I would have never set foot inside Club Verdant that night if I hadn't been so cold. I'd spent most of my life in the glades and on the streets and was perfectly willing to stay far away from the sorts of places the wealthy hung out. I'm sure the people who went there didn't think of themselves as wealthy. I mean it was the glades not Beverly Hills. But they mostly all had jobs, cars, homes to rent, food to eat, and nice clothes. That was a lot more than what I could claim out of life. Anyway, I had just scored a semi new pair of gloves from the lost and found at the gas station three blocks from the club when the rain just started pouring down like crazy. There was no place else to go but into the club. I'm actually kinda surprised they even let me in dressed in my ragged jeans, converse sneakers, and stained floral blouse but they did.
I had never been inside a night club before and didn't really know what to expect. The music was loud, the drinks were flowing, and the people were...well let's just say they weren't my kind of people. I didn't do sparkly dresses or high heels. I didn't even do makeup. It wasn't esseltial to survival and therefore I couldn't afford it. My life consisted of scavenging a living off of stuff that people like this threw away. I pushed my way through the writhing crowd and tried not to touch anybody until I found an empty corner under a heating vent where I could try to dry off unnoticed.
Thea Queen was tending the bar. I had never met her but I knew her from the news. Following the news was part of my daily routine. Each morning I'd wake up, grab my stuff (which was mostly already in the backpack I wore to sleep) head over to Ed's Gym. He let me do my laundry there and take a shower, plus he gave me all the empty water bottles in the recycle bin in exchange for washing all the gym laundry. This mostly consisted of three loads of towels used by gym patrons. Ed barely had time to clean the place let alone fold a mountain of towels. The first two hours of my day were always spent at the back rooms at Ed's. From there, I took the empty water bottles to the redemption center where I exchanged them for five cents a bottle. If I were lucky, I could get enough change for breakfast and coffee. If not, I could usually scrounge up enough for a muffin. After breakfast i went to the public library to read the newspaper. I never bought a newspaper or a book but I did read a ton of stuff thanks to the public library. I'd seen Thea or other members of her family more than once in the paper. I looked away from where she stood at the bar, trying not to hate her.
I remembered when Moira Queen had been running for political office and had made some statement or other about lazy homeless people getting jobs. I couldn't recall the exact words but it didn't really matter. What mattered was the sentiment behind them. People like the Queens really thought they were better than the rest of us. I might not be traditionally employed but I worked damn hard just to survive and better myself. I watched Thea a little longer with her smug smile and fake friendliness and wanted nothing more than to go slap that smile right off her face. Of course I didn't do any such thing. That would have only been more points for the hard working rich folks and another strike against the lazy homeless girl.
I was just starting to feel dry and warm and was about to make my exit when I saw him, Oliver Queen. He came up to the bar and spoke to Thea. She seemed irritated. The whole conversation seemed irritated. In fact I was irritated too just watching. He was so good looking and he could have done anything with his life after coming back from that island and what did he do? Open a friggin' nightclub! As if this city needed more loud music, booze, and overdressed idiots prancing around in overpriced clothes. Why couldn't he have started a charity or at least gone to some fancy university and done something meaningful with his life. Instead, he continued to be seen in the tabloids with one woman after another and apparently had no plans to better himself. But i was the bad person according to them.
I shook my head, shouldered my dripping backpack, and prepared to make my way back through the crowd and out the door. It would be wet under the bridge tonight. Maybe if I were lucky, the gazebo in the park would be empty. Probably not though. I slipped out the door and headed toward the Dinner on Oak Street. A lot of people often tossed out beer cans in the parking lot there. Littering was always worse in bad weather. I might be able to get enough in returnables for a subway ticket and could sleep on the train for a while and stay out of the weather.
"Hey!" I heard a male voice call out to me as I reached the curb. "Hey you dropped something."
