"I really miss you mom. I barely see dad and when I do, he seems so unhappy, especially around Christmas. I just want it to be like it was," William cried by his mother's tombstone.
Samantha Clayton Queen passed away when her son was eight years old and every Saturday, his paternal grandmother Moira would take him to the cemetery. His father Oliver Queen worked almost every day at the family company, Queen Consolidated and barely made time for his son since his wife passed away five years ago.
"William, it's time to go," Moira said and he nodded.
Turning back, "I love you mom."
William felt a tear drop down his cheek as he hugged his grandmother before they walked away.
"Are you okay, honey?" she asked.
"I just wish I had mom for Christmas. It was her favorite time of the year and dad was always so happy. Now he just works all the time."
"I know, sweetheart. Your father loves you; he just wants to make sure you have everything you need."
"I need him. I need someone to help me with my homework, eat ice cream with, and talk about each other's days. When mom died, dad died too. Now all he does is work. Half the time, I only know he is home because I saw his briefcase by the door. I love you and grandpa. I love living with you but I just want my parents back.
William watched his grandmother's eyes fill with tears through his own wet eyes.
"I know."
"Oliver, would you come here a minute?" Moira asked as she heard her son close the mansion's door.
Oliver walked into the room where is mother was sitting and stood waiting for her to speak.
"Please sit down."
Oliver felt anxious, "What's wrong? Did something happen to William?"
"No, no, it's nothing like that," she responded trying to placate him.
"Then, what's going on, mom?"
"Son, I think you need to take some time off and spend the holidays with your son."
"Mom…the office needs to be ready to go into the New Year."
"I used to run it with your father. Believe me I know the end of the year and the beginning of it are important but you seem to have forgotten your family in the process."
"Mom," Oliver felt his pain surface, "I can't…just…I love William so much."
She stood to go sit by her son, "And he loves you but ever since Samantha."
"Don't…don't mention her name," he cried out.
"Oliver…I know how much pain you are going through. It took me months before I felt I could breathe after your father died and even longer before I felt ready to give the rest of my heart to Walter."
"I don't want to date," he rolled his eyes.
"I am not saying date, Oliver. I am saying take some time for yourself and your son. He told me today how he lost both his parents when she died."
"If I don't go to work, I sit thinking about her or I see William and he reminds me that she…that she…I don't know what to do," he sobbed while his mother held him.
"I know. I love you both so much."
Oliver cried in his mother's arms that night. It felt like a dam had broken. It was both freeing and debilitating at the same time.
"You need to talk to your son," Moira continued, "You need to go spend time with him. Maybe you can go Christmas shopping this weekend?"
He wiped his eyes and sniffled as he nodded his head, "That's a good idea."
He stood and walked up to his room, stopping to look in on his son who was sound asleep in his room.
"I wish your mom was here for Christmas."
"Dad, hurry up. I want to get to the tech store," William whined to his father who in his opinion was walking too slowly through the shopping mall.
"What do you need at the tech store?"
"I wanted to get Grandpa Walter the new tablet for Christmas. It just came out and I hope they still have it."
"What would Walter do with that?" his dad asked confused.
"He could use it to read those eBooks and he can set up his schedule with one rather than a basic schedule. You could use something like it too. It is pretty bad when the CEO of a major technology based corporation barely uses technology."
Oliver rolled his eyes at the shared opinion of his son and his aunt Thea, "What is it about a simple calendar that you and aunt Thea despise so much?"
They continued walking and talking into the tech store, ignoring the display poster and buying the latest item. On the way out, William noticed a wishing well with paper to write your wish and the week before Christmas, the charity would grant one wish. He took a piece of paper and wrote his only wish for the last few years.
I wish my dad would be happy.
Oliver walked out of the store to find his son but looked back at the store window noticing that the large display poster with a young blonde model had seemingly disappeared.
"Huh," Oliver scratched his head, "William, was I just imagining a poster there?"
His son looked confused, "What are you talking about, dad?"
"Oh…nothing I guess. Maybe I am working too much? I'm starting to see things," Oliver laughed it off and the boys continued to finish their Christmas shopping before picking up a pizza and going back to the mansion.
While they ate pizza, Oliver decided he wanted to talk to William.
"William, I'm sorry."
"For what dad?" he replied with a mouth full of pizza.
His dad smiled, "For working so much. I know that I haven't really been there for you since your mother died."
"Dad…" William said.
Oliver held up his hands, "Please listen. I love, loved, your mother for such a long time. She was the most beautiful person. She was way smarter than me and witty. She could always seem to tell when I was lying and Samantha gave me the one thing no one else could, you," he said pointing at his son.
"It's okay, dad. You were grieving."
"Yes but so were you and I haven't been as good of a father as I could. But I want you to know, I am going to change that as much as I can. Your grandma was right and I need to take some more time for myself and my family. You are my family."
William smiled, "Okay."
"Okay," Oliver replied.
