Hello All! Thank you for all the new faves/alerts and reviews, as always they make my day :)
Huge thanks to Hip Karma!
REPLY TO GUEST REVIEWS:
Sandra: Thank you so much for the feedback, I'm glad you like it :)
RPatzlover84: I know what you mean about being divided between Oliver and Bruce. Oliver... well, I wouldn't say he's a d*ck but also wouldn't say he isn't lol He isn't used to Felicity keeping things from him, or having to share her with someone else. He took her for granted, and now he has to realize it might not work like that forever. Thanks for the feedback :)
"Good morning, Wayne Enterprises. What may I help you with?" The smooth voice of Felicity answered the phone though, it sounded like she was panting slightly.
"Hello, Felicity. Were you running?" I asked, as I sipped of my morning coffee. I was sitting at the desk, having breakfast. Newspapers and magazines were spread out in front of me. The TV was set to Starling's news channel. My face was everywhere.
"Actually, yes. I just got in," she panted softly. "Didn't want to miss an important call..."
"I assume you've heard the press found out I moved here." With my sudden appearance in Starling rumours of my intentions were going to spread quickly.
"It would be hard to miss," she laughed softly, clearly, entertained that the tabloids had all type of fake ideas about the reason for my presence.
"Indeed, it would be. And that's why I called you. I believe I've already told you that public image is more important than anything," I started, curious what her reaction would be. "I decided to have a pool party this afternoon, and I expect you to be there."
There was silence at the other end of the line for a few seconds. I was ready to give her an explanation if needed why this event would be important, and why she had to be there. Of course, the reason for the need of her presence was my curiosity about her but she didn't necessarily need to know that.
"I understand," she said, slowly, obviously, still thinking about her answer. "But why do I have to be there?"
"I invited some influential business men, and I'd like you to be there as my personal assistant," I explained. "You know them better than I do, and I need your help."
I realised if I limited our relationship to merely professional ground, it would be easier to get close to her, and figure out what drove her. There was the puzzle that was Felicity. I understood her genius for technology led this bright young woman to IT , but why had she chosen to fight crime? The life of a vigilante and an IT guru most would say were as far from alike as possible.
"Alright, I'll be there," she said, though, I could still hear doubt from her voice as those words left her mouth. She was one suspicious woman.
"Oh, and Felicity," I said quickly before she could end the call. "I recommend you wear some kind of swimsuit. Wouldn't want your dress to get splashed by chlorinated water."
"Lucky for me, my boss pays me enough to be able to afford a new one if needed," she replied, making me smile. I saw Alfred's face softening as he saw my reaction. It was certainly a long time since someone had an affect on me like she did.
"I'm glad to hear you're happy with your salary," I said in a light tone. "But everyone is going to be casually dressed, wouldn't want you to feel uncomfortable being the only one in working clothes."
Other than the obvious reason of looking at her body in barely anything, I had an alternate motivation to get her into a swimsuit. I was curious if she was muscled, if the Arrow had trained her since they were working together. If I were him, I'd have. You couldn't possibly let your partner be helpless if the worst happened.
"I'll be outstanding at least," she said cheerfully, determination echoing through her voice. I might have won the battle with getting her to come to the party but she wasn't going to let me have this one.
"You always stand out, Felicity," I answered softly, shaking my head. She had to have an answer for everything. "See you in the afternoon."
"Yes, in my nice working dress," I could hear she was almost laughing as well as she ended the call.
"I'm happy to see you smiling again, Master Bruce," Alfred stood in front of me, smiling as well.
"It would be difficult not to when it comes to Felicity," I looked out of the window, watching the sun coming up, remembering how beautiful she had been sitting here in the sunshine. The more I watched her, the more I wanted to know about her. She was intelligent, stunning and funny, a mix many men believed impossible to find.
"Indeed, she's almost like a ray of sunshine," Alfred nodded, taking the coffee from me. "It's almost impossible to find such rare treasure. It should be cherished above all."
I wanted to tell him he thought too much into what could happen between Felicity and me, and he shouldn't let his hope run wild as we still knew only a very little about her but he was long gone by the time I could have pointed this out.
He was right about Felicity being bright in many ways. Her personality was indeed something rare. She made me believe almost entirely that I could trust her, that she'd understand what I was trying to do. On the other hand, my suspicious nature made me wary.
I made my way through the crowded balcony of Bruce's penthouse. The music was so loud I could barely hear my own thoughts. There were women wearing bikinis everywhere, looking like they'd just stepped out of a Victoria's Secret catalogue. Some of the city's most powerful men were also in attendance.
I had to give it to Bruce, he was better at showing off, and keeping his playboy persona believable than Oliver. The more I found out about him, the more I saw he was very aware of what the public thought about him. Unlike Oliver, he regularly did something outrageous just to blind everyone, and stop them from even wondering if Bruce Wayne was more than he let people see.