I turned to find myself standing face to face with Oliver Queen. He was holding my stainless steel water bottle. My backpack had its own special pocket for the water bottle but I guess it had fallen out somehow. I was actually kinda surprised that someone like him would have bothered to return it to someone like me. He'd certainly had enough time to notice that I wasn't exactly dressed like I belonged there and yet he'd sought me out anyway. "Uh... thanks." I said.
"No problem." He shrugged and I turned to leave. "Hey wait. I hope this doesn't offend you, I know a lot of people like more relaxed fashion than I do... but between your clothes and your backpack...I'm wondering you have some place to sleep tonight?"
So he had noticed, and he had guessed correctly that I was homeless. I wanted to be angry, to continue hating him but I found I was just too cold and too tired to bother. "Not yet." I admitted. I expected he would just point me to some local shelter and I could be on my way.
"Come with me." He said, turning away.
I knew I shouldn't follow him. This was Oliver Queen after all. How was I to know if he planned to drug me and rape me and then toss me back out on the street again where no one would believe me over him. I shouldn't have followed him, but I did anyway. I was cold and tired and hungry and wet, and for just once in my life I wanted to believe that people weren't as bad as they seemed.
Oliver took me around the side of the building and into a different entrance. We went down a long set of stairs and into a dimly lit room. There was a computer and some tables and a sofa.
"If you hadn't already guessed, I'm Oliver Queen."
"I had." I said, suddenly feeling shy about being alone with him. "I'm Maisy Baxter."
"Nice to meet you Maisy. Listen, I've heard that the rain isn't gonna let up for several more hours. You're welcome to sleep here on the couch, there's some leftover pizza in the box on the table... I have some work to do and I'll mostly be in the storeroom over there if you need any thing."
And that was it. Oliver left to do his work and I slept on the sofa in the basement of his club. He never tried to be my pretend friend or tried to convince me to get a job. He never tried to take advantage of the lonely homeless woman. He just gave me a place to sleep with no judgement or strings attached. I was honestly quite surprised by that.
In the morning I grabbed a couple slices of pizza from the box on the table. Then I headed out to go to Ed's like I usually did. I didn't see Oliver anywhere to thank him so I just left. I figured I would probably never see him again and that was just fine with me.
I finished up my work at Ed's, got $3.45 for the water bottles and made my way to the library from there. The streets were wet and muddy from all the rain the night before and I actually felt kinda bad for staying so dry when I saw how some of my street companions had fared during the storm. I tried not to let it get to me. I couldn't save them from every storm or hunger pang that came their way. It was hard enough trying to take care of myself. I got to the library and spent the first hour reading the newspaper. Then I resumed reading the text I'd been working through on European History. I know it sounds boring, but I will read anything and everything. I love to learn. I live and breathe to learn new things. I live for that and to help people. My helpful nature is probably what kept me homeless and I knew it, but I really didn't care. My life wasn't so horrible. Not really. Except for Jason but I didn't want to think about that.
Towards lunch time, I left the library and went over to Tina's Hair Salon. Tina and I had an arrangement of our own. English was not Tina's first language, Spanish was. I happened to be bilingual and would help her practice during the lunch hour. Tina gave me lunch and hand me down clothes for my help. We happened to be about the same size. I knew that I could be getting more money out of Ed and Tina and the others, that I could probably demand more, but they weren't rich and I liked helping them out most of the time. I never told them I was homeless. Not Ed or Tina or any of them. I didn't want their pity. That day, Tina gave me buttitos for lunch and a couple of T-Shirts too.
Late afternoons were usually spent helping old Harold Felton to walk from his home on Fennel Street to the Cafe at the corner of Fennel and Grove. Harold's was eighty-six years old and followed the same routine all his life. He took supper at the corner cafe each day. He wasn't so good at walking without a cane and even worse at longer distances but he didn't have a car or any family nearby to give him a ride. I think if Harold could have remembered who I was, he might have offered to let me live with him but as it was, I had to reintroduce myself half the time when I helped him. His daughter found out I had been helping him a couple of years earlier and began paying for my meals at the cafe. I met her once and she was just so happy that someone was taking the time to get her Dad safely to and from supper and she wished she could do more.
