Chapter 4 – The Prince
An: I do not own Arrow.
Just a warning that due to the point of this chapter, there is a fair amount of Cooper but there is also Olicity!
It had been three days since the hubcap incident. Felicity had them changed right away to the standard BMW hubcaps. She was determined to exact her revenge on Oliver but she wasn't sure how yet. She knew she wasn't going to do anything right away. He would be expecting that. She was going to bide her time and find the perfect moment to strike. This gave her the opportunity to conduct a little bit more research on him. She needed to find something that would annoy him the way the words FANGIRL annoyed her. Calling him a jerk only seemed to amuse him. She needed that special something that would irritate the hell out of him.
She hadn't told Cooper about the incident with Oliver. In fact Cooper didn't even know that the BMW belonged to QC. He had assumed that the company that had leased the mini to her had upgraded her to a BMW as an apology for what happened with the mini. She had never corrected his assumption. He didn't seem to like the Queens very much and talking about Oliver with Cooper felt very wrong. Cooper also disliked her growing friendship with Roy.
Roy and Cooper glared daggers at each other. It was always awkward when the two of them met except when Thea was around. Cooper would drop the scowl from his face and be pleasant to Roy. She understood that Thea was essentially his boss at Merlyn Global and he didn't want to piss her off by insulting her boyfriend in front of her but it had been very unsettling to see. Roy would end up being the rude one which resulted in a lecture from Thea. Felicity would come to Roy's defence which pissed Cooper off. It seemed to be the only thing she and Cooper ever disagreed on.
She was grateful that Cooper was so patient with her. He understood that, for the moment, most of her time was taken up with the launch but once that happened she would have more time to spend with him. A guy like that was rare to find so she was hoping she could keep him interested with the on-the-go lunch dates.
S-2
The doors of the elevator opened, letting Felicity out onto the Executive floor of QC. She walked down to Oliver's office but his assistant wasn't at her desk. The walls of his office were made of glass and she could look straight into it. She didn't see Oliver but she saw two small brunette heads with ponytails barely clearing the back of the sofa. They were clearly little girls. She felt uncomfortable leaving if those children were unattended.
"Are you girls ok?" she asked walking into the office.
"Felicity!" Oliver said in a startled tone.
His head appeared suddenly in front of the sofa. He had been lying on the ground in front of it and was now sitting up staring at her. His face, however, was smeared with red lipstick around his lips, blue and green eye shadow over his eyes, and two enormous red patches of blush on his cheeks.
"What's up with your face?" she asked walking over to take a seat on a chair near the sofa.
"Alexandra and Anastasia wanted to give me a makeover," he said casually as if it were no big deal that one of the Vice Presidents of QC looked like a clown.
"Who are you?" one of the girls asked.
"This is Felicity," Oliver told them. "Felicity these are my other sisters, Alexandra," he said pointing to the girl on the right, "and Anastasia Queen," he finished pointing to the younger girl with a cast on her left hand.
"Rochev-Queen," both girls corrected him with exact replicas of their mother's glare. It was very disconcerting. Oliver wasn't affected at all.
"Mother doesn't like you," Alexandra said crossing her arms over her chest.
"But Daddy likes her," Anastasia said to her sister, "he said she's good for Oliver. Whatever that means."
Felicity blushed while Oliver stared at his sister curiously. That had obviously been news to him.
After a few seconds of awkward silence, he decided to give her an explanation, "I am on babysitting duty."
"So the rumour that Isabel made Robert take her to France to avoid the news headlines about the UNIDAC indictment is true," she asked hopefully.
"Mostly," Oliver said with a brilliant smile, "we were just going to Big Belly Burger, come with us?"
"I rather not intrude on your time with your sisters. I can come back later," Felicity said standing to leave.
"Seriously, come with us, we can discuss it on the way," he said with a look that she found very difficult to say no to, even with the layers of makeup he had on.
Realising he won, he stood up quickly. His sisters automatically each reached for one of his hands to leave. Felicity looked down at the girls and tilted her head to the side curiously. They looked up at her, she glanced at Oliver's face quickly and back at them. They shrugged. Felicity thought she could play along as well. They reached the elevator doors and Oliver looked at his reflection in the door.
"No one was going to remind me to take the makeup off my face?" he asked them.