It was a week and a half before Christmas and Oliver decided to work from his home office that day. What he didn't expect was his coffee to spill all over his laptop.
"Shit!"
He panicked as he watched his computer shut down and the report he was working on disappear into thin air. Knowing he probably shouldn't try to start it and that he needed to hurry, he quickly dialed his office's number. His assistant picked up.
"Hello, Mr. Queen's office, how can I help you?"
"Iris, I need the best person from IT to come to the house right away. I spilled a coffee on my laptop while I was working on a presentation."
"Did you not back it up?" Iris said with a hint of sarcasm in her tone as she knew full well that he didn't.
"Not the time Iris. Who do I get out here and how fast can they get here?"
"You want Felicity Smoak. I'll call her and give her the address."
"Wait, a minute, who's Felicity Smoak?" he asked as he never heard that name before.
"Felicity is a lovely girl. We've had lunch a couple times already."
"Iris," he stopped her ramble.
"She started last week and Walter hired her. She has quickly become the go to gal for all things IT."
"Okay, just get her here as fast as possible, please," he said, trying to take a deep breath to release some stress.
"No problem, Mr. Queen."
"Thank you Iris."
It was about twenty minutes later when Oliver heard the doorbell. He ran to the door and opened it to find a young woman with a golden ponytail, dark glasses, and in his opinion, quite possibly the most beautiful pink lips he had ever seen since his late wife and she was carrying a large bag.
"Are you Felicity Smoak?"
"Yes, I am. I was told you spilled coffee on your laptop," she replied.
"I did. Please come in," he opened the door wider for her to walk in, "Let me show you to the office."
They walked back in silence to the office. Felicity walked passed him to see a drenched keyboard.
"Oh you poor baby," she stated, "What did that mean man do to you?"
Oliver couldn't help the grin that rose on his face, "It was completely accidental and I wouldn't have worried so much if I hadn't been working on a proposal for the company."
"That is why you always back up your work, Mr. Queen," she responded as she quickly removed tool after tool from her bag including a new laptop.
"Please call me Oliver and I normally do back up my work," he couldn't understand why he was lying as he never did.
Felicity looked up from the computer and tilted her head, her face telling him she didn't believe him. As she took the computer apart, she found the interior of the laptop wasn't quite as damaged as it could have been.
"You were smart to tip it over and clean as much as you could. It kept most of the liquid from getting inside and your hard drive appears unharmed."
"Does that mean you can save my work?" he asked anxiously.
"I should be able to and I brought the spare laptop to fix it."
"Oh thank God," he let out a sigh of relief.
He watched as Felicity took the computers apart piece by piece and put the back together again with sheer focus and a speed he wouldn't expect. It was as if she forgot he was there because he heard her humming and she stuck out her tongue as she finished her work.
When every piece was put together, she turned it on and he walked around to the desk next to her. He couldn't help but notice her soft scent and found the aroma almost as intoxicating as her mouth. She typed quickly to make sure his work was there and when she looked up at him with her cobalt eyes, he felt his breath catch in his throat because for the first time in such a long time, he felt drawn to a woman.
"Is this your work, Mr. Queen?" she asked him, with a slightly huskier voice than she expected.
"I asked you to call me Oliver and it looks like it. Thank you so much Miss Smoak."
"Call me Felicity," she answered with a stunning smile, "Now let's talk about saving your work to the cloud or an external hard drive to prevent another technological emergency."
It took a bit of time to describe the different ways to back up one's work and they both decided that the cloud as well as a drive would be best for company based projects. But Oliver couldn't help staring at her.
"You look so familiar. Are you sure we never met before?" he asked.
"I think I would have remember seeing you…I mean look at you…and you are Oliver Queen," she flushed, "I'm not coming on to you…I tend to babble and say things that come out inappropriately and…3, 2, 1."
He was about to respond when he heard William walk into the house.
"Dad," he hollered.
Both Felicity and Oliver walked out of the office and his father introduced him.
"Felicity, this is my son William. William this is Felicity Smoak from QC's IT department."
"What did you do to the computer this time?" William asked his father and was met with a chuckle from Felicity.
"I…accidentally spilled coffee on it," his father responded, rubbing his neck in embarrassment.
William looking at his father, "And you didn't back up your work."
Felicity smiled and Oliver found he wanted to see that smile all the time, "All right, this is not pick on Oliver day. Go do your homework."
His son grunted, "I have this project I have to do for math and it is much harder than expected."
"Maybe I can help? I was Nevada's three-time state Mathletics champion in Las Vegas."
"Really?" "Really" both Oliver and William asked at the same and both equally impressed with Felicity.
"Sure. I have to go back to work but we could meet and I could help out."
"Felicity, would you like to have dinner with me…I mean with us…after you get off work?"
William looked at his dad in surprise at the nervousness in his dad's voice but spoke up, "You know, in thanks for helping him and me?"
"I'd be delighted."
Felicity went back to work and William watched his father stare at the door after she left as if he was in a trance.