I had just left Harold back at his house after a meal of fish chowder and buttermilk biscuits, when I heard him from somewhere behind me.
"Maisy! Where the hell have you been?" It was Jason Price, my sort of ex boyfriend.
"Around, just like I am every day." I kept walking, in spite of knowing it wouldn't make him go away. Nothing ever did.
He caught up to me and came around in front of me, blocking my way. I tried to go past him but he moved, blocking my path again. "You aren't around every day. You're always trying to avoid me."
Of course I had been trying to avoid him. I had told him to stay away from me. I had called the police on him. It had been only five dates, three years ago and yet he couldn't seem to leave me alone for more than a few weeks at most. I didn't know what to say. I was genuinely afraid of him, afraid of making him angry and with good reason too. "I've just been around doing the stuff I always do." I tried to sound cheerful. We were on a residential street. This wasn't the place to anger him. There wasn't any place that was a good place to anger him.
"No you haven't! You weren't under the bridge last night! Who were you with?" Jason was in my face, shouting and I was trying with all my might not to flashback to past incidents with him. I had to stay in the present and calmly convince him to leave. That was all I could do.
"N-No, I wasn't under the bridge. It was pouring rain last night...I couldn't sleep there..." I said, lamely.
"I already know you weren't under the bridge you stupid bitch!" Jason's hands were around my neck, his grip tightening. "Tell me where you were before I..."
"Oliver Queen." I gasped and Jason suddenly dropped me.
"What did you say?" His blue eyes, the eyes that I had once thought hot, were raging with anger.
"I said, Oliver Queen gave me a place to stay." I knew the moment the words had left my mouth that it had been a mistake to tell him.
Jason hit me so hard that I hit the ground. I wish I could say that I don't remember the rest of it. Everything would be so much easier if I could just put it out of my mind somehow. But I can't forget. I picked myself off the ground and tried to run from him but he was faster and stronger. He hit me and he pinned me beneath him and he raped me. He had raped me other times before but I had never seen him so angry. He just kept screaming about Oliver Queen and he kept hitting me and hitting me until everything went black.
I woke up some time later in a strange room which I quickly realized was a hospital room. My left eye was swollen shut and it took a moment for the blurriness in my right eye to clear. Then I saw who was in the room with me. It was none other than Oliver Queen.
"What's going on?" I tried to sit up and felt a wave of pain.
"Whoa, take it easy." Oliver came to my bedside. "Don't try to move."
"What are you doing here?" I hated to be so rude but I had to know.
"A witness, a little old lady, saw you get attacked and called the police. She heard the argument you had... and my name was mentioned...I have friends in the police department who told me what happened, and asked me if I knew you... so I came to check on you."
"Oh." I felt limp and hopeless and I didn't know what else.
"Jason Price is in jail." He said in what he probably meant to be a reassuring tone.
"He won't be there for long. His family has as much money as yours." Oops, I said the first thing that popped into my mind and realized immediately that it had been the wrong thing, again.
"That isn't really relevant, is it?" Oliver said.
"Of course it is. He has all the lawyers and judges in his pocket and I'm just some homeless street trash without a future. How much money he has is the only thing that's relevant."
"Do you really believe that?" Oliver said taking a chair next to my bed.
"What, that money is the only thing that's relevant?"
"No, do you believe that you're street trash without a future? Because you aren't." Oliver said it as if he meant it.
"How do you know? You don't know anything about me." I knew I shouldn't be so angry with him but there it was anyway.
"When you left the club this morning, I wasn't sure where you'd gone so I had a friend of mine try to track you down... I know that you do laundry to help out Ed Hinson because he spends almost all his income on renting the gym building and all his free time with his elderly mother. I know that you're helping Tina Gonzales to learn to write in English so she can help her kids with their homework...And then there's Harold and Bill and Arlene...You do a lot for the people in this city. You're not trash...you need to learn to not even think that way."
