Disclaimer: I wish I owned Arrow, but sadly I do not.
"Hey Cooper, I just wanted to remind you about tonight," Felicity said into her mobile phone as she walked through the glass doors of Queen Consolidated. "I have something really important to tell you and I can't put it off any longer... Anyway, have a great day Coop, and please don't be late this time!"
She sighed deeply as she stuffed her phone into the pocket of her brown coat. She had been planning to have this talk with her boyfriend for several weeks now, but every time she gathered the courage to spit the words out, something would conveniently come up and put a dent in one of their schedules. For the past four days, she had rehearsed her speech for when he showed up to her flat. About fifteen minutes before their scheduled time though, Cooper would always call to inform her that he wouldn't be able to make it for one reason or another. Felicity was beginning to get fed up with the entire situation.
One more cancellation on his part and I swear I'll tell him over text. As she walked into the lift and pressed the button for the IT floor, she unintentionally voiced that very thought.
"I don't think he'd appreciate that very much," Came a low, amused voice from behind the small blonde.
Felicity squealed, turning to face the man that had spoken. She hadn't even realised the lift was occupied when she walked in. Her eyes quickly took in the sight before her. His tall stature and broad shoulders fit perfectly in his blue, two-piece suit. A suit that complemented his deep ocean coloured eyes and short cropped, dirty blonde hair. This wasn't just any other occupant, this occupant was unusually beautiful...
"Thank you," He said with a nervous chuckle. "I don't believe a woman has ever called me 'beautiful' before."
"Did I say that out loud?" Felicity asked horrified as she brought her hand up to cover her lips. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"It's fine, Miss..." He tilted his head questioningly.
"Smoak," She clarified, avoiding his piercing blue eyes by looking absolutely anywhere else. "It's Felicity Smoak."
"Well Miss Felicity Smoak, if I know the company layout as well as I think I do, you're headed to the 21st floor." He gestured to the button pad where the button she had just pressed was still glowing. "Which is the IT department...?"
"Yes," Felicity nodded ferociously, still awestruck by the sheer beauty of the individual standing in front of her. There was something about him that seemed familiar, something she couldn't quite put her finger on...
"Well it was very nice meeting you, Miss Smoak, have a wonderful day." The man smiled at her only seconds before the light ding of the lift, signalling that it had reached her floor.
Felicity quickly gathered herself and practically ran through the open doors, nearly tripping over her feet as she did so. That would have been incredibly embarrassing...
"Oh and Miss Smoak," The beautiful man called to her as she sprinted from the small confined space of the lift.
Felicity reluctantly turned to face him once more, not wanting to be rude. The longer she stayed in close proximity to this man, the higher the chance that she would say something stupid and embarrassing...well, something else stupid and embarrassing.
"Give the poor guy a break, if I were in his shoes, I'd want to postpone the inevitable too. It's not everyday that a gorgeous woman calls you her boyfriend." He smiled teasingly as the elevator doors slid shut, leaving the small woman to stand rigid in her spot.
Did he just hit on me...? Felicity though to herself as she stared, wide-eyed at the now closed elevator. It had been a while since anyone had admitted to finding her attractive. Not even Cooper complimented her physical appearance much often anymore. The closest she had come to someone hitting on her since college was three months ago when a construction worker whistled at her as she left the gym in yoga pants and a tank top. People didn't hit on Felicity Smoak, that's just the way things were, how they had pretty much always been. She must have misinterpreted his statement somehow. After all, what kind of weirdo would hit on a girl and in the same breath urge her to take it easy on her soon to be ex-boyfriend. Was this some kind of secret bro-code thing that she wasn't aware of?
The sound of heels on the tile floors brought her back to her senses. Turning on her own heel quickly, Felicity walked very briskly to her office, attempting to forget the very beautiful, yet very strange man that had just called her gorgeous.
Oliver walked through the glass doors of Walter Steele's office on the executive floor. His mind was still in a bit of a stupor from the odd encounter in the company lift just a few minutes ago.
Felicity Smoak.
A unique name for what seemed to be a very unique woman. Never before had a woman called him 'beautiful' or cowered in the corner of an elevator to stay as far away from him as humanely possible. Her swirly blonde hair had been pulled back in a tight ponytail, emphasising her plump pink lips and blue eyes behind her black-rimmed frames. Never before had he ever found a grown woman cute, but even that word didn't do her justice. Felicity wasn't just cute...she was adorable, beautiful, sexy, and most of all, absolutely and positively gorgeous.