The girls giggled and Felicity pretended to be noticing it for the first time. He mock glared at her.
"I'm going to go wash my face. I'll be back. Wait here for me and do not move," he said placing his sister's hands in her hands.
Felicity tried to protest but he didn't take her on. She was holding the hands of Isabel's progeny. This was not what she thought she would be doing when she started the day. How did she get roped into this again? Oh right, Oliver's clown face convinced her to join them.
"Your hands are really soft," Anastasia said looking up at her. "Oliver's hands are rough,"
"But her nails are short," Alexandra said to her sister. "Mommy has beautiful nails."
Felicity gave the girl a tight smile. She was not discussing their mother with them. That was one line she was not going to cross.
"You like Big Belly Burger?" Anastasia asked.
"Yes I love it," Felicity admitted to the girls.
"Mummy says it will make you fat," Alexandra cut in.
Oliver returned and Alexandra immediately held on to his hand. Anastasia, however kept holding hers. The younger girl appeared to like her which horrified Felicity. As if she needed something else for Isabel to be angry at her for. The elevator ride was silent. In the parking garage they walked over to a Bentley that Felicity knew belonged to his father. Oliver opened the back door for his sisters.
"Can I sit in the front?" Alexandra asked.
"No," Oliver said firmly. "You do not meet the recommended height to be seated in the front."
The older girl pouted. He helped each of them into their booster seats. Felicity thought it looked quite complicated but Oliver seemed to know what he was doing.
"Everyone ok there in the back?" Oliver asked when he slid into the driver's seat.
"Yes," Anastasia said.
"No," Alexandra said. "I miss your silver BMW."
Felicity interest peaked, "Oliver had a silver BMW?"
"Yes, he had the new one for about a month but it went away," Anastasia pouted again.
Felicity looked at Oliver who looked away guiltily. Had he given her his personal car?
"Oliver would take us for rides in it at night!" Alexandra said.
"Really?" Felicity asked.
"Alexandra suffered a severe case of colic. Driving in cars seemed to be the only thing that calmed her and put her to sleep so I drove her around a lot. The habit just kind of stuck with us."
Felicity smiled. Thea was right. He really was an excellent big brother. He was so gentle and caring with his sisters.
"You wanted to see me about something?" Oliver asked as they drove out of the basement.
"Yeah, I just needed to let you know that we added three more smart TVs to the launch. Please inform hotel of the additional load on the power supply."
"More TVs?" Oliver questioned in disbelief, "We have like ten already."
Sensing their brother's frustration both girls started belting 'Let It Go' from the back seat.
Oliver groaned, "please girls not now."
They giggled.
"I'm guessing the two of you are Frozen fans?" Felicity said to the girls.
"Fan is an understatement. I have to watch Frozen every time I babysit," Oliver grumbled.
"I guess I know what you're watching tonight," Felicity said with a smile.
Oliver groaned again, "Don't remind me. I have five days of Frozen ahead of me,"
"Oh come on, it's not that bad," Felicity said.
Oliver just grunted and an idea occurred to Felicity to exact her revenge.
One month later Oliver's ringtone suddenly changed to 'Let it Go' and no matter what he did it wouldn't go away. In fact, Frozen started popping up on all of his tech devices. He thought he was going crazy.
S-3
Felicity felt bad that she couldn't spend much time with Cooper. They were able to meet for lunch a few times during the week and discuss the latest IT news but that was as much as they had been able to do. She was hoping to change that by promising him dinner at her place. Of course she wasn't going to cook. That was a skill that eluded her. She ordered Italian and transferred the food into nice dishes so it would look better than take out boxes.
Felicity was excited for the date. She wore a purple dress that had a cut out right about her cleavage and strappy stilettos. She was hoping that they might take their relationship to the next level tonight. Her bedroom had been cleaned and fresh sheets placed on the mattress in anticipation of a passionate encounter. With another ten minutes before Cooper was supposed to arrive, she decided to throw out the evidence of her non-existent culinary skills.
On her way back from the dumpster at the back of the building, she met Sara and Nyssa in the foyer.
"Hi fangirl," Sara teased her.
Felicity glared, if it weren't for the fact that she knew Sara could break her in half, Felicity would have threatened her.