Something broke inside me at his words. I just started crying, sobbing really, and I couldn't stop. Oliver reached over and took my hand and held it. He didn't let go until long after I had stopped crying.
"I'm gonna pay for your hospital stay and your lawyer." Oliver said after I had finally grown silent.
"Thank you, but there's no need for you to get involved." I tried to protest. I didn't want to owe the Queens anything.
"I already am involved." He insisted and I found that I just didn't have the energy to argue with him. I didn't have the money for the hospital bill either so what the heck.
"Fine then." I sighed. "Any idea when I can get out of here?"
"No, but whenever it is, you can come stay with me and Thea for a while. At least until you get on your feet."
I just stared at him for a second. "Are you nuts? What kind of a person invites a homeless person into their house? How do you know I won't just steal all your family jewelery or wreck your guest room?"
Oliver almost smiled. "I'm not worried about it too much."
"Right, because you can afford to replace it." My sarcastic mouth was really running away with me. I knew I needed to stop. He was being nice to me, offering to help me and all. I knew I shouldn't be so rude but I couldn't stop.
"I can afford to replace it, but that's not the reason I'm not worried." He said.
Okay, he had me curious. I kinda wanted to know the reason he wasn't worried about me potentially stealing from him but I never got to find out. The nurse walked in about then and asked Oliver to step out she she could change my bandages. It turns out that my hospital gown had to be removed to change the bandages. I had a gash on my inner thigh and another on my ribs. I was glad the nurse had sent Oliver out. He had told me he would be back later but I didn't see him again until the next morning.
I was eating breakfast in bed (and it was literally the only time I had ever eaten breakfast in bed in years) when Oliver came back to check on me.
"Hey." He said, poking his head in through the door to my room.
I waved him in because my mouth was full of food. He came in and sat in the chair next to my bed. "So, I heard you're being released today?"
"Yeah... I guess so." I wasn't exactly thrilled about it. I mean I was glad to get out of the hospital but not sure how I felt about going home with Oliver Queen. I knew I could refuse to go but if I did then I might never get another chance to see Jason go to jail. I didn't think I had a chance of beating Jason in court without the Queen money.
"I've asked my friend Laurel Lance to be your lawyer." Oliver was saying. "She wants to talk to you before she takes the case."
I nodded while I ate. Of course the fancy lawyer wanted to talk to me. It wasn't just about the case. It was also to find out if this particular case would be an enhancement or a detriment to her career. Lawyers only cared about justice when it suited them. Or so it seemed.
"She's actually coming here this morning." Oliver glanced at his watch. "Probably any minute now."
"Oh." I put down my fork, feeling deflated. I was in no condition to impress any lawyers. Maybe I shouldn't even try. Maybe I should just accept things as they were. Jason was rich and well connected and would probably walk free in the end like he always did.
Laurel did arrive just a couple minutes later and at first glance I didn't like her, I mean I think I might have actually hated her. She just walked right into the room like she owned it. Her hair stayed perfectly in place on her shoulders, her high heels made that annoying clicking sound, and her hips swayed just enough to catch Oliver's eye for half a second. Yup, definitely hated her. But it's never a good idea to hate the one person who can help put your enemies in jail... so I did my best to smile and politely say, "Nice to meet you."
"I know you're going through a lot..." Laurel was saying as she sat down in the chair Oliver had used earlier. "But I have to ask you about your history with Jason Price and about what exactly happened with him the other night."
"Well, I met Jason about three years ago." I began. "I worked as an administrative assistant for his Hilda Price for about two years..." I didn't like recounting this story, it was really difficult for me.
"You worked for Hilda Price?" Laurel seemed surprised. Anyone who knew PriceCo, knew that only the best and brightest were ever employed there. It had been a very competitive application process.
