"A GOOD RELATIONSHIP IS WHEN SOMEONE ACCEPTS YOUR PAST, SUPPORTS YOUR PRESENT AND ENCOURAGES YOUR FUTURE."
Laurel Lance
I look up at the familiar building that once was a representation of everything I could have had. Young, stupid me of seven years ago thought I could get Ollie to accept the CEO position in Queen Consolidated, that by doing so, I'll start him on a path to becoming a better man for both me and his family. I had thought and hoped that I could be the one to do that for him, that he can accept responsibility for me.
In the end, it wasn't his love for me that caused him to sit on the throne of this building, but rather being shipwrecked on an island for five years, coming back to another catastrophe caused by his mother, and losing his best friend. Though, I suspect that the five years on that god-forsaken island had more to do with the change than any other event that happened in his life so far. Not that I would know anything about what happened during the island. That topic has been unreachable ever since he came back a stranger.
Realizing that I've been standing at the entrance of QC for the past five minutes, I walk forward through the large glass doors into the pristine office I've been to so many times. I make my way to the front office and present my ID to the newly hired security guards.
"Dinah Lance from the DA office. I have an appointment with Mr. Queen." My voice is sure and confident, it's always been, and it always will be. It has to be if I want to make it unscathed in this unjust world.
The guard looks at his computer screen before giving me a nod and handing me a small card, instructing me to scan the card against the panel on the side of the elevator. I nod seriously, pretending as if I have never done these procedures before in this very office. Finally, after a long lecture on steps and security, they finally let me up and I make my way to the newly renovated elevator where I press the top button before scanning my card against the camera and I feel the elevator rise and take me up to Ollie's office.
When the machine finally dings my arrival and the end of my journey, I step into the plush, enormous office of Oliver that takes up an entire floor. Knowing the place by heart, I walk through the spacious hallway to the room where I expected Oliver's newly appointed EA (Felicity Smoak, who apparently is a good friend of Oliver's according to Thea) to be sitting, but instead find her table empty and devoid of any inhabitant for the day.
I ignore it and walk straight into Oliver's office, opening the glass doors and finding myself smiling with an automatic genuine smile that I always find present whenever I'm around most, if not all of the Queens.
Instead of being welcomed by the customary Oliver smile (that isn't really a smile nowadays) that usually appears when he sees me, I'm instead greeted with a very nervous, worried-looking Oliver who relentlessly paces back and forth in his office, running his hands through his already disheveled hair before crossing them behind his back. When he detects a presence, his head shoots up, full of relief and hope, but the two emotions are quickly drained out when he sees me. Ouch.
"Laurel." He says, greeting me with his customary smile that's has lacked genuineness and happiness in the past two years, not really making it a smile anymore.
"Hey Ollie," I reply back, giving him a smile of my own as I watch him shift back and forth on his heels, clearly restless about something.
I quickly check the time on my watch, aware of the fact that I have a second meeting in an hour. I look up at Ollie, ready to get started on this very brief meeting (hoping to catch up if we have spare time) only to find his attention completely focused on the door, which his so unlike the Oliver that came back from the island; whose eyes are almost constantly scanning every inch of a room.
"Oli…Mr. Queen, I'll make a quick phone call. To check." I turn at the source of the voice and feel extremely embarrassed because I haven't noticed Oliver's bodyguard standing next to the doorway until now.
Ollie is…was notorious for many things, one of them including the inability to keep a bodyguard for more than a couple of weeks before they quit. The Queen family has probably spent a fortune paying for all those bodyguards that came and went. Oliver has had the same bodyguard that's been following him around for almost a year now, and it seems like they have developed an unlikely friendship, I think, as they silently communicate (something) before the bodyguard walks out the door, and I see him taking the elevator from the corner of my eye.
It (whatever just happened), finally gets Ollie to focus his attention on me, and he gives me a nod and a slight smile, "Well, let's get started."
I pull out a few papers from my briefcase as soon as we're seated on the plush sofa, a new addition to Oliver's office.