"You are heading on a date," Nyssa stated with that exotic accent of hers. If Felicity remembered correctly, the both of them were headed on a date as well.
"Did Ollie finally ask you out?" Sara asked hopefully.
"What, no. Cooper's meeting me upstairs for dinner," Felicity told them.
"Who's Cooper?" Sara and Nyssa asked simultaneously.
Felicity's was surprised that they asked that question. They seemed to know everything else about her but who she was dating.
"The douchebag on the 4th floor," Roy, who appeared out of nowhere, answered.
"Roy, would you please stop calling him that. He is not a douchebag," Felicity insisted.
"Not true. Describe your dates to Sara and Nyssa. They'll agree with me," Roy replied confidently.
"How about an early morning Yoga session to catch up, say Monday morning," Sara proposed.
Felicity groaned. She had not done one iota of exercise in the last month.
"We will not accept no for an answer so unless you want us to break into your apartment and drag you to the gym, you will do yoga with us on Monday," Sara threatened.
"Yes mam!" Felicity responded right away. She also felt the need to salute as if Sara were her commanding officer.
The two women seemed satisfied with her answer and went off on their date, leaving Felicity with Roy. They both boarded the elevator together.
"Seriously Blondie, take it slow with him," Roy said.
"We've been going at glacier pace," Felicity said. "Do you know when was the last time I got laid?"
"TMI Blondie! We're friends but I really don't want to know about your sex life," Roy told her with a disgusted face.
The door to the elevator pinged open and she saw Cooper was waiting at her door. She hurried forward to him and greeted him with a kiss.
"I thought you forgot," he admitted when they broke apart.
"Oh no, I just went downstairs to throw out the trash," Felicity told him as she opened up her apartment.
"Funny it looked like the trash was still in the elevator with you," Cooper responded.
Felicity ignored him, not wanting to fight on what was supposed to be a romantic date night. She ushered him into her apartment. She opened the oven pulled out the food and opened a bottle of wine, while Cooper made himself at home. The meal was great. Cooper never once asked her if she cooked the meal. After dinner they settled on the sofa. She lowered the lighting and turned on some soft music. The only thing she didn't do was light candles.
"Are you going to show me those pet projects you keep talking about?" Cooper asked.
Felicity wanted to make out, not talk but she had promised to show him.
"Sure," she said going into the spare bedroom where she had put her precious box.
She returned to find Cooper eager to look at her work. She showed him all of the processor designs she had been working on, from the first one that failed to the new working prototype she had. She wanted to perfect it first before she put it on the market. He was very impressed with her work. Half way through she thought he was more interested in her work than her. He seemed to sense her discomfort and turned back on the charm. Soon they were making out on the couch and Felicity thought that at last she would be able to open the box of condoms she had bought.
Her cell phone ringing disturbed them. The tone indicated it was Felicity's mother. Her mother would keep calling until she answered. Donna Smoak could be irritatingly persistent. She thought it was so ironic that her mother kept pushing her to get a boyfriend and now that she had one and was about to get laid, her mother was the one interrupting her.
Felicity apologised profusely to Cooper and took the call in her bedroom.
"Mom!" she said angrily.
"Felicity!" her mother squealed causing Felicity to hold the phone away from her ear for a bit. You would think by now she would have learnt to do that automatically.
"Mom this is a very bad time," Felicity told her.
"Why do you have a boy over?" Donna asked excitedly.
"Yes," Felicity hissed into the phone.
"Oh baby, you didn't tell me anything. Who is he? What is he like? Is he nice? How far have you reached? Have you slept with him yet? When can I expect grandbabies? Should I be planning a wedding?" she asked excitedly.
Felicity rolled her eyes. It was just like her mother to start planning a wedding before she even met the guy.
"Mom, I'm hanging up now."
"Ok but before you go I just wanted to let you know, I met a guy and he's from your city so I'll be coming out there soon," she said excitedly.
"What?" Felicity asked all thoughts of Cooper waiting in the next room evaporating.
"Don't worry baby, I'll send you a message before I come out. I just need to get my vacation days approved at work and then I will be there. I'm so excited. Bye, love you,"
Donna hung up before Felicity could even respond. She must have stared in shock at the blank wall in front of her for a while. When she eventually returned to the living room Cooper was gone. He left while she was talking to her mom. There was a small note on the coffee table, next to the box that he had neatly repacked for her, that said he thought he should give her some privacy with her mom. Felicity collapsed on the sofa disappointed.
