A/N- Hello everyone, I've got a new Olicity story. I've been itching to find an idea for a new piece lately and stumbled upon this one, but if you're reading my other arrow story, "Smoak Technologies" don't worry I'll be continuing with that one too. This story will be loosely inspired by events currently happening in my own life, it seems that's the best way to find inspiration for me. This story will also feature at least a few non-canon characters, I wouldn't call them full-fledged OCs since I don't plan on any of them becoming major parts of the story but just warning you that you may see some names you're unfamiliar with. If you're coming over from my other stories thanks so much for the continued support and if you're a new reader thanks to you as well for checking out my work. I hope you all enjoy!

The Pros and Cons of a Cubicle

Chapter 1-The Gremlin

"Queen!" A loud irritable voice echoed across the office floor. "Oliver Queen!"

"Oh crap," Oliver sighed and froze in place. "Not again." Oliver closed his eyes and pretended not to exist, maybe if he, stayed still and quiet he'd just disappear and the owner of that voice wouldn't be able to find him. Oliver's hopes were dashed when another cry rang out and was followed by firm, frantic footsteps.

"Hey Oliver, The Gremlin's looking for you!"

Oliver's eyes shot up to meet those of Roy Harper, his coworker and designated work buddy of the past few months. Roy's face poked over the wall of his cubicle as he looked down at his unfortunate friend and chuckled.

"Really? I hadn't noticed." Oliver replied sarcastically and slumped back in his chair.

"How many times is that, At least five today right? Man, that guy's really got it in for you."

"Tell me something thing I don't know." Oliver cautiously pushed himself up in his chair and stretched his neck just enough to peer over the cubicle, he quickly searched the direction the disgruntled chants were coming from and groaned when his eyes fell upon the source. A wrinkled forehead sporting a poorly done combover was fast approaching, barely visible as it glided past the other workspaces. A few coworkers who were brave enough to stand in its path were quickly nudged aside and grumbled at the rude gesture.

"Guess he's in a bad mood today…again," Roy observed.

"Looks like it, I just wish I wasn't the one to put him in it for once."

"Hang in there, you'll get the hang of things soon enough," Roy encouraged.

"Mr. Queen!" Another cry rang out.

"Oop time to hide!" Roy announced before swiftly ducking back into his own cubicle.

Oliver let out another deep sigh and gripped the arms of his chair firmly, he braced himself for the incessant ramblings that he knew were coming next. "You need this job, you need this job, you need this job," Oliver repeated to himself. "You need this-"

"Oliver!" The aforementioned voice interrupted his thoughts. Oliver turned to face the source of his despair, his eyes lifted and were greeted by a pair of folded arms and a scowl that had become all too familiar as of late. "Yes Mr. Willer, is there a problem?"

Fredric Willer, the specimen currently standing before Oliver was not one most people would likely classify as strong. Fredric was a small man in most senses of the word, he was physically short measuring in at just over four and a half feet which paled in comparison to the six foot one that Oliver boasted. Fredric had also gained a negative reputation around the Office, some might describe it as having a few screws loose. He never seemed to be in a good mood, and never had friendly conversations or joked and laughed along with any of his employees. Not once had anyone ever seen the man crack a smile. Fredric, or Mr. Willer as he firmly instructed everyone to address him, was also prone to randomly lashing out at anyone in his immediate vicinity for no apparent reason whatsoever. All these things combined created a very hostile personality that had earned him a fair amount of disdain among his employees and throughout the company as a whole. If it weren't for the fact that his name was on the building, people might wonder how he was able to hold a job at all. Let alone a management position

Fredric's unique brand of sophistication and charm had also earned him several snarky and clever nicknames around the office. The most recent one, "The Gremlin" had quickly become everyone's favorite. That had been Roy's doing.

"Is there a problem?" Fredric gasped as if he'd been baffled by the question. "Why yes, there is a problem, Oliver." The grumpy little man grabbed the folder he'd tucked under his arm and waved it in Oliver's face, "Have you seen your sales reports for this month? Have you Oliver?"

"Of course I have sir, I submitted th-"

"I don't think you have!" Fredric interrupted.

Oliver drew in a deep breath as his grip tightened around his chair's armrests. The most annoying thing about Fredric Willer was probably his irksome habit of overusing a person's name when he was upset with them. Oliver prepared himself to hear it at least a hundred more times over the course of this latest lecture.

"If you had Oliver you would know that there are several errors in this report that only a child could make, now I know I don't have the best eyesight," Fredric pushed his glasses up on his nose and continued. "Still I think I can tell that you Mr. Queen are not a child, therefore I can only assume that you've been sneaking one into the office and letting them loose on your keyboard, or that my original assumptions were correct and you are not cut out for this position Oliver!"

Oliver gritted his teeth and did his best to keep his mouth shut, "You need this job," he reminded himself.

"Oliver? Are you even listening to me, Mr. Queen?"

