It's been a bit, I know I apologize. I had finals, then dorm move out, then illness twice, also my computer is a bitch. I'll take the time to shout of to Chrissykins, this is part of her birthday present. Me finishing a chapter, also I let her and Lizzie drag me to the museum of sex. But that's another story(hint: it was actually pretty boring, but I bought a condom keychain), irrelevant. I'm debating on whether or not this deserves to be in the olicity tag yet, since it doesn't come into the story for awhile. Let me know what you think. I should also point out that I own nothing.
Isabel loved her new shoes. They were these tall black platform stilettos with cut outs on the side that made her already long legs look like they went on forever. They had been sent to her from her oldest friend Felicity. These shoes weren't made for the menial work she did as an intern. But Queen Consolidated was where she was meant to be, one of the top companies in the world, and she was working at its main office in Starling City. Quite an accomplishment for a twenty-two year old recent college graduate, and Isabel couldn't be more proud of herself.
But that didn't mean she wanted to be doing paperwork all day, or getting coffee for the higher ups. Isabel Rochev doesn't fetch others coffee, she was above it. She worked diligently in every other way, she was the perfect little worker and the higher ups have noticed. She was the sure in for one of the new positions opening, then it was so long to her days as an intern.
Isabel checked the time saw it was around six, looks like Isabel is heading home early today. She didn't have any plans for another few hours so while she walked to the elevator, Isabel thought about calling Felicity. She was still in Cambridge at MIT, finishing up her last few months. Isabel knew she was already getting job offers from around the world, and had been trying to get her to accept one in Starling City, or better yet the one Isabel knew she got from Queen Consolidated. But Felicity was worried about leaving her boyfriend behind to rot in some Massachusetts prison. That, of course, didn't deter Isabel, and she was just going to have to convince Felicity. The doors to the elevator opened to reveal two men standing there. One was a higher up in the company by the name of… something Steele, the other was the CEO himself, Robert Queen.
Isabel stepped into the elevator, and pressed the button for the ground floor. There was silence for a few moments, before Mr. Steele spoke, "I'm sorry, but I can't seem to recall your name, Miss." He said politely.
"Isabel Rochev, Mister Steele," Isabel said with an easy fake smile, "I recently started as an intern here."
"Oh yes, of course, Ms. Rochev, you're the Harvard graduate" Walter commented, "And how have you been enjoying working at QC?"
"It's been such a wonderful experience. I've learned more than I ever thought I could in just a few months." Like becoming a pro at ass kissing, Isabel finished in her head.
"I noticed that you had put in an application for the newest position in acquisitions," Robert Queen joined in on the conversation. Isabel was, admittingly, surprised that Robert Queen knew she had applied for the position. Her smile became a little more real because of it.
"Yes, I did sir. I was hoping at securing at more permeant position in the company. It's would be such an honor," Isabel channeled Felicity, and gave Robert the sweetest smile she could manage.
"Well, I'm sure a person who came in with credentials like yours will be a sure in," Robert said kindly as the elevator doors opened, "This is our floor. Nice to see you again, Ms. Rochev." Isabel smiled innocently toward Walter, yes that was what it was, Steele and Robert Queen, as she bid them both a nice day. The doors closed again, and Isabel was left alone in the elevator. She mentally patted herself on the back, and congratulated herself. She was definitely calling Felicity now.
It was a quick walk to her car, and then home. Isabel had managed to snag a nice loft in a decent area of the city when she arrived a few months ago. Of course, her father still footed the bill for it, but details. It had this sleek white paint job and shiny wooden floors that Isabel loved and a smooth black leather couch that she loved more. There were splashes of color around it, in the reds of her throw pillows and the pink curtains. Courtesy of Felicity, of course, when she first came to help her move in.
