2.

He rolled over and sighed in pleasure.

It had been a long, long time since he had such a time under sheets with someone. A vibrating sound came from his phone on the bedside table and he reached over with his free hand to check.

Received 11.37pm
BaldrT
: I forgot to mention. Get Emmi to send you that new set of indexes.

Received 11.38pm
BaldrT
: It needs to be included in the presentation for the Tenmeadows meeting tomorrow.

Received 11.38pm
BaldrT
: By morning, Fiyero. Remember that.

A purr came from the woman kissing trails along his abdomen. "What's going on?" She pulled herself up to Fiyero's face and nibbled on his lobe.

"Baldr wants you to send me that new set of indexes." He smirked, turning his phone to sleep again.

She was stunned, and scrambled up to sit cross legged on the bed. Fiyero decided that that was undoubtedly the least sexy thing someone had ever done in bed with him, and so he furrowed his brows.

"What?"

"Oh my god."

"What?" Sweet Lurline, he hated it when girls did that.

"Oh my goddddd!" She squealed and sobbed, completely ignoring the fact that she was sitting naked and getting snot and tears all over his satin sheets. "I totally forgot to send the files to get verified by Dallas! I can't send you the indexes until I get it verified!"

Fiyero, still groggy from the amazing sex and the fatigue that came with it, grumbled, "I thought you did that yesterday?"

"I was gonna." She shot a glare at him, "But I was too distracted by your penis in my vagina." She broke down again, wailing, "Oh my godddd, your brother's going to kill me!"

"Don't worry," Fiyero said, rolling over to his chest and burying his face in his pillow. "He's more likely to fire you than to kill you, my dear."

He was well on his way to fall asleep when Emmi screamed, "YOU ARE SUCH A… A…"

"Genius in bed?"

"— CAD!"

"Oh come on!"

She sprung out of his bed, completely butt naked, and began to throw on her clothes, screaming and yelling obscenities at him throughout. Fiyero – as with all the other times he had found himself with a woman – was quickly disenchanted.

The sound of Emmi's screaming and cursing faded away when she slammed his door shut, and he knew that his apartment was now empty again. He piled another pillow on top of his head and began to think through how he was going to explain this situation to his brother in the morning.


"Ohhh. You're in deep shit now, aren't you?" Crope whispered conspiratorially as they strode hurriedly towards the sliding doors that led to 'Meeting Room A'.

"What are you babbling about?" Fiyero rolled his eyes. He pulled the door open and motioned for his party to enter first.

Crope set up his tablet and some writing materials. "Emmi tendered her resignation this morning. I've seen you making eyes at her when we walked by her table the other day, so don't you dare deny any involvement."

Fiyero motioned at his PA to set up the projector. Bryan – or Brr as they called him because of his tendency to shiver in the air-conditioned offices – quickly made his way towards the convoluted machine and began hooking up his boss's laptop to the screen.

"What are you doing here anyway? I don't remember asking for PR assistance." Fiyero grumbled as he scanned through his notes and slides.

The blond man snorted, "After your brother heard about the index situation, he asked me to come by and give you moral support, in case Tenmeadows starts bitching."

"I can handle myself. I mean, if I could get that EmeraldC Trade Partners funding on my own, I can definitely handle Tenmeadows corp."

"Oh, we have faith in your glib, but Tenmeadows can be quite a piece of work. Haven't you seen that video Mikkos was showing us last week? Avaric Tenmeadows is like you. But blond and Gillikinese."

"Real subtle backhand there, Crope." Fiyero narrowed his eyes at him.

They would continue their conversation, if not for the door opening and their guests stepping into the room. Fiyero plastered on his most charming smile as he shook hands with the representatives from Tenmeadows corp.

Brr guided the party of three to one end of the table and served some tea – the good stuff, not the bagged crap they left out in the pantry.

The introductions were made quickly, and the men settled into business.

Avaric Tenmeadows was the son of the previous Chairman Tenmeadows. They liked to brag that they came from a line of Margreaves, with a mansion somewhere to the south of the Gillikin.

Their business portfolio included managing the Diamond Ocelots – a Wizard's ball team – and owning Meadows Square Garden, right here in the Emerald City. In all, they were the second largest competitor to Arjiki Tradings. The first was of course their neighbours over at the other side of the street.

