I cannot believe that I agreed to go to the gala with Oliver tonight. What am I stupid? A glutton for punishment? That is it. I have completely lost my marbles. That is the only thing that could explain my actions. Okay, so I will go tonight but I will not think of this as a date. As soon as we get there, I will just disappear in the crowd and find Walter. He was the real reason why I wanted to go tonight anyways. It will be great seeing him. Great! Now I have a plan.
I am a little nervous about tonight. This is going to be Felicity and my first date. I just hope that no arrow business comes up. I want tonight to be perfect for her. I am so lost in thought that I do not hear my phone ringing. I look at the caller id and low and behold it is Laurel.
"Yes, Laurel?"
"Oh my god Oliver, I just got a call from Brandon Sparks and he says that he will definitely be backing you. This is awesome. I am so happy."
"What? That is great. I honestly was expecting to have to go through at least a dozen more meetings before he agreed. Yes!"
"Wait Oliver, there is only one catch. He needs a little more information first and he said that he would be at the gala tonight. We can talk to him there. Isn't that great?"
"Definitely. I would be happy to discuss the company with him tonight. I will discuss anything he wants because he is backing me."
"I thought you wouldn't mind. Well, I am ready, are you almost here?"
"We should be there in about five minutes."
"Okay see you soon."
"Bye. Digg, did you hear that? I am getting my company back. I finally have enough people backing me. I cannot wait to see Walter tonight. This is great."
"I can see how great it is Oliver. I have not seen you this happy in a long time. I am happy for you. Maybe now you can concentrate better."
I just laugh at him. I hop out of the car as soon as we get to Laurel's. She is waiting for me outside.
"I would have come up to get you," I stated and gave her a hug.
"It is fine. We need to hurry up and get to the gala so that we can talk to Brandon. It would have taken too long for you to come up and get me."
"Digg, can you drive a little faster to the gala? I do not want to miss my chance to talk to Brandon," Oliver said. He completely forgot all about Felicity and apparently, Digg did too.
"Sure Oliver. I can drive a little faster even though my job title says bodyguard."
We arrive at the gala and I immediately began searching for Brandon. I find him at the bar talking to his wife.
"There he is Laurel. Let's go have a chat with our newest investor."
"Lead the way." Looks like Oliver forgot all about little miss IT girl. Thank god. Now he is all mine.
"It was an hour into the party when I finally finished giving Brandon all the information he wanted and man can he ask a lot of questions. I finally stole away long enough to have a victory dance with Laurel when I saw her. Felicity and she was looking right at me. Shit, I forgot all about her. Jesus, I was supposed to pick her up tonight for our first date. I am a dead man.
"Laurel, thank you for the dance but we completely forgot about Felicity. I stood her up. I will be lucky if she ever talks to me again."
"I wish," Laurel mumbles under her breath.
"What was that?"
"Oh, nothing. I feel absolutely horrible. I completely forgot about her. I was just so excited about Brandon. Oh man, she must feel so betrayed. Especially after everything you said to her this afternoon."
"I screwed up big time. Lucky for me Felicity is a forgiving person. This screw up may take a while though. Excuse me."
"Wait, I will come with you. She is talking to Walter now anyways. I would like to say hi."
The more I watch her the more I notice that she has not looked back this way once. It might take longer than I thought to win her forgiveness this time.
"Felicity, I am so sorry. I got caught up in a deal with an investor and completely.."
"Oliver, Laurel, how are you both doing tonight," she asks?
"I am doing great Felicity. We just landed Brandon Sparks. He is going to help Oliver get his company back. Isn't that great?" Laurel asks.
"That is good news. Congratulations. I was just talking to Walter about Queen Consolidated. He had very good things to say as well. Tell them Walter."
"Well, like I was just telling Felicity, all you needed was one or two more backers and the company would be all yours Oliver. This is indeed excellent news. Brandon Sparks will put you over the top. Congratulations."
"Thanks Walter. Felicity, as I was saying I just was so caught up in this that I completely forgot about picking you up. I am so sorry. Laurel called and we rushed straight here. Please can you forgive me?"
"Oliver, there is nothing to forgive. I am perfectly capable of getting myself around. You and Laurel should go and celebrate. This is a major deal for you. Walter, would you care to dance? I love this song."
I think for once I made Walter speechless. I am pretty sure that he feels the tension.
"Absolutely Felicity. I would be delighted to dance with such a beautiful young lady. Excuse us would you? And Oliver you should ask Laurel to dance."
"Laurel and I already danced and I was hoping that I could dance with..."
"Then you should ask her again. Big night remember? I think this calls for more than one dance. Come on Walter. Dance with me. Enjoy the rest of your night guys."
As I watch Felicity walk away I know that she is feeling hurt and upset. I am such an idiot.
"Oliver, come on, we should dance too. It is a night for happiness."
"Yah, sure Laurel. I was just hoping that I could steal Felicity away for a while. Tonight was suppose to be our first date and I blew it big time. How am I going to make this up to her?"
If I had been watching and paying closer attention I would have noticed the gleam in Laurel's eye, but as it was I was too busy watching Felicity dance with Walter and ignore me.
"Well, you could buy her some sunflowers. I am sure that they are her favorite flower. That would probably cheer her up."
"Hey, that is a great idea. Thank you Laurel. I will have a dozen sent to her tomorrow at work. That should make her happy."
"Good, now that that is settled let's dance."
I danced with Laurel through two songs which is how long Felicity danced with Walter before I saw them move off the floor.
"Excuse me Laurel, I am going to try and get Felicity to dance with me."
"Sure."
I lost track of Felicity but I could see Walter talking to the president of his bank.
"Excuse me, Walter? Do you know where Felicity went? I was hoping to dance with her."
"Oh, I am so sorry Oliver but she went home. She said that all she really wanted to do tonight was see me and that she did it so there was no reason for her to stay. She left right after the last dance."
"She left already? She did not even say goodbye. That is okay I will see her later." I did not mention that I planned on stopping by her place tonight as the arrow. I just could not let her go home upset like this.
After Digg and I dropped, Laurel off I instructed Digg to go home. I was not planning to do any arrow business tonight so I did not really need him. He felt bad anyways that he too forgot about Felicity. I am pretty sure that she is going to be overwhelmed with apology gifts tomorrow. I decided to take a shortcut and just use the fire escape. However, when I looked in all her lights were off and I could see her sound asleep in bed. Too late. I guess that I will just have to wait and talk to her tomorrow. In addition, I need to remember to send the sunflowers. That should help a little.
What Oliver was failing to realize is that Laurel was setting him up. Felicity told all of them that she was allergic to Sunflowers. Oliver's life is fixing to get a whole lot worse. At least where his relationship with Felicity lies.
If Oliver had looked close enough he would have noticed that her breathing was jerky. Felicity had been crying since she got home.
I cannot believe that he just forgot about me. Who does that? I am supposed to be at the very least his friend. Friends do not do this to each other. Even Digg forgot about me. I thought for sure that he would always be on my side. Guess I was wrong on all accounts.