@sunshine0977: 12 days prompt: Younger sibling attempts to set older sibling up with cute elf/Santa/Mrs. Clause at mall North pole village. | Prompt: “I seem to have gotten myself in a pickle”
Day 3: It All Started With a Candy Cane
“So, what did the lady at the front of the line say?” Oliver asked as his sister returned from her quick chat with the attendant.
“An hour,” Thea retorted before rolling her eyes. “I told you to get here early, but noooo… Pikachu knows everything!” she imitated the famous line from comedian Gabriel Iglesias. “Then again, who knew it would be an hour wait just to see Santa.”
Oliver glared at her before glancing down at his son. The five year old had been excited about meeting Santa all week long, and when he’d promised William they’d go to the mall’s North Pole Village, the youngest Queen had hopped around with joy for almost an hour the night before.
He ruffled a hand through William’s hair before kneeling down so they were eye to eye. “Hey, buddy,” Oliver said. “It’s going to be another hour before we get to meet Santa. Do you want Aunt Thea to take you to the bathroom or grab you some lunch?”
“I’m not hungry and I don’t wanna go to the bathroom,” William defiantly answered. “I wanna meet Santa!” he yelled. Oliver knew a tantrum was coming and shot a pleading glance over at Thea.
“Hey, William,” she said, quickly understanding what her brother’s look meant. “How about we go get some cookies and ice cream? My treat!”
That stopped the boy in his tracks. He glanced from his aunt to the fat man in the red suit several hundred yards away before glancing back at Thea. “Okay!” he cheerily replied, grabbing his aunt’s hand from beneath the velvet ropes that separated the line from passers-by.
While Oliver hated the way Thea spoiled his son, this was the only way to get him to calm down sometimes, and he was grateful for her distraction. “Thank you!” he mouthed as they departed from the line and began walking toward the food court at the opposite end of the wide open atrium from North Pole Village. He sighed and sagged against the wall behind him.
At least now Oliver had a few minutes to take a breather and scroll through the messages in his phone. There were several from Tommy asking him if he wanted to go out that night “for old time’s sake.” Oliver just chuckled and shook his head before shooting his best friend a prompt “No” in response. That evening was reserved for him and William to put up the tree.
More pressing were the emails from his office at Queen Consolidated. Although it was a Saturday, it didn’t mean business stopped for the CEO. Apparently there was some server issue making it impossible for the teams in Russia to communicate with those in Starling City. Oliver sighed. While he knew a little about the IT side of his business, this was an issue beyond him.
Oliver’s head whipped up. He found himself staring at the top of a red and green elf hat belonging to a woman a good foot shorter than himself. She had blonde hair, pretty blue eyes, and the sweetest smile he’d seen beside William’s. “Um… What?” he asked, taken slightly aback.
“Would you like a candy cane?” she asked again, her smile pinning him to the wall he continued to lean against. God, she was beautiful; probably the most beautiful girl he’d ever laid eyes on. Not even William’s mother could match her beauty.
“Uh, sure…?” Oliver finally said. She handed him a red and white striped candy cane before putting the rest into the pocket of her elf costume. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome!” she cheerily replied.
“I’ll, uh… I’ll give this to my son when he gets back,” he said, placing the candy cane in the pocket of his jacket.
“Oh! How old is your son?” she asked.
“He’s five. My sister took him to get some cookies and ice cream while I wait here. I heard I’ve got an hour to kill,” Oliver explained.
“At least you’re the last person in line,” she replied. “We had to turn everyone else away because Santa’s getting sick and tired of all the little kids, not that I told you that.”
“I would be too if I were in his position.”
“I don’t know how he does it,” the woman said. “His gig is about six hours long, seven days a week up until the night before Christmas. Kinda makes me glad I’m Jewish.”
Oliver cocked his head to the side. “You’re Jewish?” he asked. She nodded. “Then why are you one of Santa’s elves?”