Isabel slipped off her heels, and paused to lightly rub one foot then the other. As beautiful as her new shoes were they could hurt like hell. She began to walk to her kitchen, still holding her laptop. She dropped it on the island and made her way to the fridge. Isabel removed the makings of a salad and headed back to the island. She abandoned both in favor of pulling her phone out of its place in her bra, and sent a text off to Felicity. Call me was all that it said,
She opened her laptop and as it began to wake up, Isabel started on her salad. A few minutes later she was done and munching on it when her laptop chimed. It was a video call from Felicity. Isabel fixed her hair out of habit, and clicked. The face of her oldest friend appeared smiling on screen.
Felicity's brown hair was still dyed black with purple streaks, her eyes thick with black and her lips lined with deep purple. She still hasn't gotten over her little phase, Isabel thought, and she smiled lightly. It was good to see her, even if it was just through a computer screen.
"Hey there, Izzy, " She began, "Hold on," Felicity leaned over the camera and screen showcased her charm necklace and a fair amount of what was going on in her shirt briefly as she adjusted the camera on her computer. "Okay, good!" She said after a moment, sitting back down on her desk chair, and smiling again. They chatted idly for a while about nothing of real importance. Isabel couldn't help but feel refreshed talking to Felicity, she really had missed her. "How's the big internship been going?" Felicity asked after a while.
"What have I said about calling me Izzy, Lissy?" Two can play at the embarrassing old nicknames game, "And it's going as can be expected. I've blown them all out of the water, and when the position in acquisitions becomes available in a few months I am the sure-in for it."
"That's awesome, Iz-abel," Felicity smiling brightly, "The world is your oyster!"
"It would be even better if you were in Starling with me when I get the promotion." That shut Felicity down quickly. She adverted her eyes from the screen, and began tugging on the sleeve of her dark shirt. Isabel sighed, "Felicity…"
"You know I can't leave Cooper, Iz," she told her in a small voice, "He needs me." Felicity had started retreating into herself, pulled her knees up to her chest, and resting her head on the tops of her high socks.
"He is a delinquent, Lis, and you deserve better," Isabel reminded her, "When you get to Starling we'll find you someone better for you. We'll be working at QC and you could very well start hooking up with Oliver Queen. You're pretty, that makes you his type."
For some reason Felicity seemed to get angry at her comment. "Cooper is not a delinquent! You have no idea what he's done for me. I can't just leave him after that," Isabel was surprised just how angry Felicity had gotten over Isabel's comment. Isabel was going to have to fix that.
"Lis," Isabel started in a reassuring voice, but she was cut off by her friend.
"I have to go, Isabel. Coop will be calling soon, and I have to finish up some homework. I'll call you later if I can. You have your date soon anyway," Felicity closed the chat before Isabel could reply. Isabel sat back and looked at the blank screen for a moment, before she closed the laptop. Felicity was going to take a little more convincing it seems, and she was right it was nearly 7:20, Isabel should be off by eight.
She placed her dishes into the sink, and walked off to her bedroom. As sleek as the rest of the apartment, it was colored in all white sans the dark blue bedding. Forgoing the shower, Isabel stripped off her leather work skirt and white blouse. She walked into her closet, and stared at her options. Isabel pulled out a few, but they all went back on the rack. Until she saw the unworn red dress she had bought on her last trip to Boston, it couldn't hurt to borrow Felicity's power color just for the evening. Isabel could use the luck.
Isabel stripped out her underwear next, foregoing the slightly more practical set for a new black lace set. She slipped them on, and moved to the dress. The dress brought out all the right assets and Isabel was never prouder of her push up bra. With that Isabel touched up her makeup for the night, and switched her gold rose earrings for a classier pair of diamond stubs. She was dolled and perfumed in all the right way and slipped on a pair of red and black heels. Isabel took one last look in the mirror and smiled. Red really was her color.
Walking through her apartment one last time, she stopped in the kitchen to grab her phone and slipped it into her little clutch. Isabel looked at the clock reading 7:45 and she was off. She was meeting her friend at the Starling City Plaza Hotel, which was fairly close to Isabel's apartment. Isabel pulled her car in front of the hotel and handed the keys off to the valet. Then she was in the building.
