Chapter 5

Sing for the moment - Eminem

Felicity answered the phone and heard the familiar voice of Lorena, her neighbor.

"Nena!" That was her nickname. "You know what happens next weekend?"

Felicity squeezed her eyes. " Of course! The Starling City May Fair! You wanna go?"

"Javier is so excited! He's been talking about the rollercoaster since he saw the advert on the paper!"

"Oh dear, he's growing up. He won't want to go to the children games anymore!"

"Yeah, he already mentioned a few things I'm not sure about" Lorena giggled. "By the way, if we are going this Saturday…I have a great news! Papa is letting me drive his car!" Lorena was a year older than Felicity and had just gotten her driving license.

"That's great! Are we going to with the pick-up?"

"Of course. It's bigger and more safe, in his words! Be ready by 6 p.m., ok?"

"Sure! We'll grab some food there!"

Saturday evening Felicity crossed the yard to go to the Solano's house. She went to the porch, where grandma Solano, who loved her as her own grandchild, was sitting and enjoying the spring breeze. She sat with her, waiting for Lorena and Javier. Once they were ready they all got out the house with Martin Solano. He gave her daughter a sharp look, but then he smiled and said "Que lo paseis bien!" *

The Starling City May Fair was held in the park in front of the Convention Center. It had started as a flower fair in the late '50s, but over the years attractions and rides were added, as well as food stands.

Felicity, Lorena and Javier did the usual tour of rides, and stopped to eat a hotdog in one of the stands, right in front of a big carousel. While the two siblings were deciding over the kind of ice-cream they wanted, Felicity bought a popsicle and looked around.

The big carousel was very crowded. Big lights were going on and off as if they were following the rhythm of the pop song that was being played. Parents or other relatives were standing around it while the kids enjoyed their rides. Javier used to love it, but now, aged 12, he thought he was too big.

And then Felicity saw someone she thought would never come to this sort of fair. The handsome features of Oliver Queen were standing a few feet from her. Arms crossed and a big smile on his face, he was looking at someone on the carousel. A little girl with two brown braids was waving at him from a pink and golden unicorn.

The carousel stopped and the girl jumped down running toward Oliver. He lifted her up and asked her "So Thea, how was your first ride alone?"

She said "I liked it, and I wasn't afraid!"

"I could see that! So where we shall go next?"

"You choose"

Oliver put her little sister down and taking her hand, turn around. Then he saw Felicity, who hadn't moved away. When their eyes met, Felicity felt slightly embarrassed and let the popsicle drop at her feet.

"Your popsicle…Felicity!" Oliver said.

"Oh…uhm. Hello Oliver! What…what are you doing here?"

"I'm having a brother & sister night with Thea!" He looked down at her sister and said "Thea, this is Felicity, she's my friend!"

Felicity leaned a bit and gave her hand to Thea. She smiled and said "Hello Thea, nice to meet you!"

"Hi Felicity!" Thea studied her a little and then said "You're very pretty!"

"You're cute too, Thea. Are you having fun?"

"A lot! I love the carousel…have you been there yet?"

"Not this time. I might have to leave soon, perhaps next time" She said trying to hide her amusement . Then she added " You have a very good brother, haven't you?"

"He's the best. And not only because he always takes me here" She said giggling.

"I can imagine it" Felicity looked over at Oliver, who couldn't hide feeling moved, but as soon as he realized it, he changed expression and approached to her sister.

"Thea it's time for us to go now. Felicity, it was nice to see you!"

"Same here Oliver" She watched them walk away and lingered on Oliver's neck. There was something quite sweet in him going to an amusement park with her little sister, and as she had witnessed a few minutes before, he'd been totally adorable. This was one of those moments where she regretted being an only child.

She turned around as Lorena and Javi called her, and didn't notice she had stepped on the melted and sticky popsicle.

"Damn!" she hissed, looking at the sole of her pink Converse shoe.

"Nena, who's that hunk you were talking to? Have you forgotten to tell us something?" Lorena asked.