S-4
The night before the product launch, Felicity was nervous. She wasn't supposed to go to the ballroom in the hotel where they were having the launch but she wanted to go to make sure everything was in place. It's not that she didn't trust Oliver or the technicians; she just needed to know that she had done everything possible to make it a success. She really wanted to see the look on Isabel's face when the Applied Science Division got off the ground.
Oliver and Ray were there, arguing about the TVs. She wasn't surprised, talk about oil and water.
"Ok boys, calm down," Felicity said getting between them. "What's the problem now?"
"Ray wants to show off more of his product designs on the TVs. This is supposed to be about QC AND Palmer Tech not Palmer Tech alone," Oliver said.
"It's not my fault that QC doesn't have anything to show off on the TVs," Ray countered.
"Actually Ray the idea was to show off products from both companies. QC will be showing off some of the other projects ideas we are developing and other areas QC does work in."
Ray seemed to pout but Anna was there to console him. Half way through the set up Felicity's stomach grumbled.
"Come let's get dinner," Oliver said his hand falling to the small of her back to guide her out. He had been doing that a lot lately.
"No let's finish this," Felicity insisted her hand gripping his forearm.
"I'm not having you faint on me. I need you there tomorrow at the launch," Oliver said applying a bit more pressure to the small of her back to get her to go with him.
"Ok," Felicity relented, grabbing her tablet before they left the room.
As they walked out of the ballroom to go to the restaurant that was located opposite the ballroom on the ground floor of the hotel, Felicity caught sight of a familiar figure. He was standing at the check-in counter with a tall brunette dressed in a tight black dress. The woman's figure was impressive. She watched as the couple received their room key and headed to the elevators. The side profile looked very much like him but she didn't want to jump to any conclusions until she saw his face. They were the only persons waiting for the elevator. When the doors opened they walked inside, his arms wrapped around the woman's waist. He turned to press the button for their floor and she got a clear view of his face. It was Cooper. To add salt to the wound, just before the elevator doors closed she saw him pull the woman close and start to kiss her.
"Hey everything ok?" Oliver asked concerned.
"No, that was Cooper," Felicity said in shock.
Somehow whenever she and Oliver were together the topic of Cooper never came up. Considering that Cooper was supposed to be her boyfriend now she should have at least mentioned that to him but she never did. Oliver though seemed to understand who Cooper was from the sympathetic look he was giving her.
"That was Cooper," she repeated angrily as the full weight of what she had seen started to settle in and ignite a fire with in.
They had just agreed that they were boyfriend and girlfriend and he was cheating on her already. She marched angrily towards the elevator Cooper previously entered. The floor listening indicated it stopped on the 10th floor. She pressed the button to call it back to the ground floor.
"Felicity..." Oliver questioned but stopped abruptly when Felicity threw him a ferocious glare.
The doors opened and she marched in pressing the button for the 10th floor. Oliver shuffled in quickly besides her.
"Oliver, what are you doing?" she asked.
"That's what I've been trying to ask you," he said.
"I'm going to confront Cooper before he tells me it's not what I thought it was. I need to do this. You don't need to be here Oliver," she stated.
"I need to make sure you don't kill him. Blondes don't belong in jail," he joked hoping to lighten the mood a bit.
"I'm not blonde," she replied automatically before grabbing hold of his arm, "Don't tell anyone that!"
"My lips are sealed. Scouts honour," he said with a soft smile.
"You were a scout?" she asked tilting her head to the side to study him properly.
"For one day," he replied honestly.
She rolled her eyes, "that doesn't count Oliver."
The doors to the elevator pinged open and they both stepped out onto the tenth floor. There was no sign of the couple in the corridor.
"What now?" Oliver asked as Felicity busied herself on her tablet.
"He was smart enough not to check in under his name and most of the rooms on this floor are booked," she informed him.
"Felicity, how do you know that?" Oliver asked with caution. He wasn't so sure he really wanted to know the answer to that question.
Felicity gave him a guilty look, "I might have peeked into the hotels systems,"
"You hacked the hotel?" he asked incredulously.
