Ditto
by Leonie1988
He tapped his fingers nervously on the glass surface of the small conference table in front of him. He wondered which of the women he saw through the transparent wall across from him was Felicity Smoak. He had only heard about her, but never actually seen her or even a picture of her. Felicity Smoak was one of the most sought after celebrity life coaches in Star City. Her area of expertise included professional success, romantic and family relationships and holistic happiness. Her waiting list was as long as the queue trying to get into a star wars movie on opening night. His sisters words, not his.
Until he had stepped through the welcoming entrance door and seen her company sign behind the receptionist desk, he hadn't even known he was applying for a job with her. The advertisement in the Star City Gazette had given him minimal information. Experienced personal trainer wanted. Nutritionist qualifications beneficial. Call (212) 777-3170 for further information.
One of the younger women of the group he was observing, left the others behind with a nod and made her way into the room with him. He assumed it must be Miss Smoak's assistant. Would he be turned away without even getting a shot? And why in the world was he so nervous? He had been in these kind of situations before. After all, he had to fit a certain image all his life, which he had filled to a T! Maybe it was because of his sisters constant stories about the woman? Thea herself never needed a life coach, but she knew of some celebrity friends who were devoted fans of Miss Smoak. They swore she had changed their lives for the better.
With everything going on in his head he hadn't realised the assistant had taken a seat across from him.
"Good afternoon. Welcome to Smoak Life Solutions. I'm very sorry, I forgot my list of applicants. I had all the names remembered, but you came in last minute, didn't you?"
"My name is Oliver Queen. Will Miss Smoak be joining us shortly?"
She looked up from her stack of files for the first time since she started talking and gaped at him. She was a real stunner, with pink painted lips, a killer dress, but not stiff or boring at all. An industrial piercing in her ear spoke of some wilder tendencies.
Her mouth formed and "o" as she looked at him. Great he thought, she had recognised him. He prepared himself for some kind of awkward situation... would she want a picture with him or even an autograph? While he usually didn't mind the attention he got through his family name, he was on a job interview, this wasn't the time.
"Yes, I mean no, I mean, I am Felicity Smoak. My apologies I didn't introduce myself when I came in, I thought it was obvious. But I guess I forgot once again how I come across sometimes, my apologies. And also sorry for my rambling, while I'm great at coaching other people's lives, I was never quite successful in coaching my head-to-mouth filter." she smiled at him. "And sorry for apologising for the hundredth time."
He quickly straitened up and stood, embarrassed by his mistake. One thing his father has taught him, never judge a book by it's cover. But how could he have known? How was a young woman like her the head of a place like this? Didn't you need a bit more life experience for this sort of job? He offered his hand for her to shake.
"No need Miss Smoak, I should be the one apologising for not recognising you." he said.
"Apology accepted Mr Queen." she smiled and shook his hand. "But let's get to why you are here today."
"Please call me Oliver, Mr Queen is my father."
"Right, well Oliver, then you may call me Felicity, since you are older. Not that you are old! I mean, you are probably older than me, but maybe not, maybe you just look older because of the nice stubble, I mean... 3, 2, 1. Just call me Felicity. Please make a note that you are always welcome to stop me when I go on one of my rambles." she said and looked slightly embarrassed.
"I don't mind it, Felicity." he said, but her look told him she was not convinced.
"Alright, let's get to it then. Are you here to apply for the job? Are you sure?"
"I am, why would I not?"
"Because you are Oliver Queen."
"And you are Felicity Smoak and you are working."
"Touché." she chuckled.
"What are you looking for exactly? The ad was quite vague on that."
"I want to expand my product range to health matters. This includes nutrition, fitness and hypnotherapy. I have already hired a hypnotherapist, but I am having trouble finding a good personal trainer who is available at the moment. Most of the best candidates have good jobs already and the ones who don't are not good for the position we are looking for."
"What would the job include?" Oliver asked, very interested in hearing more, but also liking to just watch her talk. He had trouble concentrating, her face was incredibly expressive and especially her mouth caught his eyes again and again.
"You would settle in at first, learn the ins and outs of this business. After a while you would start to work with clients. This is a trial, but if everything works out well, I would like you to hire more trainers and nutritionists and train them accordingly. Since you are sitting here I assume you have all the desired qualifications?"
"I do."
"Okay good, the next step will be that I will have a training session with you to see if you are a fit for the company. We don't want just any trainer, compassion and patience are two very important qualities we look for in any of our employees. You will need to make our clients want to stay fit. It shouldn't have to be a chore for them, do you understand? We want to make our clients happier, not give them a bad conscience or make them stressed about their body or level of success in loosing wait or gaining endurance."
Oliver blinked at her. He had never been exceedingly compassionate or patient in his life, except for his sister and closest friends. He never had to. He decided to be honest.
"While this sounds exactly like the kind of job I was looking for, with more future responsibilities etc., I am not sure if I'm really a good listener or motivator like you described."
She narrowed her eyes at him and looked to be thinking hard. "I tell you what, I will give you a chance anyway. I feel like you can learn to do so. Since you are aware of your possible shortcomings, you will also be able to work on them. You are not ignorant to them, which gives you a head start on most of the other applicants I have had interviews with." she ended and seemed happy with her conclusion.
"In that case I will do my best not to disappoint."
She stood up and offered her hand to him. "Great, please make an appointment with my assistant. We will have our training lesson downstairs in the gym, she will give you all the information you need."
He also stood and shook her hand gratefully. "I look forward to it!"
"Ditto, you will be training me, while I will be training you." she said and gave him a nearly blinding smile. Oliver wasn't sure he had ever seen anything so beautiful before in his life. He reluctantly withdrew his hand and smiled back at her, which made her flush in turn. The tension between them was so thick, Oliver didn't know how he was supposed to get through a up close and personal hour with her.
... Felicity Smoak was wondering how she was supposed to get through a personal lesson with this adonis of a man. He had made her nervous! She hadn't babbled in business matters in years!
The End (for now)