Feelings are addressed on both sides...but it's not without a little drama. Trust me, we're building towards the really good (ratings upped) stuff. But I like the slow burn, so thanks for hanging in there with me and keep those reviews coming, I love hearing what you think!
Felicity grimaced as she popped two more Advil before turning back to her screen. It was only Thursday but it had already been a very long week, on both her day and night jobs. However, she was pretty pleased with the outcome.
Queen Consolidated had just narrowly escaped the threatened takeover, thanks in large part to Walter, who had benefited from some intel on one of the companies involved she'd finaly unearthed and he'd tracked down overseas. Not only had it stalled the takeover in progress, but coupled with Walter's decision to return and take over as CEO, it had put the company a little further on the path to redemption. Oliver would remain as President but now could share responsibility with Walter. She'd barely managed to restrain her laughter at the abject look of relief she'd seen on Oliver's face when Walter had made the announcement.
On the Hood front, Oliver, thanks to a key piece of information she'd uncovered, had put one of the Glade's biggest crime bosses behind bars. And the whole thing had come about with only a few superficial injuries to both Digg and Oliver. Any mission without bloodshed was good in her book. An added bonus was that the crime boss had provided some key, unexpected information on what Deadshot was up to and Oliver and Digg were once more planning for the big takedown when the time was right. Thankfully, they were united in their desire to kill the master criminal this time, although she shuddered to think about what could happen. But regardless, while they couldn't do anything immediately, the knowledge that they soon could, put both of the men in her life in good spirits.
So, honestly, she had nothing to complain about this afternoon, except the burgeoning headache she felt coming on after staring at data and spreadsheets for hours on end. Unfortunately, the IT department budget was not in as good shape as it could be and she knew she needed to work out some new business plans if things were to stay on track. It just wasn't very interesting work.
Then there was the fact that things had been a bit different between her and Oliver this week, and she wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing. He hadn't said much about their outing to the fair, or their almost kiss, not that she'd expected him too. But, he'd been suspiciously unforthcoming, even in teasing her, about what he had planned for Saturday night. As this was different from past weeks, she was a little worried that perhaps he'd realized that he didn't want to do this anymore, that he really was better off spending his free time with Laurel, rather than her, and that he was simply trying to find a way to tell her.
But just when she'd convinced herself that he was regretting their lessons, and almost kissing her, he'd make some comment about her 'horrible form ' when shooting arrows, or about the stuffed Robin Hood that proudly adorned Felicity's desk. He'd taken to referring to it as Team Arrow's mascot. Digg had simply rolled his eyes and deliberately not asked questions. Felicity had noted he was getting really good at both of those things lately.
Still, she was feeling a little uncertain right now. Especially as she knew Oliver had a date with Laurel this evening. Not that she'd expected anything different. He probably had convinced himself their almost kiss was a mistake and she couldn't blame him. After all, she was Laurel, the girl who had a claim on him that no amount of 'educational' nights could compete with. Oliver might enjoy spending time with her, but it was pretty obvious he was still together with Laurel.
She admitted she might be a bit over emotional in her thinking, but who could blame her? That almost kiss had haunted her all week. In fact, it had sparked some of the hottest dream fantasies she could ever remember having. She felt herself blush as she remembered the particularly NC-17 rated fantasy she'd had last night about him really teaching her to shoot an arrow…
The ringing of her cell phone nearly had her jumping out of her seat. Placing a hand over her heart, she looked over at the phone and was surprised at the name that greeted her. Smiling, she picked up the phone and greeted the unexpected but not unwelcome caller.
Two hours later, to her surprise, Felicity found herself enjoying a sinfully good glass of red wine at one of Starling City's newest 4-star restaurants. Even more surprisingly was the man who sat across from her. She'd been surprised to see AJ's name on her caller ID, and pleased to learn he was passing through town again for the evening and wanted to know if she'd like to grab dinner. She'd said yes immediately, knowing she wouldn't have Hood business tonight if Oliver was out on a date. Plus, with her confused feelings all week, it was nice to have a man who seemed actually interested in her ask her out. And she had to admit, AJ was the whole package, attractive, charming and a true gentleman.
