A/N: Right-o! Another chapter! I hope you like it- I know I had a great time while writing it during my holiday. Sorry if it's all going a bit slow but I've recently gotten a job as a teacher and my nights are A LOT longer due to being so tired. I love teaching but it takes a LOT of energy.

Anywho, another chapter. There's more Olicity in this than in others but we still aren't getting to the good stuff- this is a multichapter one so you better be ready for the slow burn!

Disclaimer: Arrow nor characters are mine!

Chapter Four

x

After a relaxing night of watching up on her favourite TV-shows and a day of lazy hanging around with her surrogate sister and best friend, Norah, Felicity felt completely re-invigorated. She and Norah had gone to the park to relax with some wine and after, the two friends had danced on radio music as they did some cooking in the privacy of Felicity's kitchen. Then, before Felicity knew it, it was Monday again and she had to get up early for work. Not that Felicity minded. She could use some distraction.

As she walked out of her apartment building, Felicity adjusted the bag strap on her shoulder and nodded. Yup, thinking too much was a bad thing today. She had already done that for hours, last night, after a particularly inquisitive phone call from her mother. It was rather rare to get that kind of call from her mother, but on the few occasions that Donna decided to be a parent, she turned rather confrontational in an effort to make up for lost years. As Felicity turned a corner, she heaved a sigh at the thought of the phone call.

Donna was a nice woman: that was not the problem. She was, now, anyway. There had been bad years, that much was true, but Donna had gotten out of that place and her recent marriage to John had definitely helped lots. But she was just not Felicity's mother. She had been, before the alcohol. But then, by the time Donna had decided to put down the bottle for good and turned around to look for her daughter, said daughter had figured out the world already. In fact, said daughter was planning to travel halfway across the country to get a better chance at life than her mother had had.
So, though Donna had taken up her role as a mother again, she had yet to prove herself and both Felicity and her knew that perfectly well. Which resulted in these kind of phone calls where Donna would ask her what she was going to do with her life, if she had enough money, would she not come down and stay over, soon, had she found a man yet and how many friends she had… Frankly, Felicity privately referred to them as police conversations due to the immense likeness between the questionings she saw on television and Donna's phone calls.

As Felicity waited for a traffic light, she watched a father hold his daughter's hand in front of her and she fidgeted with the seam of her skirt as she did so.

The problem with those phone calls was that they always made her feel completely incompetent. She had no idea where she was going- she only knew where she was now. She had just enough money to get by and she was still just as enthusiastic about hacking and television shows as she had been when she was twelve. As a part-time job, she was a waitress and at her 'mature' job, she had to listen to people complain about her work daily. The flat she lived in was still her own and there was nobody waiting for her when she got home. The amount of friends she had was still countable on two hands. In all honesty, there were worse places to be in, but it never felt that way after Felicity ended a phone call with Donna.

As Felicity crossed the street behind the little family in front of her, she shook her head. After the phone calls, she always got to thinking and thinking was never good. Just last night, she had spent hours thinking about how to better her situation and how to live her life to the fullest. It had been a night of pondering. She had scrutinized nearly everything in her life. The mental image of Oliver's face had even come by a few times. Felicity made a fist of her hand as she walked towards Beans Consolidated, her nails pressing into her skin as if she was punishing her hands for their treacherous itching at the thought of his stubble. But the sight of Beans Consolidated as some sort of safe haven up ahead made her feel relieved. Maybe at work her mind would leave her alone.

From afar, she noted that she must be the first one there since the front door was still closed. She fished in her bag for her keys and bobbed her head along to the music she was listening to on her MP3. It would be her and Roy today, since Diggle had his obligatory day off. When she had found her keys, she opened the front door and put the tables and chairs outside. Inside, she started getting everything ready and soon, Roy joined her and they got to work.

The day went by as expected- since Diggle wasn't there, the drinks came a little slower and they were a bit off. Felicity knew how to make them all, don't misunderstand- she just sometimes messed up and slipped in too much cinnamon, cream or anything else really. But, since Roy handled most of the customers while she worked on their drinks, she had time to correct her mistakes and they made it work.