"I only brought the important transaction papers. The ones you need to look, review and sign. I went through the rest on my own" I tell him, "If you don't mind." I quickly add, not wanting to seem like I'm taking too much charge over his business affairs.
"No, no, that's fine. I wouldn't know much about any of this anyway. Honestly, I have no idea what I'm doing. I don't know the first thing about running a business, and now…" He rubs his hands over his face and I finally notice his stressed stance.
"Hey, you're doing fine Ollie. If there is one thing I know about you, it's that you can do anything if you put mind your mind to it. You'll do great, don't stress it." I reassure him, placing a hand on his knee, ignoring the hurt I feel when he flinches.
I quickly remove my hand, when the echo of heels fills the room, accompanied by a stream of chattering from a familiar voice.
"…it broke and you know I can't operate anything without coffee, so I had to wait in line at and you know how long that sucker takes. And then I got trapped in a traffic jam, Which. Wouldn't. Move. So I parked my car to the side and…"
I see, and hear Oliver's relief, as he gets up, and is across the room before I can blink an eye to greet his blonde EA that just walked in.
"Felicity." He sighs her name in a way I have never heard before, but Felicity doesn't seem to notice as she holds up a finger and starts talking,
"Before you start brooding, I'm fine, not harmed or kidnapped, I just slept through my alarm cause I was…up late last night and then my coffee machine broke, and I had to wait in line to get some and that got me stuck in incredibly heavy traffic so I parked my car to the side and walked to QC in these heels which, however amazing they must look, are not in any way suitable for walking a mile, so please Oliver, I cannot handle your brooding right now. Brood in 15 minutes." She says (In one breath) before placing a hand on her head and closing her eyes.
Ollie places a hand on her elbow, "Hey, you could have just called me in the morning. I would have let you stay home for the day. I would have been fine." He tells her softly; probably unaware of the way the back of his hand was skimming her elbow.
Felicity opens her eyes, and tilts her head while raising one eyebrow, "Really?" she asks incredulously.
He smiles. Without a strain in his eyes, and a painful stance; he smiles at Felicity adoringly, "No, I was going mad without you. I don't know where the files for today's meeting are and I don't know where the notes from yesterday's meeting went."
His blonde haired…friend (Thea said it was a friend) rolls her eyes, and jumps away from Ollie when she spots me for the first time.
"Laurel. I mean Ms. Lance." She says, looking like a deer caught in the headlights.
I smile at her, "Hi, Felicity right?" I ask, even though I know her name very well through Thea, and Tommy.
"Ya. We've actually met before. I was setting up Oliver's…"
"—router, I remember." I finish her sentence, and she looks around the office awkwardly, neither of us knowing what to do.
"Laurel is helping me with the finalization of me taking over QC." Oliver explains to Felicity, and she nods at him.
"Ya. I know Oliver. I make all your appointments. And I should probably get to work, and leave you two alone to do your thing. Business thing, I mean. I wasn't applying that you were doing other things. Not that you two can't do other things but what you do is your own business and not mine. I'm..I'm going to go now." She rambles, before giving me a final smile and walking through the glass doors to get to her desk.
"Sorry, about that. She's not usually late and I got worried." Ollie tells me when he seats himself back down on the sofa.
"No worries." I tell him.
"Shall we?" He gestures to the stack of papers, and I take out my pen and tablet to get started.
We work diligently for the next few minutes, going through the requirements and technical issues over his sudden takeover.
He's in the middle of signing one of the papers, when he suddenly stops, and looks behind me at Felicity's desk.
"Felicity, how long is it taking?" he calls out, his voice echoing through the empty halls.
Once again, the familiar clicking of heels fills the silence, accompanied by a chatter that always seems to indicate .
"Sorry, my desk was a mess, and I had to talk down Mr. Friar, and thank Dig for getting my coffee and bringing my car which seemed impossible because, I have no idea how he can fit into my Mini without breaking a spleen or something. How did you fit into my Mini?" During her babble, she had settled herself and her laptop onto the seat right next to Oliver, kicking off her heels and bringing her legs up.
