Chapter Text
Monday morning. Who doesn't hate Monday mornings? Felicity liked her job. Maybe it wasn't her dream one but at least she could make some money so she could pay her bills and that was important. At least for now.
She cleared the mirror from the steam that her shower had created and she combed her long dark black hair. She had to be at work at nine. She had the third morning shift today. She started to drying her hair. She put on her usual goth make up, ran to her closet to put her dark jeans and on top her blouse with the name of the place she worked. A black t-shirt with light green letters that wrote “Verdant”.
It was almost a month that she worked there. Not everyone was friendly with her. Not anybody wanted to have a goth friend. Some of them just didn't like her with all that black look and some just didn't pay attention to her. Which in that Felicity was used to it. Only one person was friendly to her and that was Laurel.
Laurel was another waitress in Verdant that for the first time they met they became friends immediately. It was a chemistry between them in work but also when they first met. Laurel was working there longer than Felicity but she was kind and smart and gorgeous. Felicity didn't understood how a person like that wanted to be a friend with her but she really didn't care because she liked her too.
Mondays were slow at work. So Felicity started her day with the strongest coffee she could have. She loved coffee and she liked it strong.
It was a sunny day. Customers started to come and go and the day passed really quickly even for a Monday. Around noon her boss came. At least one of them. Tommy Merlyn. He was a handsome man. Tall, dark haired, big green eyes and with a great body. He was almost at his thirties. He was a very kind person, a very good boss and even if he was from a wealthy family he did everything he could not to show it. At least to his employees.
“Hello Felicity. How everything going?”, Tommy asked with a smile on his face that reached his eyes. He liked Felicity. She had turned to be one of his best employers and the most hardworking ones.
“Good evening Mr. Merlyn. Great. Everything is under control”, Felicity said with an equal smile on her face. She liked Tommy too. He was always kind to her and always a gentleman.
“Good evening Mr. Merlyn”, Laurel said as Tommy pasted beside her to go straight to the barista. Her eyes shined and she blushed.
“Good evening Laurel”, Tommy said with a genuine smile not like the one that had shared with Felicity but with the one that had only for Laurel.
After her first month at Verdant Felicity started to notice the connection between them. They weren't together but it was obvious, at least at Felicity, that there was something between them. Maybe they hadn't notice their looks at each other or maybe their smiles that they had only for each other but their chemistry was there and if someone payed attention sure they had noticed that they had feelings for each other. Eyes are the mirror to our souls and their eyes said everything their mouths didn't.
Tommy took his coffee from the barista and went straight ahead to his office. His office was in the second floor of Verdant next to storage and it had a big window that you could only see from inside out. He spend the most hours when he arrived in there unless a very important customer was at the place or he came back down later when the restaurant was open and the club.
Verdant let's say was a multi business. It had a café, a restaurant and a club. The café was open from the morning and was also occupied the beach until eleven o' clock at night. The restaurant was open around four in the afternoon until late at night and the club was the one that was opening almost after the two other was closed. Tommy Merlyn was a multi business man.
Felicity was working at the café most of the time and she was happy about that because she felt free and of course she could see the beach and the sunset.
Verdant was one of the best café/club/restaurant in Starling. Even if it was in a bad neighborhood the view that it had was the best. It belonged to three persons. Tommy Merlyn, Oliver Queen and Thea Merlyn. They were brothers. Tommy was son of Malcolm Merlyn and Rebeca Merlyn. After Rebeca died from cancer Malcolm thought that he will never find happiness again but he found it again in the face of Moira Queen and he fell in love once again. Oliver Queen was the son of Robert Queen and Moira Queen. After Robert died in a car accident Moira was left alone with her son. Malcolm and Moira was together in college and friend for many years.
When they left alone they came closer. Tommy and Oliver where too young when they both lost their parents. Moira and Malcolm from their marriage had a daughter. Thea. At the current moment Thea was at New York and studying to take her degree in Fashion Design. They are a family. They had their bad moments, especially when the boys where teenagers and of course they tried to stay together. So boys are boys but eventually they grew up and went to college and started their own business. Even if Malcolm and Moira are successful in their own business they wanted to start something on their own and they succeeded.
Verdant is open for the last five years. At the beginning was only the café but after that they started to open the restaurant and after that the club. Felicity have only met Tommy but she have heard a lot of stories about his brother and sister. Thea after she went for her studies she came less every year for a visit. But Oliver is another story.
Laurel told her that Verdant was his idea and the first year he was there every day, all day, but after he met her, that woman destroyed him. The last couple of years he had changed his character, he became more aggressive and he made a complete turn in his life. She broke with him twice and even at the first time he manage to find himself, the second one destroyed him.
Felicity had never met him. Laurel told her that after she broke up with him,the second time, he left and no one has him after. Maybe Tommy had but they never had the nerve to ask.
“So...”, Laurel started to say but Felicity jumped because she scared her.
“Laurel, don't sneak on me. Jesus you scared me”.