Isabel was meeting him at the hotel bar as they usually did. She found herself a place at the bar at exactly 8 o'clock and waited. Ten minutes and two vodka shots later, Isabel was still waiting and getting impatient. He was never late before, and she didn't like this. Just then Isabel felt someone behind her and a polite "Miss". She turned around and saw the bartender had come back around to her.
"Yes?" Isabel asked impatiently. The man rebuked slightly, but stiffened and pressed on.
"Why, yes. Isabel Rochev?" Isabel nodded, "Your… friend called the bar for you. Wanted to pass on the message to meet him in the usual area. If that makes sense." Isabel thanked the man and paid for her drinks. She left the bar behind her and headed for the lobby. She suddenly got this almost nervous feeling, he never asked her to just meet her. He prefer wining and dining her more, to her knowledge. This felt almost wrong, but Isabel pushed the feeling away, it was just nerves. She made it to the elevator bank, and into one. Though it was empty at first at the last second a man slipped into it with her. He was handsome, with his dark hair and carefree blue eyes. The man looked over at her, and gave her a charming smile that him look younger than he was.
"What's your floor?" He said nicely, at least attempting not to stare at her chest. He may be older than Isabel, if only by a year or two, but he was still nothing more than a boy in her eyes.
"Not yours." Isabel said bluntly, not even looking at him. The boy looked surprised at her answer, obviously not use to rejection.
"Just making small talk," the boy said politely. The doors opened and the boy got out. Isabel heard loud music coming from the other end of the hall, obviously where the boy was going. He got out, but paused and looked back at her, "I'm in 428, if you want to stop by. There'll be sushi." The boy left after that, going towards the party happily. Isabel rolled her eyes, and the elevator started going up again.
The doors open again on Isabel's floor. She gets off and heads down the hall, reaching Suite 219 in no time. Their usual spot. The door was unlocked, so Isabel let herself in. The suite was dark when she entered, but there was light coming from the balcony area. She walked towards it, when she finally sees him.
He was standing by the table, nicely dressed up with delicious food and wine. His back was to Isabel as he poured the wine into glasses. Isabel walked off to the bedroom and placed her clutch down for later. She checked herself in the mirror real quick before going off to the balcony. He hadn't noticed she'd come in, and had seemingly ignored the pitter patter of her heels on the floor. Isabel took advantage of that to sneak up on him, and slipped her arms around him. He stiffened slightly, but relaxed when she planted a light kiss on his shoulder and offered a soft "hello".
"You're late," Robert commented, Isabel released him as he turned around. He planted a light kiss on her lips with a smile, "I missed you. Seeing you in the elevator was too much." Isabel felt her almost blushing, but smiled at him.
"I know. We haven't gotten to see each other enough recently." Isabel didn't want to go into her issue just yet. With another kiss, Isabel and Robert sat down to eat their food and make idle small talk. It was mostly business talk, Robert clearly avoiding his family as a topic and Isabel trying not to bring up her argument with Felicity. This was a flaw in their relationship they never got over. But Robert slipped up eventually.
"Thea has been hinting, quite obviously, that she wants a puppy. It's actually really funny." It was Isabel's turn to stiffen, and close off. Thea was an extra awkward topic. Robert realized what he had said, and tried to change the topic.
Isabel wasn't having it, "No, please tell me more about Moira's bastard." Isabel knew she was making things uncomfortable for him, but she couldn't help it.
