice, not wanting Thea to hear everything. “If I assume too much, I figure I scare you off. I’d kinda like to avoid that.” It was awkward to even put that out loud, if only because it was basically a confession that she liked him a lot.
“Well, hey, that’s not the kind of conversation that could scare me off.” Ollie told her. There was only one conversation that possibly COULD, and it wasn’t one that was gonna be likely with Judy, he didn’t think anyway, so he figured everything was perfectly safe. Anything short of kids and he was fine.
“Just checking.” Judy smiled a little crookedly. She fixed her shoe, then pulled him down for a kiss, regardless of whether Thea was watching or not. “TMZ might use the G word,” she said, not quite sure what he’d say to that. “You gonna be okay with that?”
“Ooh the Grandma one?” Ollie joked, winking to show that he was really joking there. “Hey, seriously? I think second date’s enough to decide girlfriend is something I’m okay with. Something awesome.” It just...worked somehow. It clicked perfectly in his head.
“Asshole.” Judy laughed, smacking him on the arm. “I can see the headline now: Sexy Billionaire Professes Interest in GILFs.” She wasn’t there yet, though she did hope TMZ was reasonably kind to her. At least she had the legs for it.
Hell with it. She kissed him once more before picking up her purse, never mind Thea. “I should get going.” She hadn’t been on a walk of shame in a few years. The thought amused her.
Ollie laughed at the smack, then tried to lean in for a kiss right then, which didn’t work too well in that particular moment. “They’ll all be insanely jealous.” he said, grinning, and then managed to get that kiss after all. Okay, score. “Oh man.” he said, laughing. “Does this count as a walk of shame or not? It’s hard to say.”
“It is totally a walk of shame, if only because we’d like to fit your ego in one room.” Judy winked. But her eyes were fond, and she smiled. “I’ll talk to you soon, handsome?”
“You bet.” Ollie promised her, smiling back. “Wouldn’t miss that for anything.” Let Thea think whatever she wanted about him getting a tiny bit sappy here. He didn’t really care right now. There were much other, better things, going on now.
She smiled genuinely. “Nice to meet you, Thea,” Judy called, before waving at Oliver, disappearing around the door.