A/N: When the muse doesn't want to work on the stories that need to be written, might as well post a chapter to something that's been prewritten. Special thanks to everyone who has taken the time to leave comments and reviews on this piece. It's been greatly appreciated and I'm hoping you enjoy this next chapter!

Let me know what you think!

Love always,
~starr

"Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep," blared the alarm clock as it bounced around on the nightstand beside his bed. Lazily, Oliver reached over and smacked the top of the stand a few times until his hand finally hit the alarm clock and grabbed it. He pulled it over to his face and opened one of his eyes to read what time it said. 5:30 am. The lone thought that crossed his mind at the time was that he was honestly shocked there was a 5:30 in the morning as well as in the evening. He couldn't think of the last time he had actually set an alarm to that time.

Groaning, he turned the alarm off and pushed himself up in a sitting position. He scrubbed his hands over his face and looked around the dark room. He scratched an itch on the back of his head before tossing the comforter aside and slowly getting out of the bed.

He walked over to the curtain covered window and moved on curtain slightly. However, no sunlight entered the room when he did so. He looked out the window and noticed that it was still dark outside. The sun was just barely peeking out above the horizon. He was up before the sunrise. This was definitely a first.

Deciding that he couldn't procrastinate any longer, he walked away from the window and made his way into the en suite bathroom. Hopefully, his shower would wake him up slightly. He reached into the shower and turned the hot water faucet on. While he waited for the water to warm up, Oliver walked over to the mirror and looked at his reflection.

He looked tired. That was the curse of being the vigilante at night and the CEO of a fortune five hundred company. He was lucky if he ever got more than maybe four hours of sleep at night. He honestly couldn't even remember what eight hours of sleep felt like anymore. He was pretty sure that the last time he had gotten eight hours of sleep was when he was in high school. Although the more he thought about it, the more he realized that the reality of the situation was that he hadn't slept for eight hours ever in his life.

Sighing, he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands and then stretched his arms above his head. It was time to get in the shower and get on with his day. The only way the day would end was if it would actually begin. Although, how bad could getting coffee with a pretty blonde be?

He furrowed his brow at the thought. Pretty blonde. What if she wasn't blonde anymore? The last time he could remember seeing her was at some press event he was required to attend for Queen Consolidated. He was pretty sure she was blonde then. He had always thought she was pretty, especially when he would see her picture by an article that she wrote in the papers.

"Stop it," he mumbled under his breath to his brain. He could not allow himself to think those kinds of thoughts about her. The whole purpose of this meeting was for him to determine whether or not he'd be willing to sit down to an interview with her. Although he knew in the back of his mind that he was going to say yes to her interview. He needed to do something to get the Queen name back in a positive light in the Starling City Sentinel. Chase couldn't be the only one writing articles about him.

. . . . . . . .

Rolling over onto her back, Felicity looked over at the clock on her nightstand and sat straight up in the bed, grabbing the clock and holding it close to her face. How was it already 6:15 am? Her alarm was supposed to go off an hour ago. Why hadn't it gone off?

She flipped her clock around a few times in her hands looking for a reason as to why her alarm hadn't gone off when she spotted the one button that was out of place. Smacking herself in the forehead with the heel of her hand, she set the clock back down on the nightstand and threw the blanket off of her lap as she got out of the bed. She had set the alarm, but she didn't turn the damn thing on.

"This is not a good sign," she mumbled under her breath as she made her way into the bathroom. She turned on the shower and quickly hopped inside. So much for making sure she was at her best this morning. She just barely had time to wash her body and her hair before she had to be out the door on the way to the coffee shop.

Fifteen minutes later, she emerged from the shower and wrapped a towel around her body before heading back into her bedroom to start getting dressed. The entire time she got dressed, she was muttering under her breath and cursing her alarm clock as well as her own stupidity.

As she was about to curse the day in general, she stopped herself and took a deep breath. No, it wasn't going to be a bad day. She was going to coffee with one of the most eligible bachelors in Starling City and she was going to score the interview that would make her career. She just had to charm him, and that was something that the Smoak women did best. Or so her mother had always told her anyways.

Glancing over at the clock on her nightstand she realized that she had a little over an hour before she absolutely had to get out of the house. If she wanted to be early to coffee, she had a little less than forty-five minutes to get out the door. Looking at the collection of make-up lying in front of her, she made the ultimate decision to keep things simple.

