DISCLAIMER: The characters of Wicked that you recognise here are the property of Stephen Schwartz and the producers and creators of the show. I'm just borrowing them for my leisure.

Chapter 2: The Pinnacle

By the time she'd been in the Emerald City for three weeks, Elphaba could almost pretend she'd lived there forever. The city felt like home in a way Munchkinland never had, and everyday Elphaba felt she was experiencing how other people must live- people who weren't green.

In a place where no one did a double take at her skin, or flinched away from her when she came within three feet of them, Elphaba almost felt normal. Almost. She couldn't quite forget she was green.

In the three weeks, she had been to the enormous library- the biggest in all of Oz- which seemed like heaven to her. Other than that however, she hadn't done much else in the city, she'd been far too busy with work.

It had taken her only a few days to find a job, much quicker than she expected. She was working as a maid at The Pinnacle Hotel Resort & Spa. It wasn't the fanciest hotel in the city, but it was one of the largest and it was a very respectable establishment, mostly for middle-class Ozians, according to the manager.

A maid hadn't been Elphaba's first choice for work, but she couldn't deny she had the experience, and it paid slightly more than waitressing. The hotel manager, Mr Lowen, had promised her that there was even the opportunity to get extra work in other areas of the hotel over time.

"For those who prove themselves worthy," he'd said, and Elphaba had understood his meaning without him needing to elaborate.

There was more work than Elphaba was used to running her father's house, but it had its own routine and once she fell in to it, she worked rather efficiently.

Every morning at seven am, there was a staff meeting, where the Head of Housekeeping, Mrs Cullom and Mr Lowen updated them on how many guests they had checking in and out that day; as well as any information the staff needed to know.

The Pinnacle had five floors, five suites and 160 rooms of varying sizes. Elphaba was one of ten maids, each of whom were assigned anywhere between ten and fifteen rooms a day to clean- depending on how full the hotel was at the time. Elphaba worked five days a week, starting at seven and finished at three, which meant she had most of the afternoon and her evenings free to explore the city.

For her, that meant mostly just wandering the streets and taking everything in. She spent a lot of her free time in the library, or the park if the weather was fine. She limited herself to eating out one night a week, otherwise keeping supplies in her hotel room or eating at work. Elphaba had also made a pact with herself to eat somewhere new each time.

She still thought of Nessa often, and had to resist the urge to write to her sister. She knew she couldn't, it was too risky that sending Nessa a note would allow her father to find her. Her other worry was that someone from Munchkinland would come to the hotel, but there was nothing she could do about that. She tried, where possible, to pay as much attention to the hotel guests as possible, in case she recognised a name. Elphaba had never thought she'd consider it lucky that Munchkins, as a rule, seemed to detest travelling any more than they absolutely had to.

It was a normal Wednesday morning, Elphaba had just finished her half an hour lunch break when she ran into Mrs Cullom.

"Oh, Miss Fae, you'll do," she said hastily. "Miss Sira has taken ill and has gone home. I need you to cover the remainder of her rooms."

Sira was one of the most experienced maids, and she always covered the suites on the top floor.

Elphaba wasn't sure if this was a sign that she was doing well that she was being asked to cover the suites; or whether she was just the first maid Mrs Cullom had met.

"That's fine," she responded immediately. "What suites are left?"

"Just four and five. Here are the keys. Be quick now," she said brusquely, handing them to Elphaba.

Elphaba nodded and hurried off to stock up her cart again before heading up to the fifth floor.

As the elevator rattled up the shaft, Elphaba straightened the white collar of her black uniform dress, retied her apron and made sure no stray hairs had escaped her braid and that her glasses were clean and straight upon her nose. The suites were where the more wealthy visitors stayed. This was her first test- although she hadn't recognised any of the names in the suites, that didn't mean they wouldn't recognise her if they had any knowledge of her or her father.

The suites were larger than a regular room, obviously. Three of the five had two bedrooms, and all had a living area and small kitchen in addition to the usual bathroom and bedroom. Elphaba cleaned suite 4 as quickly as she could, and then moved on to suite 5.

"Housekeeping," she called out, knocking on the door.

She waited, but there was no response. She knocked again, just to be on the safe side, and then slid the key into the lock and let herself into the room.

As she looked around, she let out a breath. Whoever was staying in this suite, had truly made themselves at home. This was only one of the one bedroom suites, but dirty glasses and plates littered almost every surface of the kitchen and living area, some with dirty food still remaining. The bathroom had a pile of wet towels on the floor; and when Elphaba peered into the empty bedroom, the bed was a mass of pillows and blankets.

"Sweet Oz," she muttered wearily, and then got to work.

Reasoning she may as well start by changing the bed, Elphaba grabbed a fresh set of linens from her cart and headed into the bedroom. She drew back the drapes to let in some light, and then pulled off the blankets from the bed in a swift motion.

Elphaba uttered a cry of alarm she was unable to suppress, as the bare mattress revealed the form of a man sleeping sprawled across the bed, lying on his stomach and wearing only a pair of underwear. The man jerked awake, either at her cry or at the removal of his blankets. As he blinked blearily at Elphaba, she dropped the sheets in her hands, and fled the room, her face flaming with embarrassment.