“Supplementing my income for the holidays. I work IT at one of the high rises downtown and I don’t get paid enough to deal with server issues on a Saturday, so here I am. It’s not a bad gig, though. I get paid well for standing still, looking pretty, and handing out candy to screaming children. Although now that I think about it, the screaming children part kinda seems a bit harsh.”
“I’m Felicity, by the way,” she said.
“Oliver,” he replied, holding out his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, Oliver.” She reached out and took hold of his hand. Her palm was tiny in his, but it seemed to fit just right. Oliver held on for several moments longer than he should have, staring into her eyes and giving her a warm smile in return.
The sound of William’s voice made Oliver quickly drop Felicity’s hand as he pushed himself against the wall as far as possible. When he glanced over her head, he saw his son running toward him at full speed for a five year old, towing Thea behind him as he held an ice cream cone in his hand.
“I swear, Ollie, I only bought him ice cream,” Thea said in a huff as they finally stopped at the end of the line where he stood.
“That’s your own fault,” Oliver retorted. He crossed his arms over his chest as he gave his sister a cheeky grin.
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. That’s when she noticed the woman standing beside her. She eyed Felicity for several moments before saying, “And who is this, Ollie?”
“Santa’s elf!” William provided.
“Felicity,” Oliver corrected. That earned him a look from Thea and he stuttered, “Santa’s elf, her name is Felicity.”
“Hi Felicity!” William exclaimed before taking another big lick of his chocolate ice cream. “Do you know Santa?”
“Of course I know Santa! I’m one of his elves!” she played along.
William had a slew of other questions he started asking Felicity, but Thea grabbed the sleeve of Oliver’s sweater and pulled him aside before he got a chance to hear any of them. “So, dear brother, have you made a new friend?”
“Thea!” While it was meant to be a warning, his sister chose to ignore it.
“She’s very pretty,” Thea observed as she glanced over her shoulder to find Felicity kneeling down beside William as they spoke. “And good with kids.”
“Thea!” Oliver hissed. He knew where his sister was going with this.
“She also seems to be pretty interested in you considering she’s been here for the past five minutes talking to you,” Thea continued.
“I’ve been watching you like a hawk, Ollie.”
“So, you should ask her out,” Thea prompted.
“No?” she shot back. “Fine then, I’ll ask her out for you.” She stepped away from her brother and turned toward the woman still kneeling beside his son.
“Thea… Thea!” Oliver called to her, but she wasn’t listening.
“Hi, Felicity, right?” she asked the blonde.
“That’s you!” William supplied.
“Yep, that’s me,” Felicity giggled, clearly enamored with William’s enthusiasm.
“My brother wants to ask you something,” Thea replied. She grabbed Oliver’s sweater again and forcibly pulled him forward, much like she used to do in their childhood.
His face felt like it was burning. He couldn’t believe his sister. Being put on the spot like that made him all the more nervous as he said, “Well, I seem to have gotten myself in a pickle.”
“How so?” Felicity asked.
“Well, my sister seems to think it’s appropriate to ask out one of Santa’s elves.”
“I think it’s a bit brash, honestly.”
“Mmmhmm,” Felicity hummed as she nodded. “Well, I guess then you’ll never know the answer if you don’t ask.”
Oliver immediately perked up. His eyes found Felicity’s and he could see the hope held within them. Was he imagining it? No, her soft smile told him everything he needed to know. That gave Oliver the courage to ask, “Would you like to go out with me?”
“Yeah,” Felicity replied. “I would.”
It couldn’t have worked out any better. William got to meet Santa, and Oliver got to spend time with an elf. An elf, he soon realized, he was falling head over heels in love with. Felicity was smart and funny and kind, exactly the kind of woman he was looking for.
Four years and three Christmases later, when Oliver finally asked Felicity to marry him, he told her it all started with a candy cane. “It was red,” he said, making her blush as they stood beside the large tree in their shared loft. Then he popped the question and she said yes.
Oliver couldn’t have been happier.
2087
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