I was lost in thought when a young man bumped into me, and the next thing I knew I was drowning in the pool. Drowning might have been a little bit over the top to say. However, it certainly got me out of the blue that I didn't end up being splashed by water but completely soaked.
As I cursed under my breath a hand was held out in front of me. I glanced up, blinking rapidly to try and see through my wet glasses, and there he was. Bruce, wearing only shorts, giving me a delicious view of his perfectly worked out body. It was lucky the water cooled me down a little bit as most likely, I'd have blushed from head to toe. One would think after seeing Oliver's not any less perfect body every day would stop me from getting coy but it wasn't the case.
"Let me help you," A cocky smile appeared on his face, and this time, the expression reached his eyes as well. I had to force myself not to roll my eyes, or say something I might regret.
"Thanks," I mumbled, taking his hand. I lost my balance for a second, bumping into his chest as he quickly pulled me out of the water like I weighed nothing. I could feel eyes on us as we stood there, my hands laying on his bare chest, not a single hair could fit between us.
"And now you can decide to remain in your clothes, and let everyone stare at your bra, or follow my advice, and choose to wear one of the spare swimsuits I have," he said, clearly having to hold back from laughing.
I looked down, and saw my pink bra being completely visible through my drenched white shirt. I let out a frustrated huff, and crossed my arms over my chest, trying to cover myself as much as possible.
"This is one hell of a coincidence," I narrowed my eyes as I followed him inside. If I didn't know better, I'd think he paid that guy to push me into the pool only to get me into a swimsuit.
"Accidents happen," he shrugged slightly, putting his hand on the small of my back to guide me through the crowd. "The guest room is upstairs," he said, guiding me towards the stairs.
I believed him for a minute, right until the moment when we reached the stairs. I saw Alfred shaking hands with the man who pushed me into the pool. That gesture made me suspicious. Knowing Alfred, and how professional he was, he wouldn't normally shake hands as a butler, the only reason I could think of was if he slipped money to the man. Bruce might not have known about it though. He seemed to be honest when he claimed it was just an accident. The old man though, definitely seemed to be the kind of person who'd pull some strings in the background if needed, for the benefit of his boss.
I was dripping all over the place. My feet floated in my shoes like they were boats on the sea. I had to balance as carefully on my way upstairs as if I was a tightrope walker.
"You may go in, and choose a swimsuit from the ones in the dresser. There's a hairdryer in the bathroom which opens from the room," he explained as we reached the top, and he opened the door for me.
"Thank you," I stepped into the room, a shiver running through me, goosebumps appearing on my arms and legs as the water covering me turned cold.
I walked to the dresser, pulling it out slowly, huffing softly as I saw at least twenty bikinis and trikinis in it. I picked up a few, making a face as some rather whorish pieces got in my hand. A few minutes later I found the perfect one, it was a dark blue trikini, a golden ring holding it together in the middle. I also found a beach wrap which I was happy about as I wouldn't have to feel completely naked this way.
I changed my clothes, and took a look at myself in the full length mirror in front of the double bed positioned in the middle of the room. I couldn't say that I was outstanding as my make up was smudged and my hair looked like it belonged to a wet dog. Good job I was quick with getting ready. I washed off my make up, and applied some light eyeshadow, and lipstick to my face and lips, and dried my hair.
I replaced my glasses with contact lenses, praising myself that I remembered to bring them with me. My phone buzzed in my clutch as soon as I stepped out of the room.
"Felicity Smoak," I answered loudly, trying to yell through the music. I didn't recognize the number on the screen, nor did I hear what the person at other end of the line said so I screamed into the phone asking who it was before I stepped back to the relatively quiet room.
"Sara," I heard the familiar female voice, almost dropping my cell as she screamed as well.
"Sara, hey!" Pacing up and down, I kicked my shoes off. They were still soggy and felt like boats. It was a mistake not to ask Bruce, or Alfred if they happened to have a spare pair of shoes, or slippers. I was surprised to hear from Sara as she went MIA after deciding going back to the League of Shadows.
"Hey. Where are you? I can barely hear you," she asked, curiously.
"Waiting for my new hearing aid, or someone to wash my ears out," Not that they weren't clear enough after getting into a closer relationship with the pool. "I'm at a pool party, held by my new boss."
"You have a new job?" I could tell she was more than surprised. It seemed like everyone expected me to remain by Oliver' side 24/7, not only him.
"Yep, at Wayne Enterprises," I nodded, wondering if she knew anything about the rivalry between Bruce and Oliver.
"Oliver must be thrilled," Sara laughed heartily, clearly aware of the tension between the two men.
"Of course, he's over the moon," I rolled my eyes. Oliver wasn't happy about many things but the same was true about me, and he didn't seem to care too much about it. "But I'm sure that wasn't the reason you called?"