He had spotted her walking towards the lift the second he got on. Without even a second of hesitation, Oliver reached out and pressed the Door Open button on the keypad, praying that the doors would stay open long enough to allow her inside. As she stepped inside the open doors, he caught the tail end of her phone conversation. His hopefulness instantly dissipated as he put the pieces together. She had a boyfriend...a boyfriend she was planning to break up with apparently...
He chuckled lightly when he heard her sly comment about ending the relationship over text. When he responded, he was quite surprised to see her jump into the air and clutch her purse to her chest tightly. He fought back an even stronger laugh when she called him 'unusually beautiful,' and almost bent over in a fit when she told him that she hadn't actually meant to say it out loud. When she practically sprinted from the lift, he couldn't exactly help himself when he inadvertently called her gorgeous. Her wide eyes staring back at him in disbelief was the last thing he saw before the lift doors slid shut and he leaned against the back wall in a fit of laughter. Oliver had a newfound determination that he had not woken up with that morning. He would ask this girl on a date, even if she slammed the door in his face.
With that thought in mind, he entered Walter Steele's office with a new mission.
"Oliver," Walter said as he stood up to greet his stepson. "I wasn't expecting you. What brings you to the office today?"
"I was driving by on my way to the club and I remembered that today is yours and mom's anniversary. I just wanted to come make sure you're having a good day...Mom was pretty much glowing this morning when I called her."
"Thank you, son." The British man smiled gratefully as he sat back down in his office chair and gestured for Oliver to sit in the chair in front of his desk. "I was able to make reservations just in time. Hopefully Moira will enjoy the evening I have planned."
"As long as she's with you, I will imagine that she will." Oliver smiled lightly. It had taken him a while to warm up to the idea of his deceased father's business partner in a relationship with his widowed mother. Eventually, he was able to see how truly happy they made each other.
"If you have the time, we could grab some lunch before we both have to get back to work," Walter suggested.
"Unfortunately, I am actually on my way to Verdant. Tommy and I are meeting with a possible investor in about an hour."
"Well, I hope everything goes to your liking."
"So do I," Oliver said as he raised from his seat with a sigh. He nodded lightly to his stepfather before turning to leave the office. Just then, he remembered the adorable blonde that he met in the lift. "Actually Walter, I'm not sure if you can help me here, but I met someone a little while ago. Could you maybe give me some information?"
"Depends on the type of information and the individual," Walter warned tentatively.
"Right," Oliver nodded with understanding. "Her name is Felicity Smoak."
"Ah yes, Felicity." Walter smiled. "I can't give you any private information of course, but Felicity is one of our finest. I personally hired her as assistant IT director after the department head took paternity leave for several weeks three years ago."
"She's a department head's assistant?"
"No, she's an assistant department head." Walter chuckled lightly. "If Felicity ever heard anyone call her an assistant, she would have their head on a plate. She graduated from MIT with a master's degree. I believe she's from Nevada, although I don't happen to recall the exact place."
"Wow, okay..." Oliver shook his head as he took it all in. Not only was she gorgeous, but she graduated from MIT and was second in command of the IT department. It may be a bit more difficult to coerce her into a date than he initially thought.
"Why, may I ask, are you inquiring after Miss Smoak?" Walter asked curiously.
"She just uh..." Oliver hesitated. "She grabbed my attention..."
"Felicity tends to do that," Walter nodded with a knowing smile. "Although she seems to have grabbed your attention in a much more different way than she did mine."
Felicity unlocked the door to her flat with a sigh. It had been a terribly long and tiring day. When the director of the department calls in sick minutes before you have to present the new outline for providing funding for the latest, and possibly, most revolutionary project to the entirety of the Applied Sciences division and Walter Steele himself, stress levels tend to go through the roof. Thankfully, it went much better than expected and the project was approved by each department director. James Lewis, the IT director who had conveniently fallen ill that morning, would be getting a very strong worded email from his associate at some point over the weekend.
As she closed the front door, Felicity kicked off her heels and peeled her coat from her body, draping it over her couch. Her stomach grumbled, but there was no way she had the energy to make a plate of food right now, and she had already exhausted her weekly takeout budget. If she intended to pay off 50% of her student loans by the time she was ninety, she really did have to reign in her spending. With that thought, Felicity avoided her kitchen and walked straight to her bedroom to change. There was no better way to relax after a stressful week than to sit in yoga pants and watch some Doctor Who...actually there was: sit in yoga pants and watch some Sherlock... On second thought, that would probably be more depressing than relaxing. She was not ready to see Sherlock jump off a roof to save John again. It still hurt very deep in the depths of her soul...
