Naturally, I own nothing.
Summary: (part one of a three part "episodic" arc) Luthorcorp has a new intern, and Oliver makes it his mission to make sure that she's not corrupted by the company's natural tendencies, and more specifically, Tess'.
AU Season 9, mostly Tollie
It had been a long day for Oliver Queen. He had been lucky for the last few weeks, being able to dodge his responsibilities in favor of his extra-curricular activities. But time, or rather an insistent Tess, had caught up with him. Three board meetings in one day was not a task to be repeated by someone with a better grip on their sanity.
"Alright, well, if you could call me back with that information, I would appreciate it." Oliver leaned on his desk and tried not to sigh out loud. He would have taken any number of tights jokes over this drivel. "Yes, talk to you soon. Uh huh, bye."
Now Oliver sighed openly and loudly. Turning away from the windows behind him, his heart jumped to his throat and then immediately fell to his toes. It was by sheer luck that he didn't actually scream at the sight of the petite red-headed teenager that had appeared in his office during the three minutes he had had his back turned. She jumped herself, and her eyes widened.
"I am so sorry, Mr. Queen!" She was blushing now and had a white knuckle death grip on the laptop against her chest.
"What the hell, kid?" Oliver steadied himself on his desk, trying not to show just how hard she had rattled him. "How did you get in here?"
The young woman blinked rapidly, obviously confused. "Um, you buzzed me up." She looked like the deer that was too fascinated by the bright lights to get out of the way of the incoming car. She pointed down at where Oliver's right hand was resting on the desk, and he followed her gaze to see that it was on top of the intercom.
"Of course I did." He straightened his jacket and walked to the front of his desk. "What can I do for you? I thought the school tours were over for the year." He flashed a watered-down version of his paparazzi grin, although he wasn't sure why he was trying so hard to charm some high school overachiever.
Whatever charm he was using, it certainly wasn't working if the look she shot his way was any indication. "I've graduated, actually." She extended her hand, keeping her gaze locked on Oliver. "I'm Annabeth Williams, the new intern. But call me Annie." Oliver found it odd that she didn't tack on the usual "everybody does" excuse. She was informing him of how he was to refer to her rather than offering more casual terms to their relationship. It was scary considering he still didn't believe that she could be eighteen. But she obviously didn't care what he thought of it, because she pulled her hand away as soon as they shook and there was no mistaking the down-to-business look in her eye.
"Ms. Mercer sent me over to confirm your attendance at the meet and greet tonight." Annie looked down at a legal pad on top of the laptop, absentmindedly pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "If I were you, I wouldn't say no."
"Well, you can tell Tess that …" Before the sentence got out of his mouth, everything the runt had said hit home. "Since when does Tess have an errand girl?"
Even when it was a thought, he knew it was stupid. But that was getting to be his reputation: he thought before he spoke but then said the wrong thing anyway. The look Annie shot him would probably have killed plant life. She shifted her weight onto one leg, the cocked hip adding to her no-nonsense attitude. Her eyes momentarily moved down to his desk again, and whatever she saw resulted in a less-than-subtle eye roll. "Is this the first time you've even seen your desk or what?"
Oliver did his best to appear offended, but the truth was that it had been a long time since he had taken the time to go through the papers stacking up on his workspace. Looking down, he noticed the corner of a pink "while you were out" slip sticking out of a file folder. Patiently extracting it without causing injury to himself, he scanned the note.
"An intern, huh?" He said after deciphering his dutiful secretary's unintelligible scrawl. "Tell me, does Tess think she runs the company by herself or am I missing something?"
"Do you really want me to answer that considering that phone call happened three weeks ago?" Annie used a ballpoint pen to point to the memo in his hand. "Now, will you be there or not? I have other things I could be doing."
"You just tell Tess what she wants to hear, alright?" It was his usual excuse. He didn't believe it, he knew for certain that Tess didn't believe it, and from the way she raised her eyebrows, he knew that Annie was on that list as well.
"Alright, but it's your funeral." She turned to go, but Oliver wasn't finished. He didn't really care that Tess had brought on an intern without talking to him. Hell, she ran the company without talking to him. But this girl intrigued him. Maybe it was her brusqueness, maybe it was just a natural curiosity. Something got him out from behind his desk fast enough to grab her arm and prevent her from getting away so easily.
"Hey, come on." He had the smile on again, and there was some actual emotion behind it this time. "You've got to have a couple of minutes. Trust me, she won't kill you on the first day."
Annie looked far from happy as she shook his hand off. "I've been here a week. This is just the first time I've had the …" she paused and looked him up and down, "pleasureof having to work with you." She glanced at the door and back at Oliver. "But I suppose I don't have to leave right now."
"Fantastic." Oliver collapsed into one of the armchairs in front of his desk. "Pull up a chair. Don't spare the gory details."
"I'll stand, thank you." She insisted, crossing her arms over the laptop and legal pad.
"Alright, so we won't make it fun." Oliver put his hands behind his head and propped his feet up on the desk. "So do I have to call you Annie or do I get some choice here?"
"You have to." Her expression never wavered. "I haven't gone by Annabeth since I was six. Unless you're my parents, but that's how it always works, isn't it?"
"What if I like Annabeth better?" He was pushing it, his favorite pastime.
"I'm leaving now." She started to turn around again.
"What? That's nothing. I don't even know if that's your real name."
He didn't move to stop her; she turned around of her own accord. "You want to know about me? Fine, listen up, rich boy." She leaned down, her eyes drilling into his. "I live in Rhode Island with my parents whom I hate and my older sister whom I tolerate. I'm here for the summer before I go to some fancy school for a business degree. You annoy me already." Standing up straight again, she plastered a pageant-esque smile on her face. "Have a nice day, Mr. Queen."
With that, she was out of his office. But Oliver Queen could already tell that Annie Williams wasn't going to be far from his mind. He also decided it was time that he and Tess had a talk, one that hopefully didn't result in bodily harm for him.
Good luck on that one.
