Standing and talking with a bunch of bureaucrats was something that Marian never enjoyed doing. But sadly as the only child of the chief of police, it only made sense for her to be present at big social events and gatherings. This being no exception. If her father wasn’t invited to the event you wouldn’t find her within a mile of things like this. 

Maybe that was something that she didn’t like about the possibility of being in a relationship with Edward. At that point Marian would be nothing more than a piece of arm candy for big events. At least without a social status requiring partner she could be her own person at the event. In her stance of not being with Edward it allowed her to speak her mind (for the most part) on politics. And while she kept some topics at arm’s length she knew she could express where she stood without it being a conversation afterwards of ‘you shouldn’t have said this’ or ‘why would you say that’ conversation on the drive home. 

“Marian, what do you think of the Governor?” A party patron asked her as she was standing in the group chatting. 

The rant she had dumped on Robert came rolling back to her. The Governor’s response to her mother’s death, the lack of care of a small family grieving, the refusal to let him attend the funeral all pushed its way to the forefront of her mind and she took a breath. “He’s an impressive man. Did you know that he and my father attended the same college and reconnected because of their respective positions? Interesting fact, when they were in school together they were in the same dorm building and he was known for sneaking a girl into his room at night. And that same girl came back over and over again and now… they’re married!” The group is erupted in laughter and cheers. The men finding it hilarious that the governor could have been seen as player while the women felt like it as a true ‘love story’ that they were destined to be together forever. 

The shmucks. 

It’s amazing how many people love that story, the one story she knows about the governor that she could share without holding her own personal grudge against him. The conversation then took off in a different direction. As the group talked Marian just nodded looking around. This was a pretty large formal event and it really brought a lot of faces out but she couldn’t help but wonder if any of the Merry Men were here. But maybe it’s best at that she doesn’t know. She can play innocent and foolish. But Robin did say he had connections in the law firm so does he have connections elsewhere? And would those connections be able to get him in here? 

His level of concern for her is involvement was admirable and if they ran into each other, she would have just to chalk it up to coincidence. Her reason for being there was purely based off of the invite she was given and she, admittedly, knew it would be the best idea not to be involved with any plans or hi-jinx. She was too close to too many people who could turn her knowledge into very problematic situation.

Problem people included her father for obvious reasons; the chief of police. Another problem person would be the Taylors, both Edward and his father who would love the press to convict Robin Hood of his crimes. The newest factor being Guy, the FBI agent sent to track Robin Hood down, Guy was too much of a factor in this and while getting close made sense, keeping him at arms length was an important thing for her to do as well. So many problems and things to look out for… not to mention…

“Ah thank you Robert.” The final factor. Was she getting too close to Robert? Robin doesn’t think he’s as much of a treat as Guy. Maybe she should distance herself from Robert. Pull back from this… ‘not date’ scenarios she was dragging him into. She might need to ask Robin for a suggestion. If he really thinks Robert isn’t a threat, not spending time with him isn’t a bad option. No matter how much he’s changed and how well they were finally getting along; they could be friends right? "As long as it's a everything pizza and a stupid B movie than that would be a good night."