Never had Felicity dreaded going to work so much as she had the Monday morning after they returned from Gotham. Over the whole weekend she had tried not to think about Ray, but every action brought him to the forefront of her mind. She had readjusted her résumé to send to Wayne Enterprises and written her letter of resignation for Queen Consolidated. She looked at a few townhouses and apartments, and even surprised herself by looking at a few homes in some of the better districts of Gotham. She'd looked into how much it would cost to move her furniture versus if she just bought new pieces when she arrived. She thought about how she was going to tell Oliver, and John, and Roy. She hadn't made any rash decisions, but Felicity hated to be unprepared.

The sudden blast of Aly and A.J's "I'm Walking on Sunshine" drew her from her early morning musings and she turned off the alarm on her phone. Felicity dragged her body out of her warm and cozy bed and made her way to the shower. She turned the water on and didn't wait for it to get warm, thinking that she needed a quick dowse of cold water to get her body moving. She scrubbed her body quickly with her favorite mango coconut body wash to get her senses feeling good then rinsed off and hopped out of the shower. Thankfully she had washed and blow dried her hair last night so she wouldn't need to tangle with her Medusa curls this morning. She dried her body and applied her favorite mixture of moisturizing lotion and coconut oil to keep her skin smooth and feeling good then brushed her teeth. She walked to her closet and grabbed the gray button up with white lining and navy blue circle skirt she had set aside for the day, matching it with a killer pair of gray heels with white soles that had her channeling her inner Louboutin. She threw on her underwear, silently scolding herself when she took out one of her sexiest pair of black panties and matching black bra. 'Not like anyone will be seeing these.' She thought, but she wanted to feel good about herself since this day had the potential to go very bad very quickly. Felicity went back into the bathroom so she could finish her make-up routine. She ran a paddle brush through her hair and slicked it back in her usual ponytail then thought against it and ripped her hair tie out, immediately regretting her roughness when she felt a few hairs give way. She styled her hair so the ends curled whimsically around her breasts. She put a little mascara on her eyelashes to give her eyes a good pop but not so much that she looked like she was trying too hard. She pulled out her favorite red lip stick and painted her lips with the skill of Picasso. Looking in the mirror, Felicity felt good about the sexy woman looking back at her. If today was going to be her real last day working at Queen Consolidated, then she was going to go out with a bang and a trail of eyes watching her back.

She grabbed her navy blue Michael Kors purse, which Oliver had bought her for her birthday to make up for her promotion, more like demotion, as his executive assistant, and headed out the door. She double checked the locked door then settled into her mini Coop and hit the play button on her Spotify playlist. She pulled out of her driveway rocking out to Luke Bryant and refused to let the impending doom of momentary unemployment distract her from at least enjoying some part of her morning commute.

Once she got to the parking garage, it was a whole other story. Felicity rearranged her skirt for what felt like the twentieth time that morning as she walked to the parking garage's elevator. She was fidgety and nervous since this would be the first time she and Ray would be in the same room together since their trip to Gotham. She wondered if Ray had spent his weekend going over her file and thinking about the nicest way to say she could high tail it right out to Gotham. She wondered if Ray had even spent the weekend thinking about her or if she hadn't even crossed his mind once. Felicity shook off impending thoughts of him as the elevator doors opened at the lobby of Queen Consolidated, which might benefit from a new name, considering a Queen no longer ran the company. Felicity smiled at Anthony the security guard on shift and asked about his weekend and his family. He answered her questions briefly but with a kind smile that showed he was happy she asked. Felicity wished him a good day as she scanned her badge and continued on to the executive elevator.

If anyone asked, Felicity's hands were neither shaking nor sweating from nervous energy. But if anyone cared to look at her hands, which seemed to be struggling to hold onto her purse, they could easily tell that she'd be lying. What was working with Ray going to be like? Would it be awkward? Would she want to bolt for the door immediately? Or would he brush it off as if nothing had happened between them and return them back to their previously professional relationship before that fateful business meeting when his fingers had skimmed a little too high up her skirt and towards more delicate areas than her knee? If Felicity was honest with herself, she would admit that she wanted Ray to tell her that he wanted to be with her, wanted to get to know her beyond a few sexual trysts, and that he would make their relationship work. Good Lord had she really used the word "tryst"? Felicity shook her head when the elevator lift arrived at her floor and stepped out. There weren't boxes sitting on her desk, so at least she still had her job at the moment. A Styrofoam cup of coffee sat waiting on her desk with a cute blue ribbon tied around it and a post-it note. She grabbed the note and blew into the coffee cup to cool the freshly brewed liquid down.

Stay.

