Chapter 2
3
Years Later
"Boq?"
asked Milla as they were lying in bed, cooling down.
"Yes?"
He asked, running his hands through her hair absentmindedly.
"Nessarose is the Eminent Thropp now." Boq froze. "Her
grandfather died. D'you suppose Miss Elphaba will come back to
Munchkinland to reclaim her title?"
After the mind-boggling
week of trying to put their lives back together after Elphaba's
departure, he had severed all ties with Nessarose and become
exceedingly distant from Glinda, the memories of Elphaba too painful
to bear.
"No." He replied wistfully. "Elphie's
gone."
Boq finally realized why it had hurt him so badly
that she had left. Somewhere along the line, he had fallen in love
with Elphaba Thropp. He really had
changed after Doctor Dillamond's death. To fall out
of love with popular, bubbly blonde Galinda and fall in
love with witty, sarcastic green Elphaba was a shock to him.
But
after waiting two years for some sign of her, he gave up hope. He
finally started paying attention to Milla's advances and married her
three months after graduating from Shiz.
Now, however, hearing
that Nessa had ascended the throne confirmed it in his heart of
hearts that Elphaba was dead. Tears trickled down his cheeks and he
turned away from Milla, ignoring everything but the pain consuming
his heart.
Why, oh why hadn't he figured it out before Elphie
left? Maybe then he could have told her the truth.
"Boq?"
whispered Milla again. He pretended to be asleep. "I just wanted
to tell you that we're going to have a baby shortly." Boq
stiffened. How could he have gotten into such a mess?
'I
don't love you, Milla. Someone else is on my mind every hour of the
day and I'm sorry.' he thought, then
closed his eyes and dreamt of raven-black hair, emerald green skin,
and dry, sarcastic laughter, which sounded better than any other
laugh he had ever heard.
"I love you, Fabala." He
whispered. Little did he know, his pregnant, impressionable wife was
still awake and heard what he had said to a not-there Elphaba.
