Chapter Text
Felicity was glad she wore trousers that day as she hopped on the giant table on the conference room and moved a few cards and post its on the table. There would be a board meeting in few days and Felicity was working on a performance and projections presentation story board, hence the multi colored cards and sticky notes on the table. Normally she would work on a computer, but when Mark from Marketing, with whom she was working on the presentation suggested that they do it manually with colored cards to see the flow of the story board in a go, she agreed. For the first time since she assumed the role of EA, she enjoyed working on a presentation because it felt like less like a corporate report and more like a school project.
It was around 6:45 pm, Mark was long gone and she was waiting for Oliver to emerge from the meeting with company CFO to have a look at it and approve before she gets it on the computer. Though Oliver never argued with anything she ever came up with but Felicity, being the stickler for propriety, wanted Oliver’s approval for most official decisions.
Oliver came back to his office and threw a file on his table that most probably was given to him by the finance people. He looked around for Felicity and when he saw her on top of the table, he raised an eye brow. There she was, clad in grey trousers, white blouse and a slim red belt, balanced on a foot and one knee, almost in an acrobatic pose, moving a card at the other end of the table.
“Is this some new game of twister that is only played on conference room tables that I am not aware of?” He asked.
“Seriously! Twister on a table? What kind of a peculiar game would that be? I am working on the presentation for the board meeting next week, Mark suggested that we do it this way and I kinda like it. Just have a look and let me know if you are okay so that I can get started on putting it all in order,” she sat on her hunches and gestures for him to come in.
“You know you run this office, I am sure whatever you have done would be great,” Oliver walked in.
“Yeah, but I still want you in the know because it is your name that is plastered outside the building, and the elevators, the hall and almost every piece of stationary in the building, I think it is only fair that you should know what it is we are talking about before you stand in front of your board,” she made a face and started explaining how she was planning to go about it.
They worked together for another 15 minutes with Felicity sitting cross legged on one end of the table and Oliver standing across the table with the whole presentation between them. They were almost done with their work when Felicity saw Laurel standing on the doorway.
“Hi Laurel, how are you doing?” She smiled.
Laurel ignored her and moved towards Oliver as he turned around to look at her. Before he could have greeted her, she poked his chest and said, “No matter how much time has passed, something things never change and Oliver Queen is one of them. Once a cheating douche, always a douche.”
“Laurel, are you okay?” Oliver asked.
“I think I should leave the two of you alone. You obviously have things to work out so errr, I am just gonna go,” Felicity did not want to be in the middle of another Laurel/Oliver episode so she jumped off the table and picked up her shoes that she discarded on the floor when she got on that table.
“Oh no, stay here. I mean you should know it, after all, it is you he is cheating on this time,” Laurel moved to stand in front of the door blocking Felicity’s exit.
“Can I please just …?” Felicity really wanted out of that room but Laurel did not let her finish.
“Did you tell her, Ollie, that you are now screwing my sister – again – behind her back or will she too find out like me when you are both gone and presumed dead,” Laurel was looking at Oliver with contempt.
“Excuse me!” Felicity was taken aback at the outburst, “Oliver, what is this?” she asked him.
Oliver however refused to look at Felicity and was staring at Laurel.
“Listen Laurel, I have no idea what you are talking about but no one is cheating anyone here, and I really don’t want to be part of this whole – whatever that goes on between you guys – thing so I am just gonna …” Felicity waved her hands with her red stilettos and started to move again.
“Laurel please, leave her out of it,” Oliver touched Laurel’s arm.
“No you stay out of it Oliver,” Laurel brushed his hand aside and followed Felicity to her desk.
“I am here to warn you Felicity; Oliver is not what you think. He may be playing footsies in the conference room with you but he is screwing my sister behind your back, dump him before her breaks you down like he did with me,” Laurel was hysterical.
Felicity, who after putting in an 11 hour work day with only 5 hours of sleep was tired, moved to stand in front of Laurel.
“For the last time, there is nothing going on between Oliver and I. We work together and I consider him my friend when I don’t feel like murdering him but that is just about it. He can go and do whatever he wants with whomever he wants; it has nothing to do with me. Just let go Laurel, life is too short for being angry all the time, its exhausting” she said with barely contained anger.
She then moved towards Oliver who was standing just behind Laurel and looked at him furious eyes. If Oliver did not know until now, he realized how extremely angry Felicity was when she faced him, all determined jaw and squared shoulders.
“Oliver, you make my life so complicated, at times I wonder why the hell I put up with you. I am a nice person, there was a time when I used to get along with everyone, people used to like me and now everyone is after me, especially all the women in your life. No seriously! What is wrong with all of them? Helena, your psycho ex-girl friend left me tied up in my office, Isabel, your business partner has made it her mission to disparage everything I do and everything I am, not to mention the stupid rumors that she spread – don’t think I don’t know, or I don’t know that you know, I know everything that goes on in this building. As if that was not all, we have your mother, who threatened me because she chose to deceive you and now this – another ex girlfriend trying to bond with me over your whatever it is that you do with other women when I have absolutely no idea what it is and want nothing to do with it! What’s next? Your baby sister would probably accuse me of absconding with your family jewels or something,” Felicity said bitingly, so livid that she was shaking with anger.
Oliver opened his mouth to apologize and called her name but she raised her hand to stop him.
“Not another word Oliver Queen, I need some time away from you to think if what we do is worth putting up with this,” she bent down to put on the shoes she dropped earlier, went back to her desk, picked up her purse and left.
Laurel and Oliver were standing in the space between his office and her desk, quietly looking at the space she vacated when she reentered the office and threw another angry look at Oliver.
“Don’t touch the cards on the table. Don’t let anyone else touch the cards on the table. I will work on the presentation tomorrow – if I decide to come in at all.” She threw that him and turned, taking angry strides with a swinging ponytail towards the elevators.
“Oliver I didn’t know that she was not…” Laurel was a tad contrite.
“Forget it Laurel, just …” Oliver moved to sit down on the chair behind his desk.
Laurel stood there for another minute, taking in everything including Oliver Queen’s devastated face and then she too left.
Despite his wealth and privilege, Oliver’s life has never been easy and gotten more difficult since he his return from the Lian Yu. His life was a mess but Felicity somehow made sense of everything and made things easy for him, now that she is gone, he does not know what to do because he is kind of lost without her.
Felicity surprised Oliver. He never thought she was capable of that kind of anger but then he never did imagine that anything like could ever happen in real life. Not only was she accused of having an affair with him, she was also painted as a victim in the same breath and if there is one thing Oliver has learned about Felicity, she hated being relegated to the victim status.
He had no idea how was he going to do it but he knew that he has to go after Felicity and apologize to her till she decided to forgive him. He took his phone out and dialed a familiar number.
“Diggle, I may need your help with something. I have to apologize.”