Chapter Text
She should have known better, should have seen the signs, she was the “other woman.” She’d been the on to ask Ray to keep their relationship a secret. She knew that dating someone with a big last name would cause problems, and here she was crying because Ray Palmer had announced his engagement with another woman.
She cried all night and had enough, she refused to be the girl who spent her entire life crying over a man. She wouldn’t do that again. She took her computer and sent an email to Palmer Tech’s HR department with her resignation letter and decided to become a ghost, she erased Felicity Smoak.
It was time to do another big move.
Felicity looked at rental websites to find a place to run away to. She found a house in Ivy Town, she emailed the owner. Ivy Town was going to be her home for the next year.
Felicity parked her car in front of her new house. She got out of the car and smiled at the man standing on the small front porch.
“You must be Felicity Smoak,” the man offered his hand.
“Yes, and you must be Mr. Diggle,” Felicity shook his hand.
“Please call me John,” he told her.
“Ok, John. Nice to meet you,” Felicity smiled.
“Nice to meet you too. Let me show you the house,” John smiled.
Both of them entered the house, it was beautiful, Felicity thought. To the left of the entrance was the living room there is a white sofa accented with gray and blue pillows, a coffee table and a chair. On the right was a small dining table with four white chairs.
“And here we have the kitchen,” John pointed.
“Wow, it’s big, and I love that it's open to the dining area too,” Felicity said.
Felicity and Diggle went upstairs, the house had two bedrooms, one of them was furnished with a big bed in the center, a big window, and a small desk and a chair next to the window. Felicity entered the bathroom, she saw the tub and smiled.
“Thank you, John, this is a beautiful place. It's perfect,” Felicity said.
“Johnny?” Felicity heard a feminine voice.
“That’s my wife Lyla, she’s the one who made this place look beautiful,” Diggle explained.
Downstairs, Felicity saw Lyla, a beautiful woman holding a baby girl about two years old. “Hi! I’m Felicity Smoak.” Felicity greets.
“Lyla Diggle, this little nugget is Sara,” Lyla put her hand on the baby Sara's head.
“Nice to meet you, Sara,” Felicity smiled, and the little girl waves her hand.
“Have you thought about what you want to do with the empty room?” Lyla asked.
“Not really,” Felicity said.
“Well, I think we'll leave you to get settled,” Lyla said.
John helped Felicity unloading the car. He carried the big things with ease and they finished quickly. John and his family said their goodbyes and leaving Felicity with a bunch of boxes to unpacked. She started with the smaller ones, she was exhausted after an hour, her back aches. After four cups of coffee Felicity couldn’t go to sleep, so she decided to go out and explore her new home.
Felicity remembered driving past a Coffee shop on her way through town.
She entered Verdant, "green" is a weird name for a coffee shop, she thought. She saw the young man who was taking the orders behind the counter. Felicity read his name tag, Roy.
“Welcome to Verdant, how can I help you?” Roy asked her.
“I'll have a Chamomile tea,” Felicity answered.
Felicity got her drink, she looked around for a place to sit, she saw a room with a sign that read “Books.” Felicity smiled as she walked toward the room. A large room, ceiling-high bookshelves on all four walls and a large bay window with a seat, a big table in the center like a library.
“This is amazing,” Felicity said out loud, then she noticed she wasn't alone “Sorry I didn’t see you.”
The tall man was putting books on a shelf, he smiled at her and said, “Don’t worry, pick a book and have a seat.”
Felicity instead started to walk around reading the titles of the books, “This is a great idea, look at all these books.”
The man said, “Thank you, my sister helped me to put all this together, she also sends me books,” he shows her the ones in a box.
“So you and your sister did all this,” Felicity looked at him.
“Not all, some people bring a copy of their favorite books.” He smiled.
The handsome man left her alone to enjoy the books. Felicity thinks this place is wonderful. A few of the boxes waiting for her at her new home had a few books that belonged here.
Felicity snuck a peek at the handsome man working, he was friendly to each customer, calling some of them by name. Suddenly the handsome man looked back at her and she gave him an awkward wave, Felicity realized that was her queue to leave.
Oliver finished putting the new books on the shelf that his sister Thea had sent him, with a note that, “For you Ollie… xoxo Thea.” He smiled at the note, grateful of his sister believed in him, helping with his small business.
A female voice took him out of his thoughts, he turned around. A pretty blonde woman with a ponytail walked into the room. She wore glasses and a red shirt, she held a cup of tea in her hands. She startled when she noticed him, apologizing for interrupting. He said it was okay, and she should pick a book.
Instead of taking a seat she walked around the room. Fingers tailed over the book titles. Oliver couldn't take his eyes off her. He had never her seen her before, he wondered if she was visiting or planning to stay in the area. She was tiny, barely reached his shoulders. Her blue jeans hugged her hips. He was sure she did not realize she was reading the titles out loud or commuting on if she had read it or not.
She asked about the store and suddenly he was telling her about Thea and the books, and how this little book exchanged worked.
Oliver left her to the books and her cup of tea.
He helped Roy with the customers, at the counter. He greeted the repeat customers asked about families health. He kept an eye on the woman in the other room whenever she wasn't looking. Oliver caught Roy staring at him.
“What is wrong with your face?” Roy asked.
Annoyed, Oliver asked, “What do you mean?”
“You're smiling,” Roy joked.
Oliver rolled his eyes at his friend, he looked at the blonde with glasses, found her looking at him. He smiles at her and gave her an awkward little wave, and it hit him Roy was right, Oliver Queen was genuinely smiling.
Felicity got back to her new home, her back still aching, her body refused to continue unpacking. She picked up her cell phone to text her friend Curtis. Her stomach growled with hunger. She cursed when she remembered that she hadn’t gone shopping.
The doorbell rang almost on cue. On the other side of the door was John with an invitation to have dinner at his house. Lyla made a wonderful chicken pasta salad Felicity felt ashamed of how much she actually ate. Lyla assured her that it was ok.
“I went to Verdant,” Felicity said while she was drinking her lemonade. “It’s an awesome place, although I haven’t tried the coffee, yet.”
John smiled, “Oliver's done a good job at that place.”
Oliver, Felicity thought, so that was his name. “Do you know him?” Felicity asked, failing to hide her curiosity.
“Oliver is a good man, he came to the town about five years ago and started the shop by himself. He is a good friend to ours.” Lyla smiled at Felicity.
“Yes, he also helped me with a few repairs for your new home,” John said.
“He’s also single, in case you were wondering,” Lyla offered with a smile.
Perfect, Felicity thought, now Lyla thought she is interested in the coffee shop owner. But before they can ask about her relationship status Felicity got up and thanked them for dinner. She waved off John’s offer to walk her home.