A/N- Hello readers, it's time for chapter three! I hope you're all enjoying this story as much as I'm enjoying writing it. Taking a break from my other piece and writing something new really got my mojo going again so if you happen to be reading Smoak Technologies as well then be on the lookout for new chapter coming soon! Thank you to all my readers for your support of my work, you make it all worthwhile!

Chapter 3-The Unanswered Question

Oliver sighed nervously as the elevator descended towards level two, he looked down at his watch. "Ten minutes late." There were a few reasons why this upset Oliver, the first of which was the reason he was late. Oliver had know idea how it'd happen but he had somehow managed to get chewed out by Fredric yet again right before lunch started, needles to say that put him in a crappy mood. Secondly, this wasn't just any old lunch break. Oliver had taken it upon himself to seek out help for his lack of technical skill, a friend he'd made at the company had graciously volunteered to sacrifice her lunch breaks a few times a week to teach him what he needed to know. If Oliver was going to take up someone else's free time along with his own for work than every second counted, being late was unfair to himself and to his friend. Lastly, Oliver was frustrated because every second he spent being lectured by The Gremlin was a second he could be spending with his benevolent instructor. Oliver hadn't wanted to admit it to himself at first, but he'd become very fond of her over the past few months. Having lunch with her was always the highlight of his day, even if they were technically working.

Finally, the elevator doors slid open and Oliver rushed out quicker than an expectant father whose wife was about to give birth. He bolted for the café then halted right as he got to the door, he took a moment to calm himself and straighten himself out. After placing the two cups of coffee he'd been holding on the ground he adjusted his tie, he then retrieved the beverages and reached for the door handle with his elbow.

"Here let me help you with that," a fellow employee generously offered.

"Thanks so much," Oliver replied and allowed the woman to get the door for him. Once inside he nervously scanned the room, his lips curved into a smile when he noticed a hand in the air waving him over.

"Hello Oliver!" A cheery voice chirped as he neared the table.

"Hi Felicity!" Oliver greeted, he couldn't help but stop and stare for a moment. No matter how hard Oliver tried to resist them those big blue eyes always seemed to Draw him in, he couldn't help but get lost in them sometimes.

"…So, " Felicity spoke up breaking the silence, "What delicious concoction have you brought for us today?"

Oliver came back to reality and blinked rapidly, "Crap I was staring again." Oliver quickly took his seat, "I think you're really going to like this one. It's my own twist on a Sumatran blend, I've modified the recipe to enhance the rich and sweet flavors. I sent a test batch to my sister in Central city, she loved it."

"Sounds amazing!" Felicity licked her lips and rubbed her hands together in anticipation, "May I?" She gestured towards the cup.

"Of course." Oliver smiled and gently slid the beverage into Felicity's waiting fingers, he watched as she brought the cup up to her mouth. Felicity took a deep breath to inhale the aroma, she closed her eyes and pressed the lid to her lips to take a sip.

Oliver suddenly found himself feeling incredibly nervous. When Felicity first came to him and offered to give him lessons in using computers and Willer Sale's software he had immediately agreed and offered to pay her for her time. Felicity had refused stating that helping a friend was reward enough, however, when Oliver's love of cooking and crafting specialty dishes had come up during casual conversation Felicity's interest had been peaked. The quirky blue-eyed blonde tactfully slipped her love of homemade coffee into their friendly banter and asked Oliver if he'd ever tried making his own. Oliver had not but in that moment he decided he would have to give it a shot.

"Of course I do! In fact I'm trying out a new recipe that you might really enjoy!" Oliver replied without hesitation, he hadn't meant to lie to Felicity but this was an opportunity to pay her back for her help. Oliver took that opportunity and was confident that he was up to the challenge, or at least he would be after calling Thea that night and having her help him research brewing techniques over the internet. Luckily Oliver's inner barista had spread its wings and flown much higher than he'd expected, he caught on quickly and had cranked out a handful of delicious customized brews over the past several weeks. So far Felicity had gulped down every single one with a smile and a satisfied murmur, but Oliver was still anxious every time he placed a new batch in front of her.

Oliver watched as two more gulps passed over Felicity's taste buds, he waited patiently as she paused to savor the flavor, "She hasn't spit it out yet, guess that's a good sign." Another few moments passed before Oliver spoke up, "Well?"

"Huh?" Felicity seemed surprised, as if she'd just been shaken from a dream. "Sorry…mmm so good…just…mmm!" She mumbled as she reached for a napkin and dabbed at her bright red lipstick.

Oliver relaxed and a satisfied grin stretched across his face.