It had a few weeks since Roy had started working at the shop, but it didn't feel that way at all when Felicity worked with him. He knew exactly what to do and when to do it. Even with the staff, Felicity thought he fit in perfectly. The boy seemed completely at ease with their style of conversing in front of the customers, he didn't complain about the job (actually, he didn't really talk all that much) and when he said something, it was witty, to the point or intelligent. From what she could surmise, Roy had quickly and silently worked his way into all of their hearts. Diggle had started exchanging music with the boy and even Moira listened to his advice. Thea was, of course, smitten. Felicity couldn't blame her- Roy was, after all, a beautiful guy.
The most interesting thing about him, though, was where he had come from, in Felicity's opinion. The Glades wasn't an easy place to live in and from what Roy had told her after prying, his life had not been an exception. His mother and father were not on speaking terms, his mother had gone to jail when Roy was young and Roy's only brother went to rehab not long after. Basically, Roy had been fending for himself for a long time. Felicity couldn't imagine being in that kind of situation and still being positive, let alone coming out as the nice, good person Roy had become. It scored him major points in her book. Plus, he liked chocolate chip mint ice cream. Funnily enough, that was their main bonding point, but it was enough.

With genuine smiles, lots of jokes, some singing here and there from Roy and an overdose of coffee fumes, they got through most of the day and it was only in the afternoon that Felicity was reminded of her mother again.

It was nothing, really. Just a customer with a voice that sounded like hers. Nonetheless, it made Felicity whip around wide-eyed. When she realized the woman wasn't Donna, Felicity closed her open mouth with a snap. Still, Roy had seen her reaction to the woman and after he had placed the group of three at table ten and the theatre section, he came back with an order and a questioning look.

"So… are you going to tell me what that was? Do you know that woman?"

Felicity shook her head and gripped the paper he was holding out for her tightly. Roy glanced at the paper before letting go. After looking through the order, Felicity reached above the bar to get mugs and glasses. Then she replied.

"It was nothing. I thought it was my mother."

Roy raised an eyebrow and made himself comfortable by leaning against the counter.

"Oh, yeah, that's usually how I greet my mother too," he observed drily.

A hint of a smile touched her face.

"No, I meant," she answered and stopped arranging the mugs in front of her, tilting her head as she wondered how much to tell him. "She – we don't get along well."

Roy turned away to check if the customers were still happy, then turned back. He leaned forward on his elbows, nodding.

"My mother and I are the same," he answered. Then he looked at the granite counter underneath his arms as he rubbed his palms together. "Mainly because she went to jail, though. What's your excuse?"

Felicity looked at him from the corner of her eyes as she poured syrup into a few of the cups. He was watching the syrup, mesmerized. He seemed genuinely interested, Felicity thought when he looked up with a questioning gaze. She relented.

"Donna – my mother, likes to ring me and give me the what-are-you-doing-with-your-life call," she answered, making quotation marks in the air. Roy nodded, still looking at her for more information. "She rang me yesterday for my monthly fill. It's just- I know I am becoming a spinster in an apartment and I should just get cats already but I just don't need her to tell me that."

Roy grimaced.

"Yeah. My mom doesn't understand why I took on a normal job," he explained. "Not that I get that many phone calls and not that I visit her often, but when we talk, she judges me. So I get what you mean."

Felicity pushed up her glasses and put some whipped cream on top of four of the coffees she'd just poured. She bit her lip in concentration and nodded at Roy before she replied.

"Isn't it odd that just because they are family we let them say whatever they want," she wondered aloud.

Roy nodded and grabbed a tray from behind the counter for her to put the coffees on. He watched her place them on it carefully while he was looking for words. Halfway through, he opened his mouth again.

"Well… all I can say is, life is what you make of it and if you're happy, don't worry too much about her."

She pushed the tray towards him and nodded.

"I know."

Roy moved to turn around and she looked to the side and sighed. In her own little world, Felicity wondered if she was really happy and if not, how she could become happy. Roy stopped short.

"Okay, whatever it is she said to you," he said forcefully. Felicity jumped. "Forget about it. If you don't forget about it soon, I'll make sure to slip some vanilla syrup in your coffee when you're on break."

Felicity's mouth fell open.

"Don't you dare soil my liquid gold," she threatened. "I'll have you know I can ban you from airports and change your identity with a few taps!"

Roy smiled sweetly.