Besides, she already had enough depressing events to get to this evening. If, of course, Cooper ever decided to show up. This break up had been a long time coming, she was certain that even Cooper could realise that. She wasn't exactly sure where he had been for the past few evenings...it wasn't like he had a job. Last time she checked, he was making money by messing with people's mobile phones and computers, getting them to do things that neither Apple nor Samsung ever intended them to do. He was walking a fine line between legal and jail time, but Felicity was fairly certain their days as hacktivists were over. At least, that's what he had assured her the last time she asked him about his current line of business.
Cooper was a great guy in Felicity's book, he really was. But it seemed that college life had been the only thing keeping them together. After they both graduated from MIT, Cooper had stayed in Boston while Felicity moved to Starling. Maintaining a long distance relationship was not their problem. Cooper had been beyond pissed when he found that she had taken a job with Queen Consolidated, according to him, it was one of the same "rich capitalist corporations" that they had spent their university days fighting against. They had gotten past that though. There really was no huge fight or gigantic revelation...they had simply drifted apart. When two people are no longer taking the same classes, sharing the same flat, or apart of the same government fighting hacktivist group, they tend to run out of things to talk about. What had initially attracted Felicity to Cooper was his driven mentality; his strong belief that the government was taking advantage of its people, and it was his privilege and duty to make things right the only way he knew how: with computers.
Felicity had quickly grown out of that mentality however, and Cooper lost his Robin Hood-like drive. For the past two years, the two of them were simply trying to live in the past; trying to rekindle a fire without any matches. It just wasn't working anymore. Felicity knew it, and if Cooper didn't, then he had truly turned a blind eye to their relationship. It wasn't fair to either of them.
Another grumble from Felicity's stomach brought her from her thoughts as she slumped onto the couch in her living room. She quickly turned on the TV and pressed play on whichever episode of Doctor Who she had inside of the DVD player. The eerie OOO-WEE-OOOO OOO-YOO-WOOO of the theme music she had become so accustomed to filled her living room, and she snuggled into the couch tightly. As always, Felicity hoped with all her heart that she had not pressed pause on the Weeping Angels episode, or else she absolutely would not be getting any sleep tonight. Just as the theme song faded into nothingness, Felicity's phone screen lit up on the table in front of her, signalling a text message.
Cooper: Sorry, babe. Won't make it tonight. Something came up, I'll call you.
It was the same message she had received for the past few weeks every time she made plans to have this conversation with him. She was hardly surprised at this point, but she was however very irritated. She just wanted to text him, tell him that this was unacceptable, tell him that it couldn't wait any longer, tell him to get his ass over here before she donated every single last one of his belongings to charity. She had already packed them into a box. All of the shirts he left in her room, the spare toothbrush he kept in her bathroom, even the towel that he always used when he came over (even though it was absolutely her towel). Like always though, instead of being assertive as she knew she should be, Felicity picked up her phone and sent off a simple, passive text.
Felicity: No problem. Call me back soon. Thx
Cooper's response came in seconds, before she could even shut the phone off.
Cooper: You're the best, babe. Luv you
Felicity didn't bother responding. She knew he didn't love her anymore, and frankly, she'd be lying if she claimed she loved him either. This whole thing was a huge giant mess. Suddenly, she didn't feel like watching the dramatic and beautiful (but also heartbreaking) love story that was the Doctor and Rose. Maybe bed was just the best option at this point. Switching off the television, Felicity gathered herself with a sigh and retreated to her bedroom.
"Oliver," Tommy stuck his head into his best friend's office. "We have a bit of a problem..."
"Let security handle it, Tommy." Oliver answered with his brain deep in paperwork. He was practically drowning in it at this point, and he really did not have the time nor the effort to deal with whatever drunken mess was taking place downstairs.
"This is a special case, Oliver." Tommy responded sternly. "Trust me when I say that I think you'll want to take care of this one."
With that, Tommy disappeared, leaving Oliver's office door slightly ajar. It had always been a bit of a quirk of Oliver's. He could never work with the door open, especially when the loud, upbeat music was blaring downstairs. Tommy knew that, which was exactly why he left the door cracked. With a heavy sigh, Oliver threw his pen down on the desk and stomped his way to the open door. This had better be a very serious problem or else Tommy was going to get an earful for pulling him away from his work.