Felicity's eyes widened and she pointed at her cup. "Not Gonna lie Oliver, your coffee, almost better than sex."

Oliver almost spit the sip he'd just taken all over the table in front of him. "Excuse me?" Realizing what she'd just said, Felicity frantically apologized but there was no need. "Relax," Oliver chuckled. "I'm just messing with you."

Over the course of their blossoming friendship, Oliver had learned that Felicity Smoak was adorably and unmistakably unique. The pint-sized powerhouse was full of Quirky comebacks, cringe-worthy bouts of awkwardness and a seemingly limitless supply of unintended sexual innuendos. Felicity's brain was vast and powerful enough to contain every piece of knowledge it had ever come by, yet her mental filter always seemed to be on the fritz. Oliver didn't care, he loved every second of it. All of those things made him want to get to know Felicity even more, there was never a dull moment when she was around.

Oliver's smile seemed to put his companion at ease, she relaxed her body and smiled back. Their eyes unexpectedly darted up at the same time and locked for a few fleeting moments, but both soon realized they'd held each other's gaze just a little too long and turned away shyly. Oliver was the first to reignite the conversation. "So, are you buying today or did you bring something from home?"

Felicity chuckled, "I packed my own lunch thank you very much," she smiled proudly. Felicity produced a hot pink lunch box from under the table and extracted a large foil wrapped object, she placed it on the table and smirked mischievously. "You may hold the title of master chef in this friendship, but if there's one thing I do know how to make it's an Italian sub." Felicity unwrapped the foil to show off her creation.

Oliver quirked and eyebrow and eyed the sandwich, he pinched the foil and carefully rotated it to inspect Felicity's work from every angle. Oliver was impressed but he was careful not to show it, he wanted to have a bit of fun with his friend. "Felicity Smoak," he remarked after a few more moments of observation.

"Uh-hu?" Felicity replied hopefully.

"You have failed this sandwich!"

"…Really?" Felicity looked heartbroken.

Oliver couldn't stand to see her frown. "No, " the serious face he'd put on crumbled into an apologetic smile. "It looks and smells delicious."

Felicity perked up at that,"What are you having?"

"Oh I couldn't drag myself out of bed early enough to make anything this morning, just the coffee for me."

"Unacceptable! There's more than enough for two here. I'll cut it in half and we can share."

"Felicity I can't take half of your lunch."

Oliver's protest went unacknowledged, Felicity proceeded to take out a knife and split the sandwich in two. Oliver hesitantly but gratefully took the half he was offered, he could feel Felicity's eyes upon him as he brought the sandwich up to his mouth and took his first bite. Now it was her turn to ask.

"Well?"

Oliver took a moment to finish chewing and swallowed, "It's Great!"

"Really, you promise you aren't just saying that?"

"Absolutely!" Oliver replied as he took another bite. "You were definitely not kidding when you said you know how to make these."

Felicity perked up and grinned, "Well maybe I'll show you how it's done some time."

"Please do!" Oliver mumbled through a mouth full of food. "I'll love you forever." It wasn't until Oliver finished chewing and swallowed that bite that his statement hit home, he gulped and froze. Oliver's eyes scanned Felicity's, they had widened ever so slightly, she hadn't expected that. "Maybe if I don't move or speak, the world will throw me a freebie and alter time so that I didn't just say that. Yeah that'll work." Oliver remained silent, finally, after yet another awkward silence Felicity gave him a small smile and relaxed. Oliver did the same, he looked down in embarrassment but his eyes turned back just in time to see a light blush redden Felicity's cheeks.

"Well, now that we've both thoroughly humiliated ourselves maybe we outa get down to businesses, don't you think?" Felicity chuckled.

"Couldn't agree more." Oliver looked away and scratched the back of his head.

Felicity's eyes shot up, she took the opportunity to quickly examine Oliver while his head was turned. Little did he know that she had done this many times before, every chance she got actually. Felicity's mind wandered back to the day they'd met in one of the conference rooms after a mandatory company-wide meeting. On that day a few short months ago Oliver had casually walked up and introduced himself which had immediately blown Felicity away. How an incredibly handsome man like that had even noticed her at all was beyond Felicity's comprehension but she wasn't about to complain. Once pleasantries we're out of the way the two proceeded to engage in the usual small talk, the weather, how they liked their jobs and so on. As the room emptied out and the conversation wound down Oliver again caught Felicity completely off guard by asking if she'd like to join him for lunch one day.

"I'm new here, I could use a friendly face," he'd explained and flashed her a captivating smile.