She slammed the bedroom door shut behind her, pressing a hand to her throat.

She wanted nothing more than to flee the room and never return, but she still had the rest of the suite to clean. Instead, she busied armed herself with cleaning supplies and headed into the bathroom. There was no sound or movement from the bedroom as she finished in there and moved on to the kitchen, but as she was washing all the dishes in the kitchen, the bedroom door opened slowly.

Elphaba didn't dare turn around, she just scrubbed harder at the plate she was washing. She heard the bathroom door shut. Then a moment later the toilet flushed, a tap turned on and off, and then the door opened. Still, Elphaba didn't turn around.

There was no more movement that she could hear, and then a second later, someone cleared their throat.

"So."

Elphaba froze.

"Well, this isn't the most awkward wakeup call I've had," the voice said cheerfully. "Actually, I don't even thinks it makes my top ten list."

Elphaba slowly turned around, her face still feeling hot.

She was very thankful the man was now dressed as he perched himself on the arm of the couch. He had dark blonde hair and blue eyes and was smiling at Elphaba as though this happened to him perhaps not every morning, but at least somewhat frequently. And that's when she recognised him- this was Fiyero Tiggular, the Vinkun prince.

Elphaba had heard Mrs Cullom say that he was here, but she hadn't really paid much attention to that fact. The Tiggulars had never had any business with Munchkinland, so he wouldn't know her father or know of her.

"There was this one time," he continued. "I woke up in this little village in the Lesser Kells, and there was this horse..."

When she said nothing, he trailed off and cleared his throat again, looking slightly contrite.

"Listen, I er- I want to apologise for the state of the room. It's not usually this much of a mess, I swear."

"It's fine," Elphaba said quickly.

"And I'm sorry about… you know."

"I knocked," Elphaba defended herself. "No one answered, I thought the room was empty."

"I was asleep."

"Clearly."

The man- Fiyero- smiled faintly, then went into the bedroom and returned with his wallet.

"A tip," he explained, pulling out a few notes and placing them on the coffee table. "I'm going to grab a shower if you're done with the bathroom?"

Elphaba nodded. "It's all yours."

As he disappeared into the bathroom, Elphaba hurried around finishing the kitchen, living area and cleaning the bedroom. She made sure to be long gone before the water in the bathroom turned off.

If she had ever imagined meeting Fiyero Tiggular, she had never expected it to be this way.

At the end of her shift, she had changed into her street clothes and was hanging her uniform and apron on the rack to be cleaned that night. Two of the other maids were standing nearby, gossiping excitedly before the chalkboard that hung on the wall.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I saw Fiyero Tiggular getting out of the elevator today," Chika gushed.

Elphaba nodded vaguely. "Oh. Right."

"We're keeping a count of every Fiyero Tiggular sighting," her friend Wren explained. "We've had nine in the two days he's been here already. If you see him, you put the time, date and location on the chalkboard on the wall, see?"

Elphaba hadn't really noticed the board before.

"Huh," she said, for lack of anything else to say.

She really didn't want to add her encounter with the prince to the list, mostly because the mere memory made her cringe with embarrassment.

"Did Mrs Cullom say how long he's here for? I don't remember."

"He's got an open ended reservation," the first girl said.

"Hey, should we do a competition?" the second asked the first. "Like, whoever gets the tenth sighting wins something?"

"Or we could do a pool? Everyone puts in ten dollars and guesses where the tenth sighting will be?"

Elphaba left them to it, supressing the urge to roll her eyes. She wondered if the fuss was because he was royalty, or because they thought he was attractive.

Which she had to admit, wasn't entirely untrue. Despite her mortification, it hadn't escaped her notice that he was a rather good looking man.

Everyone in Oz knew the story of Fiyero Tiggular. Until about two years ago, he had developed a somewhat scandalacious reputation. The stories said he'd been expelled from… numerous universities (some said three, some said five) until his father, King Ibrahim, had suffered a rather severe heart attack. Then, at least as far as the press was concerned, he had changed his behaviour and settled down. He'd mostly disappeared from the press, except for appearances at Government events.

Elphaba had read in the paper back in June about his graduation from university here in the Emerald City; but she wasn't entirely sure what he was still doing here.

It didn't matter, she supposed. She'd probably never see him again.

Or so she thought until she arrived at work the next morning and Mrs Cullom called her into Mr Lowen's office.

"Miss Sira is still ill," the manager told her. "She's expecting to be off work for some time."

Elphaba's brow creased in concern. "Really? I hope she's alright," she said.

She quite liked Sira, the other maid had taken Elphaba under her wing somewhat since her arrival, and had been helpful when Elphaba had had questions.

"She's with child," Mrs Cullom explained. "She's suffering from rather severe morning sickness."

"Oh."

"So, in the duration of her absence," Mr Lowen continued. "Mrs Cullom and I have decided you will take over the cleaning and care of the suites."

Elphaba blinked in surprise. "Me, sir? But, there's others who have been here so much longer than I have-"

"Yes," Mrs Cullom acknowledged. "However, you're efficient and a hard worker. Besides, His Highness requested you, and it just makes more sense for you to clean all the suites while you're up there."