"Dad, are you okay?"
"Does she seem familiar to you?"
"I don't know. Maybe we saw her at QC?"
"No she just started there and Walter hired her."
"Maybe we saw her at a store or something and thought nothing of it."
"Did we see her at that tech store? Maybe she worked there before QC?"
"You know," his father pointed his finger at his son, "I think you are right."
For the few days left before the Queen Consolidated Christmas party, Oliver had to go to work and every day for the last week since they met, he made an excuse to see Felicity. They had lunch together and she helped him with bogus issues.
"Are you coming to the Christmas party?" he asked her, hoping to hear a yes.
"Well, I'm Jewish," she replied before taking a bite of her big belly buster.
"Happy Hanukkah. But you could still come?"
"Thank you but I will probably be working at my second job."
"Second job?"
"Yeah, my rent is a bit steep and while I make good money here, I have a bad habit of by the latest gadget on the market and that is not a cheap habit to have. I work at the Tech Village in the mall."
His eyes widened, "See, I knew I knew you. My son and I were there not too long ago picking up a tablet for Walter."
"I saw you and William. He put a wish in the mall wishing well out front."
"Yeah, he did. I wonder if his wish came true."
"I don't know yet," she shrugged.
He finished eating his lunch and got up to leave. But before he left and she started working again, he placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I really hope to see you at the party," he stated with real sincerity.
She felt a pang in her chest as he walked away.
It was the night of the Christmas party and Oliver impatiently watched the door, rubbing his thumb and forefinger together.
Walter came up next to him and said, "Oliver, you seem a bit anxious."
"Umm…just waiting for someone…but I don't know if they will be here."
"It wouldn't happen to be a certain Miss Smoak, would it?" his stepfather asked.
"Why would you ask that?" Oliver questioned.
"Well, I noticed you've been making frequent visits to the IT department and William hasn't stopped talking about her since he received an A on the project she helped him with. Plus, you seem much happier lately."
"I don't know what it is about her. She is like…sunshine wrapped up in a human."
"She is quite special. It is why I hired her."
"I don't know what is wrong with me. I, mean, I never thought there would be someone who could make me feel like Samantha did."
"You know, son, when your mother and I got married, she said something in our vows that you just reminded me of," Walter responded.
"What was that?" Oliver asked.
"After you lose your spouse, you feel like they took a piece of your heart but then someone comes along and you feel your heart expanding with hope and happiness you thought you lost. And while that person doesn't take the place of someone you loved, your heart is bigger because of them."
Oliver felt Walter hit the nail on the head. Even he had noticed that he smiled more and he made sure he was home earlier to spend time with William. It was like Felicity came out of nowhere and healed his heart. He wanted to spend all his time together just talking and making her smile. And suddenly, he looked up and he saw her standing by the door.
Walter smiled at his stepson and excused himself. Oliver felt like he stopped breathing as he watched her glide to him in a magenta halter floor-length dress that fit her like a glove and showed off you natural beauty. He knew at that moment he needed to tell her how he felt before he lost his nerve.
She stopped in front of him, "Hello Oliver."
"You came. I'm so glad you came."
"Well, I wanted to see you before I left."
He seemed confused, "You're leaving."
"Yes…something happened with my mom and I know I haven't worked at QC long but I'm all my mom has and…"
"Felicity, before you finish, can we talk somewhere privately?"
She nodded and he led her to the back garden patio. Felicity stood in awe of the stunning lighted garden around them.
"Please stay," he asked her with need.
"I'm staying for the party, Oliver."
"No, I mean stay at QC. Have your mom come here."
"She can't exactly afford to come to Star City and I don't have space for her."
"I'll help. I can set up movers and get you a bigger place."
"Oliver…that's sweet but I can't ask you to do that."
"Please, Felicity, we can't lose you…I can't lose you."
She felt her eyes water, "You'll find someone to fill the position."
"I don't mean at QC. I could care less about QC. I can't lose you…because in the short time I've known you, you've turned my world upside down and around again. I can't help but smile every time I see you and it's a real smile."
"Oliver," Felicity felt a tear fall on her cheek, "What are you saying?"
"I am saying, Felicity Meghan Smoak, you have made me so happy and I would be even happier if you would go on a date with me and I am willing to do anything to make that possible."
Felicity smiled before lifting on her toes to press her lips against his to which he responded by wrapping his arms around her back and deepened the kiss. It was the first kiss he shared since his wife had died and he felt as if he was floating on air.
When they separated for air, Felicity looked at him and said, "I'd love too."
They spent the rest of the evening dancing and talking before Oliver had to speak to his mother in the kitchen and Oliver asked his son to keep Felicity some company.
"So, William, did your Christmas wish come true?" she asked him with a grin.
He looked at her with confusion until it became clear that she meant the wish at the mall for his dad to be happy. She looked down at him with a sweet smile and happy eyes. William hugged her and whispered in her ear.
"Thank you for making my dad happy."