Disclaimer: Arrow belongs to the CW, Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisber and DC Comics. Any recognizable character belongs to them and I'm just borrowing them for fun.
AN: My native language isn't English so all the mistakes are mine and mine alone as I don't have a beta. If you spot any, please let me know so I can correct them as fast as possible.
I hope you enjoy.
02 - WORK WIFE
One of the very things he likes the most about their new fictitious status, and that never ever crossed his mind, is that people are more cautious looking at her. He knows it's there because she grows more beautiful the more time passes but, opposite to the evident ogling of before now it's more subtle or, in some case, gone altogether. Apparently, people believe Oliver Queen doesn't like his 'wife' being stared at as if she's a piece of meat. It's empowering to see that he's as feared for himself as he is as the masked vigilante. It's also taken one point away from their long, loud and quite frequent arguments about his overprotection.
He remembers when, at their first period in QC - before Isabel threw him out and he'd to fight to get it back -, he had had more than once to call upon people from staring at her ass. He knows it's a nice ass, he has eyes too, and her skirts certainly help to boast it but there's a thing called being gentlemanly and a professional. Besides, he was doing them a favor anyway; Felicity's on occasion much more dangerous than him and he's sure that, if pushed, she'll have given their accounts a very much needed punch in the gut. The thing is she shouldn't have to because it's his fault.
Rationally he knows it's not entirely his fault, it's not like he's telling every breathing man or woman out there to stare at her ass, but he's the one who's put her in the position where her physical aspects are more appreciated than her intellect is and that doesn't sit well with him. He obliterated the respect her colleagues had on her and he's sure as hell going to make sure to bring it back, even if it's forcefully. She's remarkable and every single person in her life should acknowledge that and treat her accordingly, beautiful body and enticing clothing or not.
Now, it's different and he just grins proudly seeing his theory proven further when he watches her enter the room and all the gazes are fixed straight on the countertop of the table. He's actually the only one glancing at her, so he's the only one who sees her roll her eyes at him in exasperation while unconsciously tugging the hem of her skirt to lengthen it a little bit more. He's not sure she actually realizes her lips curve a little at the corners as she circles the whole table, putting a freshly printed folder in front of everyone in attendance. No one breathes, even less so glances up, when she brushes past their shoulders to set it neatly on the table before she walks to another one, flowing skirt lapping at the top of her tights almost indecently. He's the only one watching and it's like another secret between them, another thing that separates them from the rest of the world, and he doesn't know who's smiling bigger by the time she settles the last file in front of him if he or her.
His theory was first tested throughout the days following the 'announcement' of their wedding. It was as if a switch had been flipped. One moment the men - and sometimes women - of QC didn't shy away from glancing at Felicity, albeit surreptitiously most of the time thanks to his frequent glares, and the next people turned their backs when she entered a room.
That first day's still fresh in his memory. The previous night had been particularly long - between heavy Arrow duty and even heavier Felicity duty that drained him of his energy - and he was on his last nerve, anything could have set him off and he was particularly looking on lashing out on someone - as mean and as petty as it sounds - just to get all the aggression off his chest. But no one took the bait. Everyone in the lobby was as respectful as they could get, even the clingy security guard with a permanent fixation for Felicity and her legs. He was counting on him and he let him down! He could have gone at him just for that if Felicity hadn't scurried away in a rush murmuring things to do under her breath and both he and Digg had had to lengthen their steps to catch up with her.
He pushed everything away as he submerged in pile after pile of propositions, contracts, reports and budgets that needed his appraisal and signature. It wasn't until he was sure his eyes had dried over that much reading and his hand was going to fall off from all the writing down his brain picked up in the oddity of Stan's behavior. He barely tasted his lunch as he mulled it over and over again but it wasn't until his next meeting arrived at his office that he realized the security guard wasn't the only one behaving oddly.
Marc Stanford's QC most trusted and capable accountant. His father scouted him and handpicked him fresh out of college and Walter has never had a bad word about his capabilities. He doesn't either, at least not his work ones, but he was quick to realize the silver haired man liked women as much as he had in his pre-island years.
The first thing he did upon arriving to his office for the very first time was pause and look at Felicity's retreating back. He wasn't even hiding it. He checked her from top to bottom until he settled his eyes on her ass and he finally unfroze from his stupor, clearing his throat loudly. He didn't even shake the older man's hand, just ordering him to sit down in his harshest voice and start with the state of QC finances. It was the first time he actually witnessed how she was treated and it unsettled him.
After that he was hyper aware of how every single person interacted with Felicity and, in most cases, he didn't like it one bit. More than once he had to work out his frustration on the dummies in the foundry but he never said anything. If Felicity, whose intellect vastly surpasses his own, hadn't told him is because she didn't want him to know. He's not stupid enough to believe she hadn't realized what was happening; she probably did way before he did.
