Chapter Text
Holidays were meant to be enjoyed on a beach. With a drink in your hand and a good book in your lap. That was how Felicity Smoak was supposed to spend the last three weeks of December. Basking in a tropical breeze and her boyfriend’s washboard abs. Instead, she was spending them hiding out in her apartment.
Because Felicity Smoak had been dumped.
The actual breakup wasn’t the worst part of it, though. She wished it was.
Ray Palmer was her business partner before he was her boyfriend. They met at a conference three years ago, realized how much they had in common and how well they worked together, and eventually decided to start their own tech company. After two years of hard work and late nights, they finally started to see it pay off.
Helix Technologies took the world by storm. While the big, multi-million dollar companies battled each other over features and apps, Helix snuck in like a thief in the night, producing quality tech that worked better and was more cost effective. They went from struggling to find investors to having some of the most in-demand products on the market.
Ray didn’t ask her out until they’d penned a number of successful deals. Until they were both reaping the rewards of their labor. Until their dynamic as co-owners of Helix was stable. He said he’d been waiting two years to ask her out on a date.
It was amazing how, after all of that, he was done with her just one year later.
Romantically done, that is. Because they still had a business to run. Talk about awkward. And they had clients to assure that nothing was changing despite their public relationship and in turn, public breakup. Talk about amateurs.
The next man she dates, no one will even see his face. She’ll be so private about the relationship that people will think she’s making him up.
A knock on her door pulled Felicity away from her wallowing, which she preferred to call processing. She stared up at the ceiling, waiting for whoever it was to go away.
“Felicity!”
She recognized Sara’s voice through the door. Shit. Even her own mother would give her some space right now, But Sara—
“I know that you keep a spare key underneath this super cool Doctor Who welcome mat. Don’t make me use it.”
With a sigh, Felicity got up to open the door, saving whatever dignity she had left.
Sara looked her up and down, her lip curling. “You have Cheeto dust on your pajama top.”
“Great,” Felicity deadpanned. “Thanks for coming by to tell me,” She swung the door shut but Sara caught it before it could slam in her face.
“Okay, rude,” she complained as she followed Felicity inside. “I was going to ask you to come out tonight but it doesn’t sound like you’re in the mood for…fun. So maybe I’ll just fly solo.”
“Sounds good.”
Putting on her best pout, Sara quickly gave in, “No, you need to come. Please!?”
Felicity stared at her. Her expression was enough of a ‘hell no’ that she didn’t need to say the words out loud.
Sara argued with it anyway, “You already put my dad and I through the most depressing Christmas we’ve ever had.”
“I didn’t want to go to that either.”
“It’s tradition!”
“I’m Jewish.”
“You would have made him cry if you didn’t show.”
“Which is why I was there,” Felicity rolled her eyes. “But I won’t be convinced tonight.”
“Verdant is having a party and I got us tickets.” She said it as if that was convincing.
“No,” Felicity sighed. “And don’t even try to tell me that Quentin will be heartbroken if I don’t go with you.”
Sara let out a frustrated growl, throwing her hands in the air, “you’re really going to spend New Year’s alone!? Wouldn’t you rather come dance with me and then make out with a random stranger at midnight?”
“Not particularly.”
“Felicity, the club is sold out. I used my bartender perks and got us a VIP room!
Felicity stared back, unfazed.
“Fine,” Sara grumbled. “But just so you know, my dear friend…there will come a day in the near future where I will drag you out of this apartment if I have to.” She pulled a ticket out of her pocket and waved it in front of Felicity’s face. Then she set it down on the counter and pointed a finger at her, “I’m leaving this here. If you change your mind, you know where I’ll be.”
Verdant was basically Sara’s favorite place in the world. She worked there as a bartender but even when she wasn’t working, she liked to spend her off-nights there.
“Thanks, Sara.” She softened her tone, knowing that her best friend since high school had only the best intentions. Whether Felicity was on board for them or not. “Love you.”
Sara smiled, “Love you too.”
If anyone was angry about Ray dumping her, it was Sara Lance. She’d been subtly and not so subtly trying to tell Felicity that she didn’t agree with her relationship for months.
