Author's Note: Wow! What a great response to chapter nine! All my reviewers are simply the best, thank you! You don't know how much it means to me when you review! This chapter actually got finished a lot faster than I expected, but then again…school hasn't started…yet. Enjoy chapter ten!
Dinner Guest
That night there was a flurry of activity. Glinda had eagerly invited Calix to dinner, he had just as eagerly accepted. Glinda had a delicious meal prepared and a bottle of fine wine fetched and ready for the dinner. The maids (who assured Glinda that it would be okay if their day off was some other day) were busily cleaning and preparing the dining room. However, the current endeavor was getting dressed.
In her room, Glinda, along with a disgruntled Elphaba, was going through her wardrobe, frantically looking for something to wear.
"Just pick something! All you have to do is have cloth on your body for dinner, for all I care you could wear a burlap sack!" exclaimed Elphaba impatiently, watching as Glinda flung a red dress onto her bed in the monstrous pile of "rejected" outfits.
"It's not that simple, Elphie, I want to look nice!" Glinda retorted, examining a teal cocktail dress.
"Oh, you want to look nice for loverboy, I see, well this is a dilemma then," Elphaba said, in a mock serious voice.
"Don't call him that! He's a good friend," Glinda told her staring hard at one dress, pointedly avoiding Elphaba's gaze.
Elphaba shrugged, "Fine then." Glinda was glad that the subject had finally been dropped, but could have sworn that out of the corner of her eye, she had caught Elphaba grinning knowingly.
"You need to get dressed, too. You've been so busy berating me for not picking out an outfit, you haven't even properly dressed!" Glinda laughed.
"You're actually going to make me wear that purple…thing?" Elphaba asked warily, eyeing the dress that had been totally forgotten when Paiva had burst in unannounced earlier that day.
"Yes."
Elphaba winced, but got up and took the dress from off the back of the overstuffed chair. She then made her way to the bathroom, and before closing the door, gave Glinda a pained look.
"Go on then," Glinda told her, highly amused by Elphaba's peeved expression.
Elphaba shut herself in the bathroom and reappeared in the doorway a few minutes later.
The lilac color contrasted well with Elphaba's raven hair and green skin, making her skin glow and look an unearthly pearly color. The dress hugged Elphaba's body and fell just below her knee; she looked simply lovely in Glinda's opinion.
"That looks perfect on you!" squealed Glinda, clasping her hands in delight.
Elphaba looked a bit awkward, and shook her head, but smiled slightly, "You think so? I guess purple isn't all that bad," she said cautiously.
Glinda just grinned.
"Have you picked an outfit out finally?" asked Elphaba, surveying the silky yellow dress the Glinda had in her arms.
"Erm…no, actually."
Elphaba rolled her eyes. Then her eyes lit mischievously up as she looked at Glinda's wardrobe, "Glinda, I think that it's only fair that I pick out your dress for tonight, since you picked out mine."
"What?" Glinda asked, admittedly a little fearful at the thought.
"I'm going to end your worries over picking out an outfit, by picking out one for you. We'll actually get downstairs in time for dinner," Elphaba told her, striding over purposefully to the wardrobe and digging around in it.
Glinda just stood there, eyes wide, watching Elphaba silently, still holding the yellow dress.
Finally, Elphaba emerged from the depths of the wardrobe, with a dress in hand. She held it out for Glinda to take, "Get going! Into the bathroom and get dressed, no arguments!" she exclaimed, handing Glinda the dress and gently pushed her in the direction of the bathroom.
After being shoved into the bathroom, door slamming behind her, Glinda had a chance to look over the dress Elphaba had quickly chosen for her.
It was black.
Leave it to Elphie to find the only black dress I own, she thought with a giggle.
She pulled it on, and then studied herself in the bathroom mirror. The dress was a black, strapless, cocktail dress, with pretty, elaborate stitching adorning the bodice. "Not a bad dress, really," she muttered to herself, as she pulled a brush through her golden curls, which she decided to leave loose on her shoulders. She pulled on a pair of black heels she hardly ever used and she was ready.
She slipped out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom, where Elphie was waiting, with her arms crossed over her chest. She smiled widely when she saw Glinda, 'It looks nice on you," she told Glinda, "You should wear black more often."
Glinda took Elphaba's arm and led her over to the floor length mirror that stood next to the wardrobe. There the two friends stood side-by-side, one tall, the other petite, one with green skin, one with golden hair, but with two smiles that looked utterly similar.
Soon there was a knock on the chamber door and Fiyero's voice called out, "Can I come in? Are you two dressed and ready?"
"Yes, come in," Glinda called.
Fiyero swung open the doors and stepped inside; smiling as he caught sight of the two women, arms linked, looking into the mirror. He looked at Elphaba in her lavender dress, furrowed his brow and said, "Well, what do you know? Purple goes good with green."