"But by that time you'll already have drunk the coffee and that face after might just be worth it."

Felicity squinted her eyes at him in mock-anger as he walked away laughing. With the tray in his hands, he turned around halfway to the bookcase maze and winked at her. The blonde watched him turn around the corner. He was right, really. She made her own life. But the problem was not that she thought her life was less or that her mother thought so. Her mother had never been able to live without alcohol, except for the last six years, so how good of a source was she anyway.

No, the problem was that the call had made her think about her life in general, but in particular her love life. And when she said love life, she used that term loosely. It was more of a non-existent love life. Next to the few occasional boyfriends at MIT and a few stalkers, she had been single for a few years now. There had been dates and there had been a Barry-situation that had come close to going steady. But when he was struck by lightning and ended up in a coma, it kind of went awry. Though she did send him cards and visited him every two months, the relation had stopped before it even began. Next to Barry, there hadn't been any guys in her life except for Ronald the ICT man, her boss Donny and Roy, Diggle and Oliver. Which of course brought up the thought that Oliver was extremely good looking, down to earth and nice. But she had no idea if they had things in common and more importantly, if he was single. She had no clue if he really was that much of a flirt, either, and if he was, would she even want to be with him?

Next to those things and most of all, the man was her soon-to-be-boss. Since she could not afford to lose her job, that meant it basically came down to the fact that no, she had no love life up until now to speak of and the dry spell would continue.

A sigh escaped her lips at the realisation. She looked at the rag she was cleaning the sink with. She grimaced. Well, at least she could say she was married to her work. Not at all what an old spinster would say.

In a moment of insanity, Felicity started envisioning how a marital agreement between her and her job would look, when she was shaken out of her reverie by a voice.

"Well Hello, Miss McDreamy," a high pitched voice sang in her ear.

Felicity moved back in reflex and held up one hand. When she saw a familiar face in front of her, she lowered her hand slowly.

"Thea," she breathed. "Geez, give a girl some warning!"

Thea chuckled, leaning on the counter with one elbow. She reached out and took the rag Felicity had used for cleaning and chucked it at her. With quick reflexes, Felicity caught it before it hit her.

"It's not my fault you scare easily," Thea replied. Felicity threw the rag on the counter behind her. "Besides, you are meant to be paying attention."

Felicity raised her eyebrows mockingly.

"Excuse me? This from Miss 'Candy Crush' Queen?"

Thea scratched the back of her head with a smile.

"I was close to the high score, though," she defended weakly.

Across from her, Felicity rolled her eyes and shook her head. She grabbed the rag from behind her and started wiping the side of the bar Thea was leaning on to keep herself busy.

"Anyway," she said. She looked around and saw Roy talk to Mr. Knyazev. He had already noticed Thea, judging by the looks he was throwing her. "Was there any particular reason you came in on a day with no shift?"

Thea nodded.

"I need tea," she responded.

Felicity looked at the ceiling in exasperation. Seriously? That must have been the worst excuse Thea had come up with until now. Thea didn't even like tea.
Lately, Thea had been coming in more and more on days she wasn't needed. Common factor: Roy was there. Thea and Roy had been dancing around each other for a few weeks now, when they all knew each of them fancied the other. Especially after Thea started requesting more shifts together and Diggle had caught the two of them kissing in the back. But they still weren't going steady.

Felicity saw Roy approach the counter and she waved at him like Thea did. Before he got there, though, Felicity leaned over and whispered in Thea's ear.

"You better be thankful for this," she hissed in warning.

Thea gave her a puzzled look but looked at Roy again as he joined the group.

"Roy," Felicity asked with a dramatic tone. "Could you please get this poor lady to the week schedule in the back? Apparently she is illiterate and cannot read her name."

Thea's head snapped her way and she glared at Felicity, but Felicity raised her eyebrows at the girl. If she was getting time alone with Roy, she should be thankful instead of complaining. Especially if it meant Felicity was alone during the afternoon rush.

Roy, on the other hand, led Thea to the back theatrically to supposedly talk about the schedule. It caused many a client to smile and Felicity saw Anatoli cross his fingers for the two of them. Felicity grinned in victory at him and was about to do a little victory dance when the kitchen door opened again and Satan herself emerged.