But in any case, business was business, and it wouldn't make sense if the dollar-smart Tenmeadows family didn't throw in some investment money into Arjiki Tradings, and vice versa.

Money talks.

The meeting began with the Tenmeadows representatives speaking on behalf of Avaric, who was shaking his leg distractedly as if he was bored out of his mind. Unlike Fiyero, Avaric was the only son to his father's empire, and because of that he was coddled and protected in every aspect of his life for as long as he had known.

"—available prior to the issuance of financial statements indicate that it is probable that an asset had been impaired or a liability had been incurred—"

"—well then, In that case, paragraph 450-20-25-2 requires accrual of the $2 million if that is considered a reasonable estimate of the loss." Fiyero raised a brow at the straight faced Filaanian finance advisor Avaric brought with him.

They had gone over the entire meeting agenda, but the Tenmeadows group seemed to be intent on finding some loophole somewhere in Fiyero's report to siphon more shares from Arjiki Tradings. 2 hours had come and gone, and finally they called for a recess.

"We'll have a half hour recess, and then we'll come back here by quarter to one?" Crope smiled brilliantly at their guests.

Everyone agreed, and Fiyero sent Brr to guide the Tenmeadows representatives to the pantry where they won't disturb anyone else.

Finally, when he was alone with Crope, he exhaled deeply. "Geez, what an ass."

"That Filaanian advisor? Yeah. God his accent was so thick, I could hardly make out what he was saying half the time. And when he started spewing out numbers?"

Fiyero rolled his eyes and took a swig of his lukewarm tea, "Did you see what they were trying to do? They brought out the data from a year ago. I wasn't even here a year ago! These bastards were trying to swindle us for more shares."

Crope nodded his head rigorously, removing his blazer and laying it neatly on his chair. "Remember when I said that Avaric T. was like you but Gillikinese? Yeah, I take that back. That boy doesn't know what in high hell was happening in that discussion. I could see it in his face."

"Unnamed god, I can't wait for lunch." Fiyero groaned as he stood from his seat and stretched unkemptly. "They just opened up a new restaurant just a couple of blocks from here. Munchkinlander cuisine. You and Tibbs up for a little beef and noodles?"

"Only if you drive. It's the one that's three blocks south from here, just off Main Street? The one that looks like Munchkinland came and puked glitter and magic all over?"

Fiyero chuckled, "Not how I would've described it, but yes. The one that looks like every day is Harvest day at Munchkinland."

"I just texted him. He's at the PR team bonding thing at the break room so we'll probably only get a response around lunch time. He should be up for it though."

"I'll reserve a table for us then."

"Right, make it quick, cuz looks like Tenmeadows and gang are back."

"Alright then," Fiyero chugged the rest of his tea and dapped a napkin to his lips. "Time for round 2."


"Well isn't this fancy?" Tibbett raised a brow as the muchkin waiter placed a glass of wine in front of each of the three men.

Crope smirked when the waiter handed them some menus, bowed and walked away. "He's got a cute tush."

They had arrived at the restaurant after circling around the block for over 10 minutes. Apparently it wasn't just off Main Street – it was hidden away in one of the smaller avenues with a scenic view of the park nearby. As promised, Fiyero drove them out in the new car that his brother had gotten for him after he checked out of rehab.

He snorted at Crope's remark, choosing to ignore his friend's comment. He glanced though the menus and realized very quickly that munchkinland cuisine consisted mainly of heavy meats, cream, or stews. They had some vegan alternatives, but it seems like the people from the east really enjoyed their red meats.

"I wouldn't mind coming back here again next week," Crope smiled mysteriously as he took a sip from his glass. "The waiters are cute as hell."

"Even if their food ends up tasting like shit?" Fiyero made a curious face at his friend.

"Then I'll just get a salad. Keeping healthy and all.

The restaurant had turned out to have an open floor plan, which made the room seem larger than it really is. The fancier tables were placed on an elevated platform and had significantly nicer deco. The one downside to Fiyero, however, was that there didn't seem to be a table where people could have some privacy. No booths meant that he was 75% less likely to bring a date here.

He didn't need any more snoops hanging around to tell everyone who he had been sleeping with.

"You've decided?" Tibbett asked as he closed his menu. Crope did the same.

Fiyero nodded, and he waved at the waiter to come take their orders.