"You know I don't like when you call Thea that," Robert said sternly, "She may not biologically be mine, but she's still my daughter, and I wish you'd respect that." Isabel deflated at that comment, and brought herself to apologize. Robert smiled, and got up from his seat. He moved to behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "It's okay," He said, "I have a gift for you." Isabel moved her head to see him, but he stopped her, "No peaking"
She felt his hands leave her shoulders, and heard the steps back into the suite. Isabel waited as patiently as she could, taking the time to come down from her anger. She didn't even heard Robert return until he had a hand on her neck. Isabel felt a necklace slip around her neck. "I saw it and thought of you instantly." Isabel rose from her seat and walked over to the closest mirror. Robert had slipped on a string of pure onyx beads around her neck. Beautiful, pure black gems shining in the moonlight; Isabel had never gotten a more beautiful gift.
"They're beautiful" Isabel remarked, lightly touching the necklace. It felt delicate even in Isabel's small hands. Robert walked over to her,
"Just like you," He replied, as he kissed her neck. Isabel turned in the spot and wrapped her arms around his neck. The next kiss was deeper, "All better?" Robert asked when they parted. Isabel said nothing at first and simply kissed him again.
"It could be worked on," Isabel commented. Robert smiled as he fiddled with the zipper to Isabel's dress. And when it looked like Isabel wanted to say something else, he just kissed her again.
Isabel rolled over in the bed trying to make herself more comfortable to no avail. There was something buzzing, pulling her from unconsciousness. It stopped soon after, but began again about a minute later. Isabel's eyes shot open in annoyance, she turned over to the still sleeping Robert as if he was making the noise. All he did though is make a disgruntled sound, and turn over again. The noise was coming from Isabel's side, and she realized it's been her phone going off. With a groan, she turned to her side and dug the device out of her small clutch just as the ringing stopped again.
A push of a button showed Isabel a notification for twelve missed calls, feeling with worry Isabel quickly left the bed and slipped into the bathroom. Just then her phone lit up with an incoming call from Felicity, Isabel quickly answered. "What's the matter, Lis?" Isabel said quickly, not sure if she was more nervous or annoyed, "You've called me like a dozen times. You know I—"
"Cooper's dead," she heard her friend say softly, before dissolving into crying again. Isabel was shocked, to say the least, about the news. She spent a few minutes on the phone trying to calm down Felicity enough to tell her story. She took a deep breath and in the small one let out, "I was doing some work for Doctor Stein's physics class, and I noticed that Cooper was supposed to call me an hour ago. So… so I called the prison for him instead, because we had to go over what was going to happen in sentencing. It is… is… was coming up soon and oh god." Isabel heard her friend start crying softly again.
"Felicity, listen to me. You have to tell me what's going on," Isabel tried to be stern, worry starting to set in as she couldn't get to her hysterical friend, "I can't help you if you don't tell me what happened."
"Cooper… Cooper killed himself, Izzy. Oh god, he hu-hung himself in his cell a few hours ago. They didn't even want to tell me. Oh god, Izzy, it's all my fault." Isabel could heard her friend sniffling on the other end.
"Lissy, it's not your fault," Isabel assured her first, "Listen, just calm down, and take some of those only-for-emergency sleeping pills I gave you. I'll be on the first red eye to you. Okay?"
"Oh-okay." Felicity sniffed, and after a few seconds "Izzy, thank you."
"What kind of friend would I be if I didn't come to you, Lis?"
"Love you, Iz"
"Love you too, Lis. Now go to sleep. I'll see you soon." Isabel hung up her phone, and turned to look at herself in the mirror. She was still wearing her new necklace, and nothing else. Isabel started to make a checklist in her head. First thing she'll need is clothes, no a shower. She still reeked of sex. But she can hop in the shower once she got back to her apartment. So first thing, clothes.
After washing her face, and attempting to fix her hair she walked out of the room quickly. She walked over first grabbing her clutch and stuffing her phone back in, then started back tracking for the rest of her clothing. Her bra was hanging on a chair, her new dress crumpled on the floor. Robert wandered into the sitting room, now awake and wearing a hotel robe, as she was pulling her dress back on.
"Oh good you're awake. Help me with this zipper," Though confused he obliged and followed her. She stuffed her panties into her clutch as well, not bothering with them.