Without missing a beat, Felicity put on the espresso machine for Anatoli's earlier order and got back to cleaning. Next to her, the body of Moira turned multiple ways and then stopped when pointed in the general direction of Felicity. When Felicity looked up, silently praying for salvation, Moira's eyes zeroed in on her and she regarded Felicity as she worked.

"Felicity," she asked with little compassion in her voice. "Have you seen my son?"

The blonde came up from her bent position.

"No, not at all. Did he get in through the back?"

Moira nodded distractedly as she looked around the shop. When she couldn't see her son, she looked around the bar area to inspect Felicity's work. Suddenly, she stopped short. She breathed in deeply whilst grimacing. Alarmed, Felicity glanced around but saw nothing that could have caught her attention. Then, Moira reached out and picked up Felicity's tablet from next to the cash register. She put it down on the counter in front of them. Shit. Felicity had forgotten to hide it after reading, that morning.

When Moira started talking, she did so slowly and drew out every word.

"I know for a fact that you are very smart, Felicity," she remarked. "Which could lead me to believe that you have started to consciously disregard rules I set for my employees. I think I have been very clear about this. I don't want my personnel using these things for their own entertainment when I am paying them to work."

Felicity bit the inside of her cheek, remembering Thea and her Candy Crush era. But of course, Thea was Lucifer's daughter so she was free from blame. In resignation, Felicity looked at the ground. Moira herself was pinching the bridge of her nose, eyes closed in irritation. Felicity kept quiet, knowing that talking back or talking reason with Moira never worked. Moira let go of her nose and regarded the tablet again. She seemed to have made a decision.

"As your boss, this is the last time I am tolerating this," she said calmly, placing one hand on the bar. "I am confiscating this for now. The next time I see one I will deduct a days' wage off your pay check."

Immediately, the hair at the back of Felicity's neck stood up and she let her mouth fall open. That bitch!

"Oh, mom," someone called. "I see you've found the tablet! Good!"

Both Moira and Felicity turned to the voice, which came from the shop area. When Felicity spotted him, Oliver was already halfway across the room.

"Realized I'd forgotten it when I was in the administration room," he told Felicity, throwing up a hand in frustration. He reached out and picked up the tablet with practised ease. Rolling his eyes at his own stupidity, he turned to his mother. "Of course, I needed it to make the pictures for the digitalization so I would have noticed within seconds, but still."

Moira just looked at him, hand still on the bar, startled by all his words and explanations. He looked at his mother with an apologetic look when he noticed.

"Sorry, did I interrupt you?"

There was a second of hesitation in Moira's frame, but then she smiled and shook her head. Felicity watched the woman, in awe of her quick change of heart and the quick change of atmosphere in general. Earlier, Felicity had gotten chills of anticipation when Moira had emerged from the kitchen, but now that Oliver had joined, it felt like Moira was content and happy with the world and everything in it. It was eerie what family could do to Moira and how much she was willing to forget when it came to them. Felicity shook her head at her boss' apparent Achilles' heel and sent out a silent thank you to whomever was up there for its presence.

"No, you didn't," Moira said. She threw an arm across his shoulders. "Have I told you how happy I am that you're helping me, dear?"

Oliver slipped his arm around her middle and smiled at his mom. Felicity watched Oliver as he blatantly lied to his mother. She admired the five o'clock shadow on his face and the depth of his eyes. It wasn't a far stretch to think he had probably already seduced dozens of girls with those looks.

"Yes, but it's always nice to hear again. How's the baking going?"

Moira pulled back her arm and patted Oliver's shoulder in reply.

"Fine, fine. But I should get back to it. I only wanted to tell you there's some more bills in the mail and other than that, I am telling both of you," she started, sending Felicity a dark look as she pointed at the tablet. "Keep that thing out of sight; it's not good for our image."

Oliver nodded and Felicity followed suit immediately. Moira seemed satisfied with that and turned around to walk through the kitchen door. Blown away by what had just happened, Felicity and Oliver watched her go. They glanced at each other as the door closed behind the woman. When it had closed completely, Felicity's gaze shifted to Oliver while he listened intently to what happened on the other side of the door. His jaw was set, the smile he had put on for his mother dropped the second she had turned around and she could see the muscles in his arm stretch and bulge as he lowered the hand with the tablet.
When the voices of Thea, Roy and Moira began talking on the other side, he let his shoulders fall down from the position they had been in. A small, relieved sigh escaped him and he glimpsed back at her. When they looked at each other, Felicity could not stop the intense warmth she felt from forming a smile on her face. With a ridiculously broad smile, she reached out for a high five. Oliver slapped her hand with a proud grin and then handed over the tablet.