Their food came very quickly, and to his relief, it wasn't half bad. The beef stir-fry was dryer than he'd liked, but it each bite was flavourful and thick. After they were done with their lunch, they realized that they had some time to kill and simply sat around and sipped wine, chattering about the new coffee machine HR had installed in the pantry that they were trying out.

"It tastes like butt crack in my opinion." Fiyero commented helpfully.

"And you'd know what butt crack tastes like," Crope wriggled his brows at a gagging Fiyero. Tibbett simply laughed.

"It's the coffee blend that tastes like ass. The machine's not that bad. Less froth and much faster than the old one." Tibbett swirled his wine like the connoisseur he was.

"I'm just saying, we've got plenty of budget for HR this quarter, I don't understand why I'm still getting ass coffee in the morning." Fiyero shrugged.

"What a snob!" Crope cackled.

He was about to reply with something witty when his eyes caught on a particular petit blond who'd just walked in to the restaurant with a dark haired munchkin next to her.

"It's that girl – the one I talked about! From Thropp Co." Fiyero stage whispered to Tibbett. Crope, feeling annoyed at being left out leaned in as well.

"Who? What girl?"

Fiyero nodded towards the blond as the waitress showed them to their table, just a bit away from theirs.

Crope observed and raised a brow. "She's very pretty. What's she doing with the munchkin?"

"Owhh. Boyfriend?" Tibbett winced dramatically. Crope snorted and they clinked their glasses together, ignoring Fiyero's glare.

"Wait – wait." Fiyero squinted, "There's three glasses of wine. It's not a date."

"You're like this sexy, obsessive, vinkun playboy prince. I like it." Crope smirked seductively.

Tibbett burst into laughter.

"Shut up! She's looking over!"

Sure enough, the blond was tilting her head slightly and smiling at Fiyero. There was a little twinkle in her cerulean blue eyes and he was enchanted. "I'm going over." He said hastily as he stood and patted himself down to look presentable.

"Go get'em tiger!" Crope raised a glass to him and replaced Fiyero in his seat, shifting comfortably next to Tibbett, who – in turn – looked a little concerned for his friend.

"Hi." She smiled sweetly as she watched him approach. There were dimples on both sides of her cheeks, and a dainty blush on her face. Up-close, she was even more beautiful than he could've imagined.

Fiyero smiled back, "I saw you from across the building the other day." He reached out with a hand, very blatantly ignoring the unimpressed munchkin next to her. "I'm Fiyero."

"Glinda Upland." She introduced, and took his hand. Instead of shaking it, he leant down and planted a soft kiss on her knuckle. There was that flush on her cheeks again.

Glinda gestured towards her friend and was about to introduce him when he all but snatched her hand away and pulled Fiyero in a vice-like grip, "I'm Boq." He smiled insincerely.

Fiyero chuckled awkwardly and pulled his hand away, exercising his fingers from the force of the hand shake. He then returned his attentions to Glinda. "I've been hoping to see you again since that day. Is there any chance you would like to have dinner with me sometime?"

"I—"

"—oh look! It's a text from Elphie!"

Fiyero narrowed his eyes at Boq'x exclamation, but Glinda was now much too distracted to reply him right away.

"What did she say?" She asked, concern laced her words.

Boq showed her the text, turning his back to Fiyero and effectively shutting him out of the conversation. "She's raving about some idiot who parked his Audi like an asshole and she had to park like an inch away from the drywall."

"Oh the stupid green thing." Glinda sighed, but she spoke fondly. "We should've stayed in the car with her. It's no wonder she's had to get her paint job done every three months."

"Maybe we ought to get her a cooper."

"Only if you want her to make good on her threats to toss you off the building."

"I did say 'we'. She'd listen to you – she only listens to you – Oh! Oh! Hang on. New text. She says she's – and I quote – have had enough of this ridiculous parking and the stupid black Audi. I'm done. I'm done. Curse words, curse words, cuss, cuss, cuss. I hate the Emerald City." Boq scratched a spot on his arm, "I took some liberties with the cursing."

"She didn't mean that," Glinda laughed. Then suddenly, as if she'd just recalled that Fiyero was here, she gasped, "Oh – I'm sorry! This was rude of us." She took one of the napkins and poked Boq for a pen, which Fiyero assumed that she knew he'd always be carrying.