"Hack is such a dirty word Oliver," Felicity said shaking her head in disgust.
"Since you're already there, look for the name Helena Bertinelli," Oliver told her.
She arched an eyebrow at him for clarification.
"That's the woman he was with. She's the heiress to the billion dollar Bertinelli Empire. She's also a crazy ex so I've learned to recognise her from far to avoid her," he explained to her.
"You knew who in the lobby I was referring to?" she asked. The lobby had been quite crowded with people going and coming from the ballroom and restaurant.
"You were stuck in one position for a few minutes staring Felicity. I'm surprised he didn't notice you."
"Oh," she said as she searched the names attached to each room.
"Got them, Room 1005,"
Felicity marched up to the door and was about to knock when Oliver stopped her hand.
"Are you really prepared for this?" he asked her concerned.
"Yes," she told him.
"Let me help you then," he said. He knocked on the door, "room service," he said in a low tone to disguise his voice.
When there was no response he knocked again. On the third knock, an angry voice that Felicity recognised as Cooper's yelled, "We didn't order any room service,"
"It's from the manager, for Ms. Bertinelli. A complimentary bottle of champagne," he said.
A few moments later the door opened to reveal Cooper in his boxers.
"Nice boxers Cooper, pity me, your ex-girlfriend, never got a chance to see them," she said angrily.
"Felicity, this is not what it looks like," Cooper said as predicted.
Oliver snorted next to her.
"Really, you're still going to go with that line," Felicity asked him.
"I'm helping a friend out," Cooper tried to explain.
"With what? Sex?" Felicity retorted quickly.
Oliver made a sort of strangled sound next to her and she swore he mumbled something about Cooper not packing anything significant in those boxers.
"Coop baby, come back to bed," a sultry voice drifted to the door.
"Coop?" Felicity said raising an eyebrow.
He started to prattle on about something but she wasn't listening. She had seen enough, she didn't need to see anymore. "It's over. Goodbye Cooper."
Cooper reached out and grabbed her hand to stop her from walking away.
"Let go of me," Felicity said angrily.
"No, you are not listening to me," Cooper said.
Oliver stepped in at this point and forcibly pulled Cooper away from her and shoved him up against a wall. Cooper tried to struggle out of Oliver's grip, but Oliver was much stronger than him. "She said let go and she really doesn't need to listen to anything you have to say. She's seen enough."
Felicity walked away. She was vaguely aware of Oliver tossing Cooper back into the room and pulling the door shut. Not wanting to wait for the elevator, Felicity headed for the stairs. Oliver quickly caught up with her. She started mumbling to herself. She knew she hadn't been putting out but was he that desperate to get laid. He never pushed her. Perhaps if he had, she would have understood his cheating a bit better. She didn't understand. When she reached the landing on the fifth floor, she leaned against the wall. Oliver stopped besides her and placed his hand on her shoulder giving it a gentle squeeze to let her know he was there for her.
"Why?" she voiced aloud. "We were perfect on paper. We both graduated top of our classes. We're both computer nerds. We both want to make the world a better place through the use of technology. I don't understand. He never said I was lacking in any area. He never pushed me for sex."
Oliver pulled her into his arms, "that guy is just an idiot that didn't know you were the best thing to ever happen to him."
Felicity relaxed into his embrace. She started to cry into his shirt. When she withdrew there were dark wet spots on his shirt where her mascara filled tears had been absorbed.
"I'm so sorry," Felicity said rubbing her hand over the wet spot on his shirt. It didn't occur to her that she was also rubbing his chest in the process.
"You have nothing to be sorry about. Let's get dinner and then we can go back to the ballroom," he suggested taking his hand in hers. He didn't want her to know how much her hand was affecting him.
"Let it go", started playing in the stairwell and Oliver looked angrily at the phone, "the damn thing won't stop playing that song no matter what I do!" He sounded so frustrated.
As he was raising the phone to his ear he stopped and stared at Felicity and then back at his phone. "You did this!"
Despite everything that had just transpired a cocky smirk settled onto Felicity's face, "took you long enough to realise."
His eyes narrowed and he raised his pointer finger to tell her something but his phone was still ringing. The last look he gave her before he answered the phone promised payback.