When Sara found out about the breakup, her best friend did her best to hide her anger as she said “He doesn’t deserve a second more of your time, Felicity.”
According to Sara, anyone who would date you for a year, dream up an empire with you, then dump you while it’s still being built because he ‘just doesn’t see a future with you’ is a jerk.
Ray had done so much to win her over, professionally and personally, just to break things off when she least expected it. But for the sake of Helix, Felicity had to keep reminding herself that he wasn’t a jerk.
Severely lacking in self-awareness and emotional intelligence? Sure.
An ass who got bored of her once he had the world at his feet? No way.
Alone in her apartment again, Felicity felt conflicted. Sara could make her feel pitiful in only a way that a friend who has known you for half your life can do. She knew Felicity better than Felicity knew herself sometimes. And there had always been a voice in her head that agreed with Sara, that knew Ray wasn’t right for her, that knew she was settling and didn’t like it.
But she’d ignored Sara and she’d ignored that voice.
Her phone rang beside her, and Felicity picked it up out of habit. She had a reputation for being accessible and approachable, after all.
“Hello?”
“Felicity!”
Her eyes immediately shut, regret pouring down her throat for answering. “Ray.”
“Happy New Year! I—um—I just wanted to call and make sure the new plans are all set up. Have you signed everything?”
The problem with mixing business and pleasure was that once the pleasure stopped, business got messy. She and Ray had always worked as if they were a unit. Now they had to untangle some things. Most of it was contracts and legal jargon that bored them both. Tedious reworking of documents. Making sure that they would profit individually rather than having their money go into Helix itself. They were still business partners. And it was much easier to focus on work changes rather than emotional ones.
“Yeah,” Felicity tried to sound cheerful. “I’ll have it all when we get back to the office.” She bit her tongue from adding, Like I told you the last time you called.
“Awesome!”
She’d once seen his chipperness as endearing. He charmed her. Ray, the labrador retriever of a man, was incredibly loyal and sweet. Felicity loved that he was good. Honest. None of that changed just because they weren’t together anymore. He was still all of those things.
It was her own fault for assuming that a man like him could never hurt her.
He could. He did. And he did it nicely. It would probably be easier if she could just hate him and say he was a terrible person.
“Is that all you needed, Ray?”
She knew him well enough to know when he was stalling.
“Oh, well, there’s one other thing I need to tell you about.” Felicity waited for him to continue. “A week after we broke up,” he dumped her, “I ran into Anna,” his supermodel ex-girlfriend who dumped him because he wasn’t rich and successful enough, “We were just catching up, but then we just kept talking…” about how rich and successful he is now?
“We got back together around Christmas.” A week ago.
“Wow.” Oh god.
“I know. It wasn’t my intention, Felicity. It all just…it happened so fast. But ever since we reconnected,” he sighed, “it’s like the last puzzle piece of my life came into place.”
Felicity let out a sharp breath, “What does that mean?”
The pause before his next words lasted too long. “I’m going to ask her to marry me.”
“Wow.” This has to be a sick joke.
“I know. It’s crazy, I know.”
He didn’t have to explain why he was calling to tell her about this. Ray was smart and influential and hot. He made headlines often. Now he was about to marry a supermodel who walked runways all around the world? The media would take notice. He didn’t want Felicity to find out that way. Because he was decent enough to think of her.
Obviously not decent enough to not get engaged to someone else only a month after their breakup made headlines, though.
“Are you sure about this, Ray?”
The question was partly selfish but she had to ask. Because she was his business partner. Not because she was his jilted ex-girlfriend. Or maybe she was both… Not willing to admit that though, not even to herself.
If he was about to propose to the woman he was with before he met her, Felicity wanted to know that the embarrassment coming her way wouldn’t be for nothing. But the bigger part of her was worried about him, for some crazy reason. Anna broke his heart before, she could do it again.
“Yes,” Ray’s voice was confident, yet it didn’t ease Felicity’s concern at all. “It’s impossible to explain, but I guess it’s just…when you know, you know.”