"Yes. Jason was away at University most of the time I employed there. Ms Price didn't ever bring her family to the office. It was only by chance that Jason stopped by the office one day. he had wrecked his car in an accident a block away and stopped by to get some money or something from his mother... he asked me out and I said no, I thought it would be unprofessional to date the boss son... except after he left she told me I should have said yes. She wanted her son to be interested in someone like me..."
"Wow. Creepy." Laurel said.
"Yeah, I thought so too. Anyway, he kept asking and I eventually agreed to a date. Once he had my phone number and address he became more and more obsessive. He was always calling or driving by my house. I broke it off after a few dates... or I tried to...but he wouldn't take no for an answer. The first time he raped me I went to the hospital and reported it right away and Jason got arrested...I didn't go to work the next day...I mean what was I supposed to say to Ms Price?"
"That would be awkward." Laurel was taking notes.
"Then I found out that Jason was out on bail. The judge was his uncle...Ms Price called me up after that. She said she would forgive me and let me come back to work if I would promise to drop the charges. I said no. Then everything started all going to hell after that...did you know that the Price family owns seventy percent the rental real estate in this city?"
Laurel looked up from her notes. "No, I didn't know that."
"It's pretty hard to find a place to rent that isn't owned by them. They kicked me out of my place as soon as the lease was up, fired me from my job, and give shitty references every time I try to get a new job...I think they have actually paid people not to hire me... and like I said, Jason's uncle is a judge, two cousins are cops, an an aunt is a lawyer, and they have unlimited money. Jason has been free to do whatever he wanted to me since that first incident."
"How many incidents have there been?"
I swallowed. "Seventeen. He's raped me seventeen times. I've lost count on just stalking and harassment. I stopped reporting it after the first few times got me nowhere. "
"Maisy, I don't mean to sound crass, but you didn't have any family to stay with? Maybe a brother who could have looked out for you?"
"No. For most of my life it was just me and my mom. My dad died when I was two. We lived in a shitty leaky apartment in the glades until I was thirteen. Then she died too. I stayed in a foster home for a few weeks but I hated there. I ran away and lived on the streets until I was old enough to take my GED and use my dad's military benefits for college tuition."
"Did you get your degree?" Laurel asked, seemingly interested in my story.
"I did...I got a Bachelor's in Business Management."
"So why are you still here? Why not leave the city and start over someplace new?" Laurel said. She didn't actually sound judgmental about it but I couldn't help but think that she was.
"It takes money to leave..." I shrugged. "And the people in the glades are my friends...If I leave, who would make sure Harold didn't have a bad fall walking to the cafe each night? Who would carry in Bill and Arlene's groceries every Tuesday? Who would help Tina learn English for her daughter? I can't just leave..."
Laurel nodded. Whatever she thought about all that, she was polite enough to keep it to herself. I was a little surprised at that. These wealthy people had been doing that a lot the last few me. Besides, I think she knew she didn't need to tell me how stupid I had been. I really didn't have any obligation to these people in the city. It's true that they needed some help sometimes and that I did care about them but I also had an obligation to take care of myself. So why didn't I? Why didn't I take care of myself? I think maybe I had given up on myself. Not entirely given up. It wasn't as if I were suicidal or on drugs or not bothering to even try to survive. But I had given up on the idea of life ever holding anything better for me than what I already had. I didn't have any dreams for the future anymore.
"What happened between you and Jason the other night?" Laurel said, getting back on track with the reason for her visit.
So I told her all of it, even the stuff I didn't want to remember. She recorded my statement on her cell phone while I spoke. When I was finished she was quiet for a few minutes as she made a few more notes.
"I'm gonna take your case. I should have told you that earlier. I only told Oliver I was undecided because he was irritating me. He does that. Anyway, I need you to make sure you stay with Oliver and Thea. He said you ran off the last time..." Laurel said.
"I guess I kinda did." I admitted. "I don't like feeling like I owe people something for their help."
"Maisy, from what I've heard, you help other people out all the time. You don't need to feel guilty about letting someone do the same for you."