"There." She smiled charmingly and handed him the napkin with her number scribbled on it. "Just send me a text."

"I will." He beamed. Clearly, however, he'd overstayed his welcome, so he quickly removed himself from the situation.

Back at his table, Crope and Tibbett were grinning from ear to ear. "You got the deets?"

"Glinda Upland. I'm gonna ask her out for lunch tomorrow." He smirked and quickly saved Glinda's number into his phone before folding the napkin gingerly and keeping it in his breast pocket.

"So, they're still waiting for their friend?" Tibbett asked, nodding over to the third glass of wine that was still untouched.

Glinda and Boq were huddled over the phone and probably still getting 'Elphie' to stop her ranting and get to the restaurant.

"Yup. Apparently she's parked next to some ass and had to squeeze in next to the wall."

"That's a shitty, shitty spot." Crope nodded sympathetically and finished off his wine. "Alright, I'm done. You probably shouldn't finish yours, Yero. We're being terrible friends for even letting you near this stuff."

"A little wine now and again won't do any harm," Fiyero rolled his eyes, but did not attempt to down the rest of his drink. He waved for the bill, paid for lunch, winked at Glinda and left the restaurant with his friends in tow.

They bantered and laughed all the way to the carpark where Fiyero had left his car – a black Audi R8 coupe. Something seemed to click in his head as he approached the car when a woman – skin, green as sin or as the moss on the tree – stalked away in the opposite direction, towards the restaurant.

Crope and Tibbett had stopped their chattering and were staring incredulously at the woman as well. She pulled her blazer closer to her chest and simply continued on, not giving a single rat's ass about the three of them, as if she had better things to do.

Did she know that she was green? That was Fiyero's first thought.

Their walking came to a stop and they simply stared after the woman as she disappeared into the restaurant.

"Did you—"

"—yes I did, Crope. I did."

Fiyero knotted his brows together in confusion, "Who was that?"

Tibbett stared at him incredulously and Crope burst into nervous laughter.

"Yero, sweetheart. You don't know who that was?" Tibbett was wide eyed and genuinely surprised.

On Fiyero's utterly bewildered look, he fished out his phone and got on google. He typed in something or another and tapped on an Ozpedia page, shoving the screen to Fiyero's face.

He saw the name, and then refreshed it in his mind again and again. And then he tried it on his lips, saying out loud. "Elphaba Thropp?" His voice came out as a barely audible squeak. "That was Elphaba Thropp?"

"Queen of the Thropp & Company Corporation. Stepped up into her Great-Grandfather's shoes when she was just fresh out of Shiz U and helped turn the company into one of the biggest business entities in the Emerald City." Crope narrated as if he'd been reading it off an excerpt of her life somewhere.

Tibbett added helpfully, "And of course, green. Like grass. Or an artichoke. Or an asparagus. Or—"

"—yes, we get it, baby." Crope shushed him.

"Anyway, I can't believe you didn't even know what your biggest competitor looked like," Tibbett sighed as he looked over Fiyero patronizingly. "Competitive research. Stuff like that? I mean, it's got nothing to do with finance but have some pride as a Tiggular!"

Fiyero glared weakly at his friend but chose not to bite on the bait. He unlocked the car and motioned at them to get in. As he was about to slip into the driver's side, he noticed a note clipped onto his wipers.

"What's that?" Crope asked innocently as he snapped in his seatbelt at the passenger's side.

Fiyero felt a mess of confusion as he read the note, which mostly consisted of angry ranting, cursing him and his family and all of his forebears, and of course a recommendation to a driver's ed school somewhere in Northern Emerald City.

"…Nothing. Just. Forget it."

He glanced at the vehicle next to his.

The silver BMW X6 sat a little too close for comfort to Fiyero's car, but upon closer inspection, the driver had parked her – yeah well he knew it was hers – car all but an inch away from the wall, giving Fiyero more space than he deserved – to be perfectly fair, he did kind of park like an ass.

He exhaled calmly and slipped into his car, forcing away the thought of ever possibly seeing Elphaba Thropp again.


A/N A wild Elphaba appears! Fiyero seems to be a little smitten by our dear Glinda Upland however...

RavenCurls - Fiyero's got a few tricks up his sleeves! He's smarter than he pretends to be, and it shows in the numbers ;)