Fandomweekly Challenge 148 - Hidden cost
Dec. 27th, 2022 03:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
m_findlowTitle: Hidden cost
Fandom: Arrow
As Laurel’s gaze moved around the room, she couldn’t help but be impressed by the venue and the way it had been decked out. She could scarcely compare the luxury of everything here to the falling apart offices that she worked in. Thank goodness they weren’t hosting the fundraiser there.
‘There she is, my golden girl,’ Tommy announced, coming up to meet her. ‘You look amazing by the way.’
‘Why thank you,’ she said, trying to be teasing even if she thought she was sweet for saying it. ‘I have to say I'm a little impressed. This is… way more than I imagined,’ she said, indicating the room around them.
‘Laurel, if there’s one thing I know how to do, it's put on a party.’
She couldn’t suppress her smile. ‘Ah, yes, the famous Tommy Merlyn parties. I think I used to read about those in the social pages of the Starling City Star.’
‘In which case you missed out on all the good bits,’ he replied. ‘Now,’ he said, looping his arm around hers, ‘which rich socialite should we hit up for money first?’
She began to turn her head around the room, but before she could make any decision, Tommy’s father came strolling towards them.
‘Dad,’ came the cautious, perhaps suspicious greeting.
‘Tommy,’ came the equally tense reply. ‘I must say seeing you here comes as quite a surprise. Charitable works?’
‘I'm here for Laurel. She’s one of the attorneys working for the CNRI.’
‘It's nice to meet you, Laurel,’ Malcolm purred, extending his hand to shake hers. ‘I had no idea the CNRI was in the business of fundraising.’
Laurel glossed over the obvious tension between the two men. ‘We’re not-for-profit, Mr Merlyn. We’re always in need of money.’
He tutted. ‘Such a pity the city’s own justice department can’t find sufficient funding from taxpayer dollars. It’s not like we don’t pay them enough.’
Tommy snorted. ‘Speak for yourself, Dad.’
Merlyn’s congenial smile turned on his son. ‘Yes, I keep forgetting. Perhaps if you found some gainful employment, you’d understand how the other half live.’
‘As if you’d know.’
Laurel placed a gentle hand on Tommy’s arm, placating him not to say anything inflammatory. ‘Actually, it was Tommy who put this evening together. The fundraiser was all his idea.’
The smugness of the curved eyebrow did nothing to take away from the fact that he seemed anything but surprised. ‘Did he, now? And not a stripper or a strobe light in sight. I had no idea you were so passionate about social justice.’
Tommy’s scowl deepened, causing recesses to form across his brow. ‘There’s a lot of things you don't know about me.’
‘Well, it's nice to see you using your trust fund money on something worthwhile for a change.’
‘You make it and I spend it,’ Tommy replied. ‘That's how it works, right?’
Malcolm grinned at his son and then diverted his charm offensive back to Laurel who felt her blood run cold at the sudden blue eyes locked on her. ‘Well, regardless of our personal connections, you can rest assured that Merlyn Global will be making a sizable contribution for the evening.’
Laurel bowed her head slightly. She’d never had to thank anyone for giving her money before. ‘Thank you, Mr Merlyn. I hope you enjoy the evening.’
‘I’m sure I will.’
‘Ass,’ Tommy muttered under his breath as his father sauntered off, shaking hands with someone and carrying on a conversation as if he'd stepped away from it for mere moments only.
‘Tommy!’ Laurel hissed. ‘He’s your father.’
‘The two aren’t mutually exclusive, Laurel. In fact, I'm pretty sure you'd have to have them surgically parted by a trained medical professional.’
‘If I'd known you were going to be this irritable about me speaking to him…’
‘Don't say I'm irritable,’ he snapped at her, looking exceedingly uncomfortable. ‘It really - it really irritates me.’ She could tell he thought the words sounded ridiculous as soon as they left his lips.
Laurel felt vexed. ‘So why invite him if you didn’t want him here? I mean, I'm assuming you organised the guest list.' Looking around, she didn't know eighty percent of the people here, and could only assume that Tommy's connections ran almost as deep as his father’s, gathering together all of Starling City’s most important people.
‘You’re kidding right? My dad is the richest man in Starling City. Hell, Laurel, he’s in the top five richest people in the country.’ He pointed over her shoulder at where his father was engaged in lively debate with the mayor and governor. ‘He loves the publicity something like this’ll give him. Write a cheque for twenty million, make sure someone gets a few photos… Just another humanitarian of the year nomination for him.’
‘I’m sure that’s not true,’ Laurel insisted. She didn't want to think of Tommy’s father as being cold and calculated, so different to the Tommy she was slowly getting to know. ‘I’m sure that after what happened to your mom...’
Tommy rolled his eyes. ‘Oh, you think getting justice for Mom’s murder counts as his favourite pet project? He left, Laurel. Didn't want to face up to it so he left. Came back years later and just picked up where he left off. Like Mom never even existed. We sure as hell didn't get any justice for her.’
‘Tommy…’
‘No, it's fine,’ he said, brushing off her sympathy. ‘I did this for you, Laurel. Take his damn money and put it to good use. God knows he never will. If he gets a bit of PR out of it then so be it. It's a small price to pay for making sure the money helps someone who doesn’t have the Merlyn surname.’
‘Are you sure?’ She suddenly felt guilty that the CNRI might finally have more than two pennies to scrape together a defence for someone who really needed it.
He took her hands in his ‘I’ve never been surer about anything in my life.’
