Blind: An Arrow Fanfic

Chapter 18

"Today's the day," he vowed. "I have my lucky charm." He flashed her a smile as he grabbed her hand and made a beeline for the vendor.

Felicity was having so much fun that she was startled when her phone rang midway through laughing at Adam as he bargained with the seasoned dealer.

Moving away slightly when she saw it was Diggle, she answered, "Dig?"

"Hey, Felicity. Listen, sorry to ruin your Sunday but we have an emergency at Verdant."

Alarmed, she glanced at Adam who thankfully had his back to her. "What's going on?"

He sounded apologetic. "I was trying to show Roy how your tracking software works and he inadvertently pressed something that caused the whole system to shut down. Oliver isn't here at the moment, but should anything happen, we have no way of keeping tabs on him."

Felicity sighed. She could attempt to explain the recovery procedure over the phone, but that would probably take longer than just going in and doing it herself. Dammit. "Alright. I'll be there in just under an hour."

"Why so long? You not home?" he asked, interested.

"No, I'm with Adam," she explained. "So it will take me a little longer to get back into town."

"Sorry about this," he ruefully apologised for a second time.

Felicity swallowed her disappointment. This was bound to happen at some point. "Its okay, Dig, don't worry about it. I'll see you in a bit." She signed off in time to see Adam sauntering towards her, the book he was after clutched triumphantly in his hand. At the look on her face, his expression changed instantly to one of concern.

"Everything alright?" he asked, touching her cheek gently.

She smiled. "Yeah, I just have some bad news." At his questioning look, she explained, "That was…err…one of the guys from the IT Department. There's been a…server crash and they need my help to fix it." She hated lying to him and felt even worse when she saw the genuine understanding in his eyes.

He tried to hide his disappointment but didn't quite manage it. "Of course they need you. You're the best they have."

She felt horrible. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologise. I hate that you have to go, but I do understand." He gathered her into the circle of his arms and bumped his nose against hers. "Come on, I'll drop you off."

She leaned up and gave him a kiss filled with promise. He truly was amazing. It would mean texting Diggle and asking him to fetch her at Queen Consolidated instead of heading straight to Verdant, but she didn't know how to explain wanting to leave alone, so she didn't bother.

Oliver arrived at Verdant just as Diggle and Felicity climbed out of the Lexus. Felicity, Oliver noted, looked different. "Hey," he said by way of greeting. He nodded at Diggle who walked a little ahead of them. "You look nice," he told her softly, realizing that this was the first time he'd ever seen her in jeans. Or perhaps it was the first time he'd ever really noticed.

She looked at him curiously before focusing ahead. "Err, thanks."

Diggle turned back. "You should probably know that Roy kinda locked us out of the system. Felicity is here to fix it."

Oliver frowned at the other man. So Felicity hadn't intended to come in. That meant one thing: She'd been with Donner. His stomach tied itself in knots but he didn't say anything. He was newly resolved to make better choices and he was damned if he'd allow his envy to derail him. Felicity deserved to have some fun and who she spent her time with when she wasn't at QC or in the bowels of Verdant was none of his business.