Noting the silence that followed her rant, she looks up at Oliver before staring at me, and a flush immediately occupies her face. "Right, business meeting. Which I just interrupted, and am still interrupting. And I will stop, in 3,2,1." She rapidly types on her tablet soon after, too engrossed in her work to notice the look Oliver's giving her. One of complete amusement and genuine adoration and I can't remember the last time he's looked at me like that; looked at anyone like that.
We continue scanning through the documents in silence, the only sound on the floor being Felicity's clacking of keys and my occasional explanation. And quite honestly, from what I have seen so far, I'm actually surprised that Felicity lasted this long without speaking, because, after almost ten minutes of silence, she frustratingly pounds her fists lightly on the keyboard.
"Dang it!"
Ollie and I both look at her, but her explanation is only given to Ollie, when he places a hand on her knee.
"My Kindle was supposed to come in today, but it got delayed so now I need to wait one more week until I get a new one. I mean, I can always hack into their system and put me on the top of the list, but that'd be unfair for those who ordered first, so…one more week."
Ollie looks at her with his brows scrunched together in confusedness, "You're what?"
Felicity rolls her eyes, "Remind me to remember to not to mention technology to someone who went five years without any tech."
Oliver opens his mouth to say something, but Felicity holds her hands up and silences Oliver by continuing to talk, "And no, Oliver, a broken radio that you fixed doesn't count."
"Do you know how proud I was after that?" Oliver fakes a hurt face that both Felicity and I see through with ease.
"You should be, fixing such an outdated radio on the island. But it was an outdated radio, Oliver. It doesn't count as modern tech. And plus, you should be more proud of figuring out the Odyssey quote compared to actually putting the radio pieces together." She says, closing her laptop, and stretching on the spot.
I look at my watch once again, and realize that this meeting took much longer than I intended it to be.
"Alright then Ollie, I have to go now. I'll send you the rest of the documents for you to sign."
He nods and moves in closer to give me a tense hug, lacking its warmth and easiness, but it was already expected, which eased a little on the hurt, a little.
As I'm leaving (after sending a farewell smile to Felicity), I hear Oliver say, "For the record, I was pretty proud of myself for figuring out that quote."
It doesn't really hit me then. Not when I walk out of the office, or when I get into my car.
It comes as an epiphany at the DA office, as I finish off my second meeting.
Oliver talks to Felicity. He tells her things that are meaningful, and important to him and to his life. He's talking to Felicity about the island. He's opening up to her and sharing with her, something he hasn't been doing with anyone else. I've talked to Moira and to Thea and they both told me that Oliver never told them what happened those five years he was gone. But he told Felicity. And Felicity knows enough about Oliver, about his time there, to joke about some moments comfortably. He trusts her, and he's comfortable with her to tell her his secrets, the things he's afraid will make the rest of us run from him.
And along with that epiphany occupies a stab of hurt. The relationship between Ollie and me ended five years ago, long before he got on that boat. But I had hoped that maybe it would work out between us; that maybe the spark that was always there connecting the two of us wouldn't leave. I loved Tommy. I love Tommy. But Oliver was such a big part of my life that I didn't realize that I've been continuing to hold onto my childish dreams of changing him into a better man until now.
And its only when I leave the DA office and spot Oliver and Felicity coming out of Big Belly Burger, laughing about something, his hand placed protectively against her back, both their faces filled with genuine happiness, looking like they wouldn't want to be anywhere else but there, beside each other that I realize. I need to let Oliver go.
Because he never looked at me the way he looks at Felicity. Never smiled at me the way he smiles with Felicity. Never said my name the way he says hers. And most importantly, he never, ever shared anything with me. Never the things that mattered. Our relationship lacked honesty. Oliver and Felicity's relationship is being built on honesty.
"ONE DAY, SOMEONE ONE WILL WALK INTO YOUR LIFE AND MAKE YOU SEE WHY IT NEVER WORKED OUT WITH ANYONE ELSE"
Laurel Lance knows that Felicity Smoak is the reason why it never worked out with anyone else for Oliver Queen.