"Thanks," she gushed. "I owe you."

Oliver chuckled. Behind the door, Moira yelled at Thea. Oliver made a face.

"You do need this to help me, right," he asked.

Felicity patted the tablet.

"Yeah," she said eagerly. "Plus, a girl's gotta have her technology. I wouldn't be anything without this baby. Devices are this girl's best friend."

Oliver tilted his head to the side and gave her a look.

"You are the weirdest girl I have ever met," he stated.

Felicity hid the tablet in its usual spot, the towel drawer, then tightened her ponytail. She squinted her eyes at him as she did so.

"Maybe you just never met the good ones."

The man in front of her didn't answer, but she saw the corner of his mouth turning up. She grinned back at him.
To her side, she suddenly heard a loud cough and when Felicity looked over, she saw Anatoli pointing at the espresso machine. Shoot. She had forgotten to bring him his espresso. Feeling guilty, Felicity immediately grabbed his cold espresso and chucked it in the sink. She started a new one for him and gave him a thumbs up. When it was done, she excused herself for a second and brought the regular his drink.

"I'm sorry, Anatoli," she gushed. "Here's your espresso."

Mr. Knyazev took it, shrugged and waved her closer. She stepped forward and leaned down.

"It's fine. Listen," he started. "I need to talk to you. It's about Oliver."

Felicity frowned, glanced back and saw that Oliver was looking at the both of them. Her heartbeat quickened when their gazes met and with a blush on her cheeks, she turned to Anatoli again.

"Yes?"

Anatoli took a sip of his espresso before he answered. Felicity looked at his wrinkled hands as he did so. She wondered if he had any family left.

"You know you promised me a date first, right?"

Chuckling, Felicity glanced back at Oliver, who raised an eyebrow at her. He could probably hear most of the conversation. She felt her body tingle at the thought of him watching her every move. Ignoring it, she turned back to her customer.

"Mister Knyazev, we're not dating," she explained. "You know that. He's your friend!"

The old man stared at the table in front of him darkly.

"But it won't take long before you are," he muttered. Then he looked up, the twinkle in his eyes back again. "Which I don't mind, as long as we go on a date first."

Felicity sent him an endeared smile and caught a glimpse of Oliver as she scanned the room again. He was still watching her, like a hawk watching its prey. She squirmed under his intense look and she saw him grin.

"Don't worry, your date is safe," Felicity assured Anatoli. Then she continued with a loud voice. "I don't date bosses."

Anatoli shook his head and caught her arm when she tried to walk away again.

"Miss Smoak, you don't understand. Oliver Queen never follows women around with his gaze. Women's gazes follow him," he shared and sent a meaningful look her way. Afterwards, he let her go again and winked at her. "But, as long as I get my date, it's fine either way."

Felicity frowned when the old man sipped his espresso again and turned around to face the counter. Oliver was still standing there, eyebrows raised as he looked from her to Anatoli and back again. When their eyes met, Felicity attempted to get the fire inside her to calm down. No such luck. With her tray at her side, she walked back and joined Oliver at the counter again.

Before he could ask her about it, Oliver was interrupted by the kitchen door opening and Thea and Roy walking out.

"No, I think that's perfect," Thea said loudly. "I'm sure Felicity agrees. You take my Saturday afternoon and I take your whole Wednesday. Right, Felicity?"

Thea glanced at Felicity, who was surprised but otherwise saw no reason for it not to happen. She nodded and Thea smiled.

"Right, it's settl-"

Roy stopped her.

"Wait a second, isn't that police party on Saturday?"

Thea smirked.

"Is it," she asked sweetly. "I completely forgot. Thanks for trading, though. That would have done me in."

Roy opened his mouth to speak but nothing but pure indignation came out. Thea pecked his cheek and walked away past Oliver with a grin on her face. Roy was still fighting himself and trying to say something, but he only succeeded in opening and closing his mouth.