There was no way to be happy for him at that moment. It was all too raw, and those words rubbed salt in her wounds. When you know, you know.
Well, he dated Felicity for a year and claimed that he loved her a lot longer than that, but they’d never talked seriously about marriage. Now here he was, one week after getting back with his ex, and he was ready to get down on a knee and vow forever.
How was that supposed to make her feel?
The reality settled slowly, then all at once.
For a woman who never stopped thinking, Felicity could practically feel her brain shutting down.
“Thanks for letting me know,” she said calmly. “Bye, Ray.”
She hung up before he had a chance to say anything else. There was nothing else to talk about. Not with him. Not now.
All she really wanted to do was dive into her brain-numbing mood. With vodka. Her gaze shifted to the liquor cabinet first, but sitting in her silent apartment, drinking alone while she continued to process everything just felt wrong.
She remembered the ticket to Verdant’s party that was currently sitting on her counter.
Drinking in a crowd full of people with music too loud to think?
That sounded so much better.
✨✨✨✨✨✨
Felicity picked out the shortest, most revealing dress in her closet. It was black and dipped low at the front, with an open back that reached around to her ribs and down to the bottom of her spine.
It basically only covered the parts that needed to be covered.
She’d never worn it, and tonight suddenly felt like the perfect night.
She texted Sara that she’d decided to come to Verdant, after all. Sara responded with a string of exclamation points and emojis and then asked what she planned to wear, and Felicity sent a selfie once she was finally ready. Sara replied with a dozen fire emojis that she took as approval, and then she was out the door.
Sara started working at Verdant a few months prior, but it was the first night Felicity had a chance to check it out.
The building was downtown, an old mill that was renovated into the sleek, dark nightclub it was now. There were rows of green flame torches leading to a giant black door and a neon green ‘V’ shining over it, letting her know she was at the right place. People were already lined up beneath the torches, waiting to get in.
Felicity spotted Sara at the front, standing beside a dark haired woman who looked all-business; earpiece and clipboard included.
She and Sara made eye contact, and her friend waved her forward. “Felicity! Come on up!”
The others in line threw glances as she cut ahead, but Felicity avoided looking at any of them. From experience, she knew how annoying it was to see someone escorted into a club while you waited outside in the cold for the doors to open. But that didn’t mean she planned to wait with them when she had a way in.
Sorry, suckers!
As Felicity reached the door, Sara nudged the dark haired bouncer and pointed to her, “Nyssa, this is my friend I told you was coming. She should be on the VIP list. Felicity Smoak.”
Nyssa’s face remained serious as she checked the list for confirmation. Felicity fished out her ticket and offered it to the woman. “Alright,” she said after checking the ticket’s authenticity. “Go ahead you two. Enjoy yourselves.”
Sara beamed up at Nyssa and squeezed her arm, “Thank you!”
Sara knew her better than anyone, but Felicity knew Sara just the same. There was an undeniable vibe happening in her presence, between her best friend and the woman beside her, and Felicity picked up on it immediately.
Barely containing herself, she waited until they were out of Nyssa’s earshot before she pounced, “What was that?”
“What was what?” Sara asked innocently.
Felicity’s eyes narrowed into slits, “That doorwoman! You like her!”
“She’s not a doorwoman,” Sara argued. Then she sighed, her voice growing dreamy, “she’s a bouncer. A badass, sexy bouncer with the prettiest eyes and best ass I’ve ever seen.”
“Sara Lance!” Felicity whined. “Why didn’t you tell me that you have a crush on the badass, sexy bouncer at your new job!?”
“Because it doesn’t matter! She hasn’t shown any interest. I flirt with her all night long and she just stares at me like I’m speaking a different language. I think she might be…” Sara cringed, adding dramatic flare, “straight.”
“Well,” Felicity scoffed. “I don’t mean to get your hopes up if I’m wrong here, but she was definitely giving you the look.”
“Look?” Sara’s eyes lit up with hope anyway. “What look?”
“You know,” Felicity shrugged. “The non-platonic, ‘I-think-you’re-hot’ look.”
