Cinderella (A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes)

Chapter 3

A/N: Yey! I'm back from vacay, at last. Actually, I've been back for a couple of weeks now, but settling back into the daily grind at work has kept me pretty busy. It wasn't easy to pick up from where I last left off with my WIPs (especially when I came back from a month-long vacation with a few fresh ideas for fics that I just had to start writing down before they become stale). I hope you understand. And I do hope that this update will make up for the long wait. Thank you for still following this fic. You guys are awesome!

Summary: Shooting for the reality TV show's episode begins, but Felicity is in a bind. Oliver is supposed to make a choice, but he is constrained by some technicalities.

The individual interviews with the contestants vying for the chance-of-a-lifetime dinner date with Oliver Queen were almost done.

Five minutes ago, in the Bertinelli mountain lodge, Felicity had passed the study where the shoot was taking place. She had overheard a tall, dark-skinned guy with curly black hair wearing an ID that identified him as "Curtis, production assistant," say that they had just finished shooting the interview with the tenth woman on the list named Laurel Lance, whom Felicity knew was the daughter of the mayor. The short and chubby woman that Curtis had been talking to had said that if the contestant named Felicity Smoak did not arrive in ten minutes, she would be eliminated by default, and the last contestant on the shortlist named Isabel would be the last interviewee to shoot that morning.

Felicity felt awful. She wanted so badly to be part of this life-altering event, but her stepdad had left her a long list of technical tasks to do around the lodge. Frank could not make it to observe the shoot that morning because of an important meeting with his contractor, but he had messaged her during breakfast that he expected all tasks to be done by mid-day before he arrived, and that her stepsister Isabel was going to check on her in his stead. Why were her family members too hard on her? She had always done everything they'd asked of her. This time, she had been the one to ask for a special favor, but they couldn't show even just a tad bit of consideration for her sake. Didn't they think she deserved to be happy, too?

Felicity glanced at her watch, and her heart sank. She still had a couple of things on her "To Do" list. She could actually finish them in under ten minutes, yet even then, that did not leave her enough time to go home and get changed into a more suitable outfit and have the hair-and-makeup crew do their wonders on her face and hair for the interview. She might as well just give up and accept the fact that joining the reality show was a lost cause, and that meeting Oliver Queen in person was never going to happen.

"Isabel Rochev Bertinelli?" called Curtis. From the hallway, everyone heard the squeal of Felicity's stepsister confirming her presence.

Isabel quickly scurried into the study, while Felicity walked away towards the huge foyer of the lodge where the reception area was. The nearest computer was there. She needed to send an important email to their cable TV service provider and then pay online for Frank's airline ticket to San Francisco.

As Felicity rounded the corner from the hallway to the foyer, she heard a familiar, friendly voice calling out for her. "Lis!" cried Iris.

Felicity looked up and smiled. Seeing her best friend was like a timely ray of sunshine in the midst of a bleak, frustrating day. "What are you doing here, Iris? When did you arrive?" she asked, surprised.

"Just got here. My editor sent me to cover Oliver Queen's guesting for H.E.A. Today. They're counting on me to bring back spoilers and teasers," Iris replied. "Has the shoot started?"

"Yeah… It's almost done actually," Felicity answered, her voice laced with disappointment that she tried to hide from her best friend.

"So, have you had your turn to be interviewed yet?" Iris asked excitedly like before. Though, she wondered why Felicity wasn't quite dressed for the occasion.

Felicity was quiet. Iris, sensing that something was wrong, immediately probed her. "What happened, Lis? What's wrong?" When Felicity still couldn't answer, much less look at her friend's eyes, Iris knew. "Who'd done it this time, Lis? Helena? Isabel? Or is it Frank?" she asked angrily.

"I can't make it to the shoot. I've got work to do here-"

"Which your inconsiderate, selfish stepdad made you do. To keep you from joining the contest!"

Felicity bit her lip. She knew she didn't have to say a word and Iris would still figure it out.

Grabbing her by the wrist, Iris practically dragged her from the foyer to the hallway. "Where are they shooting the interviews?" she asked, marching briskly with Felicity right behind her. "Are they in the living room?"

"In the study. Iris, please…"

Iris stopped walking and told her with a determined look, "Lis, listen to me. They can't keep doing this to you. You have a life, and you have to live it! This is your chance. Take it." She stopped walking, and she noticed the clipboard in Felicity's hand. "And I'll be taking that from you." Iris looked at the list of things Felicity was supposed to do, and her eyes landed on the uncrossed items on the list. She told Felicity, "I can do these. Frank doesn't have to know." She then turned Felicity around to face the hallway that led to the study. "Now go, girl," she ordered her friend, giving her a gentle push in the right direction.

Hesitating, Felicity looked back at her friend. "Dressed like this?"

Iris looked at her friend from head to foot and back up. Her bright pink, knitted top wasn't too shabby or old-fashioned. It was actually cute on her; the color reflected back on her face, which was devoid of make-up at the moment. She wore her favorite pair of ripped denim jeans, and her panda flats. Iris sighed. She knew that the show would only dress up the five finalists that the celebrity bachelor would pick. Felicity's current get-up appeared ordinary for an important television appearance, and perhaps not enough to make a lasting impression on her dream date. But Iris believed in her best friend. All Felicity needed was a little (and quick) make-over, and her innate beauty and brightness would take care of the rest.