"That's to thank you," Thea called over her shoulder, sending a smile Roy's way. "See you on Monday!"

She walked out of the store with quick steps and Felicity grinned at her back. Trust Thea to get a boy to do everything she wanted with a few smiles and a twist of words. Felicity watched Roy frown and she caught Oliver sending her a confused glance. Then, out of nowhere, Roy started and ran after Thea.

"Hey! Wait a minute, I'm not going to just…"

His voice was carried away by the wind as he ran after Thea. Felicity watched his apron flail around his body in the wind as he followed her into the street. She had raised her eyebrows as she stared after the two and turned to Oliver when Roy was out of sight. His surprised look matched her own.

"That's the first one that had the guts to talk back to her," he noted.

Felicity nodded, completely blown away by the same fact.

"I know," she answered, still surprised. "He might even be able to get her to be reasonable!"

"Wouldn't that be something," Oliver said longingly.

Felicity nodded.

"Maybe he can even get her to stop playing Candy Crush in the future."

They grinned at each other and turned back to the window. Both of them looked outside for another minute, thinking of the possibilities longingly. Then Oliver turned away from the window to her again, but Felicity had spotted a customer with an arm up and a girl that wanted to order from the counter so she stopped him before he could say something.

"Anyway, you go work on sorting those files," she told Oliver. "I need to help this young lady."

Oliver turned and saw a bushy-haired blonde waiting. With a wink at the girl and another smile at Felicity, he turned towards the exit of the bar area. Before he walked away, though, Oliver remembered their project.

"Actually, come by when Roy is back. We need to talk digitalisation. Also, I'll get you the password to my mother's overly protected network instead of the normal one," he told her softly as he walked by.

He stopped on the other side of the bar, checking to see if she'd heard him. Felicity looked puzzled.

"Are we going to need protection, though," she asked, confused.

Then, from the corner of her eyes, she saw a brunette that had just joined the line take a step back in horror.

"Wait- I mean. We are talking about computers. Computers, viruses, fire walls," she tried.

The girl didn't look convinced.

"For anything else I would like to stress the importance of protection. I always say: be smart, wear protection. In fact, I-"

The brunette looked absolutely horrified, spun around on her heel and walked out of the shop. The bushy-haired blonde was laughing in her hand. When Felicity looked at Oliver, helpless, he just grinned. She stared at the back of the brunette.

"… yeah- you didn't want to hear that. I can respect that. Okay."

Shaking his head, Oliver turned and walked away. Felicity closed her eyes when she realized everyone in the shop was looking at her. She could hear Oliver chuckling from inside the bookcase maze. She moved her hand to her forehead and pressed against it, irritated at herself.

As she was standing there, the subject of her inner turmoil came to the surface once again and she sighed in resignation. Well, maybe she had no love life to speak of but she could always die of embarrassment due to unintended sexual innuendos.

After a moment of shame, Felicity had gotten a hold of herself and started work again. She served several tables, seated a few new customers, waved off Moira when she left and tried out making a new coffee sort with a hint of chocolate syrup and mint, deciding it could be the special of the next week. Around thirty minutes after he had stormed off, Roy came back, muttering as he grabbed a tray to do some legwork in the maze. When he was back, Felicity excused herself to go see Oliver. She had decided she would talk to Roy later; this had to happen now since she had no clue when Oliver would leave.

She made her way through the maze and knocked on the door of the administration office. When there was no reaction even after a second and third knock, she opened the door to make sure he was even there. Slowly, she made her way inside.

It was the second time she was there this week and it only looked marginally better than the first time. There was still paper everywhere, but on the desk there were more binders with papers than last time, titled and all at least. She walked around the desk carefully, trying not to step on anything important. The desk behind the chair, however, was empty. She looked around the room and out the windows, but didn't spot Oliver. Just when she was about to give up on Oliver and thought he'd gone home, she realized the door to the kitchen had been opened and a sliver of light came through. Usually, the door was locked, but she guessed Oliver had found the key somewhere.
She opened the door further and stepped into the kitchen, instantly spotting the short-haired man at one of the many kitchen tables with papers all around him. He glanced up when she stepped into the room, but she knew he had already heard her long before that. She gave him a little wave.