“No way,” Sara shook her head. “There was not a look.”
Sara glanced back at the door where Nyssa was slowly admitting entrance to the people outside, focused on her list.
The woman clearly took her job seriously. Felicity’s first impression of her was that she seemed a bit closed-off. Unemotional. Oppositely, Sara was an open book. She expressed every single emotion whenever she felt it. But Felicity got the sense that they were the kind of people who could make the whole ‘opposites attract’ thing work.
Rolling her eyes, Felicity pulled her down the hallway, following the music she could hear behind the next door. “This is why you need me,” she teased. “You can’t tell when a woman is interested in you.”
“You really think she is?”
“I think you should ask her out and find out.”
“What if she’s not? What if you’re wrong and I embarrass myself?”
Felicity looped her arm through Sara’s as they reached the door. “Does she know you’re bi?”
“Yeah, I’ve mentioned it.”
“Then just ask her to get coffee. Say you want to get to know her better. If she only wants to be friends, I’m sure she’ll let you know. And that doesn’t mean you can’t get coffee with a friend.”
Sara sighed, “This is why I don’t tell you when I have a crush. I always feel like I need to listen to you. You give me too much good advice.”
“If only I could do the same for myself,” she grinned.
“Maybe Nyssa has a brother. Then we can all live happily ever after.” She opened the door and music pounded in their ears, too loud for Felicity to respond.
Inside the club, it was dark and already crowded.
Sara led her through the sea of bodies, sweating and grinding together. It was still early, and no one was too drunk yet. Everyone was moving with relative rhythm, at least.
They reached a set of stairs and Sara yelled over the music, “I can grab a few bottles so we don’t have to wait for drinks! Do you want to hit the dance floor or check out the VIP room first?”
Not quite in the dancing mood she promised herself she’d be in, Felicity pointed up at the stairs and Sara nodded, “It’s the second door on the left! I’ll meet you up there!”
The VIP rooms at Verdant were spacious, lofted above the club, and had giant windows that overlooked the dancefloor. Felicity walked in and her eyebrows immediately rose. She wasn’t expecting such luxury. Aside from the black leather couches and expensive artwork on the walls, there was a table in the middle of the room that held a chocolate fountain and a champagne tower.
Sara really went all out.
Picking up a strawberry from the plate, Felicity dipped it in the chocolate and took a closer look at the paintings. They were from a local artist, one that stayed anonymous and signed all their work with just the name ‘Harper.’ Felicity had attended a few showings and even went home with two pieces.
Beneath each painting on the wall, there was a slip with the name of the artwork and the price. The VIP room of a nightclub wasn’t the first place she’d think to buy art, but it made sense. Busy, wealthy people who weren’t interested in art probably spent a lot of time up here, and they’d be more likely to buy something here where it was convenient and available, rather than tracking down a showing on their own.
Impressed by the thoughtful marketing strategy, Felicity turned to the windows. The club below was packed with people. It was the perfect vantage point for people-watching and the music didn’t rattle her brain from up there. She was already enjoying herself as she spotted Sara at the bar. Her friend was chatting with Nyssa. Felicity scoffed under her breath, helping herself to another chocolatey strawberry as she tried not to creep too much.
But watching Sara try to flirt was hilarious. Nyssa intimidated her, and Felicity swore she could see Sara blushing from fifty yards away every time Nyssa’s intense eyes locked on hers.
“Making yourself comfortable?”
Felicity startled and spun around, nearly spitting out the strawberry. The man in the doorway looked vaguely familiar; like when you see an old teacher in the grocery store and can’t quite place them for a moment. But this moment felt like it was lasting forever. He was handsome; deep blue eyes that shined bright even with their distance. That was the first thing she noticed. Then she noticed the way his gargantuan body leaned against the doorway as he smirked at her.
If arrogance was cologne, she’d have a headache from how much of it he wore.
“Um, I’m just waiting for my friend,” Felicity crossed her arms.
He arched an eyebrow but said nothing. Just stood there like he owned the place. Staring at her like she was the one making the moment awkward. Asshole.