He probably wouldn't even notice anyway. She was sure that he had his fair share of pretty blondes walking in and out of his life every day, so she probably wouldn't even leave an overall impression on him. As long as she impressed him enough to score the interview was all that really matters to her, but she wouldn't mind impressing him for more than that.

She shook her head. Where the hell did that thought come from? Why on earth would Oliver Queen, CEO of Queen Consolidated, want to go out with her, a measly reporter for the Starling City Sentinel? He had probably just agreed to the meeting just to get her to stop calling him.

Not that she could really blame him. As she thought about it, she realized that she had been one of the most annoying people in the entire world with all of her phone calls. Pausing the application of her make-up, she thought about the number of calls she had made to his number. In the last month alone, she had probably called him about thirty-five times and left him just as many voicemails. She didn't even want to think about the number of emails that she had sent him in the last month alone.

"Focus, Smoak. You can daydream about him later," she scolded herself, pressing the brush into her eyeshadow. She needed to get ready so that she could get her day underway. Work was paying for the coffee this morning, so she wanted to make sure that she took advantage of the opportunity.

. . . . . . . .

She looked down at the watch on her wrist for the fifteenth time in the last thirty minutes. "Where is he?" she mumbled under her breath as she scanned the coffee shop for a familiar face. He had selected the meeting spot and time, so why wasn't he here yet?

Reaching down to pick up her purse, Felicity began to rummage through it to locate her phone. Maybe she had put the wrong location into her calendar. Or maybe it was the wrong time. The only other possibility was that she had put the wrong date all together into her calendar. Locating her phone, she pulled it out of her bag and swiped it open.

Just as she was about to open the calendar app, someone bumped into her table causing the cup of coffee she had just ordered to rattle slightly. "Watch where you're going," she mumbled, lifting her head to see who bumped into the table and almost immediately slapped her hand over her mouth. Quickly she rose the table and offered the person her hand.

"I'm so sorry for my reaction, Mr. Queen. I thought I was in the wrong coffee shop and was just checking to double check or call you or something. I thought I may have had the wrong date too. I'm just a mess this morning," she said, shaking her head and placing her hands over her eyes. "And I'm rambling on about nonsense. I'm sorry. Can I get you a cup of coffee, courtesy of the Starling City Sentinel?"

Oliver placed a gentle hand on her shoulder to calm her slightly. "You aren't rambling about nonsense. It's okay. I actually already placed an order, so how about you get the next one?" he said, flashing her a bright smile.

"Uh, sure," Felicity replied taken back by his kindness. She extended a hand to him, which he took happily. "I'm Felicity Smoak, a reporter for the Starling City Sentinel. I appreciate you taking the time to meet with me this morning. Let's take a seat."

Oliver nodded in reply and walked around to pull out her chair before taking his own.

"Thank you," she said, taking a seat and crossing her ankles as she waited patiently for him to join her. "I just wanted to apologize for the articles that have been released about you lately. It makes me sick every time I see his by-line in the paper when it has something to do with your family tree. If it were up to me, I'd throw him off the paper for slander. But we can't all have what we want."

"Don't apologize," Oliver replied calmly. "Everyone has their niche when it comes to writing articles and apparently his is bashing the good name of someone who has only been back in Starling City for the better part of three years."

Felicity tilted her head and furrowed her brow. "You've only been back in town for three years? I could have sworn it had been longer than that," she replied. She took a few minutes to think about the headlines that she had seen regarding him over the last few years. Back when the headlines were all in good form anyway. No one was really thrown under the bus for breathing in the wrong direction. Back before Chase stepped foot into the paper.

Oliver laughed quietly at the shock in her voice about how long he had been back in Starling City, but at the same time, he too was still surprised at how long it really had been. There were days that it felt like just yesterday he had returned. At least it felt that way until he spotted his mother's tombstone in the backyard. Then reality would set in.

"It may seem like longer because of how often my name or my family's name has been appearing in the headlines," Oliver replied, lifting his coffee to his lips.

"I really hate that I work for the same paper as him," Felicity mumbled, a little louder than she had intended. When she realized what she had just said, she clapped a hand over her mouth and sighed. "That was really unprofessional of me. I'm sorry. Trust me, I'm not normally like this."