She was having a great time hearing more about his career, and the rather interesting family, blood and extended, that populated his life. She couldn't help but be impressed that he had several current and former Judge Advocate Generals in his family. Talk about having a lot to live up to. But he seemed pretty good-natured about everything, content with his career as a Navy lawyer. She liked that about him, not to mention the fact that he was good company.
They'd just finished their appetizers when the live band struck up one of Felicity's favorite songs. With a smile, she turned to look at the seven piece orchestra, and the variety of couples that were on the dance floor. The restaurant might have only been open for a few months but obviously, it knew what it was doing and live music was obviously a huge hit with all ages.
"Care to dance?" AJ's tone was infectious, and despite her reminder to him that she wasn't the most graceful, she found herself laughing as he led her onto the dance floor. To her surprise, they moved well together, much better than they had at Verdant. She wondered if it had something to do with the song or the fact that she was more comfortable in his presence. Either way, she was truly enjoying herself, laughing at something AJ said and letting him twirl her in and out of his arms to the infectious big band beat.
It was also why she remained completely oblivious to the couple who had just entered the restaurant.
Oliver was nervous. If he were honest, he was terrified of how this conversation with Laurel was going to go. Part of him was sure it was the right thing to do, but that tiny, old-Oliver part inside him kept nagging at him. Could he really give up the dream he'd had of them for so long? But the remembered look in Felicity's eyes as he'd nearly kissed her, not to mention the desire she'd sparked in him that night, made it clear he had to do something before things became unbearable and he did something he'd regret.
In his defense, he'd tried to get the conversation out of the way earlier in the week, but the only night Laurel had free was tonight and he figured that if they were going to talk about the status of their relationship, he might as well treat her to a nice dinner to take away some of the anticipated sting. So, he'd made the date with Laurel and spent the rest of the week trying to hide how much he wanted to kiss Felicity every time he saw her.
He knew this had resulted in him seeming a bit schizophrenic, in the eyes of both Felicity and Digg. He could tell Felicity was a little hurt, and a little surprised at his lack of teasing about their upcoming Saturday. But, he had to take care of things with Laurel before he could even give her any hope, if she was even open to anything more with him. And since he'd had to wait until tonight, he'd done what he could to keep his distance from Felicity, aside from some teasing about the stuffed Robin Hood. He figured it was a necessity in order to keep from grabbing her and making some of his more vivid fantasies come true.
Laurel had picked the restaurant, one of Starling City's newest in the wake of the earthquake, and to be honest, he hadn't thought much about it. His focus was more on how to broach the entire subject of their relationship and its future or lack thereof. However, as they entered the restaurant, he had to admit, he liked the understated style, and the way the wine list was prominently displayed. He smiled to note they did have Château Lafitte-Rothschild.
He jerked himself back to the present as they were shown to a table and settled in. Laurel, he noted, was looking around approvingly. He was trying to decide if they should at least order drinks before he started this discussion when she spoke.
"Isn't that Felicity over there?"
He jerked his head around to where she was looking, startled to hear her utter the name that had been haunting him for the past week, if not year. He was even more stunned to see his beautiful IT girl in the arms of the man he was pretty sure she'd been dancing with at Verdant last week. The punch to his gut was almost, but not quite, unexpected.
"Oliver?" Laurel's voice was concerned and he struggled to get himself under control before forcing his gaze away from the laughing couple on the dance floor. "Sorry, yes, that's Felicity. I didn't know she had a date tonight." He knew his tone was gruffer than normal, something Laurel obviously picked up on. "Why should you have known if she had a date?" Her voice sounded almost reproving. "Well, I shouldn't, but when I talked to her today she didn't mention it and as she's my friend, I wonder why." He knew Laurel wasn't buying it from the hard look his girlfriend gave him.
"I do too, especially since I received some interesting pictures in the mail today," was all she chose to reply as their waiter approached. Oliver felt his heart stop for a moment as his attention focused completely on Laurel. "Pictures?" He wasn't sure what to expect when Laurel sighed and reached for her purse. Pulling out a manila envelope, she slid it across the table, her face expressionless. Taking a deep breath, he opened the envelope and pulled out several glossy photos.
Of him and Felicity at the fair. Holding hands and smiling into each others eyes. For a moment, he was amazed at the emotions the photographer had captured. Even he could see the way they were looking at each other—and it was definitely way beyond friendly. It was, in fact, very intimate and if he were honest, showed a couple very much in love. And if he'd needed any proof of his feelings for Felicity, this moment between them, captured on film, pretty much cemented it. After all, wasn't a picture worth a thousand words?
