Chapter 3 – Starlings Elite.

"Lissy, come to this party with us tonight," Laurel begged me as I walked into the kitchen, yawning on Saturday morning.

"I'm working tonight."

"Come after work?"

"I'll be too tiered."

"Come on, Lissy," she pleaded. "You haven't hung out in ages."

"Laurel, you know I'm not in the mood for partying." I sighed.

"It's not some dumb college party," she whined. "This girl I work with is dating a DJ and he has hookups with some of the hottest parties and some hotshot business guy is holding a party to celebrate his new venture or something."

"What business guy?" I asked curiously.

"I don't know but I'm sure there will be lots of hot eligible guys there."

"I don't care about hot guys" I sighed.

"You might be a nun now, Lissy, but that doesn't mean you have to miss out on every piece of fun in the universe." Lauren flung her long blonde hair over her shoulders and shook her head.

"We're only young once, so let's have some fun."

"I'm not going to meet the guy I'm looking for at a snooty party."

"You might."

"In between the arrogant assholes and playboy millionaires?"

"Since when did you become so judgmental?"

"Since I decided I wanted a good guy who was going to value me."

Laurel drank some freshly squeezed orange juice and rolled her eyes.

"Just try and come, please, Lissy. You know you, me and Sara haven't all hung out together in ages."

"it's a girls night?" I squinted at her suspiciously.

"Absolutely!" she beamed at me innocently, and I sighed, knowing that if I saw her alone for five minutes, I would be shocked.

"Okay, I'll try."

It would help stop my dreams of Oliver Queen at least. That guy was seriously doing a number on my head. He intrigued me and I was starting to have too many inappropriate thoughts about him.

"Wear something cute tonight, Lissy." Laurel grinned at me and ran out of the kitchen.

"Have fun at work today. I'm going to be at the salon getting my hair done."

"Lucky!" I called out to her enviously, and she laughed.

I grabbed a breakfast roll from the counter and slumped back to my room to count my cash. I nearly had enough to get my car fixed now. I had thought about applying for a credit card to pay for it until I got some cash, but then I remembered how easy it was for people to get themselves into debt, my mom been a prime example.

I lay back on my bed and stretched out. It seemed as if nothing was going right in my life at this moment in time. Or at least, nothing that I wanted to go right. I hated being lonely, I needed to take proactive measures to change that.

I turned on my clock radio, sang along with the latest Rhianna song and threw on my work uniform. I had to be at work in thirty minutes, and my hair looked like a birds nest. All I ever seemed to do was work. My life was starting to feel tedious and boring, and I was glad I had decided to attend the party with Laurel this evening. I needed something to take me out of my normal routine.

I was tiered when I got out of work, and I drove home feeling less than in the party mood. I had barely made any money and I didn't feel like socializing with a bunch of Starling City's elite, but I knew Laurel and Sara would be more than disappointed if I didn't show up.

Laurel had called me on my break to make sure that I was still coming. She had sounded so excited that I was going to be spending an evening out with them like we had in the past that I felt too guilty to change my mind.

I knew that I definitely had to go when I saw an emerald green dress on my bed with a note from Laurel saying she had bought it for me as an early birthday present.

I sighed as I walked into the door at the party.

I was overwhelmed by the number of people and cars and I briefly considered leaving and going back home. The house was packed with a lot of people I didn't know. I pulled up in the driveway between a Rolls Royce and a Bentley, and I felt out of place before I even had got out of my car. I looked around to see if I could spot Laurel, and I gasped when I saw Oliver Queen talking animatedly to a guy who looked very familiar. I continued to stare at them, trying to figure out who the other guy was, when Oliver turned around. He must have felt my eyes burning into him because he looked directly at me.

His expression changed quickly and was a mixture of surprised, happy and upset.

I turned around with my heart beating fast when I saw him frown and then walk away quickly. What was Oliver doing here? I quickly grabbed a champagne flute from one of the waiter's trays and gulped it down, hoping it would give me some liquid courage for the night. I couldn't believe Oliver was at the party.

My whole body had felt alive when we'd made eye contact, and I was glad that it was too dark that he couldn't have seen my face flushing.

"Felicity?" I heard his voice and tried not to flinch as he touched my shoulder.

"Hi." I turned around slowly and tried to avoid his eyes as I smiled quickly.

"I thought that was you."

He frowned as he looked me up and down.

"You look different."