“You look far far away and I thought why not scare you a little bit”, Laurel said making a gesture with her hand to show Felicity how far her thought where. Felicity slapped Laurel' s hand and she made a grimace of pain but really it didn't hurt at all.
“I can't wait to leave. For the last hour I have nothing to do and every time I look at my watch is like the time have stopped”, Felicity said with a boring face and exhaling a breath.
“Oh come one Felicity, you know how Monday's are. Always boring”, Laurel said with a boring smile on her face.
The two girls continued to chit chat and look at their customers the few that they had remain at the shop when Felicity saw a new customer enter. She wished that this one was sitting at her tables but at the same time she wished that he didn't. Something was off about this guy and her instinct was never wrong.
The tall guy eventually sat at one of her tables and Felicity grabbed a glass of water from the bar so she could take his order. When she was approaching him it reminded of someone but she couldn't put a name at his face and her guts still telling her that something was really really wrong about him.
“Good evening. What can I bring to you? ”, Felicity said leaving the glass of water at his table in front of him. Felicity couldn't see his face because he was occupied with his phone.
“An espresso”, the man said without looking at her and without even greeting her.
Felicity hated people that they didn't said say hello or look at her when they were ordering. 'How rude of him? Not even a hello or hi or look at me? Who he think he is? I hate these people. We are not their servants. He could simple say hello', Felicity thought to the way back at the bar to take this man's order. When she was at his table she leaves his espresso on it and she says “Here you go”.
She doesn't even have to smile because she knows it will be worthless because he is still occupied with his phone. Suddenly he turns his head up and Felicity is lost to the most beautiful blue, ocean blue to be more specific, eyes she has ever seen. But it is the only think she can see about this man because he have longer hair that goes behind his ears and long beard. But his eyes, hmmmm his eyes. But they are emotionless.
She is still lost in his eyes when he extends his hand with some money without even saying a word to her, 'What's wrong with this man?', Felicity thoughts and then he give him his change. “Thank you”, she answers politely and she puts the money on the table. Then she turns to leave and then she feels it. She feels the pain.
Felicity stops and froze on the spot. She is boiling from anger. If someone was closer enough it may could see the steam coming out from her ears. 'He did, oh no he didn't?', she thought and turned around.
The man was still looking at her with a pleasant hint in his eyes and with a grin on his face. She looked him with surprise and wide eyes. When her mind started to work again she gave him a cold expression.
“That's your tip”, he said and turned his face back to his phone. She was going to kill him. 'He just slapped my butt and that is my tip? You. Are. A. Dead. Man', Felicity thought before she speak and while working her plan through her head. Really fast working her plan.
“Can you please stand up and give me a proper tip? That was a lousy on”, she said and before she could even finished her sentence he snapped his eyes back to her. She almost heard the crack that his neck did. He didn't expected that kind of reaction.
'Let's see what you will do', Felicity thought and before she finish her thought he was on his feet. He was tall and through his t-shirt she could see his muscles. He was well build and as he stand up and Felicity's head almost reached his chin.
“So...”, he said and started hovering over her and now he had started expand his hand so he could grab her butt.
Felicity looked up at him and she locked her eyes with his never leaving them for one second. From the corner of her eye she could see his hand became closer to her and before he could reach her she grabbed it and put it behind his back. 'Self defense classes asshole', she thought.
Even if he was tall, muscular, now he was in pain by a petite goth girl. He left a groan not a sexy one but Felicity held his hand firmly. He had bent his knees from the pain just a little and they were now almost at the same height.
“Leave my hand”, he yelled at her and gnashed his teeth.
“Apologize for slapping my butt”, she send with pleasure at her voice but giving his hand a better grip.
“Never”, he said.
“Then I wont release your hand”, she said and took a breath. He smelled so nice. Something woody, maybe like forest. 'Felicity what's wrong with you' she thought but her thought interrupted by another person's voice.
Tommy was right in front of them even Felicity couldn't see him. The tall, muscular guy in front of her was blocking her view. Tommy must have seen the scene and came down from his office or maybe one of the others went up and inform him about the whole situation. Either way now he was in front of them and he was telling something to her.
“Felicity leave him, please”, Tommy said with calm voice because he thought that after what he did to her she will brake his hand.
“No before he apologizes”
“Never”, the tall guy said.
“Then you have to start get used of the pain”, Felicity said with an ironic smile.
Then Tommy had spoke again.
“Felicity please leave my brother and I will make sure that he will apologize”. 'What? Brother? Oliver Queen his brother? Fuck!', Felicity thought and she looked over him to see Tommy's eyes. Yeap honesty and fear. He is Oliver Queen. That moron almost turned his head to her and he spoke,
“Leave me and MAYBE I will not fire you”,
“I will leave your arm only because Mr. Merlyn asked me to but remember. MR. QUEEN next time you even touch me I will break your hand”, Felicity said and she released him and he turned fully to face her.
So this is Oliver Queen, THE Oliver Queen.