“This is a private suite,” she told him.
“I know. It’s mine.”
She opened her mouth, then closed it, glancing around again. What did Sara say? Second door on the left?
Oh shit.
She went through the first door.
“I think I’m in the wrong room.” Felicity tried to keep her head held high, despite her embarrassment.
“Did you sneak in here for an autograph? A photo? I thought I’d be left alone. No one was supposed to know I’d be here tonight.”
Her nose scrunched in confusion. “What? No. Why would I even—”
Realization hit her smack in the face. She was looking at an actor. Someone she’d seen in movies, hence the familiarity.
She was standing in a VIP room meant for Oliver Queen. Oh no.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”
“Or were you hoping we would meet and I’d fall madly in love with you?”
He assumed that she was a fan, invading his privacy to get something from him. Autographs, photos, and adoration were the go-to options, apparently. Felicity understood that it must be annoying when people expect that of you, no matter where you go. She’d met her fair share of celebrities and also understood that they had bad days and couldn’t be judged based on one interaction.
Except Oliver Queen was wrong in his assumption. It’d been an honest mistake. She considered trying to explain that, but he seemed like he wouldn’t believe her anyway.
“Actually,” Felicity drawled, narrowing her eyes at him. “I’ll just take some champagne and be on my way. To my own VIP room.”
His smirk ticked up a notch, and he looked at her as if he thought she was bluffing. But she definitely planned on grabbing a glass of champagne from the tower, one for each hand, and walking out of there without another word to him.
“Wait,” he stopped her when she tried to get by. “You sure you don’t want an autograph?” His eyes slowly trailed down to her toes, over each cutout of her dress, and back to her eyes. “If you’d like me to leave my signature somewhere on your gorgeous body, I’d be willing to oblige.”
That smirk of his was asking to get smacked.
“You’re a pig.” She knew her expression was a mix of shock and disgust. With the mental image of having (or actually wanting) a man’s name scribbled on her body with a sharpie, that’s what she was feeling. Shock and disgust. To her surprise, Oliver Queen started laughing.
“You really weren’t looking for me?”
“No,” Felicity gritted her teeth. “I told you, my friend is on her way up. I didn’t even know you were here. And if I did, I wouldn’t care. You’re a mediocre actor at best.”
This insult only made him laugh harder.
For some reason, they were still standing in the doorway. He wasn’t pushing her out and she wasn’t running.
“And you’re not…an employee here? The entertainment?”
“The—” Felicity snapped her lips shut. Verdant had dancers. Oh, this guy was asking to get smacked real quick. “No.”
“I assume you don’t want my phone number either then?”
Was he confirming that she wasn’t a crazy fan, or fishing to see if she’d take his number?
“No thank you.”
The answer made him smile, bigger and brighter than before. It reminded her of Los Angeles and some of the shallow people she’d had to work with in order to get Helix off the ground. She already had a bad taste in her mouth thanks to Oliver Queen.
His fake, forced, award-winning smile wasn’t even convincing.
Hurt ego, perhaps. Hopefully. Knocking him down a peg would be a favor to him and the world.
Felicity had to stop herself from groaning.
“What about dancing?”
“I told you I’m not your entertainment, dickbag.”
He huffed out a breath, lifting his chin towards the window, the club. “I meant down there.”
“You want to dance with me?”
The whiplash this man was giving her…
“Well, now that I know you’re not a hot stalker…you can be the hot woman I put my hands all over in a nightclub.” He winked at her, “Your ten seconds of fame in the tabloids tomorrow will be spectacular.”
“I think I’d rather jam my high heel into my eyeball. Or yours.”
Oliver Queen’s eyebrows shot up. “You have a vivid imagination.”
“You have five seconds to get out of my way before my vivid imagination becomes your unfortunate reality.”
“I like your passion.”
“There’s a fine line between passion and violent crime, I suppose.”
He raised his hands, letting her through.
When she instinctively gave a final glance over her shoulder, he was looking at her ass. His eyes landed on hers for a split second, knowing he’d been caught. But all he did was smile.