Since the two of them had opened the club several months ago, it had been a huge hit. Everyone wanted to see what the resident Starling City playboys, Tommy Merlyn and Oliver Queen, had managed to work up. When Robert Queen had died in that terrible boating accident several years ago, Oliver knew he needed a way to honour his father with something a bit more personal than a memorial. Although Robert may not have been a big fan of a club, it was the only way Oliver knew how to keep his father alive. Ever since he had graduated high school, his parents had been urging hm to take some sort of responsibility; marrying Laurel, taking part in the company, going to college, anything. He had failed them in each and every one of those endeavors. First he had dropped out of all four universities that his parents managed to get him into. Then he ended things with Laurel the second things began to get too serious, and finally he refused his parents' request to take any part in QC business. He had been perfectly content with going to clubs every night of the week and waking up the next morning with a hangover and a naked, leggy brunette in the sheets next to him.
When the news broke of his father's passing, Oliver knew that things had to change. He spoke to Tommy and they came up with an idea; an idea that wasn't fully supported by either of their families, but still worked. Tommy had been dying to prove his own father that he was worth much more than the time he spent partying and getting drunk. It had been personal for both of them. They had put everything into keeping the club alive, and so far whatever formula they figured out was working. Hopefully, it would stay that way without too many unexpected bumps in the road.
Oliver made his way downstairs, weaving through the individuals scattered near the bar. He could see the commotion as he approached the bar where Tommy stood. Security stood a bit farther off, allowing Tommy to speak to whoever was causing the problem.
"What's going on?" Oliver yelled over the music as he approached Tommy.
"Get your sister under control," Tommy yelled back, motioning to the teenage girl, glaring at her brother's best friend from the other side of the bar.
Oliver shook his head in exasperation. This was about the third time this week that Thea had sneaked into the club. Good thing Tommy was supervising the ground floor this week or else they may not have caught her. "Thea," Oliver warned as he motioned her upstairs.
"No, Ollie," The young girl protested. "I'm eighteen. That means that I am technically an adult. You can't stop me from coming here and you know it."
"You're right, I can't stop you from coming here," Oliver admitted with a stern look. "However, if someone happens to spot eighteen-year-old Thea Queen with an alcoholic beverage in her hand, our club not only gets bad press, but you get arrested for underage drinking."
Thea stared defiantly into her brother's eyes, seeming to contemplate his words. "Can I stay if I don't drink anything?"
"Thea-"
"Please, Ollie! I'll just get a soda, I promise." Thea folded her hands together in a pleading motion. "At least I decided to come here where you, Tommy, and Sarah can spy on me instead of going to another club where I'd be on my own."
She makes a good point. The rational side of Oliver's brain commented. Sarah was taking care of the drinks and Tommy was making his rounds. If anything went truly wrong, Thea could always retreat to his office upstairs. Besides, if he kicked her out, she would just find another place to go; a place without three adults to make sure she didn't do anything stupid. Sometimes Oliver wondered if Thea planned these things...
"Fine," Oliver agreed and Thea squealed with excitement. "You can stay until eleven. After that, you go straight home. If I hear anything from anyone about you acting up, I will come down here and drag you out myself. Are we clear?"
"Yes, Ollie! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Thea hugged her older brother around the waist before darting off.
"She's growing up," Sarah said as she watched Thea run into the crowd of people. Sarah leaned on the bar next to where Oliver stood, staring after his sister's tiny frame. "I remember when she used to chase you and Tommy around the house."
"So do I," Oliver chuckled at the memory. "Keep an eye on her?"
"Of course," Sarah nodded, before going back to mixing drinks.
Oliver quickly retreated back up to his office where his pile of paperwork awaited him. Running a business was a lot harder than either he or Tommy realised when they first came up with the idea. Thankfully, next week was Oliver's week to handle floor supervision while Tommy would be stuck up in his office filling out forms and shipment orders. Despite the hard work, Oliver was very grateful that he had Tommy. As he made his way up the steps and towards his office, Oliver found himself searching the crowd for a curly-haired blonde with bright blue eyes and glasses. He shook his head with a smile. He doubted that a club like Verdant was Felicity's scene. Besides, he wouldn't want to ask her out on a date in a crowded room with drunken idiots rubbing up against one another. When he asked her out, it would be sweet and perfect. He would make sure that she had no reason to say no.
This is my first Arrow fanfic! I love Olicity so much, they are my ultimate OTP and need to hurry up and get their stuff together. Anywhozerz, please leave me reviews telling me what you do or don't like so I can write accordingly. I'll take prompts for other fics as well! Thank you, my awesome peeps!
(fic is also available on Archive of Our Own)