"He's from school. We attend the same class, you know, Computer Science" She said trying to sound nonchalant.

"Ok…and yet you forgot to tell me about him. A guy like him!"

"There are lot of handsome men like him at school! Should I tell you about each of them?"

Lorena rolled her eyes and took her by the arm. "Javi wants to go to the pirate boat, we have plenty of time"

Javi wanted to do another round on the pirate boat. Lorena and Felicity looked at each other in acknowledgment: he wasn't going to stop until they dragged him away. It was half past 10 and they definitely should think about going home.

Felicity looked up and she saw Oliver Queen racing through with a distressed look on his face. He was alone, or at least Thea wasn't nearby him.

Felicity rushed to him and asked "Oliver, what's up?"

"I lost THEA!" He sounded angry and miserable at the same time.

"But how…how come?"

He was shifting his weight from one leg to another watching around. Felicity also noticed he was touching his fingers with his thumb, something he used to do at school too, when he wasn't feeling comfortable or he was thinking of something.

"She was simply looking at one of those games where you have to hit the target with a ball…and I got distracted. And then she wasn't there!" He let out a deep breath. "The thing is, she has never left me without saying me anything. She's always with me!"

He punched the utility pole near him and said "But it's my fault. No matter how she usually acts, I shouldn't have let her out of my sight"

"Oliver. I'm here with two friends, let us help you look for Thea, all right?" She said after a moment of reflection. "First of all, let's go at the entrance and ask for a general call of her"

She touched his arm, and he seemed to relax a little bit "Yes sure, that's the reasonable thing to do" He managed a little smile and said "Thank you. This is….I'm such an idiot. I can't believe I did that because of…" He looked at his feet.

"I think I know what got you distracted" She said side eyeing him "Well, you better wallow in your misery later, let's go now!" Felicity called Javier and Lorena, explained them the situation and they all run to the main entrance of the fair. Then they divided, with Lorena and Javier going back at the carousel.

They've been walking around for a while and there was no sign of Thea. A general call for had been made twice, but nobody had called back Oliver at his cell phone.

Felicity was becoming more worried too, but she didn't want Oliver to notice, as he was showing his guilt feelings. Oliver wanted to go back at the game stand where he had lost her, and asked the man in charge if he had seen her sister. While he was talking Felicity saw a couple walking toward them, and the man was helding the hand of Thea. She couldn't word anything but managed to shook Oliver's arm.

"Thea! Oh thank God" he whispered, while his sister happily hopped toward his brother. Oliver turned very serious, he bent down to look into his sister's eyes and in a steady voice told her:

"Thea. You don't go anywhere without telling me, do you understand? You know I'll take you anywhere you want, so please don't do it again" Thea nodded and looked down at her feet.

Then he got up and went to the couple. He said "I saw her wandering near those trees" he pointed at his left "We thought she was lost even if she didn't seem worried. We were going to bring her to the entrance but she said she recognized the blonde girl"

"Thank you Mr….?" Oliver asked.

"Diggle, I'm John Diggle" he said giving him his hand.

"I'm Oliver Queen.I'm very grateful Mr Diggle, I've had the worst 15 minutes of my life!" He said with a tense laugh.

"I can believe that. I saw the face of your girlfriend when she saw Thea. It's like the weight of a stone had fallen off her shoulders" John Diggle said smiling at Felicity, who was still holding Oliver's arm.

"She's not…" Oliver started to say and then paused. "She is not as afraid as I was, actually she kept me on the ground" And he gave a sweet look at Felicity.

"You're very lucky, for being so young" John Diggle said. Then he and his, presumably girlfriend, left leaving Oliver alone with Thea and Felicity.

"Thank you Felicity. I'm sorry we made you waste your time" he said.

"Oh oh, don't even think of it! All's well that ends well!" Felicity said winking at Thea.

"We better go now. See you on Monday all right?"

Felicity nodded. Then he turned back again and said "Felicity?"

"Yes?"

"The things I said to Mr Diggle. Just so you know, I really meant them!"

* It means "Have fun!"