Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow and intend no copyright infringement.
The interview had gone well.
Yay.
Her first proper job.
As Felicity Smoak stepped onto the street she stopped and looked back one more time at the impressive skyscraper that was going to be her place of work from Monday onwards. A tower of glass and chrome, reaching for the sky.
Queen Consolidated.
Wow.
An MNC if she had ever seen one. And they were in need of an IT girl.
Granted, her supervisor came across more "super" (-stupid) than wiser, but hey, finally a chance to pay back her student loan. MIT hadn't been cheap.
Best part of it all: She wouldn't need her mother's help to work off her debt. She could do it all by herself. YES.
Worst part: She'd need to move to Starling City.
Seriously. The city was ugly. Okay, there were some very pretty mansions around. She had seen pictures of the Merlyn Estate… named after Malcolm Merlyn, CEO of Merlyn Global Group, another top-notch MNC. She had sent them an application, too, but Queen Consolidated had replied faster.
The Queens also resided quite prettily, by the way.
Or what was left of them.
Thorough as she was, Felicity had done some research on QC's owner family.
Huh. Better not mention any interest in sail boat trips to exotic countries.
Or boats at all.
Or water.
Felicity made a vow to keep her tongue in better check. She wasn't in college anymore, chattiness, spontaneous decisions that got her into unforeseen whirlwinds of trouble and emotional outbursts, manifesting themselves in the form of hugs, should definitely be a thing of the past now.
New job, new personality.
Come to think of it, she should also drop that habit of raising her fist in the air and making some exclamation of triumph every time she managed to … cough … get into another person's/institution's/company's computer system. Yes, another habit she needed to give up.
No more hacking.
The part of the city everyone had warned her of was called The Glades. She wouldn't have needed any warning. No amount of pretty mansions could make up for that skid row area of despair and poverty. Sure as hell she'd never go there, not for any money in the world.
Starling City did have some areas in between, neither too high, like the Queen mansion with its two empty graves in its park nor too low, like The Glades with its dilapidated factories. Normal places. She was going to live there. Lead the life of an IT girl independent from her mother's thumb, with a sufficient salary and maybe a gym membership.
Felicity crossed the street with a renewed sense of self-confidence and hope for the future.
A new life was beginning on Monday. She was absolutely sure: This job would change her life.
Forever.