"Yeah. I'm in a dress," I mumbled. "And I have make up on that hasn't melted off my face yet."

"And your hair is down." He reached over and touched it.

"It's beautiful, so soft and silky."

"Thanks to loreal" I joked, and cursed myself inwardly. He probably didn't know anything about hair products.

"I have natural curly hair, so I use it to calm down the frizz and straighten it," I explained to him wanting to kick myself at how much I was mumbling.

"I see." He nodded looking as though he had no clue as to what I was talking about.

"You should see it when it's curly, I look crazy."

"Well, I can't tell."

"I'm like a frizz monster." I giggled nervously. Play it cool, Lissy. I took a deep breath and tried again. "You're lucky your hair always looks perfect."

I wanted to slap myself as soon as the words were out of my mouth.

"I mean, that's how it looks now, not in the past. I never even noticed in the past."

"Thanks" he laughed.

"Do you use any special products?" Stop talking about hair care, Smoak!

"No. I use head and shoulders shampoo and conditioner, that's about it."

"Aw." I looked around the room with a red face and pushed the stray hair out of my face.

"This is a really cool party huh?"

"It's okay." He shrugged.

"I didn't know you knew Tommy."

"Who?"

"Tommy Merlyn. The guy throwing this party."

"Oh, I don't." I bit down on my bottom lip. "My friend invited me. Don't tell anyone, but I wasn't really invited. I'm not really part of this crowd."

"What crowd?"

"The rich and famous crowd." And then I remembered how Oliver knew me.

"Well you know that already." I let out a nervous laugh. "I wouldn't be working at Big Belly if I was rich and made of money".

"Then I'm glad you're not rich." He smiled, a gigantic toothy smile, and I couldn't help myself from smiling back at him.

"Because I feel sorry for anyone who is part of this crowd."

"Oh?" I looked in surprise.

"It's a long story." He sighed. "I don't want to bore you."

"I don't think you have a boring bone in your body." Why was I so obvious? I wanted to pinch myself.

"There are many girls who'd beg to differ with you there." He laughed.

"So who's your date tonight?" I questioned looking around.

"No date tonight." He laughed.

I wriggled my eyebrows in surprise.

"That's got to be a first?"

"I usually reserve my dates for Fridays." He stared into my eyes.

"I think you've met every women I've taken out in the last few months."

"A different one every week." I laughed, trying not to let the curiosity get the better of me. I wanted to know why he dated so many different girls. But I knew it was none of my business.

"Well , I have to get what I need." He cleared his throat. "More importantly, you never take Friday nights off. I'm not sure my dates would go as well if you weren't there."

"I'm not sure I'm a good luck charm. I never see you with the same girl twice." I hoped that he would pick up on the hint and answer my question.

"What about you? Are you here with your boyfriend?"

His eyes bore into mine intently. Even in the darkness of the room, his blue eyes sparkled the most beautiful shade of blue.

"No." for some reason I didn't want to tell him that I didn't have one. I didn't want him to know that since he had been frequenting Big Belly, he was all I could think about.

"I'm surprised he let you come out by yourself," he continued, trying to fish for an answer.

"I'm here with my friends." I smiled and looked around nervously.

"So what does he do? He persisted, and I wondered why it was so important for him to know.

"Who?" I frowned pretending to be confused.

"Your boyfriend?"

"Oh, well I don't exactly have one right now."

"Aw, your living the single life?"He grinned and moved in closer to me.

"You could say that." I rolled my eyes.

"You're a beautiful girl, I'm sure there has to be someone interested in you."

"Not really."

"This isn't the sort of party to meet a good guy, though." Oliver spoke seriously. "I mean, a lot of the guys here aren't the sort I would recommend to a girl like you."

"Well I will try to remember that." I was unsure if his comment was meant to be helpful or discouraging.

"I'm sure you'll meet Mr Perfect soon."

He paused.

"I guess that's all you women want, right? A Mr Perfect to sweep you off your feet and promise you forever?"

"You could say that." I answered honestly.

"Though I'm waiting patiently. I know the right guy is out there somewhere." I'm hoping he'll come sooner rather than later but there was no way I was going to tell him that.

"So Felicity. What do you do aside from working at Big Belly?"

"I've just graduated M.I.T."

"Impressive" he grinned.

"Felicity there you are." Laurel ran up to me and squealed. "I was worried you weren't going to come."

"I'm here." I smiled.

To be continued?