"I'd uh-I'd like that." Felicity answered without a second thought. "What are you doing?" The voice in Felicity's head violently pounded against her skull. "How many times has Barry asked you out and you turned him down? Now, this guy shows up and you're instantly ready to jump into bed with him? That's insane!" Felicity groaned under her breath, "Quiet!" She ordered herself. "That is highly inappropriate and not at all accurate! I don't know there's just something about him, something different."

"Something different about what?" Oliver's voice rang out.

Felicity cursed under her breath at the realization that not all of her thoughts had remained in her head, "Uh nothing, nothing at all. Sorry." Felicity bit her bottom lip and eyed Oliver nervously. The silence and self-humiliation had become too much, she had to escape. Felicity turned and headed for the door but Oliver called to her before she could flee.

"Wait how do I get in touch with you, for lunch?"

Felicity turned back and tried to keep her composure, "You know all those posters around the office that have that computer with the sad face printed on them? That's my email at the bottom." Felicity'd wanted to say more but decided that it was best she quit while she was ahead, she quickly slipped through the door and let it shut behind her.

Now as the memory faded and her mind returned to the present Felicity found herself staring at Oliver's shirt, presumably trying to picture the layers upon layers of firm, rippling muscle that had to be hiding underneath.

"Be careful," a muffled voice caressed her ears.

"Wha?" Felicity replied obliviously without diverting her gaze.

"Felicity, if you're not careful you're going to be tasting ink in a second."

Felicity heard that clearly, her eyes shot up and connected with Oliver's instantly. Felicity tried to regain her senses and quickly determined that she was holding one end of her favorite red pen between her fingers, the other end was in her mouth. "Oh frak!" Felicity exclaimed and let the pen drop to the table below. "I was staring at your chest, and chewing on a pen."

Oliver chuckled, "You were also doing that thing where you chew on your bottom lip."

"Oh God I'm so sorry!" Felicity buried her face in her hands. "You must think I'm in an eleven on the weirdometer."

"It's ok, really." Oliver carefully took Felicity's wrists and ushered them away from her face. "You know I've never told anyone this before, but I get turned on by the thought of spreadsheets and mathematics too. Your secret is safe with me." Oliver winked playfully.

It took Felicity a moment to realize what Oliver was doing but once she did she smiled and laughed along, she was in awe of him. Oliver was handsome, funny, polite and to top it all off he was kind enough to save Felicity from her own crippling embarrassment. What more could she ask for? Felicity felt lucky to have Oliver as a friend.

"So, should we start the day's lesson?" Oliver spoke up.

"Absolutely!" Felicity replied and began typing, she pulled up Oliver's latest reports and they looked at the screen together. "Ah, I see what happened here." Felicity began to ramble off instructions and guide Oliver in correcting his mistakes. They both pretended not to notice the tiny glances they shot each other every chance they got.

"Ok now hit F6, next scroll over here and click there for the drop-down menu." Lunch was almost over, Oliver and Felicity now sat side by side as Oliver went through a practice report on the computer. Felicity calmly gave out instructions and encouraged Oliver when it seemed he was getting the hang of it. "Great! Ok the second to last option is finalize, that's what you want."

"Next is file save right?" Oliver asked hesitantly.

"File save as," Felicity corrected. "You need to use the save as function so that you'll get the chance to name the document. That way you'll be able to find it when you go to upload it to the companies server."

"Right, you've told me that before. I'm sorry."

Felicity could see the disappointment on Olivers face, "Oliver its fine, really. Learning any new skill takes time and patience, especially something as complicated as computers. Old Freddy boy may not understand that but I do. You'll get there I know it."

Oliver smiled and turned to face Felicity, "You know when you say it I actually believe it."

"You should," Felicity replied as their eyes connected. "I seem to know you better than you know yourself."

"That's probably true," Oliver chuckled before turning back to the screen. "Ok got it saved and named, now I log into the website employee section and find the submissions tab right?"

"Mhm" Felicity answered without diverting her gaze. Oliver continued to talk himself through the process but his words fell on deaf ears. Felicity was preoccupied with the inescapable thoughts that grasped her mind. Thoughts of wrapping her arms around one of Oliver's predominant biceps or the way her fingertips would tingle as they caressed the stubble that covered his jawline. There had been so many times that Felicity had dreamed of their working lunches being actual lunch dates, dinner dates, movie dates, real date dates. It had been apparent to Felicity back when this friendship began that if she chose to embrace it, staying mere friends would not last long, at least not on her part. As much as she tried to keep her desires in check and appreciate what she'd been given, whenever they were together Felicity found herself longing to know if Oliver might feel the same. She needed to Know if there was anything to this dance they'd been doing around each-other.