I May Be Blonde, But I'm Not That Blonde

|5| Chapter 5

Languages

Felicity turned her head sharply as she heard Oliver swear in Russian.

"What did you say?" she asked dangerously.

Oliver looked at her in surprise. "You understood that?"

"I speak Russian, Chinese, German, Arabic and sign language. And I know that what you just said was definitely not a good thing," Felicity glared at him.

"Sorry," said Oliver. "I'm just a bit stressed at the moment."

"Just don't do it again," she warned. "Or you will find yourself sleeping on the sofa, with a broken leg."

Oliver nodded, slightly intimidated by the woman in front of him. "How do you know all those languages anyway?"

"I learnt sign language in middle school," said Felicity. "There was this girl who had her vocal chords cut when she was a child who couldn't communicate with anyone without a pad of paper. I learnt it so that she wouldn't feel left out."

"And the others?" said Oliver.

"I learnt German in middle school as well," she said. "At least one language was mandatory and I didn't like French, so.... I learnt Chinese in high school, because by then I was fluent in German and I wanted to learn something new. I learnt Russian in collage for an exchange program that I took part in and I learnt Arabic when I came home from a holiday in Egypt. I stayed with a very religious family and they taught me about their culture and religion. I still keep in contact with them."

"Why didn't I know any of this?" asked Oliver. "I've known you for three years."

"I don't speak it a lot of the time, so..."

Oliver sat down next to her. "What is there that I can do?" He asked, changing the subject. " I need a distraction."

"There is currently nothing for you to do," said Felicity, scanning her computers. "It's a very quiet night."

Suddenly, Sara came in the door, swearing in Arabic, quite colourfully as well.

Felicity looked over at her, her eyes flashing.

"Wow Sara," she said, calmly. "You have quite a colourful vocabulary."

Sara looked at her in surprise. "You understood that?"

"Who were you insulting?" Felicity asked, looking steadily at her friend.

"Malcolm Merlyn," Sara growled. "I had some more bloodlust just now. I'm afraid I just destroyed a punching bag."

"Oh," said Felicity, smiling lightly now. "Ok then. I've called him worse."

"Called who worse than what?" asked Diggle coming through the door with Thea and Roy.

"Malcolm Merlyn," said Oliver. "Sara was insulting him in Arabic and Felicity was saying how she's called him worse."

"You speak Arabic?" asked Roy, surprised. "I didn't know that."

"Arabic, Russian, Chinese, German and sign language," said Felicity. "I don't speak them much anymore. Most people I know speak English."

Laurel came in then, muttering under her breath in German.

"Laurel!" Felicity called. "Unless you want your Dad to disown you, I recommend telling him."

"You speak German?" asked Laurel, in surprise. "Since when?"

"Middle School," Felicity said nonchalantly. "I also know Russian, Arabic, Chinese and sign language." She looked down at her phone as it beeped again. "And now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do. Being CEO of a multi-billion dollar company means you get called in at all hours." She sighed. "Especially whenever someone has blown up a lab."