S-5
Felicity had barely slept that night and had to use make up to cover the dark circles under her eyes at the Launch. She had dressed in the green dress Thea had picked out and added a jacket with accessories also supplied by Thea. There were many prominent journalists in the business and technology sectors there to cover the launch. Both Ray and Robert had speeches planned and they would unveil the prototype together.
The fully functional prototype impressed everyone and they received thousands of advance orders. A lot of interest was also expressed on some of the other projects that Felicity had involved QC in. They couldn't ask for a better launch. Walter was proud of what she and Oliver had accomplished. She was thankful that at least her job was safe. Oliver handled the business journalists and Felicity handled the technical ones. When she was finished with the last one, she settled in a corner of the room with a glass of red wine and a plate full of appetisers.
Ray was soaking up all the attention and she was truly happy for him. Anna stood patiently by his side and acted as a guard rail keeping him from going off in tangents. Their teamwork was perfect and Felicity wondered if she would ever have that; if she would ever find someone that could reign in her babbles for her. She wanted someone that understood her with just a look. She wanted a true partner in life.
"You look pretty glum even though you just had the best launch ever. Isa-Ugly is practically frothing at the mouth," Thea said taking a chair next to her. Roy sat next to his girlfriend and pulled uncomfortably at the tie Thea had probably forced him to wear. They had come to support Oliver.
Felicity looked at Roy, "I suppose this is where you say, I told you so," she said to him.
Roy looked at her confused, "about what?"
"Cooper, we broke up last night,"
"You did?" Thea asked surprised.
"Oliver didn't tell you?" Felicity asked confused.
"No," Thea said.
"Did you finally see what a loser he was?" Roy asked cockily.
"Roy!" Thea reprimanded punching her boyfriend hard in the shoulder.
"It's ok Thea. He was cheating on me with Helena Bertinelli," Felicity said sourly as she stabbed a samosa on her plate with a little more force than necessary.
"Oh," they both said surprised.
"I can't believe Oliver didn't tell you. He seems to tell you everything," Felicity commented.
"He told us about the Frozen prank, great job on that by the way, but he would never tell us about something that is clearly your personal business. Oliver is someone you can trust," Thea explained.
Felicity nodded. She didn't know how it happened but she had grown to trust Oliver implicitly. The subject of their conversation soon joined them dressed in a crisp dark grey suit with a dark blue tie.
"Thank you for coming," he said as he hugged his sister.
"Anytime, though remember you have to return the favour later this year when I finally get my fashion line off the ground,"
Oliver smiled broadly, "I'll be there." He was so proud of his little sister and the work she was putting into launching her own line of clothing called TQM.
"You can even model for me," Thea pushed.
"Thea, you are my sister and I love you but I'm not modelling on the stage. Get Tommy to do it. He would love the attention," Oliver said.
"We'll see about that!" Thea said casting a devious smile at both her brother and Felicity.
S-6
Felicity was surprised to see that Harrison Wells was calling her. He had called her the day after the launch to congratulate her on her success so she had no idea what he would be calling about now. She paused her work for a moment to answer the call.
"Hello Ms. Smoak," he greeted her pleasantly over the phone.
"Hello Dr. Wells," Felicity replied.
"What have I told you about leaving your work in places where unscrupulous colleagues could take advantage of it?" he scolded her lightly.
"I haven't left my work anywhere. The box is home," Felicity responded.
"I was just contacted by a company who sought my opinion on a cutting edge processor that a Cooper Seldon was selling," he informed her.
Felicity's stomach dropped. Everything came to a complete stop in her mind. After a minute of silence where Dr. Wells let her process what he said, he spoke again.
"I suggest you attend to this matter right away Ms. Smoak. Remember, I supplied you with a copy of all the documents,"
"Thank you for the information Dr. Wells," Felicity said grabbing her car keys.
"Jerry, I'm taking an early lunch," she told her assistant as she stomped passed his desk.
S-7
Felicity tested the limits of the BMW that day, maybe more than she should have. Her being ahead of the lunch time traffic meant that the roads were fairly clear and she was home in record time. Felicity opened her box and started rifling through it. She remembered she hadn't been the last person to pack it, Cooper had. The chip she was looking for was missing. A feral growl tore from her throat, that bastard was not getting away with this. She had a small filing cabinet tucked in the corner of the room and she retrieved the document she wanted from it.