"Who took these?" He knew his voice was gruff, and he probably should say something to Laurel about the situation in which they were taken, but he found himself more upset that someone had captured his and Felicity's private moment.
"A friend of mine works at the Starling City Star and she happened to get a hold of these from one of her photographers." Laurel's voice was even, no expression that he could detect. "She wanted to let me know that she'd managed to stop the story from running, but thought I should know that my boyfriend was out with someone else."
Oliver's first emotion was relief that the public would not see this private moment. His second was guilt, although it was more over the fact that he'd waited so long to tell Laurel what he was feeling, that a gossip rag photographer had to clue her in. The third was confusion, as Laurel wasn't saying anything, or slapping him, or even berating him for anything. She was just looking at him, her eyes serious and perhaps a little hurt.
He sighed, knowing it was time to really talk. For a moment, he turned his gaze from her, looking over to where Felicity had just settled back into her seat. He was pretty sure he was glaring from the look she gave him when she became aware of his gaze. For a moment, their eyes met, and time seemed to stand still. Then she jerked her eyes back to her date as she reached for her wine. His gaze then turned to the back of the head of the man sitting across from her as he debated what type of arrow he'd use on the man to disable but not kill him. His gaze, and his mind, shot back to the woman currently sitting across from him when she spoke.
"So Oliver, I think we'd better talk about Felicity."
Felicity could feel an intense stare aimed at her as soon as she sat down at the table. Feeling her stomach drop, she closed her eyes a moment, knowing only one person could put that much intensity into a look. Opening her eyes, she titled her head and found herself looking directly at Oliver, who was seated halfway across the room at a table with Laurel. It wasn't hard to tell, even from this distance, that Oliver wasn't happy.
Wasn't it just her luck that they'd choose the same restaurant, on the same night, as she and AJ. She had to admit, it was pretty ironic if you thought about it. She'd gone out to try and get him out of her thoughts and of course, he'd have to appear and put himself right back in. Karma was a bitch.
"You okay, Felicity?" AJ's voice startled her back to awareness of her date and with an apologetic smile, she nodded. "Sorry, just lost in my thoughts," she offered. His wry laugh made her look at him in confusion. "Would those thoughts be for the man who's intensely glaring at me from across the room?"
Felicity sighed, her cheeks blushing. "Yeah, that would be him." She offered a wry smile. "I don't suppose you'd buy the story that he's my boss and he's a little overprotective?" His laughter made her feel a bit better.
"If that's overprotective, I have a piece of lakefront property in the Sahara I want to sell you." At that, Felicity couldn't help but laugh. "Would it do any good to say it's not about you, it's about me?"
AJ gave her a small grin. "It might, but I have to warn you, it seems pretty obvious he's got it in for me, I assume because I'm here with you."
She sighed. "Don't take it personally, he never seems to approve of the men I date."
"And that right there tells me there's a lot more to the story of you and your boss. Care to tell a friend about it?" In that moment, Felicity knew that he was telling her that he understood and would be there if she wanted a friend or something more. He really was almost too good to be true. And he deserved an explanation for why he was getting death glares from the erstwhile Hood of Starling City. She sighed and began to explain, as best she could, the relationship, or lack thereof, between her and Oliver.
Laurel had had just about enough. She wasn't stupid and she wasn't blind. She'd noticed she had lost Oliver's attention the instant he spotted Felicity. Something that she'd come to expect when he saw the blonde head of his IT department anymore. At first, it had annoyed her, because after all, he was her boyfriend and she should have his undivided attention. But as she'd watched the two of them interact more together she realized, with a sigh, that she was fighting the inevitable.
And then her friend Shelley had sent the pictures. If she were honest, her initial reaction was shock more than hurt. It wasn't as if she hadn't seen this coming, even though she'd tried to ignore it. Things with her and Oliver had never quite gotten back to the same place they had been before the earthquake. She knew a lot of that was her fault, as she'd kept her distance from both him and Tommy in the initial weeks after the disaster. It had been difficult, especially as she knew she still felt something for Tommy, but he'd remained silent on the matter and refused to talk about it.