Elphaba turned and gave him a hard look, and for a moment Glinda thought that she was either going retort with a sardonic answer or hit him, but instead Elphaba dislodged her arm from Glinda's, strode over to Fiyero, looked at him for a long moment then kissed him on the cheek. Glinda had to admit she was relieved.
With Brea sleeping soundly in the guest room, the three made their way down to the dining hall, chatting amicably.
The dining room looked especially marvelous tonight. The table had been covered in a white linen tablecloth, and in the middle of the table, sat two lit candles and a bouquet of freshly cut roses from the gardens.
"The maids did a wonderful job!" exclaimed Glinda, smiling at the lovely surroundings. At that precise moment, the doorbell rang shrilly, "Oh! I'll get it; you two just sit get comfortable. I'll be right back," then she rushed out to answer the door herself, before one of the maids could.
She stood in front of the door, smoothing the skirt of her black dress and then, after pausing for the proper amount of time, opened the door with a flourish.
Calix stood on the other side, nervously fiddling with his ruby red tie, looking up quickly, when Glinda appeared in the doorway.
"Good evening, Calix," Glinda said, smiling softly, moving aside and permitting Calix to come in.
"Wow. You look stunning. You really do," Calix told with a wide smile, looking her up and down in a flattering manner.
Glinda giggled and moved closer to him, he wrapped his arms around her and after a moment of hesitation, leaned down and kissed her deeply and fully.
After they broke apart, Glinda looked up at him and said, "Calix, I wanted you to join me for dinner tonight because…well…that friend I mentioned I thought might be the one trying to contact me? She ended up dropping by unexpectedly, and I would really like you to meet her. Just please, don't be alarmed when you see her, I'll explain."
Calix raised an eyebrow, "Don't be alarmed? Is she hideously deformed or some kind of furry monster? Or is she a furry, hideously deformed monster?" he asked, jokingly.
Glinda just shook her head, linked her arm through his and led him into the candlelit dining room.
When she and Calix entered the room, Elphaba stood up abruptly, knocking over the yet- to- be- filled wine glass, nervously, and Fiyero stood up next to her, and put a reassuring arm around her shoulders. Glinda felt Calix's body stiffen next to her as he saw Elphaba, he whispered to her in a panic filled voice, "Glinda? You do realize who that is? The Wicked Witch of the West?" at the same moment, Elphaba had taken a deep breath and said, "You must be-,"
Calix stepped in front of Glinda, as if to shield her, and put out his arms and exclaimed, "Stay away from us, you…you Wicked Witch! If you want to hurt Glinda you'll have to go through me!"
Elphaba looked taken aback and retorted, "Even if I wanted to harm Glinda, which I don't, I wouldn't have any trouble getting through you."
Calix looked ready to respond scathingly, when Glinda intervened.
"Elphaba! Calix! Stop!" Glinda suddenly barked, shoving out from behind Calix. She turned to Calix and said in a low voice, "I told you not to be alarmed. She's good…. maybe a little sarcastic, but in no way wicked." She turned back to a seething Elphaba and a distressed Fiyero and said slowly, "Elphaba, Fiyero this is my good friend, Sir Calix Sinclair. Please excuse us for a minute."
She then took Calix's hand and marched him out into the hallway where she preceded to tell him the whole story, the truth about Elphaba, the Wizard and everything else. She ended with a deep breath and, "Calix, please trust me. I've known Elphaba for a long time. She was just misunderstood. Please, trust me."
Calix looked into Glinda's eyes and smiled hesitantly and put a hand under her chin, "Of course I trust you, you seem to have a long history with her. And…I'm sorry about getting all…"
Glinda put a silencing finger to his lip, "I know, you're totally forgiven," and then with a smile, she kissed him.
They went back to the dining room where Calix looked a little warily at Elphaba but, nonetheless, said, "Sorry, about that before, let's start over! Good evening, my name is Calix Sinclair!" He smiled at Fiyero and Elphaba. Fiyero stood up and shook Calix's hand firmly. "Good to meet you, I'm Fiyero Tiggular and this is my wife-,"
"Elphaba," Elphaba supplied curtly, glaring at Calix, not totally forgiving him for calling her a "wicked witch".
"Look, I'm really sorry about before. I really am. I was just a little…shocked to see you," Calix told Elphaba, rounding the table, extending a hand towards her for a friendly handshake, grinning goofily.
Elphaba sighed and took his hand for the briefest moment, "Nice to meet you," she said in a slightly pleasanter tone.
To Glinda's amusement, Calix grabbed Elphaba's hand again, bowed low and kissed it, "Please do forgive me fully, my lady, I am your servant." He backed away and Elphaba just gave him a slightly exasperated look, but Glinda saw her smile the tiniest smile.