Despite all that, from then on, he made sure to be a buffer between the ogling bastards and her trying to spare her any unwanted situations but he couldn't be there all the time and he's sure she has gone through a lot more than what he's seen. It doesn't make him any less frustrated or protective of her, just the opposite.
When Isabel Rochev told him exactly what QC believed their relationship to be he was more enraged than shocked. Sure, he was surprised because they couldn't be further away from the truth but it was pushed away in favor of outrage. If people actually believed them to be a couple, how could they still be looking at her like that? If people actually believed them to be a couple, how could they dare to ravage her with their eyes? Did they think he wouldn't care they ogled at her like that?
The answer was so astonishing and so hurtful he had to drown it in vodka and Isabel to stop thinking about it only for it to return with a vengeance the moment he opened the door of his room to Felicity's disappointed voice and hurt face.
The truth was people only believed them to be having an affair. No feelings, at least on his part, just pleasure. They believed her to be the exact same thing he'd been looking for in the one nightstands that plagued his younger years: a disposable pretty face with a killer body and no brain that was fair game after he was done with her. She was the cliché. No, correction, he had made her the cliché when she was much, much more than that.
That's why, upon returning from Russia, he made sure his disposition towards Felicity was clear. Hence the callouts, the growls and the warnings that started more and more arguments between them than his sometimes reckless behavior as the Arrow. He knew it only disconcerted her further, that it wasn't fair to her, but he wasn't going to stop and let her fend for herself. Not when he was perfectly capable of doing something to help her.
It took time, more than he'd have ever liked, but people got the gist of what was going on even if they only twisted it further and only made the rumors about them grow exponentially. Throwing Sara and Isabel and the whole twisted business with Slade only added up to the soap opera drama and it gave a few people, like Stan and Mr. Stanford, enough room to keep slobbering over her like she was the last woman on Earth. Until that very fateful day when the article broke out and Marc never glanced at Felicity for even a second. Both were so surprised that she stood by his office door for more than a minute, eyes locked with his as she gaped.
Eventually she left and he got over the weirdness, feeling his initial tenseness towards the meeting ebb away. Needless to say it was their smoothest and most productive reunion since working together and he was glad to see he wouldn't have to rethink his position in the company.
For a second, when he was leaving his office and passing by Felicity's desk, his back straightened once more but the only thing the older man did was nod at her respectfully and wish her a good afternoon before disappearing. It was very disconcerting and neither could concentrate on the rest of the work day.
The week passed by in the same fashion and his puzzlement and unease at the changes only grew and grew to the point of irritation. Well, not only his, Felicity was about to explode because if someone can smell something rotten is her and the whole thing stank harshly. If he was restless she was even more and his cheerful friend was starting to resemble a dragon in her steaming fury when they heard it: Mrs. Queen.
He blanked on spot, only being able to hear that word repeating over and over in his brain. Mrs. Queen. It sounded way better than it should. Mrs. Queen. It was like a magic word. Mrs. Queen. Or better a drug, because it sure did sound amazingly… right. Mrs. Queen. In truth, it was the solution to all their problems. Mrs. Queen.
To her credit, the poor intern was even more frozen that both he and Felicity were and she dealt with it far worse. She apologized for her slip up so many times he was sure it was the only think she'll ever be able to say from then on but, as the shock evaporated, he realized that as out of control as the rumor about them was they could take advantage from it.
They couldn't deny their relationship because nobody believed them, so why not go with it? It was strategy really. It only helped their cover for their night activities more. It was actually a better cover than her being his overqualified executive assistant. It was an even better way to protect her than any other thing he had come up with, at least in the office because he can see a lot of ways it could go wrong outside QC. In the end, it wasn't much of a choice because the girl apologized once more and she left. Her words still ringing in their ears and echoing in the room. Mrs. Queen.
After that it spread like wildfire. Ms. Smoak was dead, long live Mrs. Queen and cue to an even bigger freak out by Felicity in the cover of the foundry. They both could admit the whole thing was getting out of hand. They both could admit they needed to do something to stop it, to straighten things up. They both could admit they weren't going to do anything, though. Digg had a few choice words for him regarding that but they had made their decision and no one could change their minds. If he was stubborn she was even more and, combined, nothing could stop them. Besides, they weren't actively deceiving anyone, their private lives - as in his private life and her private life, separate, thank you very much - were nobody's business and they shouldn't be wasting their very precious time fighting people and their beliefs. They were going to live their lives as they've been doing for the last few years and be done with it. Let the chips fall where they may.
He never expected to enjoy himself so much, though. He never expected he'd be pushing boundaries in public just to see people's reactions. But the truth is he liked to see that Felicity was respected once more, even if it was because of his name. He liked to see her smile that big at work again. And he sure as hell liked to fluster both her and his employees riding on crowded elevators or joining the cafeteria more often than not now. He didn't have a lot of fun in his life and he was going to milk it for as long as he could.