In the Key of Love
A/N: This is what happens when saying goodbye to our favorite show and to Felicity Smoak is a struggle - one more fic! It's making me come up with prompts faster than I can keep up with updating my WIPs. The idea for this AU popped into my head days ago and I had to write it down. Do let me know what you think.
Chapter 1: The Audition
Felicity taps her red pen on the table in the choir room. Looking up to check out the time on the wall clock just above the closet where the choir robes are stored, she can't help but think that she has been right all along. This isn't going to work. Just like she told their choir director the other day.
He's ten minutes late for this audition. Everyone in the choir considers time a precious commodity, and tardiness on a day when one is supposed to make a good first impression is certainly not appreciated. Yet, what can she expect from a renowned college dropout? If he isn't serious about his studies enough to not be kicked out, what makes them think he is going to take an extracurricular involvement such as a college choir seriously? Bad idea.
"Sorry I'm late!" Oliver Queen says as he barges into the choir room with his guitar.
She recognizes him immediately from the television news and the tabloids. Yeah, it's definitely him - sandy blonde hair that badly needed trimming, (beautiful) blue eyes, prominent mole near the right corner of his lips, tall and broad-shouldered frame, and a charming smile. He's wearing ripped jeans, a navy, V-neck shirt, and a dark green hoodie with her college's name and logo printed on it. The guy is trying too hard to impress, she thinks. He must desperately need this break. Felicity raises an eyebrow at him to show him that being late is unacceptable.
"Glad you could join us, Mr. Queen," says John Diggle, their choir director. "We thought you changed your mind."
"What? Me? No, I'm definitely interested in this gig," Oliver replies, trying to hide his embarrassment with a forced grin.
"Tell me about it," Felicity mutters under her breath, earning her a glare from Mr. Diggle and a side-eye from Lyla Michaels, their choir manager.
Ms. Michaels says, "Well, Mr. Queen, since you've already wasted enough of our precious time coming in late, let's just cut to the chase. Let's see what you can do." She motions for him to go to the baby grand piano in the corner of the room. "Play us your favorite music from memory."
Oliver smiles and nods. After taking a deep breath, he places his hands on the keyboard and plays Beethoven's "Fur Elise." It's totally unexpected, not just by Felicity, but by Mr. Diggle and Ms. Michaels too. He certainly did not look like a classical music kind of guy. She hates to think that he's managed to play smart in this audition - that he's done his homework by looking into the choir's repertoire, which is fifty percent classics and standard art songs.
Just halfway into his piece, Mr. Diggle calls out, "Alright, that's enough. Can you improvise something that's been on your playlist for... say, the last five years?"
"Sure," Oliver says confidently. He thinks for a moment, and then immediately his fingers glide across the keyboard, playing an impressive cover of a Broadway hit from Dear Evan Hansen. It's just the keyboard he's playing, but the way he does it makes it sound like he's a one-man band. His left hand mimics the patterns on a bass guitar, and the chords played by his right hand complements the rhythmic groove of the music. Felicity thinks he's pretty good, better than pretty good. But she doesn't want to admit defeat just yet.
They let him finish the song this time, because the music he's making is truly awesome. They aren't discussing anything yet, but they all think that the playboy billionaire that's been kicked out of four schools in the last three years just might earn his ticket to graduation by joining their choir as their accompanist. It would be a win-win situation, since the choir, too, was badly in need of a replacement keyboardist.
"Thank you," says Mr. Diggle, as Oliver's music fades out. "There are some music sheets of the choir's favorite songs on top of the piano. Why don't you check them out and see if you can sight-read them?"
"Okay," Oliver says confidently. He picks up the scores and looks them over. It takes him a couple of minutes to decide which one to play. When he finally makes a choice and starts to play it, Felicity sighs in defeat. He can play her most favorite of all the choir's pieces - a four-part arrangement for mixed voices of "Someone Like You" from the Broadway musical Jekyll and Hyde, for which she has the solo part.
Oliver plays it as if he's been rehearsing with the choir for some time, and Felicity can see that Mr. Diggle and Ms. Michaels are equally pleased. In all fairness, she too thinks he's killing it. He's actually better at it than the last pianist that played for them for a year. "Where and when did this guy learn how to play like that?" she wondered. She still could not believe that her initial impression of the infamous Oliver Queen does not seem to match what she's seeing now.
Mr. Diggle asks him to sight-read another piece, this time a choral piece from the Romantic period. He doesn't play it perfectly, but he knows how to fumble fashionably well enough, and he finishes the entire thing with noticeable determination in his eyes. As soon as he plays the last note, he chuckles and cries out, "That was insane!"
"Not half as crazy as you are for trying out," Felicity murmurs once again.
This time John Diggle glares at her and calls her out on it. "Licity..."
"Sorry," she blurts out a bit hesitantly.
Turning to Lyla Michaels, Diggle asks, "Well, what do you think?"
Lyla tilts her head and answers, "I think he can do it. If he's willing to work hard to learn every single song in our rep in the next couple of weeks, then I'm willing to give him a chance."
Diggle nods his head in agreement. Turning to Felicity with a raised eyebrow, he asks her, "Still think this is a bad idea?"
Felicity simply purses her lips and shrugs. She still thinks it's not a good idea to have a spoiled, rich kid with a questionable background and a poor academic track record in their choir. But they need an accompanist, and he seems really good at the keyboard. Who was she to get in everyone's way? So, she just answers, "The decision's yours, Dig. But please promise me one thing. The second he fools around or does anything that jeopardizes our chances of reaching our goals, he's out."
"Fair enough," Diggle replies. "I'll need your help, though. You're the choir president. You'll have to help him learn how we do things around here, how everybody gets along."
Felicity sighs. This is why there is a part of her that adamantly refuses to give the guy a chance. Oliver Queen is going to be her responsibility, and she isn't looking forward to it at all.