"Can I ask where you're going at one o'clock in the morning?" Robert asked, slightly annoyed.
"My apartment, then the airport, then Cambridge. Well Boston, then Cambridge," Isabel looked around for her heels, "Speaking of which I'm going to need to get a plane ticket on the next flight. That won't be fun."
"Why are you going to Massachusetts? It's the middle of the night."
"Felicity needs me."
"I'm sure whatever your friend needs it's not worth going all the way across the country for. She's a big girl now, she can handle it." Isabel stopped what she was doing to look at her lover.
"Felicity is the only friend I have, and she'll always need me. She is more fragile than you will ever understand. Especially when her asshole boyfriend forgets that and thinks that he can make all his problems go away by just giving up and killing himself," Isabel was fuming at Robert. No one talks down about Felicity.
"Her boyfriend killed himself?" Robert asked shocked, all his annoyance forgotten. He tried to keep talking but Isabel was done talking. She slipped on her last shoe, and started for the door.
"I'm heading to Cambridge as soon as I can. I'll call you when I get back." Isabel shut the door quietly before he could reply. Making her way down, she started looking up flights on her phone. By the time she made it to her car she had a flight for Boston, and an hour and a half free until it left. Enough time to pack a bag and get to the airport.
Making her way back to her apartment, she sped through to her room, and stripped off her dress. She slipped quickly into the shower, and washed the smell of sweat and sex off herself. In and out in seven minutes, she dried off quickly and went for clothes. Nothing special anymore, just a simple pair of jeans and a loose gray tank will do for this trip. Felicity wouldn't want to do anything, she just needed comforting and a new plan. Grabbing her red overnight bag, Isabel slipped her necessities in and left her closet, grabbing her purple jacket on the way.
Isabel had to have plan though, going to Cambridge was the first step. Felicity was in mourning, yes, and Isabel remembered how risky that could be. She almost burned down her apartment building trying to build a supercomputer after her father left. And twelve years had only made her smarter, Isabel had to be delicate. An abandoned Felicity is prone to impulse. So, as she slipped her laptop and other needed electronics into her bag Isabel thought up her plan. She had to convince Felicity that she was going to be fine, and, more importantly, to come back to Starling with her. Where Isabel can make sure she stays out of trouble.
With a clear plan forming and her boots on, Isabel was ready to go. She closes up her apartment, and walked out of the building. Hailing a cab was easy enough, and she was off. Now all she had to do was stop her cabbie from trying to make idle chit chat.
Six hours later, Isabel was in another cab. This one however was about to drop her off in front of Felicity's dorm building. It had been a long flight, but comfortable enough for Isabel to iron out what she was going to say. She paid the overly chatty man, and stood in front of the building; waiting only about a minute for a remarkably drunk frat boy to head inside, unlocking the door for her.
Felicity hadn't picked up her phone when Isabel called before, so she had no clue Isabel was in Massachusetts yet. She was probably still asleep, so Isabel would be waking her up. It's almost seven I should have brought her coffee or something, Isabel thought. The elevator stopped on the floor and Isabel walked down the hall to her door. She knocked and waiting, and was about to knock again when the door opened.
Her friend was standing there, somehow looking like she had slept too much and not at all at the same time. With her long hair pulled back, and all her make up washed off, she looked much younger than even her eighteen years. Younger still, swimming in a large black sweatshirt, Isabel had to assume was Cooper's. It took Felicity a second to realize who was at her door, but the moment she did she pulled Isabel into a tight hug. "Thank you for coming," she heard Felicity say softly.
Isabel stiffened in Felicity's embrace, just for a moment before pulling her close. She expected to hear the younger girl crying but there was nothing. Felicity just held on tightly to Isabel, squeezing her tightly as if they weren't in the doorway. But then after a moment she pulled away, and stepped aside, letting Isabel enter. There was no one else in the room, not even her roommate or usually present third member.