Fandom: Arrow
Characters: Laurel, Tommy, Malcolm
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,000 words
Content notes: None
Author notes: Written for Challenge 148 - Publicity at ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomweekly
fandomweeklySummary: Laurel learns that Tommy has sacrificed more than just his time to arrange a fundraiser for the CNRI.
As Laurel’s gaze moved around the room, she couldn’t help but be impressed by the venue and the way it had been decked out. She could scarcely compare the luxury of everything here to the falling apart offices that she worked in. Thank goodness they weren’t hosting the fundraiser there.
‘There she is, my golden girl,’ Tommy announced, coming up to meet her. ‘You look amazing by the way.’
‘Why thank you,’ she said, trying to be teasing even if she thought she was sweet for saying it. ‘I have to say I'm a little impressed. This is… way more than I imagined,’ she said, indicating the room around them.
‘Laurel, if there’s one thing I know how to do, it's put on a party.’
She couldn’t suppress her smile. ‘Ah, yes, the famous Tommy Merlyn parties. I think I used to read about those in the social pages of the Starling City Star.’
‘In which case you missed out on all the good bits,’ he replied. ‘Now,’ he said, looping his arm around hers, ‘which rich socialite should we hit up for money first?’
She began to turn her head around the room, but before she could make any decision, Tommy’s father came strolling towards them.
‘Dad,’ came the cautious, perhaps suspicious greeting.
‘Tommy,’ came the equally tense reply. ‘I must say seeing you here comes as quite a surprise. Charitable works?’
‘I'm here for Laurel. She’s one of the attorneys working for the CNRI.’
‘It's nice to meet you, Laurel,’ Malcolm purred, extending his hand to shake hers. ‘I had no idea the CNRI was in the business of fundraising.’
Laurel glossed over the obvious tension between the two men. ‘We’re not-for-profit, Mr Merlyn. We’re always in need of money.’
He tutted. ‘Such a pity the city’s own justice department can’t find sufficient funding from taxpayer dollars. It’s not like we don’t pay them enough.’
Tommy snorted. ‘Speak for yourself, Dad.’
Merlyn’s congenial smile turned on his son. ‘Yes, I keep forgetting. Perhaps if you found some gainful employment, you’d understand how the other half live.’
‘As if you’d know.’
Laurel placed a gentle hand on Tommy’s arm, placating him not to say anything inflammatory. ‘Actually, it was Tommy who put this evening together. The fundraiser was all his idea.’
The smugness of the curved eyebrow did nothing to take away from the fact that he seemed anything but surprised. ‘Did he, now? And not a stripper or a strobe light in sight. I had no idea you were so passionate about social justice.’
Tommy’s scowl deepened, causing recesses to form across his brow. ‘There’s a lot of things you don't know about me.’
‘Well, it's nice to see you using your trust fund money on something worthwhile for a change.’
‘You make it and I spend it,’ Tommy replied. ‘That's how it works, right?’
Malcolm grinned at his son and then diverted his charm offensive back to Laurel who felt her blood run cold at the sudden blue eyes locked on her. ‘Well, regardless of our personal connections, you can rest assured that Merlyn Global will be making a sizable contribution for the evening.’
Laurel bowed her head slightly. She’d never had to thank anyone for giving her money before. ‘Thank you, Mr Merlyn. I hope you enjoy the evening.’
‘I’m sure I will.’
‘Ass,’ Tommy muttered under his breath as his father sauntered off, shaking hands with someone and carrying on a conversation as if he'd stepped away from it for mere moments only.
‘Tommy!’ Laurel hissed. ‘He’s your father.’
‘The two aren’t mutually exclusive, Laurel. In fact, I'm pretty sure you'd have to have them surgically parted by a trained medical professional.’
‘If I'd known you were going to be this irritable about me speaking to him…’
‘Don't say I'm irritable,’ he snapped at her, looking exceedingly uncomfortable. ‘It really - it really irritates me.’ She could tell he thought the words sounded ridiculous as soon as they left his lips.
Laurel felt vexed. ‘So why invite him if you didn’t want him here? I mean, I'm assuming you organised the guest list.' Looking around, she didn't know eighty percent of the people here, and could only assume that Tommy's connections ran almost as deep as his father’s, gathering together all of Starling City’s most important people.
‘You’re kidding right? My dad is the richest man in Starling City. Hell, Laurel, he’s in the top five richest people in the country.’ He pointed over her shoulder at where his father was engaged in lively debate with the mayor and governor. ‘He loves the publicity something like this’ll give him. Write a cheque for twenty million, make sure someone gets a few photos… Just another humanitarian of the year nomination for him.’
‘I’m sure that’s not true,’ Laurel insisted. She didn't want to think of Tommy’s father as being cold and calculated, so different to the Tommy she was slowly getting to know. ‘I’m sure that after what happened to your mom...’
Tommy rolled his eyes. ‘Oh, you think getting justice for Mom’s murder counts as his favourite pet project? He left, Laurel. Didn't want to face up to it so he left. Came back years later and just picked up where he left off. Like Mom never even existed. We sure as hell didn't get any justice for her.’
‘Tommy…’
‘No, it's fine,’ he said, brushing off her sympathy. ‘I did this for you, Laurel. Take his damn money and put it to good use. God knows he never will. If he gets a bit of PR out of it then so be it. It's a small price to pay for making sure the money helps someone who doesn’t have the Merlyn surname.’
‘Are you sure?’ She suddenly felt guilty that the CNRI might finally have more than two pennies to scrape together a defence for someone who really needed it.
He took her hands in his ‘I’ve never been surer about anything in my life.’