I hadn't thought if it like that before.
"Just don't run off." Laurel was saying as she put her papers and things back in her briefcase. "I'll do what I can to keep Jason in jail until the trial but I can't promise anything. The Queen's have really good security. It's important for your own safety that you stay there with them."
"Okay." I agreed. I didn't really like it but some part of me did like the idea of a safe warm bed for however long it would last. "I won't run off."
"Alright, then I will stop by the Queen's sometime tomorrow afternoon. See you then." With that Laurel was gone.
A short time later I signed my hospital release form and Oliver brought me back to his house. It was a really beautiful house and I felt a little overwhelmed just being there, though I tried not to make a big deal about it. I followed him up the big stairway and down a long wide hallway upstairs to the room where I would be staying. The room was larger than the whole apartment I'd shared with my mom as a kid. I wanted to be angry that the Queens had so much while my mom had worked her ass off for so little but I found I wasn't really angry anymore. I was just thankful for a nice place to stay for however long it lasted.
Oliver only stayed a little while longer. He explained the meal schedule to me and who to ask for things like linens and towels. Then he left to attend to some work or something to do with the Verdant.
I went into the huge old bedroom and just kind of looked at things in awe. There were paintings hung on the walls, a couple of huge antique wardrobe cabinets, a canopy bed with silk sheets. The carpets were very old Persian rugs that looked like they had been well cared for. One of the dressers had tall silver candlesticks, the desk had two more. I felt more out of place here than I had at the Verdant. I couldn't imagine what it must have been like for Thea and Oliver, growing up in such luxury. As kid, I'd had a rickety old dresser with four drawers. Someone had painted each of the drawers a different color, yellow, red, blue, and green. The green drawer was missing a handle on the right and we had to pull it just right with the left handle or it wouldn't open. My bed had been the top half of a bunk bed and mom had stored a bunch of stuff underneath just to keep it from falling over. Our carpet had always been ratty and stained, the kitchen sink drain was always leaking, we never had a lot food to pick from but there was always macaroni or ramen noodles. I never went hungry while mom was still around.
I climbed onto the bed and sank into the softness, still thinking. After Mom died, I had been hungry a lot. It wasn't easy for a teenage girl living on the streets. Looking back, I wasn't sure how I avoided trouble for as long as I did. But I was a geek at heart and I preferred hanging out at the library to partying. I guess that must have been what kept me out of trouble. It also must have been what allowed me to pass my GED at seventeen years old. I went to the local community college and still lived on the streets during most of that time. If I hadn't had my tuition paid by my Dad's Veteran's benefits I would have never been able to go. My first internship after graduation came with a rent voucher and that was how I ended up in the only apartment I ever rented. I paid my own rent after getting the job with PriceCo, at least I did until they threw me out.
It was there laying on the huge bed in Oliver Queen's house that I came to a decision. When all this was over and Jason was in jail, I was going to leave the city and start over. I would find a job and save up for an apartment and maybe even date a nice guy and get a cat... I would probably never have a place as nice as what the Queens had. But I could at least hope for a little house in a small town where I could maybe manage some little Diner or Cafe. Maybe I'd even open a Diner of my own. Whatever it was, it would be better than sleeping under a bridge and worrying about being raped. I deserved better. My Mom would have wanted better for me.
I didn't even realize I was crying until someone knocked on the door. I got up and wiped away my tears and went to the door. A blonde girl wearing glasses and a pink dress with heels was at the door.
"Hi, I'm Felicity, Oliver's friend slash assistant. He sent me and Diggle to bring you shopping. You'll need clothes for the trial."
My eyes widened. I wasn't sure I cared for Felicity's sense of fashion. I was skeptical of what shopping with her might be like. "What's a Diggle?" I finally asked.
"Oh. Right. He was Oliver's bodyguard, John Diggle. I think he hates shopping but he's just coming along in case there's any change on Jason's bail status." She rambled on.
"Oh. Well, I don't have any money..."