Iris removed her denim jacket and told Felicity, "Here, wear this," and then she led her friend to the study. Isabel's interview was on-going, and they could hear her voice (and her giggles) as they approached the said room. Just as they were about to enter the room, Curtis came out.

"Can I help you, ladies?" he asked.

"Yes!" Iris answered cheerfully. "This is Felicity Smoak. I believe she's on your list?"

Curtis looked at the list of names in his file and looked up with a smile, "Well, Felicity Smoak, you made it just in time."

Iris smiled, proud of what she had accomplished. Felicity began to smile shyly, too, for hope began to rise in her heart.

Curtis' smile faded somewhat, however, when he saw that Felicity wasn't quite ready for the cameras yet. "Follow me, sweetheart. I'm sure there's something our make-up artists can do in ten minutes. They can work wonders," he told Felicity.

Iris let Felicity go, speaking words of reassurance and promising her friend that she was immediately going to work on her unfinished tasks. Felicity was grateful. Both her stepsisters were preoccupied with the shoot, and her stepdad out of the picture. She just might have a chance at making her dream come true.

Felicity Megan Smoak.

"So… that's her name," Oliver thought to himself. She wasn't as made-up as the eleven other girls that made it to the short list. She looked quite simple, dressed in just denims and a pink, knitted top, and her hair was a little loosely fish-braided to the side. She still looked pretty nonetheless. He was glad that they didn't put too much make-up on her face; she really didn't need it.

He'd been watching the interview clips that were shot of each contestant that morning. It was a working lunch for him, having gone through the profiles of the women vying for his attention, and eventually, his company. He had immediately recognized Felicity as the girl who had helped him with the Internet problem in his suite, from the photograph attached to her file. But she was much more beautiful in person, really, especially without her glasses getting in the way of her ocean blue eyes.

For a brief moment, Oliver had daydreamed what it would be like for her to be his leading lady in a major Hollywood action movie. He wondered how it would feel to hold her close, wrap his arm around her, and swing across an elevator shaft together in a daring stunt. Thea had seen the goofy grin that instantly spread on his face and asked him what was so funny, but he didn't even hear her.

He'd been bored watching the clips of the first ten contestants, disgusted a couple of times with the interviews of one Helena Bertinelli and of another named Isabel, who turned out to be sisters. What was it with sisters in this town? Mayor Lance's own daughters wanted a chance to go on a date with him as well. But when Felicity's interview footage played on the monitor, Oliver knew that he already had a choice. He told Thea that he didn't care about the last interview. His mind was made up.

Thea reasoned with him that he was only supposed to pick five contestants at this point in the competition, not one. The final five still had to be filmed meeting him for the first time. Oliver reiterated that he already knew which woman he wanted to go out with, but Thea scolded him, "That's not how the show works, Ollie!" He knew he wasn't the one calling the shots this time. Thea was not in her usual role as his younger sister; she was a producer of the show that he was being paid to be on. So, with exasperation written all over his face, he promised to cooperate.

Along with Felicity, Oliver picked one of the Lance sisters out of courtesy to the Mayor, and one of the Bertinelli sisters as gratuity to the owner of the lodge they were filming in. He told Thea, "For the record, you made me do this." He then randomly picked a smart-looking, long-legged brunette by the name of Susan Williams – only because she looked a lot like the handful of actresses that he had typically dated in the past. The final selection was made by the production staff, who thought that throwing an African American girl named McKenna Hall into the mix of blondes and brunettes would cater to a wider television audience.

It took the production crew about an hour to get all five girls dolled up and ready for shooting their first meets with Oliver. By three o'clock in the afternoon, they started filming in the veranda overlooking the skiing slope of the mountain in the distance. One girl after another came, each one dressed in attractive dresses and flashing him radiant smiles, hoping to win his heart. However, for Oliver, none was more attractive and radiant than one Felicity Smoak.

At Thea's prompting, Felicity had been ushered into the veranda last. Thea had coached the director to make sure to capture close-up shots of both her and Oliver when they first laid eyes on each other that day. Both producer and director were pleased with the results. Editing those shots and footage into an episode trailer was definitely going to bring the show's ratings up.

But Oliver was oblivious to all this. At that moment, he didn't care about ratings. All he cared about was the beautiful woman clad in a captivating, golden cocktail dress, her blonde tresses curled and cascading down her shoulders. All he cared about was her, standing right in front of him with a breathtaking, shy smile on her face. As far as he was concerned, in just a couple of hours he would be choosing Felicity to be his date, on the deck of a mountaintop lodge, with the sunset in the background. Unlike Thea, Oliver wasn't thinking about how that would be the perfect, romantic scene for thousands of viewers to watch and hundreds of fans to swoon over in a few weeks' time. What Oliver was thinking about was that he couldn't wait to plant a kiss on the back of Felicity's hand when he tells her that she's the one he wanted.