"Yes Mr. Willer," Oliver answered with an unintended hint of contempt in his voice.

Fredric stared back for a moment before shaking his head and invading Oliver's personal space. Oliver moved himself aside to allow Fredric access to his desk and sighed as the little man began typing on his computer. Fredric pulled up the software that his employees used to input and update all of their sales reports, he opened Oliver's most recent submission and looked the page over. "No no no, this is all wrong." Fredric pressed one of his stubby fingers to the screen, "Look at these entries here, and that was not done correctly…this is wrong as well. Oliver if these numbers are to be believed then you've lost us nearly five hundred dollars in the last two weeks."

"That's not true sir, I just made a few mistakes in my reports."

"You think I don't know that, Oliver?" Fredric fired back. "I know everything that goes on in this office Mr. Queen, nothing escapes my ever watchful eye." A small chuckle escaped the confines of Roy's cubicle. "I don't believe this conversation concerns you, Mr. Harper!"

"Sorry sir," Roy replied with a residual hint of laughter.

"As I was saying," Fredric rolled his eyes and continued. "I know that money didn't just disappear into thin air, no in this case, just like so many others over these past few weeks boils down to nothing but human error. Specifically your's Mr. Queen," Fredric turned his head in Oliver's direction and shot him an annoyed glance.

Oliver quelled the fire rising within and forced the muscles in his face to relax, "I apologize sir. I guess I'm still having some trouble getting used to the system, I'll skip lunch today and make the necessary changes."

Fredric stepped back from the keyboard, turned around and bore his beady little eyes into Oliver's. Oliver took in a deep breath and tried not to show his discomfort at being scrutinized. If there was one thing Fredric Willer was an expert at, it was creating awkward moments. After what seemed like an eternity of silence The Gremlin finally spoke up, "No…no you won't." Oliver was confused. "I don't think I can rely on you to get this done on your own Mr. Queen, you'd most likely do more harm than good. Please go retrieve my chair from my office, you may sit and watch while I take care of this. Hopefully, you'll learn something. Fredric turned his attention back to the screen and resumed typing, "…Now Mr. Queen!"

Oliver clenched his fists, he had to stop himself from slamming them down on his armrests. He bit his tongue to stop any expletives from escaping his lips as he rose to his feet and headed for The Gremlin's cave. As he turned the corner he could hear Fredric mumbling to himself.

"I really have absolutely no idea why Father won't let me fire you."

Oliver let a low rumble escape his throat and continued.

After passing a few rows of cubicles Roy rose from his seat and rushed to catch up with Oliver, he clasped his friend's shoulder and matched his stride. "Hey man don't let him get to you, you're doing fine no matter what the combover King says."

The corner of Oliver's mouth twitched, " The combover king," another one of Roy's clever quips. "I just don't understand," Oliver replied. "I try my hardest every single day to wrap my head around this stuff. I listen to what all of you are trying to teach me, I take notes, I practice it over and over in my head. But every time I got to apply it myself it all just comes out wrong."

"Well it's like you told me when you started, you've never had a job like this before. Before this construction was all you ever knew. You're used to getting splinters bruises and burns, not paper cuts and Keyboard rash," they both chuckled. "It's just gonna take you some time to get up to speed, you gotta push through it."

"It's been three months Roy, three months and I'm still making the same mistakes I did during my first day. I feel slow and stupid, I'm a grown man I should be able to handle a damn computer."

Roy remained silent as they entered Fredric's office, Oliver walked around the desk and retrieved the ridiculous looking thing that sat behind it. "He calls this a chair?"

Roy chuckled, "It's orthopedic …or ergonomic or whatever the Hell it's called."

"There's no arms or wheels. How's anyone supposed to sit on it?"

"I have no idea, but we'd better get back before the big bad chihuahua huffs and puffs and blows your cubicle down!" Roy jested, it brought a smile to his friends face. Oliver hoisted the strange chair off the ground and they exited the office. "I know this job hasn't exactly been a smooth ride for you so far but you're gonna be ok bro," Roy encouraged as they walked. "And don't sweat over the computer stuff, lucky for us we don't have to be experts at all that nerdy tech stuff, That's what the IT department is for."

Oliver perked up and his eyebrows rose as he glanced over at Roy.

"Oop, right, I just said the magic word didn't I?" Roy asked returning the glance

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Oliver replied and shied away.

"Yeah…sure you don't," Roy argued but didn't press any further.

"Just one more hour," Oliver encouraged himself. "Just survive until lunch and you'll be ok."

A\N-There we go, what do you guys think? Yes, no? I hope it was enjoyable! There will be at least a few more chapters to come and because they're going to be shorter I'm hoping ill get them out sooner. Although I've never tried to write two stories at once so we'll see how that goes. Bare with me! Haha! Thanks again to all readers for taking some time to read my work, I really appreciate that!

P.S. If you're at all curious as to what Fredric's chair looks like search ergonomic kneeling chair on google. It's an oddity.