She pushed the car to the limits again before she pulled into an unfamiliar basement parking at the bottom of the Merlyn Global building. She took the elevator up to the Executive floor hoping Thea could point her in the direction of Cooper. The doors opened to a desk with a secretary seated behind it.
"Welcome to Merlyn Global, do you have an appointment?" she asked.
Felicity bit her lip, "No but I would like to see Thea,"
"Ms. Queen-Merlyn is in a meeting, perhaps I can ask her Executive Assistant to schedule a meeting for you?" the woman asked.
As she was about to respond, she heard Cooper's voice float down the corridor to her. She turned on her heel and marched towards him as the secretary told her she couldn't go that way.
"You sick bastard!" Felicity yelled angrily as she decked him. She felt a strange sense of satisfaction as Cooper staggered slightly.
"You stole my microchip. I made that chip. It is mine to sell not yours," she yelled.
She was aware that the secretary behind her was calling security. There was a tall man next to Cooper with short black hair who was surprised by what she had just done. She knew the man was analyzing her but he made no attempt to interfere.
"You're crazy! that is my chip. I can sell it if I want," Cooper said.
A heavy hand settled on to her arm and she pulled away from the man. The security had arrived.
"I am going to the police," Felicity said as the guard secured his grip on her and started pulling her away.
"You would have to prove that I stole it," Cooper said with a wicked gleam in his eye.
"These patent forms that Dr. Wells did for me, say otherwise!" Felicity said waving the document in her hands as the security dragged her away.
"What's going on here?" Tommy asked coming out of his office. "Hey get your hands off of her," Tommy said to the security guard.
"Sir, we were ordered to remove her from this building,"
"Well I'm ordering you to let her go now," Tommy demanded in a no nonsense voice which was very rare for him.
The guard let her go and Felicity gave him a filthy glare. Tommy was by her side in an instant and he ushered her into his office away from everyone else.
S-8
Felicity had been in Tommy's office for half an hour already. He was holding her there until she calmed down. He had the audacity to lock her in while he sorted everything out with the police. Cooper was supposedly pressing charges. The door opened and Oliver walked in.
"I heard you caused quite a scene in front of Malcolm Merlyn," he said in an amused tone.
"That was the famous Malcolm?" she groaned.
Oliver crossed his hands over his chest and leaned against the desk in front of her, "yes,"
"You're here to fire me?" Felicity asked.
"Of course not, you're my most valuable employee. Tommy said Malcolm wants to hire you. He's trying to find out your pay package so he can offer you something better," Oliver revealed to her.
"Malcolm Merlyn wants to hire me?" Felicity repeated in disbelief. "Gosh, he's as strange as Thea described."
"My sister is going to be so pissed she missed this," Oliver commented with a small smile on his face.
The thought of Thea's reaction made Felicity smile too. Oliver reached down and gently removed the cloth that was wrapped around Felicity's right hand. After the adrenaline wore off, Felicity realised her right hand was in pain. Cooper's jaw was harder than she thought. Tommy's assistant had wrapped some ice in a cloth and put it on her hand for her.
"Looks like you sprained it. I'm going to have to teach you how to throw a proper punch," he said as he gently inspected her wrist. "I'll take you to the doctor after this. You should get your wrist wrapped for support,"
The door opened and Tommy stepped back inside.
"After my father subtly hinted that nothing had happened, Cooper decided not to press charges but he still insists the chip is his," the younger Merlyn informed them.
"It's not. It is mine. He stole it from me," Felicity repeated fiercely.
Tommy reached into his top desk draw and pulled out a business card.
"This is my girlfriend's contact information. She's the best lawyer in town,"
Felicity looked down at the card he handed her, "Laurel Lance is that..."
"Sara's older sister," Oliver finished for her.
"Yes," Tommy answered. "I can set up a meeting with her as soon as possible."
Felicity nodded. She was not letting Cooper get away with this.
That was how The Prince became The Back-Stabbing Stealing Bastard.
An: The next chapter is titled The Jerk. Can you guess what it's all about?
An2: For those of you that read Treasure the next chapter will be out tomorrow and the Sequel to Adam Queen will be posted the day after that.