"His Highness?" Elphaba repeated in bewilderment.

"Prince Fiyero. He said you did an excellent job yesterday and asked that you continue."

Elphaba was lost for words, which didn't happen to her very often.

"That will be all, Miss Fae," Mr Lowen said, dismissing her, and Elphaba fled in a daze.

Despite the whole circumstance of the prince requesting her, Elphaba couldn't help but wonder how the other maids would feel about her taking over Sira's duties. If the situations were reversed, she might resent that the newcomer had taken over what was seen as a prime position.

However, when Mrs Cullom made the announcement in that morning's meeting, the only reaction she got was when the girl next to her leaned over and whispered,

"You're so lucky getting to clean Fiyero Tiggular's room!"

Elphaba managed a weak smile in return. Lucky. Sure.

She was hoping against hope that suite five would be empty when she got to it. She hesitated outside the door for a moment, bracing herself, and then knocked on the door.

"Housekeeping."

Elphaba realised she was holding her breath and forced herself to exhale.

Just as she did, the door swung open and she found herself face to face with the Vinkun prince.

"Huh."

Elphaba rose one eyebrow. "I'm sorry?"

"You are green," he remarked.

Elphaba wasn't sure how to respond to that. "I was green yesterday," she finally said.

He shrugged. "I wasn't quite awake yesterday. And slightly hungover."

She stared at him as he leaned casually against the doorframe.

"Do you need your room cleaned?" she finally asked.

He blinked at her, as though the thought had just occurred to him.

"Oh. Yeah. Come on in," he said, stepping back and allowing her to enter.

The suite was a lot cleaner than it had been the day before, and Elphaba did a quick survey of what needed to be done before arming herself with supplies from her cart and getting to work.

As she was scrubbing the bathtub, the prince appeared in the doorway once more.

"How's it coming?"

Elphaba paused and glanced over her shoulder at him, confused.

"It's fine."

He nodded and she resumed her scrubbing.

"Do you want some coffee?"

Elphaba stopped, rested back on her heels and looked around at him again. "No thanks. I'm working."

"Right."

He took a step away from the door, and then turned back.

"What about after work?"

Elphaba dropped the scrubbing brush in shock, and it dropped to the tiled floor with a clatter.

"Excuse me?!"

"Coffee. After you finish work. What do you say?"

Elphaba stared up at his face, looking for some sign that he was joking. She couldn't see any sign. It was unnerving.

"I'm green," she blurted out.

"Man, your parents put no thought or originality into naming you, did they?" he joked. "Hi Green, I'm Fiyero."

Elphaba stared at him for a long moment.

"Did that sound like a good response in your head?" she asked finally.

"Not really," he admitted.

"I meant that I'm-"

"I noticed," he interrupted. "I find that interesting."

Elphaba didn't think anyone had said that before about her skin.

"I have to finish here. I'm on a schedule…"

Fiyero nodded. "OK. I'll get out of your way."

Elphaba dazedly finished cleaning the bathroom, wondering why it seemed to be that every time she stepped inside this suite weird things seemed to happen to her. The fact that this was only the second time she had been inside the suite was irrelevant.

She changed the bed linen and then did moved into the living area.

Fiyero was sitting at the bench in the small kitchen, reading the newspaper.

"I meant what I said, you know."

"About asking me for coffee?" Elphaba asked, fluffing the throw pillows on the couch.

"That. And the other thing."

Elphaba frowned at him in bewilderment as she returned to her cart. Other thing?

"I'm Fiyero," he said.

She turned from the cart, clutching a can of furniture polish and a rag. "I know."

"And you are?" he pressed.

"Fae."

"Fae," he repeated. "Ok. Well, what do you say about the coffee? Just think of it as my apology for the awkward introduction yesterday."

Elphaba hesitated. "You left a pretty generous tip, I'm sure that will suffice," she replied.

Fiyero grinned charmingly at her. "You know, I'm not hearing a 'no' here. But if you don't want to, it's fine. I'm a big boy. No pressure."

Elphaba was torn. Although she was sure this was a bad idea, she couldn't think of a good enough reason to say no. To say she wasn't tempted to accept would be a lie. It was just a cup of coffee, right?

She didn't say anything else to him until she'd finished cleaning and was about to leave the room.

"I finish at three," she finally said, turning back at the door. "I can meet you out front after I change and sign off."

Fiyero's grin widened. "Sure," he agreed. "Three it is then."

Elphaba nodded in acknowledgment and then pulled the suite door shut behind her.

AN. Thank you so much for all the feedback! I appreciate all the reviews, tweets and Tumblr posts (and yes, I may sometimes stalk the hashtag in case people are using them. I've done it for a while now. There were some hilarious conversations happening during TRTTD that I still remember).

I also enjoy putting funny/random quotes on Twitter/Tumblr from the fics. So if there's a quote you want me to put up, let me know in your review! (I know you can't copy and paste on the site anymore unless you're in mobile mode, so just give me enough info to find it!) Or feel free to put them up yourself and use the hashtag!