"So, how's admin working out for you," she asked, gesturing to the office.

Oliver grimaced.

"My mother turns out to be an administrator with the sorting mechanism of a hurricane."

Felicity raised an eyebrow and looked back at the room behind her.

"It might be a family trait," she stated.

Oliver frowned. He put down the paper he was reading.

"Maybe."

Felicity smiled at his confused answer. She stepped into the kitchen completely and walked over to his table, grabbing the paper in front of her to read it.

"So," she started. "When do I start putting it online?"

Oliver sighed and stood. He stretched his arms above his head.

"As soon as possible."

Felicity turned around the order sheet in front of her with the corners of her mouth turned up.

"Tomorrow, then," she asked. Oliver nodded and sorted the paper he was reading on one of the three stacks in front of him. "Okay."

"I'll take care of internet and a scanner, can you bring a laptop?"

"Might have one," she replied sarcastically.

Oliver gave her a look.

"Ok- fine. It's a date. Deal- deal, not date. I meant deal. You never heard that," she gushed as Oliver grinned at her words. "Shut it. It's because Anatoli thinks we are dating that I said that- I didn't do it on purpose."

After she said that, she went about her business again and turned to the higher table behind her that had been pushed against the wall, where the work schedule hung. She pulled up a paper and looked at the work schedule for the following week that she had filled in. Moira had not signed off on it yet, she noticed, so it would probably have to be changed.

"Anatoli thinks we should date?"

Felicity almost jumped at the sound of his voice so close to her ear, but she caught herself just in time. She bit the inside of her cheek and rolled her eyes.

"You could hear every word," she scolded.

She turned her head to the side and saw Oliver tilt his head, still grinning. He was close to her, but leaned over to look at the work schedule as well. In the process, his body brushed against hers and she could feel the bare skin of his arm slide past hers. When he had looked at the schedule, he turned his head to her.

"Only parts. What did he say?"

Felicity looked at his shoulder and stubbornly pressed her lips together. That made him grin more and he moved back to stand on two feet. He reached out a hand to touch her elbow.

"Felicity," he encouraged her softly.

She looked up at his face and damn him and his eyes. The blonde looked away sullenly.

"He wanted to date me first. Before you," she answered as she placed the tray she had been holding on the table next to them. She waved her hand with a dismissive air. "Which is ridiculous, of course. I told him as much. I mean, you're my boss and okay, you are good-looking – though I heard men like handsome better. I wonder why. Is it because-"

"Felicity," Oliver interrupted.

She quieted and looked up again. His eyes were twinkling and he had pulled one side of his mouth up into a smile. When he stepped closer, her heartbeat went faster.

"Your point?"

She felt a thrill at the low voice he was using. Was it possible to go that deep? Apparently it was. She looked away from him to focus.

"The point is, Anatoli is jealous of you."

That made Oliver chuckle. She could feel the warmth he was giving off, now, and his smell was intoxicating. Spicy and a bit woody. She breathed in deeply just as Oliver leaned a bit closer to say something to her.

"And does he need to be?"

Felicity blinked. She opened her mouth to reply when the kitchen door was thrown open and Roy called her name without looking in. Both of them instantly turned their body its way. Felicity felt a wave of lust go through her when Oliver growled in frustration as the door closed again on its own. He turned back to her and she looked back at him, unsure of what was happening.

When Oliver opened his mouth, Roy once again opened the door and put a foot in the doorway. He called Felicity again, mentioning rush hour and that she was due back yesterday. He seemed unable to leave without her. So, she walked away and sent an apologetic look towards Oliver. Her heart jumped when she saw Oliver was scowling.

On the way back to the counter, she felt a bit dazed by what had just happened. Slowly, she walked over to the counter and stood next to Roy. The man handed her a note with an order and she got to work as if in a trance. Within seconds, Roy was complaining. Honestly, though, she couldn't focus on him long enough to care.

The only thing she could think of was how maybe, just maybe, her love life was less limited than she had initially thought.

A/N: Once again, thank you on going on this lovely adventure with me, all of you!

I hope it's still all fine and dandy- I'm still trying to keep up the rounded character thing so I'm sorry if its a lot of background, but... i don't like Mary sues.