"I'd like to say that I only called to check on you guys but you're right, there's more," she started, and I could hear her voice changing, turning more into business like. "I've heard rumours about a man gathering people underground. Don't have much information about what's happening, or who he is but they say he's trying to organize an army, turning them into a cult."
"Do these rumours involve masked people?" I asked, feeling my stomach tightening at the thought of another big bad coming against the city. After the terrorist attack I wasn't surprised, and at least it was confirmed somewhat that we couldn't let our attention slip but I hated to think about where this could go again.
"I'm not certain, I heard about masks but I also heard about tattoos, or piercings as special marks. No one really knows much," she sighed. "Look, I gotta go now. I'll call you if I know more."
"Take care, and thanks," I said, ending the call, quickly slipping into my shoes, thinking right away that I had to excuse myself, and call Oliver because he had to know about this, too.
I rushed downstairs, looking for Bruce, trying to push my way through the dancing and drinking people, almost ending up with some cocktails on my new swimsuit when I bumped into a waiter.
My eyes went wide when I saw Bruce standing at the balcony with Oliver both of them as tense as if ready to start a fight any second. I didn't know he'd be here as well. Oliver was wearing a light blue T-shirt, and black shorts. I wasn't surprised he wasn't bare chested. He didn't like to show off his scars as those would raise too many questions.
However, what bothered me standing there, staring at the two of them was that I wasn't entirely certain what I should do about Sara's information. I had to tell Oliver but should I tell Bruce as well? Would it be considered disloyal if I told Bruce about it? Oliver would think so, no question about that but would he be right?
The only reason I agreed to attend Bruce's insane pool party was so I could keep an eye on Felicity. I wasn't convinced Wayne's intentions were pure, therefore, I decided it would be for the best to see what was going on.
The place was full of top models, and the wealthiest people of Starling. It was odd to think back to the time when I thought this was life, that I could live this carefree and not give a crap about anything. Because I was this once back in time, I had every reason to worry about my blonde IT girl. I knew all the tricks someone like Bruce could use to get what they wanted.
"What did you say? Where is she?" I asked annoyed with Bruce, barely hearing a single word through the wall shaking sound system.
"There," he nodded towards the living room where Felicity pushed her way among the people.
My breath caught in my throat for a second as I saw her in barely anything. The dark blue trikini and matching beach kerchief highlighted her hips to an almost outrageous level.
"Oliver, you're here," she said shocked, staring at me with wide eyes as she stopped in front of us. Her swimsuit was anything but appropriate, considering she was supposed to work here. I was wondering if she had clothes with her, or she arrived in this nothing.
"I was invited," I forced a smile to my face, with sarcasm in my voice. She didn't seem to be happy about my presence. "No need to try and act happy about it."
"You're wonderful, Felicity," Bruce cut in before she could have answered.
"Isn't she always perfect?" I narrowed my eyes but kept my fake smile, feeling my hands tightening to fists as he let his gaze wander over her barely covered body.
"Oliver, we have to go," she said firmly, stepping between Bruce and me, most likely sensing the tension between us. "Lyla is in labour, isn't it awesome?"
"She's only 5 months pregnant," I looked at her confused, not sure why she was so happy about this as it would be very dangerous for the baby to born this early.
"Exactly," she rolled her eyes for a second before looking at me meaningfully. "Diggle needs us at this difficult time."
"Oh, right," I nodded, realizing she was trying to sign me that we had things to do. "Bruce, a pleasure as always."
I turned to him, shaking his hand, neither of us willing to let go for a good minute when Felicity told me that even though, she'd love to see an armwrestle between the two of us, we really had to go.
I placed my hand to the small of her back and lead her out, careful so she wouldn't bump into anyone and end up covered in booze. I felt Bruce's eyes on us but I didn't care. Felicity left with me this time, and that was all that mattered. As we passed by Alfred at the door he gave me a disapproving look but knowing how proud of his professionalism he was, I only became paranoid by Wayne's invasion.
"What's going on?" I asked her, opening the door of the car for her.
"Sara called," she said as she got into the car, giving me a perfect view of those smooth legs, making me wish I could just reach out and touch them. She continued on when I sat next to her and started up the car. "She says this one might be big again. Someone's gathering people underground, organizing a cult like society."
"Are these the masked terrorists?" I was driving towards the lair, trying to concentrate on the problem in front of us rather than Felicity in only a swimsuit next to me.
"She didn't know, might be, might not," she said, glancing at her phone. "It's Diggle."
It turned out the terrorists who we captured a few days ago committed suicide in the jail, all of them killed by some kind of poison what the police couldn't identify yet. Sara was right. This might be a big threat again. Average criminals rarely do such thing. However, we'd already suspected this as average criminals didn't commit such public and violent actions.