"Where is Barbara and Victor? Why haven't they been with you?" Isabel questioned, looking around. It looked like she hadn't been around for a few days, and there was none of Victor's near-omnipresent machine parts hanging around. Isabel felt herself getting angry at the two kids for leaving her alone when they needed her.
"Babs went home to check on her father, he got hurt on duty. Vic got lost in his robotics again," Felicity was off to the side now, "I haven't told them yet." Isabel saw her friend sitting in her desk chair, knees pulled up to her chest. Isabel moved over to where Felicity kept her coffee pot and started making her tea.
"Why haven't you told anyone?"
"I told Doctor Stein. He said to take a few days off. I think I made him uncomfortable," Felicity was a lot quieter than usual, and that almost worried Isabel. She slipped a mug into Felicity's hands, and took a place on her bed. Now was as good a time as ever to start convincing her, but then Felicity started talking first, "It's my fault, Cooper died."
"Felicity, it is not your fault."
"Yes, it is. He took the blame for what I did, and went to prison for me, so I wouldn't. That makes it my fault," Felicity hands shook slightly.
"What are you even talking about?"
"The virus, the one that Coop was caught using, was mine. I was the one who made it, that makes it my fault. He tried to use it on a few student loans, and it was good enough. The tracked it back to us, and he said it was his hack. He went to jail for me." Isabel thought she would be crying again, but Felicity still stared into her mug.
"Felicity, that's not your fault. If he was deleting student loans, then him getting caught was still his own fault." Isabel placed a hand on Felicity's knee, "What were you going to do? Turn yourself in and spend the rest of your life in prison. You are worth much more than that,"
"And what about Cooper?!" Felicity said.
"Cooper already made him choice."
"You're not very good at this sympathy thing, are you?" Felicity looked like she wanted to say something else, but dropped the subject, "You got what you wanted anyway."
"What do you mean? I may not have liked him, but I certainly didn't want Cooper dead. He means a lot to you."
"That's not what I meant. I emailed Queen Consolidated a few hours ago, when I couldn't sleep. I accepted their job offer. I start in a few weeks, just after my birthday," she smiled sadly, "Cooper and I were going to go to New York City, see the sights. Looks like we'll never make it there."
"Really? I thought it would take a good deal of convincing to get you to come with me. I made a speech ready and everything," Humor was never Isabel's strong suit, it was up there with comforting.
"No, I've been too loud for too long now. I'm actually surprised it took this long for the consequences to catch up on me, guess my guardian angel wasn't looking," She let out a short bitter laugh, "It's time for me to fade into the background with the rest of the world," Felicity was quiet for a few minutes, putting her cup on the desk and playing with a loose bit of her hair, "I need a change."
"What are you talking about? Are we going shopping? Shopping always helps."
"No, well yes. But I was also thinking of something bigger."
"Bigger?" Isabel looked Felicity in the eye, and strange enough saw Felicity smile very lightly.
"What do you think of blondes?" was Felicity's answer.
Surprise, a chapter that actually ends where I plan it too that's a first. Also a comment that you wouldn't understand cause it's a riff on my other story, awkward. Nice one, Ali. Anyways, sorry this took a bit to come out. You saw my reasons. Plus I wanted to get the new FOP chapter out first, cause it had been a really long time for them. But you're not them, probably not, mostly not, and I'm only a little sorry they got top billing, it's harder to write for them. But hey yeah, awesome, I insulted my readers, I'm sorry I love all of you. And if I could I would hug you all, unless you're not cool with that then I'll just smile at you like a creeper. Now I've made you uncomfortable. Nice one, Ali. I'm going to stop this note while I still have one reader left. Off topic, I through an hint to other DC characters, but also to my own never finished outling story, so yeah. Check out the polyvore for clothes and stuff, or find me on tumblr theangelofthemorning where I'll be awkward over messages and random posts. God this message had no point, I should have just told you more about the sex museum. Good night everyone.