-Ray

Felicity had to hold back a few little tears that threatened to fall. She didn't exactly know what to think. Was he asking her to stay with him because he valued her in a professional capacity and didn't want to lose her to Wayne Enterprises, or did he want her to stay because she meant something more to him? The sound of a throat clearing made her turn around and look at the tall man standing behind her. Her eyes were instantly drawn to the bouquet of colorful roses in his hand. Her brow lifted; whoever his florist was seemed to have a hand for the eccentric. Even though she wasn't a master flower arranger, Felicity knew there usually had to be some method to the madness, but this bouquet seemed to be a thrown together bundle of every rose cultivated at the shop. She raised her eyebrow. Ray was not a thrown together type of man; everything he did or said had a purpose to it, which means that there was a reason for each color of rose that was represented. Ray walked up to her and handed her the vibrant bouquet, then tipped her chin up and kissed her gently.

"Do the research." He whispered into her ear, and then walked back into his office. Puzzled, Felicity set the bouquet down and hunkered in for some deep research. She took a sip from her coffee, almost burning her tongue in the process, and began to research the correlation between rose colors and their meanings. She found a pin on Pinterest with a complete guide to rose colors that would help her out. Felicity looked at the bouquet and saw a few yellow roses.

'Okay, yellow roses. Friendship, well great, he wants to be friends.' She thought a little down trodden, because she had admitted to herself that 'just friends' wasn't something she wanted to be with him, but she kept reading. 'Yellow roses also symbolize "Welcome back and new beginnings." Okay, that helps me out a little more.' Felicity looked at the next color rose in her bouquet. Orange.

'Orange roses signify desire and fascination.' Felicity was starting to get a little more excited but she tamped those feelings down; she didn't want to get her hopes up only for them to be trampled on, so she moved on to the next color. Peach.

'A peach rose meant appreciation, "Get together and sincerity."' Each rose's meaning made her smile more and more, but she was nervous as to what it all meant. Through the roses he had said that he wanted friendship and a new beginning. He'd said that he desired her and was fascinated with her. And now he had said he sincerely appreciated her and wanted them to be together. But Felicity noticed one rose color, the one everyone knew, was missing. There was no red rose in the bouquet. Felicity sighed. Maybe she was grasping for too much by expecting an "I love you." Maybe she should be content that he was willing to show her this much of his feelings. After all, they didn't know that much about each other and she wasn't fully in love with him either. 'But you were starting to be.' A sorrowful and traitorous part of her mind whispered. Felicity shook away the thought. Did she really need to be in love with him to be happy with him? Ray had displayed that he was kind and considerate when he asked her about her religious practices and when he had given her his card for her gala purchases and replaced the dress he'd destroyed. He was intelligent and understood and challenged her intellectually. He was exceptional in bed, and really she should be thankful for that shouldn't she, seeing as so many women were with multiple partners who couldn't give them orgasms and left them unsatisfied in bed. Perhaps she couldn't have it all; perhaps she would have to choose between love and the bountiful traits he had already displayed to her. Perhaps love would come later.

Felicity found herself wondering if love was really all that important. Perhaps the reason she and so many others were so addicted to romance novels and Disney movies was because true love like that didn't exist and others had made a fortune selling the fairytales which consumers could never have. Her parents had been in love once, but love hadn't stopped her father from walking out on them. Oliver had said he loved her, but love hadn't made them a couple and love hadn't gotten them to the place they were now in their relationship; friendship and need and support had. Felicity nodded her head, deciding that all the things Ray did offer outweighed the thing he didn't feel. Felicity looked at the last few roses at the center of the bouquet, which seemed to fit in even though they stood out the most. Lavender. Felicity read the meaning and tears swarmed in her eye. The decision she had just made flew out the window; many of her previous thoughts about whatever their relationship had been from the beginning flew out the window. Ray cleared his throat and Felicity looked up quickly, a silent tear slipped down her cheek. He stood, leaning on the door frame, with a single long-stemmed red rose. Felicity stood and walked around her desk. She could tell he was nervous by the way he swallowed and his jaw clenched slightly. He pushed off the frame and walked closer to her. He handed her the delicate rose which she took with a shaking hand.

"It would be kind of hard to make you fall in love with me, if you were all the way in Gotham City." He said with a slight chuckle at the end. Felicity smiled brightly and tossed her arms around his neck. "Stay here. Stay in Starling. Stay with me." He whispered so softly she almost didn't hear it. She nodded and he loosened his grip on her back and waist enough for her to put a little distance between them. Felicity lifted onto the tips of her toes and Ray met her actions the rest of the way. Their lips met in a light kiss—gentle and sweet. The maelstrom of lust filling their bodies kept at bay by the innocent emotion in his confession.