Lauriver Chronicles

Chapter 114

"What?" Oliver asked, hoping he'd misheard Lyla over the phone as he stood in his community center, which he had decided to use as the headquarters for his mayoral campaign, since he'd already announced his candidacy and he was already doing relatively well in the polls, since he already had a bit of a humanitarian reputation due to all the work his community center had done, not to mention other charities. The people of Star City didn't see him as just some politician or corporate snob.

"You heard me Oliver. Slade Wilson has escaped." Lyla said and Oliver closed his eyes as he groaned.

"I knew it was only a matter of time until he escaped, but that doesn't make it any easier to hear." Oliver said.

"I'm sending John and Jake out to the island to see if they can recover onsite surveillance footage of what happened, since our remote feed was down and it's taking time to access the satellite feed." Lyla said, since one of Lian Yu's security features was that it had satellite overwatch 24/7, making sure that they always had eyes on it.

"Good. Keep me posted on every development and see if we can figure out who sprung him, since the whole reason we put that prison on the island was so that even if he got out of that bunker, it'd be impossible for him to get off the island without help. Especially without properly working hands." Oliver said.

"Agreed. We'll figure it out." Lyla said.

"Thanks. But anyways Lyla, I need to go. I see my new campaign manager walking up and I need to meet with them." Oliver said as he hung up.

"Mr. Queen, is everything okay?" the manager asked.

"Yeah, just something personal. You must be the campaign manager my mother recommended. Ms." Oliver said.

"Adams. Onyx Adams." Onyx said as she held out her hand, which Oliver shook.

"Pleasure to meet you Ms. Adams. You came highly recommended by my mom, though she didn't mention how she knew you." Oliver said.

"We crossed paths back when she was running QC before you came back from the dead." Onyx said bluntly and Oliver smiled.

"I like you already. I think we'll get along well, as long as you don't try anything with me." Oliver said.

"I'm too scared of what your wife would do to me if I did, since I know you're too scared of her. Besides, most candidates wait until they get elected to have a cheating scandal." Onyx said and Oliver chuckled.

"Laurel's gonna love you. Nice to know you're not just all business. But now we really do need to discuss, since I might already have a jump in the polls as an underdog candidate, but that's not gonna be enough." Oliver said.

"No it is not. Luckily, you appeal to both the 1% and the disadvantage since you're technically a one percenter yourself and you've done a lot of good work for the Glades. And it was a very good move putting your campaign headquarters here in your community center." Onyx said.

"Thank you. But let's get down to business. My campaign." Oliver said and Onyx nodded.

"You might have an unconventional background, but people do love a survivor's story. Honestly, you've already checked a lot of boxes optically, since you appeal to a lot of categories." Onyx said.

"What do you mean?" Oliver asked.

"Well, like I said, you already appeal to the 1 percenters and the people of the Glades, but you're also a veteran like me, not to mention you have a survivor's story from your time on the island, which is inspiring, you're a family man with a beautiful wife and daughter, not to mention you fostered two additional kids, which will also help humanize you, you have a police officer as a father-in-law, which will help you secure that portion of the vote, not to mention your sister is marrying another woman, which also helps." Onyx said.

"You're a veteran?" Oliver asked.

"Navy, two tours." Onyx said.

"Thank you for your service. But I didn't realize how much of an appeal I already had with the voters." Oliver said and Onyx nodded.

"It helps that you also have Queen Consolidated to provide your budget, not to mention a possible endorsement from Wayne Enterprises too. But, your opponents can and likely will use your lack of political experience against you, so you'll need to prepare yourself for that." Onyx said as they continued their conversation.

Onyx is played by Lea Michele.