Prodigal Son

Chapter 21

Felicity couldn't remember the last time she'd mindlessly thrown herself into the moment like she had tonight on the dance floor at Verdant. Immediately, her mind contradicted her thoughts and images of the night before with Oliver in the pool flashed into frame. She smiled. Ok, true, but the two events were very different. Tonight had been about escape, a frenzy of denial over how out of control her life had become.

But with Oliver, she wasn't trying to get away. She tightened her arms around his neck and leaned into him more fully. Even without a reminder on the finite nature of life from people pointing guns or making threats against them, their time was limited. She'd been telling herself they had two months but really, they were already down to six weeks. She couldn't control that even if thinking about it made her feel a little panicky.

Or had made her feel panicky.

It's not like she'd stopped dreading the expiration date rushing toward them, but maybe between being held at gunpoint and having her carefully put together home ripped apart, she'd finally learned to live in the moment.

Growing up, she'd understood the capriciousness of life. One day you were a family and the next, your father walks out of your life. Her mother tried her very best to support them, but a cocktail waitress was dependent on securing prime shifts and the whims of her customers. Money always remained tight when she was young and until she'd gotten old enough to handle the budget, there had been too many midnight moves and weeks spent crashing on a friend's couch. Later, they'd moved around less, but often the only reason they hadn't gone hungry were the leftovers Donna snuck home from the casino's all you can eat buffet.

Finances were marginally better when Felicity went to MIT on a scholarship. Her full ride covered school costs, room and board. Rather than letting her get a job to cover everything else, her mom insisted she concentrate on her classes and somehow always managed to scrape together enough money for clothes and a few extra's while Felicity crammed two Master degrees into less time than it normally took to acquire a Bachelor's degree. She'd left school a different person, throwing herself into the thrills of a steady job, a savings account, a 401k, and eventually, a mortgage on her own home.

The two bedroom townhome on the edge of the Glades hadn't been fancy or in the best neighborhood, but it had been hers and she'd let herself forget the lessons she'd learned growing up. You could plan for the future, but you couldn't control it. The home she'd created for herself would never feel like home again. Even once it was cleaned up, she wouldn't feel safe living there. And she couldn't stay at the Queen Mansion forever. Everything in her life was temporary right now. Where she lived, the job she held, the relationship she'd started. She wasn't sure what her life would look like in a few months and that was oddly freeing.

She'd fallen apart a little when they'd first arrived at Verdant, sobbing in private to Thea over the least of her concerns. She managed to get it together enough to fill in everyone about what she and Oliver had been looking into and maybe that was the real explanation for why her heart felt lighter tonight. The burden of her secrets was now spread out among many.

Hers wasn't the only life in flux. Oliver had been grappling with his demons and searching for answers since he arrived in Starling. Thea was trying to find herself as well. Her first night working at Verdant looked to be a huge success but did Thea think all she had to offer was professional party girl? And then there was Tommy. With Verdant, he'd finally found his direction only for his ambitions for it to be the reason his dream was slipping away.

That evening Tommy juggled getting the club ready with trying to get a hold of George Patel. She'd done what she could to help. She'd been able to verify Patel had flown into Starling International last week and hadn't booked a flight out since. But he'd checked out of the hotel he normally stayed at and he kept a car in town rather than a rental so there hadn't been a GPS system to hack. No luck pinging his phone either. It was probably just a burner he used for the scam. Patel probably had it turned off.