Once they were all seated again (Glinda and Calix across from Elphaba and Fiyero) maids brought out the scrumptious food, turkey with gravy, steamed vegetables and freshly baked biscuits with butter. They poured thick red wine into all the diners' glasses.
For a few minutes, there was no noise in the room, other than the cutting and chewing of food. Glinda felt distinctly uncomfortable. "Good food. The maids did a fabulous job, didn't they?"
They were murmured agreements all around. Everyone fell silent again.
"So, Calix, what do you do for a living?" asked Fiyero, trying to break the heavy silence.
Calix looked up from his turkey. "I work down in Emerald City in a company that buys and sells big portions of real estate to other big companies and whatnot. I head one of the offices, which basically means my job consists of sitting in an office doing a ton of paperwork. It's thrilling, really," Calix said, rolling his eyes and grinning.
"It sounds wonderful," Elphaba said, the sarcasm dripping quite obviously from her voice. Glinda narrowed her eyes and shot her a look, but Calix only grinned his crooked grin at Elphaba.
The rest of the night pretty much went the same way, Fiyero and Glinda trying to make pleasant conversation, while Elphaba found something to remark on sarcastically (usually having to do with something Calix said) and Calix, taking all of Elphie's sarcasm with good humor.
Around a quarter to nine, Calix stood up, stretched, and announced he had to leave.
"What a pity. We'll miss you ever so much," Elphaba said with a smirk.
"Ahh, and I'll miss your charming banter, Miss Elphaba," Calix said in a mock sorrowful voice, sweeping over to Elphaba, taking her hand in his, and kissing it. Glinda thought she saw a flicker of a smile and amusement flash across Elphaba's face.
"It was nice to meet you, Elphaba, Fiyero," he nodded to each in turn, shook Fiyero's hand and allowed himself to be led out by Glinda.
"I'm sorry, I know Elphaba can be a little…stinging…but you've got to understand…" Glinda began as they stood at the front doors.
"No, no, I understand perfectly. Hell, if I'd been her and someone had come over and started yelling at me, I'd probably not like the person much either," he smiled and winked at Glinda.
Glinda smiled back, and took his large hand in her small, dainty one. "I was wondering," she said, running one of her fingers along the back of his hand, "if you would like to accompany me to the Emerald City to shop, I have to pick up some things for the guest room, for Elphaba's daughter, Brea, and some other things."
"Of course, I could pick you up around one or two o'clock in the afternoon, day after tomorrow, how would that be?" Calix asked.
"Two sounds great," Glinda told him, her stomach giving that wonderful, yet oh-so-strange swooping sensation.
Calix leaned down, kissed her lips and let himself out the front door, waving at Glinda before completely disappearing into the darkness.
Glinda meandered dreamily back into the parlor, where Fiyero and Elphaba sat in quiet conversation. When Glinda entered, Elphaba looked up and smirked, "What took you so long?" she asked, widening her eyes innocently.
Glinda opened her mouth, ready to respond, but decided not to honor that question with an answer, instead she yawned and said, "I've had a long day, I think I'm going to turn in."
"I'm tired too, I'll go with you," Elphaba told her, standing up, kissing Fiyero, then taking Glinda's arms and leading her out of the room.
"Do you have a nightgown that I could use?" asked Elphaba, once upstairs. 'This gown would be very uncomfortable to sleep in."
"I'm sure I do," Glinda told her, walking into her chamber and opening her wardrobe, rustling around until she produced a long, white cotton nightgown, that was slightly too big for herself. She handed it to Elphaba and then flopped over onto her bed.
She closed her eyes and the asked slowly, "Well, Elphie, what do you think of Calix?"
Elphaba perched on the bed next to Glinda and said thoughtfully, "Once you get past that he's a bit of an idiot and sort of goofy…he's okay."
Glinda laughed and didn't even reprimand Elphaba for insulting Calix, "He's a nice guy, he really is," she told Elphaba, turning over on her stomach, hands under her chin, looking up at Elphaba.
Elphaba smiled, nodded, and said quietly, "Thanks or the nightgown," she got up and made her way to the door, but before opening it she turned back around and said, "Goodnight Glinda. And thanks again…for everything." She slipped out of the chambers, closing the door gently behind her.
Glinda smiled.
Author's Note: So, what did you think? I had fun writing that chapter. Now Elphaba has someone to insult mercilessly, huh? Ha. This chapter was pretty light-hearted, but soon we'll be running into some more problems…because, well the happiness can't last forever, right? So…things to look forward to in coming chapters…Calix and Glinda's crazy shopping trip, Brea-ness galore, a letter, a threat, Elphie sarcasm, gossiping maids and…more Glinda/Calix! (For all you Glinda/Calix fans.) Please review; if you do I'll give you a cookie. Hahaha. Now I'm really hungry. Oh! The reviewers poll…what is everybody's favorite…cookie? I love chocolate chip…yum! And, if you care to, check out my other Wicked fic.