So, after Oliver's disappearance and reappearance, she'd decided that she owed it to them to see if they could salvage anything of their relationship. After all, it hadn't seemed as if Tommy wanted anything more than a strained friendship, if that, from her. And at first, she and Oliver had seemed to work, despite both their busy schedules. But as the weeks, then months had passed, she'd noticed Oliver pulling away from her. And it was only lately that she'd realized their conversations had become even more superficial than normal. He didn't seem that interested in anything she was doing, but always could come up with something Felicity had done or was doing.
And to tell the truth, she wasn't all that upset as she had enough to worry about with her own mission to represent those who needed her after having lost everything in the earthquake. And, if she were honest, Oliver hadn't been the man she'd been spending a lot of time with lately, talking to about everything she was dealing with. So while the pictures had hurt for a moment, that hurt had quickly passed into resolution and she knew that it was the sign she'd been looking for.
The writing had been on the wall, if she were honest with herself, for months. She'd just decided to overlook it, hoping they could hold onto the memory of what they had. But, as she saw his preoccupation and obvious jealousy over Felicity being out with another man tonight, coupled with the pictures, she knew it was time to confront the situation. She had to admit, the look of fear on Oliver's face at her "let's talk about Felicity" was pretty priceless.
"I'm sorry you had to find out this way, about Felicity's and my spending time together, but honestly, she was just showing me things I missed while on the island." He wasn't sure she was buying it, but if nothing else, he wanted her to know he hadn't cheated on her. At least physically. Because mentally, well, he was guilty of doing a lot more with Fantasy Felicity. "I should have told you earlier, and despite what the picture suggests, nothing happened between us, it was just two friends exploring a fair, and watching some movies on weekends," he finished lamely. Even he could hear the lie in his voice.
"That's too bad, because the couple there looks to be a lot more than just friends." Laurel's voice was resolute although she was surprised to find she felt rather calm about addressing this. The expression on his face was amusing her as well. So she went for the kill. "So just how long have you been in love with Felicity?"
Oliver, who had just taken a sip of his water, choked.
Laurel tried to hide her laughter. The expression of horror on his face was priceless. But it was the guilt she saw mixed into his gaze that told her she was doing the right thing for both of them. "If the pictures didn't show it, it's pretty obvious from the way you're giving Felicity's date tonight the evil eye." She paused to thank the waiter who delivered their drinks, then disappeared, obviously sensing something was up.
"What do you mean? I'm simply concerned for her welfare. As I would be for any Queen employee." Oliver knew she was giving him the opening he'd been waiting for, but something, perhaps the last remaining piece of his life before the island, had him stalling. Her wry laughter told him that this tactic would not work. Not tonight. And part of him was glad she was forcing him to man up and confront the situation.
"Right. Because one, you've never taken me to a street fair; two, I've never seen you look that concerned for any of your employees; and three, the way your fists are clenched as you watch them together over there suggests a lot more than just concern for her welfare." Laurel was actually, to her surprise, having more fun with this than she thought. She found she enjoyed watching him squirm. "Oliver, just admit it, you're in love with her and you want to be the one with her tonight."
Oliver sighed, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. Opening them again, he was surprised to see understanding reflected in Laurel's eyes. He knew then that it was time to put everything on the table. He gave her a rueful grin after taking a sip of his beer. "Am I that obvious?"
Laurel sighed. "Only to someone who knows the signs and I can see them, and they're not for me." Her voice turned wistful. "Maybe, maybe once they were, but not anymore. Probably not for a long time." She looked over at him, refusing to let him break their gaze. "I'm tired of holding onto a memory. It's doing neither of us any good." She saw surprise, then acceptance dawn in his eyes. Feeling more confident she looked him directly in the eyes. "So, where do we go from here?"
Oliver felt some of the tension leave his shoulders. Something told him it was going to be all right. But he made a mental note to have the Hood pay a certain photographer a little visit. He wanted the negatives of those pictures and any others he'd taken. No one was going to be seeing them after tonight but himself and maybe, one day, Felicity.
Note: So, while I am not a fan of Laurel, I really wanted her to be on the same page as Oliver regarding their relationship. Besides, in my mind, there's only one man in Starling City for Laurel, and it's not Oliver. And in this story, he's not dead, thank goodness!