"Oliver's paying. He said to get you some clothes for the trial and some everyday stuff too...unless this is a bad time." Felicity had apparently just noticed that I had been crying.
"No, it's fine. I could use a good distraction." I told her, and that was the honest truth.
John Diggle was waiting for us in the car. Before the day was over I had four everyday outfits, two for the trial, two new pairs of shoes, pajamas, and new underclothes. I found that I liked Felicity in spite of having completely different fashion tastes. She was a geek too so we found a lot of things to talk about.
On the way back to the house we passed the little Cafe on the corner of Fennel and Grove and I noticed for the first time that it was for sale. I couldn't help but worry what would happen to Harold if the place closed down. He wouldn't know what to do with himself if he couldn't go there for supper every night. Then we passed Ed's Gym and the street where Bill and Arlene lived, and Tina's beauty shop...I tried not to think about them. I would go say goodbye when this was over and I'd move on with my life.
That evening, I had dinner with Oliver, Thea, and Roy in their lovely dinning room. I was worried the entire time that I would use the wrong fork or do something wrong so it was really hard to enjoy the meal. I'm not even sure what it was that we ate. The name of the dish was something french. I was pretty familiar with Spanish, German, and even a little Latin, but French was new to me. Whatever it was, the food was good. In between courses, Thea stepped out to use the bathroom and shortly after, Oliver had a phone call.
"Don't worry. I'm just as clueless as you are." Roy said, holding up three forks.
I breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good to know."
"Thea has tried to tell me how all these forks and things work but it doesn't stick, especially not when you went your whole life using just one kind." He went on.
"I know exactly what you mean."
Thea and Oliver came back shortly after that. Roy and Thea decided to go see a movie after dinner, leaving me alone with Oliver. We talked some about my past and a little about his. I don't remember a lot of the details of what was said. What I do remember is how strangely comfortable I felt around him. In spite of all our differences, in spite of his wealth and my poverty, in spite of the fact that he knew how to eat with these fancy utensils and I didn't, he really wasn't so bad.
"I have a confession to make." I said.
"Don't do that." He said with a grin. "It never ends well when women say that."
"Why, do you break all their hearts?" I teased.
"Something like that." He shrugged.
"Well it wasn't what you think anyway. I was just going to say that I was wrong about you. I judged you before I knew you and I turned out to be wrong. I wanna that you for helping me in spite of my preconceived ideas on what you were like." I said a little awkwardly.
"It wasn't just you. I made a few judgements of my own and I hoped I was wrong. It turns out I was. I'm glad I was wrong." He said.
Two months later my awesome lawyer Laurel Lance helped to put Jason Price into prison for a very long time. I now own a little Cafe on Fennel and Grove street thanks to a loan from Oliver Queen. I have my own apartment up above the cafe and I send one of my employees down to walk with Harold each evening so I don't have to worry about him. Tina walks over and takes her lunch in my cafe and we practice English every lunch hour just like before. Ed finally got his insurance to cover a home nurse for his mom (with Laurel's help)so he has time for the laundry now. As for Bill and Arlene, I couldn't leave them hanging without help to carry groceries on Tuesday nights so I have Penny watch the Cafe for half an hour while I go help them out myself.
Last week I got a kitten, one of those orange tiger cats with long hair, just like me and my mom used to have. I still miss her. I know I always will.
There's been this guy who comes in for breakfast every morning. He's young and hot and very serious looking. He always wears flannel and jeans and he's always intensely invested in the books he brings with him. Some of the titles he brings I've read. Others, I took out of the library after he came. He has very good taste in books. I can always tell a lot about a guy by his taste in books. Yesterday, I brought him his coffee and he looked up at me as if it was the first time he'd seen me. His name is Pete. We're going out for coffee tonight. I don't know what the future holds for me but I do know I have a lot more hope than I ever did before. I have hope and I'm pretty happy with my life too. Mostly though, I've learned to accept that people are not always what they seem.