Oliver reached a hand out across the table and rested it on her wrist as he smiled. "You were just voicing your opinion, and besides, you never mentioned a name. So you could have been talking about anyone really."

Felicity sighed and nodded her head reluctantly. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Taking advantage of the brief pause in their conversation, Oliver took the opportunity afforded to him to take a good look at his company across the table. She was pretty, there was no denying that. Although, the fact that he had a thing for blondes may have given him a little bit of bias on the matter.

"So," Felicity began, tapping her fingers on the side of her coffee cup, "when we last spoke, you said there were a few things I needed to know before we'd be able to sit down to an interview. Is there any chance you'd be willing to elaborate on that?"

He hadn't heard the question, but from the look on her face, it had been something rather important. Admittedly, he hadn't heard the question because he was a little distracted as he was lost in his own thoughts. Inappropriate thoughts, if he was being honest with himself.

"Sorry, I was a little lost in my own thoughts. Could you repeat the question again?" Oliver asked, flashing her one of his brilliant smiles. The blush that appeared on her cheeks assured him that the smile had done the trick.

Felicity reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, smiling broadly for a moment. "And what thoughts had you so lost that you didn't hear a word I was saying?" she asked, batting her eyelashes at him a few times.

Quirking his brow, Oliver smiled slyly. "Wouldn't you love to know."

"Actually, I really would love to know," Felicity said with a laugh.

This was definitely going to be an interesting meeting, that was something they could both agree on for the moment. Hopefully, the outcome was what they both hoped it to be.

. . . . . . . .

"I can't believe you were just thrown into your father's shoes upon your return without any training," Felicity said, shaking her head slightly as she placed her cup down on the table. She bit her lip softly as she watched a smile appear on Oliver's face.

Nodding his head slowly, he set his own cup down as well. "Yeah, it was actually a shock to the board as well. There were a few people who quit when they heard the news," Oliver replied. That news was a shock to him when he had first found out about it, but at the same time, he could understand their reasoning. His past didn't exactly sparkle with greatness.

"That's not fair. It wasn't like you were given much of a choice in the matter," she continued. "They should have at least given you a chance. What's wrong with the people in this city? They spend all their damn time jumping to conclusions about things they don't understand."

A smile grew on his face as he listened to her talk. She really did have a way with words, so he knew that her article would be great. Although there was still a part of him deep down that wasn't quite ready to say yes to an interview for an article. Chase's work had really done in his opinion of the media in Starling City.

"They jump to conclusions about people they don't understand. Maybe if any of them would take five minutes and actually get to know them, they'd be able to put out a half decent story instead of one full of lies," she mumbled, pausing when she realized that Oliver was staring at her. Nervously she tucked a stray tendril of hair behind her ear and lowered her hands to her lap. "I'm rambling again, aren't I?"

Oliver slowly nodded his head, allowing his smile to broaden slightly.

Felicity brought her hands up to cover her face as she sighed. "I'm really sorry about this. I swear I'm not normally like this, but as I said before, these articles really get under my skin. They make respectable reporters like me get overlooked because we don't have that catchy headline. I'm sure Chase will have a real kicker of a headline for today's paper…"

"If we aren't careful, you could be part of his next headline," Oliver replied with a laugh. "He seems to take quite an interest in my personal life when he's not writing about the Green Arrow."

"I never even thought about that," Felicity said, clapping her hand over her mouth as she thought about the entirety of the situation.

"Felicity," Oliver said, reaching across the table and gently touching her elbow forcing her to lower her hand slightly from in front of her face. "Don't worry about Chase."

Felicity took a deep breath as she lowered her hands away from her face. She noticed the smile that Oliver was wearing when she finally met his eyes. His blue eyes met her blue ones, and she felt a smile pull at her lips.

"You're ri-," she began saying, only she was cut off by the sound of a large explosion behind her. Quickly she climbed down out of her chair as Oliver tried to guide her under the table.

"Stay here," he said through gritted teeth. "I'll be right back."

With that, Oliver left her alone at their table. Felicity wasn't sure what she was supposed to do, but she was certainly not going to sit and wait while something big was happening. Coverage of this explosion, or whatever it was would make a better story than an interview with Oliver Queen.