"Felicity! Felicity honey, are you still there?" Felicity jerked, her mother's voice startling her back into awareness. She hadn't even realized that she'd spaced out.

"Yeah Mom, I'm still here," she said. She heard her mother sigh with relief on the other end.

"Oh, good," she said. "You were quiet for so long I'd worried that you'd gotten sick of listening to me ramble on and had hung up on me."

"I wouldn't do that," Felicity said, shaking her head. Though her mother did have a tendency to chatter sometimes, it was no worse than her own, and even though it could be annoying, deep down Felicity enjoyed any opportunity to talk to her that presented itself. She was the only family she had, after all. "I just spaced out for a bit there. I'm feeling kind of burned out right now."

"I'm sorry to hear that," her mother said. "Work going okay?"

"Work's fine," Felicity replied automatically. "I've just...had a long day, that's all."

"Alright then, well," her mother said, "I'll leave you to get some rest. You obviously need it."

"Thanks Mom," Felicity said with a tired smile.

"You're welcome sweetie," her mother replied. "Same time next week?"

"Of course," Felicity said before ending the call. She set her phone down on her nightstand, next to her glasses, and climbed into bed, quietly grateful that she was already in her pajamas.

She woke the next morning to late morning sunlight flooding her bedroom, in a panic, sure that she was late for work. She was halfway through a rushed version of her morning routine before she remembered that it was Saturday. She paused in the middle of what she was doing and gave herself a moment to get her heart rate back down to normal before she went and changed into clothes more appropriate for lounging and made herself a cup of coffee. She settled down on her couch with a contented sigh, feeling herself relax. That feeling of contentment vanished the instant she decided to check her phone. She had fifteen text messages, all from a number she unfortunately recognized as Ray Palmer's, all variations of Hi. How are you? What's up? The last one, received at six A.M., read Why aren't you answering? accompanied by a frowny face.

For God's sake Ray, I was asleep, Felicity fired off angrily. She probably shouldn't respond at all- it would only encourage him- but at that particular moment she was too irritated that he was back to his old nonsense- again- to care. Ray didn't respond, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe he'd gotten the hint. They'd broken up three years ago, but every once and a while he would do this, send her dozens of messages out of the blue out of some kind of misguided hope that maybe this time she'd want to talk to him. She'd told him time and again to delete her number, and she really should have blocked his, but she hadn't because that seemed like an extreme reaction to something that was really nothing more than a minor nuisance. Ray could be annoying sometimes, but he wasn't dangerous. Still, she put her phone on airplane mode, just in case he decided to spam her some more, so that she could have a few hours peace.

That night, after she enjoyed some quiet time to herself, reading and watching Netflix, she chanced taking her phone off of airplane mode, squinting at the screen at eyes scrunched halfway closed as she did so. To her very great relief, she didn't have any more messages from Ray, though she did have one from Iris.

Hey girl, it read. I've been trying to reach you all day. Is everything okay?

Everything's fine, Felicity wrote. I had my phone on airplane mode. Ray texted me again.

You should really go to the police about that. I can bring it to my dad, if you want.

What can your dad do? Starling City is way outside of the CCPD's jurisdiction. And anyway, why would I go to the police about Ray? He's not dangerous. He's just a nuisance.

I guess you're right. Still, promise me you'll report him to the authorities if his behavior escalates or he does anything to make you feel unsafe.

I promise. Felicity sighed and tapped her phone against her leg, trying to figure out how to turn the conversation to a more pleasant subject. She refused to allow Ray Palmer to ruin her day. Finally, she wrote, So what did you need to get ahold of me about?

Oh yeah! Iris replied. I'm going to be in Starling next weekend for a story and I was wondering if you wanted to hang out while I'm there.

Of course. You know how much I love getting to see you in person. I look forward to it.

Awesome. I'll see you then. I text you more details when I have them.

Sounds like a plan. After a moment, a thought occurred to Felicity, and she wrote, Did I tell you that I finally made a friend at work?

No, Iris replied. Who is it?

Oliver Queen, Felicity wrote. She smiled imagining the look on Iris' face when she read that message. Her response came a moment later.

No way. You do not know Oliver Queen!

I do. He works at Queen Consolidated now.

What's he like? Felicity thought for a moment.

Kind, she wrote. Funny. A little sad.

Handsome? Iris asked. I've heard that he's like, ridiculously attractive. Felicity laughed.

I suppose so, she wrote. I hadn't really thought about it. It's not really something I consider important.

Of course it isn't. You are too good for this world, Felicity Smoak. Anyway, Barry's home, so I've got to go. I'll talk to you later.

As Felicity locked her phone and slipped it into her pocket, she couldn't stop an enormous smile from spreading across her face. Iris was the closest thing she had to a best friend. It had been so long since they had talked face to face, and she couldn't wait to tell her about everything that had gone on since they'd last seen each other. With that to look forward, she felt, nothing could possibly spoil the next week for her.